WHL Saskatoon Blades

Blades Meet Broncos In Midweek Battle

Published on February 10, 2010 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


The Saskatoon Blades draw the Swift Current Broncos to town tonight for the final time this season. Game time at Credit Union Centre is 7:05 pm.

Head-to-Head This marks the last of eight meetings between the Blades and Broncos in the regular season. The Blades are 5-1-1-0 against Swift Current this season. The Broncos, meanwhile, come into the game with a 2-5-0-0 record in the head-to-head matchups.

Charles Inglis (Saskatoon, SK) (5-2-7), Derek Hulak (Saskatoon, SK) (3-4-7), and Josh Nicholls (Tsawwassen, BC) (1-6-7) all lead the Blades' attack against the Broncos this season with seven points.

In between the pipes, Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) has a 5-1-0-0 record against the Broncos with a 2.69 goals against average and a.928 save percentage. Adam Morrison (White Rock, BC) is 0-1 with a 6.32 goals against average and a.820 save percentage.

On the Swift Current side, Cody Eakin leads the way against the Blades with eight goals and two assists for ten points. Matt Tassone (2-3-5) and Derek Claffey (0-5-5) are second on the team scoring list versus the Blades this season.

In goal, Mark Friesen is 1-3-0-0 against the Blades and has a 3.99 goals against average and a.877 save percentage. Morgan Clark, meanwhile, is 1-2-0-0 with a 2.37 goals against average and a.928 save percentage.

Saskatoon Blades

The Blades (36-12-3-3, 2nd in East Division, 3rd in Eastern Conference) enter the game on a two-game winning streak following back-to-back wins over the weekend. On Saturday, the Blades completed the weekend with a 4-3 overtime win over the Brandon Wheat Kings at home. Darian Dziurzynski (Lloydminster, AB), Walker Wintoneak (Flin Flon, MB), and Stefan Elliott (North Vancouver, BC) scored for the Blades in regulation before Gaelan Patterson (Saskatoon, SK) clinched the victory in overtime. Stanford stopped 19 of 22 shots to earn the victory between the pipes.

The Blades are led in scoring this season by the 20-year-old Hulak, who has 23 goals and 40 assists for 63 points. Wintoneak is second on the team with 22 goals and 36 assists for 58 points. Elliott is third with 20 goals and 29 assists for 49 points and is tied for fifth in scoring for defensemen in the league.

Hulak has 23 goals on the season to lead the team.

Randy McNaught (Nanaimo, BC) leads the team and is tied for fourth in the WHL in penalty minutes with 144 this season. Curt Gogol (Calgary, AB) has 133 penalty minutes this season and sits tied for eighth in the league.

Elliott tops the Blades plus/minus list with a +35 rating and is fourth in the WHL. Sam Klassen (Watrous, SK) is seventh in the league with a +31 rating. Hulak is third on the team and is eighth in the league at +30.

In goal, Stanford has made 32 appearances and has compiled a 21-6-3-0 record to go along with a 2.77 goals against average (T-9th in the WHL), and a.904 save percentage. Morrison is 15-8-0-3 on the season with a 3.12 goals against average and a.898 save percentage in 28 games played.

The Blades are ranked 19th in the WHL in power play efficiency at 16.0% this season. The team is ranked 5th overall on the penalty kill at 83.5%.

Swift Current Broncos

The Broncos (28-26-0-3, 5th in East Division, 9th in Eastern Conference) saw their two-game winning streak come to an end last night with a 6-1 loss at home to the Calgary Hitmen.

Eakin leads the Broncos in scoring this season with 39 goals and 34 assists for 73 points and is seventh in WHL scoring. Justin Dowling is second on the team with 25 goals and 38 assists for 63 points. Brad Hoban is third with 14 goals and 31 assists for 45 points. Claffey (6-18-24) and Travis Bobbee (5-19-24) share the lead in scoring for Broncos' rearguards this season.

Eakin leads the Broncos and is tied for the WHL lead with 39 goals this season.

Michael Stickland has 83 penalty minutes this season to lead the team in that category.

Rookie Adam Lowry is tops on the team in plus/minus with a +9 rating.

In net, Friesen has seen action in 42 games this season, putting together a 15-17-0-5 record to go along with a 3.30 goals against average and a.893 save percentage. Clark has a 17-13-0-1 record in 36 appearances this season with a 3.13 goals against average and a.900 save percentage.

The Broncos' power play is ranked 18th in the WHL at 17.0% this season. The penalty kill unit is ranked 4th in the WHL at 84.1%.

Blades vs Broncos

Tonight's game is presented by DirectWest. Keep an eye out for the DirectWest Puck Patrol during the second intermission and catch a squishy foam puck for yourself! Also during the second intermission is the DirectWest Mobile Madness. Lucky contestants will have the chance to win a tremendous prize package courtesy of DirectWest.

Kids should be sure to stop by the Mac's Kid Zone and Michael's Craft Corner located on the concourse behind section D.

Tickets for tonight's game are available online at ticketmaster.ca, by calling 938-7800, or by visiting any Ticketmaster location.

Check out the Saskatoon Blades Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 10, 2010


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