WHL Saskatoon Blades

Blades Square Off Against Chiefs

January 5, 2010 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


The Saskatoon Blades pay a visit to the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena for matchup with the Spokane Chiefs tonight. Game is 9:00 pm (Sask. time).

Head-to-Head

Tonight's game will be mark the only time this season the Blades and Chiefs will meet up. In last season's lone battle between the two clubs, the Blades edged the Chiefs 2-1 on November 15th at Credit Union Centre.

Saskatoon Blades

The Blades (28-7-1-3, 60 points, 1st in East Division, 1st in Eastern Conference) come into the game on a five-game winning streak that has brought them into first place overall in the Western Hockey League. The team was last in action on Sunday night against the Tri-City Americans and came away with a 6-4 victory. Gaelan Patterson (Saskatoon, SK) led the attack with three goals and an assist while Derek Hulak (Saskatoon, SK) had a goal and two assists and Walker Wintoneak (Flin Flon, MB) had three assists. Travis Toomey (Leduc, AB) and Jeremy Boyer (Saskatoon, SK) also scored for the Blades and Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) stopped 20 of 24 shots to earn the win.

Hulak continues to hold the team lead in scoring this season for the Blades with 18 goals and 32 assists for 50 points. Wintoneak with 18 goals and 26 assists for 44 points is second in scoring on the team. Stefan Elliott (North Vancouver, BC) is third on the team and tops amongst the team's defensemen with 13 goals and 25 assists for 38 points, putting him 6th in scoring amongst WHL rearguards Wintoneak and Hulak share the team lead in goals this season with 18 each. Randy McNaught (Nanaimo, BC) is tops on the team and 5th in the WHL with 114 penalty minutes this season. Darian Dziurzynski (Lloydminster, AB) has 112 penalty minutes to put him second on the team and tied for 6th in the league.

Elliott leads the team in plus/minus with a +28 rating to put him 3rd in the WHL. Sam Klassen (Watrous, SK) is second on the team and tied for 4th in the WHL at +27. Hulak is third on the team and tied for 8th in the WHL at +24.

In between the pipes, Morrison leads the team in appearances with 22 this season and has compiled a 13-6-0-3 record with a 2.90 goals against average and a.907 save percentage (10th in the WHL). Stanford has made 20 appearances and sports a 15-3-1-0 record to go along with a 2.30 goals against average (1st in the WHL) and a.912 save percentage (5th in the WHL).

The Blades' power play is working at a 19.5% clip this season, good enough for a tie for 14th in the WHL. While shorthanded, the team has killed off 82.4% of chances and ranked 6th in the WHL.

Spokane Chiefs

The Chiefs (23-13-3-0, 49 points, 3rd in U.S. Division, 4th in Western Conference) are on a two-game winning streak. The hockey club last played on Sunday evening and defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2 on the road.

Mitch Wahl is on top of the Chiefs' scoring list with 15 goals and 31 assists for 46 points this season. Kyle Beach is second on the team with 26 goals and 16 assists for 42 points on the campaign. Levko Koper is third with 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points. Jared Spurgeon leads the team's defensemen and is.. for WHL defensemen with 3 goals and 19 assists for 22 points.

With 26 goals, Beach leads the team and is tied for 6th in the WHL in that category.

Beach, the former Lethbridge Hurricane, also is tops on the team and the Western Hockey League in penalty minutes this season with 123.

The Chiefs have two players sharing the team lead in plus/minus as Jared Cowen, currently away from the team as a member of Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship back in Saskatoon, and Brenden Kichton are both at +16.

In goal, veteran James Reid has an 18-9-3-0 record with a 2.32 goals against average (2nd in the WHL) and a.922 save percentage (T-1st in the WHL) in 30 appearances this season. Michael Tadjdeh has played in 11 games this season and has a 5-5-0-0 record with a 2.84 goals against average and a.910 save percentage.

The Chiefs are ranked 11th in the WHL in power play efficiency, working at a 20.6% rate on the season. The team is ranked 1st in the league on the penalty kill, preventing 86.3% of shorthanded chances this year.

Blades vs Chiefs

Fans can tune into tonight's game with Les Lazaruk on 92.9 The Bull. The game is also available for purchase on WHL WebTV.

Check out the Saskatoon Blades Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from January 5, 2010


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