WHL Saskatoon Blades

Blades Beat Rockets on Toque Toss Night

Published on December 16, 2009 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


The Saskatoon Blades regained sole position of first place in the WHL's East Division with a 4-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday evening.

Brent Benson (Weyburn, SK) scored two goals while Randy McNaught (Nanaimo, BC) and Walker Wintoneak (Flin Flon, MB) added singles for the Blades, who now have points in three consecutive games.

Saskatoon - 2nd - McNaught (Darian Dziurzynski, Sam Klassen) 5:17 Following a scoreless first period, McNaught broke a scoreless tie with the GlobalTV Toque Toss Goal for the 2009-10 season. After a wraparound by Dziurzynski (Lloydminster, AB) that nearly got past Rockets' goaltender Mark Guggenberger, a scramble ensued in front of the Rockets' net and McNaught swiped home his first goal in a Blades' uniform.

Saskatoon - 2nd - Wintoneak (Benson, Klassen) 9:41 The Blades worked the puck around the Rockets' end to Wintoneak in the right hand corner. The overage forward worked the puck off the boards, walked unabated to the top of the crease, and slid home his 17th of the season.

Saskatoon - 2nd - Benson (Wintoneak, Gaelan Patterson) 12:16 pp Wintoneak carried the puck down the right side into the Rockets' end and found Benson streaking down the middle. The 16-year-old took the pass and fired a wrist shot that hit Guggenberger in the right shoulder and managed to streak across the line for his 3rd of the season.

Kelowna - 3rd - Mitchell Callahan (Tyson Barrie, Brett Bulmer) 4:38 The Rockets broke into the Blades' end 3-on-1 and, after Barrie took the initial shot, Callahan was in position for the rebound, putting a backhand past Blades' goaltender Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) for his 10th of the year.

Saskatoon - 3rd - Benson (Patterson, Stefan Elliott) 7:31 pp The Blades closed out the scoring just under three minutes later. Elliott took a feed at the point and sent a pass to Patterson (Saskatoon, SK) at the right faceoff dot. The Calgary Flames draft pick turn and fired a shot on net that was redirected by Benson. For Benson, it was the first two-goal game of his WHL career.

Stanford made 25 saves in the Blades' net to earn the victory between the pipes. Guggenberger turned aside 27 of 31 shots in the Kelowna net in a losing cause.

Final score Saskatoon Blades 4, Kelowna Rockets 1.

The Blades are next in action this weekend with a home-and-home series against the Prince Albert Raiders. The two teams meet up on Friday in "Hockeytown North" at the Art Hauser Centre. Game time is 7:00 pm. The Blades and Raiders then battle on Saturday in a rematch at Credit Union Centre. Game time on Saturday night is 7:05 pm.

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Western Hockey League Stories from December 16, 2009


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