Goals Still A Struggle Against Broncos
February 6, 2016 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release
SASKATOON, SK - Injuries and illness plagued the team heading into this game against Swift. But after a lack lustre first period things got from bad to worse. As the Blades went five periods without scoring dating back to Tuesday's game against Prince George.
Bob Woods was man of few words when he was asked about the first ten minutes of the game. "I don't know. I know it wasn't very good. We were just not ready to go and they took it too us. You can't blame Hamm because a lot of those goals he didn't have a lot of chance on but we just weren't sharp."
The First period saw the Blades feeling blue. As those were the colours of the Broncos jerseys because the Broncos scored three goals in just under four minutes in the opening frame which set the tone for the rest of the game for Saskatoon.
A long shot by Glen Gawdin is tipped by Jamal Watson whose initial shot just squeaked past the legs of Hamm but he got the loose puck in the blue paint and tapped it in for a 1-0 Broncos lead just 5:30 into the first.
Jon Martin on the rush, gave a backhanded pass to a wide open Lane Pederson whose left alone in the slot and beat Hamm glove side to make it 2-0 just two minutes after the Broncos opened the scoring at 7:30.
Tyler Adams shot from the wall is stopped but no one can find the loose puck in front of the net but Calvin Spencer did, and pounced on the puck to make it 3-0 Broncos 9:25 into the first.
In the second, the Broncos would gain a power play form a Colton Waltz roughing call. 2016 NHL Draft eligible prospect Max Lajoie lets the point shot go from the point and beats Hamm through traffic to extend the Bronco lead to 4-0.
In his first game back from injury Cameron Hausinger tried to ignite team by dropping the gloves with Arthur Miller. After the fight, Hausinger looked at the Blades benched and yelled at his team, "Lets Go," in hopes to generate some kind of spark.
The Blades generated tons of quality scoring chances from all the lines in the second as they look to try and get on the board after being shutout for six periods up until that point.
In the third period the Blades power-play got going and finally ended the shutout bid at SaskTel Centre. Mason McCarty got the rebound on a scramble for the loose puck on the door step that gave the Blades their only goal of the game.
The line of McCarty, Gingras and Wouters generated several key chances throughout the hockey game and looked to set the tone throughout the rest of the game. "After the first period we weren't very good. I told my line mates G (Gingras) and Wats (Wouters) that we got to tighten up instead of sitting back. We were going to set the pace and I thought we did okay at that for the rest of the game," says Mason McCarty on his lines performance.
"We're just not a team right now that has the skill or depth to not be ready to play. We had 40 shots on goal, I really liked our young kids Wouters and Leslie but we're not going to win games with our AP's (Affiliated Player) as our best players," added Woods on the current state of the team.
With many players sick or injured it causes a concern for the line up as some players are just recovering form illness or starting to contract the flu bug but Woods can't use that as excuse for the last two performances. "We're not going to make excuses and we're just going to have to find a way to get through it and win some hockey games. The way in the third is the way we have to play, if we want to even have a chance of having success we got to play the way we did in the third. We had lots of chances to score but we haven't done that in the last couple games."
Saskatoon gets ready for their last long road trip of the season. Four teams and three provinces in just six days, only one word comes to the mind of the Saskatoon Blades. Goals! "We got to score more goals. We're not going to win many games scoring one goal in just two games. We have to tighten things up especially defensively. We had opportunities tonight, we didn't give up a lot but the ones we gave up were good ones and we need to find a way to clean it up," says Woods on the game plan going forward.
The Blades will be in Medicine Hat Monday night as they take on the Tigers 8:00 p.m. Saskatoon time.
Western Hockey League Stories from February 6, 2016
- Hitmen lose to Rockets - Calgary Hitmen
- Tips Take Down T-Birds - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Kelowna wins in Shootout - Kelowna Rockets
- Blazers Lose 4-0 At Home - Kamloops Blazers
- Wheat Kings Slam Tigers - Brandon Wheat Kings
- Rockets Come Back and Beat Calgary 3-2 in a Shootout - Kelowna Rockets
- Winterhawks Fall 3-1 to Victoria Saturday - Portland Winterhawks
- Goals Still A Struggle Against Broncos - Saskatoon Blades
- Spacek with the Winner; Rebels Edge Moose Jaw 4-3 in OT - Red Deer Rebels
- Regina wins over Cougars - Regina Pats
- Oil Kings Blank Blazers 4-0 - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Fans Elect Barnes, Whitney, Tucker, Keith, Ronning as Five of Top 50 WHL Players of All-Time - WHL
- Game Day: Saturday Night Hockey as Rockets Host Hitmen - Kelowna Rockets
- Game Notes: Broncos Battle Blades - Swift Current Broncos
- Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Saturday, February 6 at Kelowna - Calgary Hitmen
- Late Push Falls Short in 4-3 Loss - Kamloops Blazers
- Wheat Kings Bounce Cougars - Brandon Wheat Kings
- Game 54: February 6 vs. Brandon - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Everett wins over Blazers - Everett Silvertips
- Royals Clip Americans in Shootout - Victoria Royals
- Hitmen Edge Giants in OT - Vancouver Giants
- Americans Fall to Royals in Shootout - Tri-City Americans
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