Friday, February 24th, 2017 – 7:00pm @ SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, SK
Saskatoon Blades (23-29-6-2 – 54pts)
5th – East Division 9th – Eastern Conference
PP – 57/272 = 21% (11th in WHL)
PK - 196/254 = 77.2% (15th in WHL)
Prince Albert Raiders (16-39-4-2 – 38pts)
6th – East Division 11th – Eastern Conference
PP – 38/260 = 14.6% (21st in WHL)
PK – 185/242 = 76.4% (16th in WHL)
Tonight… The Saskatoon Blades open up a home and home series at SaskTel Centre against their arch rivals
the Prince Albert Raiders. Saskatoon is in desperate need of points, now sitting 2 points out of a playoff spot
behind the Calgary Hitmen. The Blades are winless in their last 5 outings, while the Raiders have been playing
solid with only 1 regulation loss in their last 5.
The Last Game… Michael Farren (5th) scored the lone goal for Saskatoon in a 4-1 loss to the Regina Pats on
Wednesday. Brock Hamm was busy against the high-powered Pats, stopping 43/47 shots faced in the loss.
The Raiders last game was also against the Regina Pats; a 3-2 OT loss on Monday.
Head to head… Tonight is the 5th of 8 meetings this season between the Blades & Raiders. Saskatoon has won
3/4 meetings so far. Braylon Shmyr (4 goals) and Josh Paterson (3 goals) lead Saskatoon’s offense this season
against the Raiders. Logan Flodell has 2 wins over the Raiders posting an impressive 1.69GAA and a .942SV% in
3 starts. Rookie Carson Miller has 2 goals and 1 helper vs the Blades this season in 3 games for Prince Albert.
Back in Blue… ’97 F Braylon Shmyr returned to the Blades lineup on Wednesday and chipped in with 1 assist.
Shmyr, who missed 6 games this month due to injury, has 50 points in 54 games this season.
Dach this way… Highly touted prospect, Kirby Dach, has joined the Saskatoon Blades for the remainder of the
season. Dach is still adjusting to life in the WHL, but he’s already started to contribute on the scoresheet. The
2016 2nd overall bantam pick has 3 goals and 2 assists in 11 career WHL games.
Bryton up… ’96 D Bryton Sayers leads by example on and off the ice for the Blades, and has been leading on
the scoresheet in a recent stretch. Over the last 17 games, Sayers has 12 points, and leads the Blades in assists
with 24.
Draft Watch… ’99 F Josh Paterson was listed at 163rd in the NHL Central Scouting Midterm rankings… ’99 D
Mark Rubinchik was ranked 119. Paterson has 30 points (13G-17A) and is one of only 3 Blades to have played
in all 60 games this season. Rubinchik has 6 points in his last 8 outings, totaling 20 points and 50 PIM’s in 50
games this season. ’99 F Logan Christensen has not been ranked yet, but plays an important role on the
Blades roster. The 2-way center has been on all 4 lines this season for the Blades, mans the point on the power
play, kills penalties, and gets tapped on the shoulder to take important face-offs. Christensen has 22 points
this season and has played in all 60 games.
Shynkaruk Shining… When ’96 F Jesse Shynkaruk goes, so do the Blades. The hometown veteran is tied for
the team lead with 27 goals this season including 8 game winners. Shynkaruk also has the highest points per
game on the team with 44pts in 46 contests (0.96).
The way she Flo’s… Despite having little goal support as of late, ’97 G Logan Flodell has been giving the Blades
a chance to win on a nightly basis. Flodell has a .914SV% in his last 7 starts to go along with a 2.42GAA.
This Date in Blades History… February 24, 1967…Dale Fairbrother scored two short-handed goals, on the
same Oil Kings’ power play, to propel the Blades to an 8-6 victory at Edmonton. That was the second time a
Saskatoon team scored two short-handed goals in the same period…and that franchise record has been
matched twice since. Also, on February 24, 1976…Hockey Hall-of-Famer Bernie Federko scored his 60th goal of
the season, in Saskatoon’s 59th game. However, that came in a losing cause as the Blades lost 5-2 to the
visiting New Westminster Bruins.
Injury report…
97 F Cam Hebig – upper body – indefinitely
00 F Chase Wouters – upper body – week-to-week
99 F Lukus MacKenzie – upper body – indefinitely
99 D Jake Kustra – upper body – week-to-week
Roster breakdown:
16 Forwards
7 Defenseman
2 Goalies
Age Breakdown:
1996 – 3
2000 - 2
1997 – 6
2001 - 1
1998 – 5
1999 – 8
How they were built
Round
# Player (Overall - Year)
1st
1 Wouters(19th - 2015), Dach(2nd – 2016)
2nd
3 Kustra (34th - 2014), Christensen(30th - 2014), Paterson(25th - 2014)
3rd
2 Hebig(56th – 2012), MacKenzie(60th – 2014)
Euro
2 Hájek (2nd - 2015), Rubinchik (7th - 2016)
List
4 Shynkaruk, Farren, Hamm, Michaud
Trade
12
Leslie, Sayers, McCarty, Ramsay, Shmyr, Flodell, Fantillo, Caller, Johnson, Fiala,
Bechtold, Atwal
Team Leaders:
Goals: Braylon Shmyr, Jesse Shynkaruk (27)
Assists: Bryton Sayers (24)
Penalty Minutes: Evan Fiala (114)
+/-: Evan Fiala (+4)
PPG: Braylon Shmyr (13)
GWG: Jesse Shynkaruk (8)
SV%: Logan Flodell (.911)
GAA: Logan Flodell (2.87)
Rookie Points: Michael Farren (22)
2016-17 TEAM RECORDS
1-goal games
2-goal games
3-plus-goal games
Scoring first
Opponent scoring first
Leading after 2 periods
Trailing after 2 periods
Tied after 2 periods
Overtime Record
Month
10-6-6-2
11-6-0
2-16-0
18-4-3-2
5-25-3
13-1-1-1
4-24-1
6-3-3-1
4-6
Games Record
Shootout Record
Out-shooting opponent
Out-shot by opponent
Shots are even
vs. BC
vs. US
vs. Central
vs. East
Home
Road
September
3
1-2-0-0
0-1-0-0
1-1-0-0
October
12
6-5-1-0
2-1-1
4-4-0-0
November
13
3-9-1-0
2-3-0
1-6-1
December
11
4-5-1-1
2-2-1-0
2-2-1-1
January
12
6-5-1-0
5-3-1-0
1-2-0-0
February
12
3-4-1-1
3-2-0-1
0-3-1-0
March
9
0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0
0-0-0-0
Totals
72
23-29-6-2 14-12-3-1
9-17-3-1
2-2
11-3-2-2
10-24-4-0
2-2-0
2-3-0
1-3-0-1
7-9-4
13-14-2-1