WHL Saskatoon Blades

Blades Beat Warriors 7-3

Published on December 17, 2008 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


The Saskatoon Blades ended their first half of the season before the Christmas break in fine fashion by defeating the Moose Jaw Warriors 7-3.

The Blades improved their WHL best road record to 15-2 and remain in first place in the Eastern Division.

20 year old Adam Chorneyko got the Blades rolling with his 10th goal of the year just 1:59 into the first period. Chorneyko put the Blades up 2-0 with an unassisted effort near the midway point of the period. With two Warriors in the penalty box, Jyri Niemi ended an 18 game goal-less skid with his 2nd of the season, assists going to Gaelan Patterson and Stefan Elliott. Tomas Karpov would finally put the Warriors on the board as he beat Blades goaltender Adam Morrison which prompted the home crowd to toss teddy bears onto the ice.

The Warriors would carry the momentum into the second period as Ryley Grantham cut the Blades lead to one with his 7th goal of the year. Any hopes of a Warriors comeback was squashed by goals from Blades leading goal scorer, Burke Gallimore, and Derek Hulak (PP). The Bridge City Bunch took a 5-2 lead into the final frame.

The third period was scoreless until 3 goals were scored in the final minute of play. Moose Jaw's Travis Hamonic scored with 56 seconds to play to give the Warriors a small ray of hope. With the Moose Jaw net empty in favour of an extra skater, Josh Nicholls would take a feed from Curtis Hamilton to also end a lengthy goal-less streak. The scoring would not end there though, as Chorneyko would pounce on a turnover 8 seconds after Nicholls' goal to record his first ever WHL hat-trick.

Rookie goaltender Adam Morrison made 23 saves on 26 shots to record his 5th victory of the season. Morrison has yet to lose in regulation, with his only loss coming in Overtime to the Portland Winter Hawks.

The Blades now break for 10 days as players will return home to spend Christmas with family and friends. The team will return to action on December 27th when they visit Prince Albert Raiders. The next home game for the Blades is on December 30th when the Regina Pats visit the Credit Union Centre.

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Western Hockey League Stories from December 17, 2008


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