WHL Saskatoon Blades

Blades Charge Into Weekend Finale

Published on February 14, 2010 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


The Saskatoon Blades bring a five-game winning streak into Cranbrook tonight against the Kootenay Ice. Game time at the Cranbrook Recreation Complex is 7:00 pm (Sask. time).

Head-to-Head

Tonight's game is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the Blades and Ice. The Ice has won two of the previous three games in the season set, outscoring the Blades by a 17-13 margin.

Travis Toomey (Leduc, AB), Sam Klassen (Watrous, SK), and Derek Hulak (Saskatoon, SK) lead the Blades' offensive effort against the Ice this season with four points each.

Adam Morrison (White Rock, BC) has seen action in all three games in the season series and has a 1-1 record to go along with a 4.32 goals against average and a.828 save percentage. Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) appeared in the first two periods of the second game and took the loss after making 26 saves on 32 shots.

Dustin Sylvester, Steele Boomer, and Kevin King have led the Ice against the Blades this season with five points each.

Todd Mathews has started all three games against the Blades for the Ice and is 2-1 with a 4.96 goals against average and a.875 save percentage. Nathan Lieuwen got in just over 17 minutes of work in the opening contest and stopped 9 of 12 shots sent his way.

Saskatoon Blades

The Blades (39-12-3-3, 84 points, 1st in East Division, 1st in Eastern Conference) extended their winning streak to five games with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes last night. Charles Inglis (Saskatoon, SK), Marek Viedensky (Handlova, Slovakia), and Hulak scored for the Blades in the victory while Stanford stopped 18 of 20 shots to secure the win in goal.

Hulak is the Blades leading scorer this season with 25 goals and 42 assists for 67 points. Walker Wintoneak (Flin Flon, MB) is next on the team with 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points. Stefan Elliott (North Vancouver, BC), third in team scoring and tops amongst the team's defensemen, has 20 goals and 33 assists for 53 points and is third amongst WHL defensemen in scoring.

Hulak has 25 goals to lead the team in that category.

Randy McNaught (Nanaimo, BC) has the team lead and is fifth in the WHL with 153 penalty minutes. Darian Dziurzynski (Lloydminster, AB) is second on the team and ninth in the WHL with 137 penalty minutes.

Elliott is first on the Blades and tied for fourth overall in the WHL with a +34 rating. Hulak is +32 on the season and sits tied for sixth in the WHL. Klassen checks in tied for ninth overall in the league with a +30 rating.

In goal, Stanford is the team leader in appearances this season with 35 and has a 24-6-3-0 record with a 2.69 goals against average (8th in the WHL) and a.904 save percentage. Morrison, meanwhile, is 15-8-0-3 with a 3.12 goals against average and a.898 save percentage in 28 games played.

The Blades enter the game with the 19th-ranked power play in the WHL at 16.6%. The team features #5-ranked penalty kill unit at 83.2%

Kootenay Ice

The Ice (36-17-3-2, 2nd in Central Division, 4th in Eastern Conference) comes into tonight's game on a streak of three straight games having earned at least a point. On Friday night, the Ice defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 5-2 on the road.

Sylvester continues to lead the Ice in scoring this season with 32 goals and 49 assists for 81 points, which is good enough for third in the WHL scoring race and puts the overager just one point back of top spot. Boomer is second on the team with 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points. Brayden McNabb is tops amongst the team's rearguards with 15 goals and 36 assists for 51 points and is tied for fourth for WHL defensemen.

Sylvester leads the team with 32 goals this season.

Matt Fraser is tops on the Ice with 100 penalty minutes.

Rookie defenseman Joey Leach has the leading plus/minus rating for the Ice at +26.

In between the pipes, Mathews is 27-8-3-2 record with a 2.72 goals against average (9th in the WHL) and a.909 save percentage (9th in the WHL) in 42 appearances. Lieuwen has played in 22 games this season and has compiled a 9-9-0-0 record to go along with a 3.18 goals against average and a.894 save percentage.

The Ice is ranked 16th in the WHL in power play efficiency at 18.5%. The team's penalty kill is working at 82.4%, good enough for the #6 ranking in the league.

Blades vs Ice

Tonight's game can be heard live on 92.9 The Bull with "The Voice of the Blades" Les Lazaruk. The game can also be purchased on WHL WebTV.

Check out the Saskatoon Blades Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 14, 2010


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