WHL Saskatoon Blades

Blades Take On Hurricanes In Return To Home Ice

January 9, 2010 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


The Saskatoon Blades return to Credit Union Centre tonight with a matchup against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Puck drop is 7:05 pm.

Head-to-Head The Blades have a 2-0 record against the Hurricanes this season after posting a pair of 3-2 victories, the first in overtime on October 10th in Lethbridge and the second in a shootout on November 27th in Saskatoon.

Walker Wintoneak (Flin Flon, MB) leads the Blades' offensive charge against the Hurricanes in the two games with three goals and one assist for four points. Adam Morrison (White Rock, BC) and Steven Stanford (Calgary, AB) each have started one game in between the pipes for the Blades against the Hurricanes and have combined to stop 50 of 54 shots.

Craig Orfino has led the way for the Hurricanes against the Blades with one goal and two assists for three points in the two games. Linden Rowat and Brandon Anderson have each seen action in goal for the Hurricanes against the Blades and combined to make 63 saves on 68 shots.

Saskatoon Blades The Blades (29-8-1-3, 62 points, 1st in East Division, 1st in Eastern Conference) return to Credit Union Centre tonight after completing a six-game road trip to start the second half of the season, where the team went 5-1. The Blades wrapped up the trip with an 8-1 loss to the Kootenay Ice on Wednesday evening. Darian Dziurzynski (Lloydminster, AB) scored the lone goal for the Blades while Stanford and Morrison combined to stop 30 of 38 shots in net.

Derek Hulak (Saskatoon, SK) is the leading scorer for the Blades with 18 goals and 33 assists for 51 points on the season. Wintoneak, with 18 goals and 26 assists for 44 points, is second on the team. Stefan Elliott (North Vancouver, BC) is third on the team with 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points which puts the third-year rearguard in a tie for 5th in scoring amongst WHL defensemen.

Hulak and Wintoneak each have 18 goals this season, tops for the team in that category.

The Blades have a pair of players near the top of the WHL penalty minutes list. Randy McNaught (Nanaimo, BC) leads the team and is fourth overall in the WHL with 119 penalty minutes on the season. Dziurzynski is second on the team and fifth overall in the league with 118 penalty minutes.

Two Blades are in the WHL top 10 for plus/minus this season. Elliott is tied for 3rd in the league with a +29 rating and Sam Klassen (Watrous, SK) is 5th in the league with a +28 rating.

In goal, Morrison has made 24 appearances this season and sports a 14-6-0-3 record with a 2.99 goals against average and a.905 save percentage (10th in the WHL). Stanford has made 21 appearances this season and is 15-4-1-0 to go along with a 2.53 goals against average (3rd in the WHL) and a.906 save percentage (9th in the WHL).

The Blades are 18th in the WHL in power play efficiency, having converted on 18.6% of opportunities with the man-power advantage. While shorthanded this season the team is ranked 6th in the WHL, having killed off 82.4% of shorthanded chances.

Lethbridge Hurricanes The Hurricanes (13-23-3-2, 31 points, 5th in Central Division, 10th in Eastern Conference) come into tonight with a 1-1-0-1 record to start off the team's five-game road trip. The Hurricanes played last night in Prince Albert and fell 3-2 in a shootout to the Raiders.

Bancks, an overage forward, leads the Canes with 11 goals and 25 assists for 36 points this season. Cam Braes is second on the team with 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points. Freshman Mitch Maxwell is third in team scoring with 17 goals and 10 assists for 27 points. Brennan Yadlowski leads the team's defensemen with 2 goals and 22 assists for 24 points.

Maxwell is tops on the team with 17 goals on the campaign.

Rearguard Mike Reddington is the Hurricanes' leader in penalty minutes with 96 on the season.

Graham Hood, an acquisition by the Hurricanes earlier this season from the Regina Pats, has the top plus/minus rating on the team at +9.

In between the pipes, Anderson leads the Hurricanes in appearances with 20 on the season and has compiled a 7-10-1-1 record with a 3.22 goals against average and a.894 save percentage. Rowat has a record of 5-3-2-1 to go along with a 3.21 goals against average and a.903 save percentage in 13 appearances this season. The third goaltender in the mix, Ville Kolppanen, has a 1-8-0-0 record with a 4.70 goals against average and a.855 save percentage in 12 games played.

The Hurricanes are converting on the power play at a rate of 15.9% this season, ranking them 20th in the WHL. The team's penalty kill unit is working at a 74.8% clip this year, putting them in a tie for 18th in the league.

Blades vs Hurricanes Waste Management of Canada (WM) together with program partners the Western Hockey League (WHL) and the Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre are planning a food drive on January 9th when the Blades face off against the Lethbridge Hurricanes at Credit Union Centre. We will be asking fans to show their support for those less fortunate in the community by bringing a non-perishable food item or cash donation to the game.

"This is the very time of year these services are needed most," says WM's Diane Kossman, Senior Communications Manager for Western Canada. "Reserves are low after the holiday season but demand remains high and as more Canadians turn to food banks in the wake of the economic recession, donations continue to decline. We're challenging Blades fans to reverse this trend and support their local food bank."

WM will be holding food drives in 11 WHL cities over the next few months and hopes to empower hockey fans to raise a total of 10,000 pounds of non-perishable food items and $5,000 in cash donations for local food banks. Volunteers will accept fans' contributions at signed tables on the main concourse level before the game and during intermissions.

"We are extremely excited to partner with Waste Management on this program to help raise much needed resources for the food bank," says Paul Merriman, CEO of the Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre. "Waste Management and the Saskatoon Blades are keeping the giving spirit alive after the holiday season by asking the greatest hockey fans in the world to help those in need in our community."

Everyone has a role to play in reducing hunger. According to a recent study conducted by Food Banks Canada (HungerCount 2009), almost 795,000 people turned to food banks in March 2009 - an 18% increase over March of the previous year. While the Province of Saskatchewan was one of the least hit by the effects of the recession, food banks here still saw an increase in use of 6%. In this province in March 2009 almost 45% of those who turned to a food bank for help were children.

A proud sponsor of the WHL since 2006, WM has been working to put together a program that will make a positive impact on the communities where their employees live, work and raise their families. Hunger affects everyone across the social spectrum including children, families and individuals, the working and unemployed and those unable to work, those with incomes, pensions or disability benefits who can't make ends meet are all at risk. At WM we are dedicated to making our communities better, cleaner and safer. A program like this one helps us further that goal.

Check out the Saskatoon Blades Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central