Saturday, March 11th, 2017 @ 7:00PM Credit Union I-Plex, Swift Current, SK
Saskatoon Blades (27-32-7-2 – 63pts)
5th – East Division 8th – Eastern Conference
PP – 62/311 = 19.9% (14th in WHL)
PK - 220/282 = 78% (15thin WHL)
Swift Current Broncos (36-21-4-6 – 82pts)
3rd–EastDivision5th – EasternConference
PP – 56/265= 21.1% (10thin WHL)
PK – 176/243 = 72.4% (21st in WHL)
Tonight…The Saskatoon Blades need a bounce back performance as they head to Swift Current for the back half of a home and home with the Broncos. It’s the 8th and final meeting between these division rivals. The Blades are still clinging to the final playoff spot in the East, but after a win by the Calgary Hitmen last night over Lethbridge, Saskatoon is just 1 point ahead of Calgary; the Hitmen also have 1 game in hand.
The Last Game…Braylon Shmyr scored twice in the 1st period, his 33rd and 34th goals of the season before Swift Current scored 4 unanswered en route to a 5-3 Broncos victory. Evan Fiala also had a 2 point night with a goal and an assist. Tyler Steenbergen scored twice for the Broncos (48th, 49th), inching closer to the 50 goal plateau.
Head to head…The Blades are 2-3-2-0 vs the Broncos this season, and haven’t won in Swift Current since the season opener way back on September 23rd. Braylon Shmyr (11pts) and Jesse Shynkaruk(10pts) lead the Blades offense vs Swift… Tyler Steenbergen(12pts) and AleksiHeponiemi(13pts) have carried the load through 7 games for Swift.
Crunch Time…Saskatoon (63pts) has a1 pointlead over Calgary (62pts) and suddenly sit just 5 points behind the Brandon Wheat Kings (68pts) in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Saskatoon has 4 games left in the regular season: @SC, @REG, vs PA, @PA. Calgary has 5 games remaining: @LETH, vsEDM, @RD, @KTN, vs KTN.
Streaking…Braylon Shmyr has been red hot as of late, posting 9 points (5G-4A) in his last 5 games. Line mate Jesse Shynkaruk is right there with Shmyr with 7 points (3G-4A) in his last 5 outings. Both Shynkaruk (54pts in 54GP) and Shmyr (62pts in 62GP) became point-per-game players on Friday night.
Back in Blue… ’97 F Braylon Shmyr(62GP – 34G – 28A – 62PTS) missed 6 games in February due to injury, but since his return, Saskatoon’s leading scorer has 13 points in 9 games. ’00 F Chase Wouters (50GP – 6G – 12A – 18PTS) joined the Blades on the recent road trip after missing 10 games and notched a point in each game including a short-handed goal against the Calgary Hitmen.
Draft Watch… ’99 F Josh Paterson has 35 points (15G-20A) and is one of only 3 Blades to have played in all 68 games this season. ’99 D Mark Rubinchik has quickly become a fan favourite known for his punishing physical play, and chipping in offensively with 21 points and 50 PIM’s in 59 games this season. ’99 F Logan Christensen 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 24 points this season and has played in all 68 games.
This Date in Blades History: March 11, 1965…the Blades recorded the franchise’s first-ever playoff win. At the Saskatoon Arena, the Blades out-scored the Brandon Wheat Kings 9-6 to stave off elimination in Game 4 of a best-of-seven Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League quarter-final series. The Wheaties would win Game 5 to end Saskatoon’s first-ever season. The Blades had a 20-32-4 record, finishing in sixth place in the eight-team S.J.H.L.
Injury report…
97 F Cam Hebig– upper body – indefinitely
99 F LukusMacKenzie – upper body – indefinitely
99 D Jake Kustra– upper body – indefinitely
Milestone tracker…
MarksonBechtold: 98 career points
Gage Ramsay: 99 regular season career GP
Logan Flodell: 97 regular season career GP
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 (34)
Assists: Braylon Shmyr (28)
Penalty Minutes: Evan Fiala (126)
+/-: Evan Fiala (+12)
PPG: Braylon Shmyr (15)
GWG: Jesse Shynkaruk(10)
SV%: Logan Flodell (.913)
GAA: Logan Flodell (2.75)
Rookie Points: Michael Farren (27)
2016-17 TEAM RECORDS
1-goal games / 11-6-7-22-goal games / 12-9-0
3-plus-goal games / 4-16-0
Scoring first / 22-5-4-2
Opponent scoring first / 5-27-3
Leading after 2 periods / 16-1-2-1
Trailing after 2 periods / 4-25-1
Tied after 2 periods / 7-5-3-1
Overtime Record / 5-7
Shootout Record / 2-2
Out-shooting opponent / 15-5-2-2
Out-shot by opponent / 11-25-5-0
Shots are even / 2-2-0
vs. BC / 2-3-0
vs. US / 1-3-0-1
vs. Central / 9-9-5
vs. East / 15-17-2-1
Month / Games / Record / 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 / 4-6-1-1 / 4-3-0-1 / 0-4-1-0
March / 9 / 3-1-1-0 / 1-1-1-0 / 2-0-0-0
Totals / 72 / 27-32-7-2 / 16-14-4-1 / 11-18-3-1