Friday,February 3rd 2017 – 7:00pm at SaskTel Centre,Saskatoon, SK
Saskatoon Blades (20-25-5-1 – 46pts)
5th – East Division 8th – Eastern Conference
PP – 47/234 = 20.1% (12th in WHL)
PK - 157/207 = 75.9% (18thin WHL)
Regina Pats (35-6-6-1 – 77pts)
1st–EastDivision1st – Eastern Conference
PP – 64/194= 33% (1stin WHL)
PK – 195/242 = 80.6% (8th in WHL)
Tonight…The Saskatoon Bladeswill look to end a three game slide against the top team in the WHL; the Regina Pats. Saskatoon has played well against the Pats this season in three previous meetings winning once 2-1 in overtime and losing 9-6 and 2-1; either fending off the Pats dangerous offense, or keeping pace with them in each loss.
The Last Game… The Blades haven’t played since Monday’s afternoon matchup against the Pats when they fell 2-1 in regulation. Bryton Sayers had the lone goal for the Blades, his 5th of the season coming on the power play in the 3rd period. For Regina they come in riding a 6 game winning streak after a 4-3 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors on Wednesday.
Keys to the Game… 1) Saskatoon will need to play physical and force Regina to make mistakes, but also stay disciplined as the Pats power play is not only first ranked in the league but has a 42.9% success rate in 3 games against the Blades. 2) The Blades will need offensive contributions outside of their top line in order to be successful. In the 9-6 loss against Regina, Saskatoon saw goals from Michael Farren(2), Caleb Fantillo, Gage Ramsay, and Logan Christensen. 3) Not giving any time or space to Sam Steel (89 pts) and Adam Brooks(86pts) who sit atop of the league leaders for points.
Head to Head…Rookie Michael Farren leads the Blades with 2 goals and 1 assist against Regina this season. Gage Ramsay also has 2 goals against the Pats, with Libor Hájek, Braylon Shmyr, and Caleb Fantillo all having multiple points against the top dogs.
Jump Start…In the last 2 outings for Saskatoon their power play has went 1/12. Despite the cold spurt, Saskatoon still sits 12th overall in the league with a 20.1% success rate. Prior to the last 2 games, the Blades power play was 10/23 over a 6 game span when the team went 5-1. Special teams will be crucial tonight against Regina.
Farren Finding A Way… 16 year old Michael Farren is quickly becoming a fan favourite in the Bridge City. The feisty winger now has 22 points (4G – 18A) in 42 games played this season, leading all 2000 born players in the WHL.
Home Sweet Home… This is game #3 in a 7 game stretch at home for Saskatoon – the longest of the season. The Blades are 11-10-3 at SaskTel Centre this season and went 5-3-1 in the month of January at home. The Blades are in action tomorrow night at home hosting the Red Deer Rebels at 7:00pm.
Leading By Example… The leaders of the team have been consistently contributing offensively in January. ’96 D BrytonSayers has 8 points in his last 8 games and leads the Blades with 21 assists. ’97 F Braylon Shmyr leads Saskatoon with 45 points in 51 games, with 12pts coming in his last 8 outings.
Injury report…
97 F Cam Hebig – upper body – indefinitely
97 F Mason McCarty – lower body – 2-3 weeks
96 F Markson Bechtold – Upper body – 2-3 weeks
Roster breakdown:15 Forwards, 7 Defenseman, 2 Goalies
Age Breakdown:1996 – 3 | 1997 –6 | 1998 – 5 | 1999 – 8 | 2000 – 2
The way they became Blades…
Round / # / Player (Overall - Year)1st / 1 / Wouters(19th - 2015)
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 (25)
Assists: Bryton Sayers (21)
Penalty Minutes: Evan Fiala (89)
+/-: Evan Fiala (+3)
PPG: Braylon Shmyr (11)
GWG: Jesse Shynkaruk (6)
SV%: Logan Flodell (.910)
GAA: Logan Flodell (2.99)
Rookie Points: Michael Farren (22)
2016-17 TEAM RECORDS
Home: 11-10-3-0 Road: 9-15-2-1
1-goal games / 9-5-5-12-goal games / 9-6-0
3-plus-goal games / 2-13-0
Scoring first / 15-3-2-1
Opponent scoring first / 5-22-3
Leading after 2 periods / 11-1-1-1
Trailing after 2 periods / 4-20-1
Tied after 2 periods / 5-3-2-0
Overtime Record / 3-5
Shootout Record / 2-1
Out-shooting opponent / 8-3-1-1
Out-shot by opponent / 10-20-4-0
Shots are even / 2-2-0
vs. BC / 2-3-0
vs. US / 1-3-0
vs. Central / 6-7-3
vs. East / 11-12-2-1
2016-17 RECORD by MONTH
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 / 0-0-0-0 / 0-0-0-0 / 0-0-0-0
March / 9 / 0-0-0-0 / 0-0-0-0 / 0-0-0-0
Totals / 72 / 20-25-5-1 / 11-10-3-0 / 9-15-2-1