WHL Saskatoon Blades

Preview: Blades at Raiders - September 26th

September 26, 2015 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


SASKATOON,SK- With what's already been an impressive start to their season with their first win in their first game, the Blades know that they'll have it tough tonight as they head into the Art Hauser Centre.

"It's a smaller building, fans are right on top of you, everything happens quicker and you just have to be mentally sharp to play there or else you're going to find yourself in trouble." added Bob Woods on the atmosphere in Prince Albert.

The bridge city bunch come into tonights game off on the right foot compared to last year where it took them six games to record their first win. This is definitely a new and improved Blades group.

After a strong pre-season, the Blades are starting to show flashes of offensive flare with the acquisition of Connor Gay in the off-season playing with Cameron Hebig who lead the pre-season in scoring and Ryan Graham who attended the Minnesota Wild rookie camp. This line will definitely be looked upon to lead by example for this team going forward. Bob Woods praised their performance but knows there are some areas that still need some fine tuning. "There's still things they need to clean up defensively as I would agree with them but thats really what they have to do and they're all good hockey players and they're all going to be leaders on our team and we expect big things from them all the time."

Schael Higson who served a one game suspension is inserted back in the line up tonight which means some line up changes will be made on the back end and up front.

Catch tonight's game on 92.9 The Bull and stay tuned to saskatoonblades.com for all the post game coverage and highlights as well keep up to date throughout the game on twitter @bladeshockey.

2015-16 REGULAR SEASON LEADING SCORERS:

Cameron Hebig: 1GP: 1G-3A-4PTS

Connor Gay: 1GP: 2G-2A-4PTS

Ryan Graham: 1GP: 1G-1A-2PTS

2015-16 SPECIAL TEAMS:

PP: 12.5%(9th) PK: 100&(T-1st)

2015 PRE-SEASON LEADING SCORERS:

Cameron Hebig: 4GP-7G-5A-12PTS

Connor Gay: 3GP-1G-9A-9PTS

Nick Zajac: 4GP: 3G-5A-8PTS

2015 PRE-SEASON SPECIAL TEAMS:

PP: 38.9% (1st); PK: 83.3% (8th)

GAME NOTES:

OFF THE TOP: The Blades enter tonight's action already with their first win under their belt. An achievement that took them six games to get to last season.

LAST GAME (SEPT 25th, 2015): Cameron Hebig, Connor Gay, and Ryan Graham combined for 10 points in a dominant 7-2 win at the Sasktel Centre. While 10 different players recorded points.

ROOKIE REVOLUTION: The Blades currently have 8 rookies on their roster (Cameron Hausinger, Josh Paterson, Lukus MacKenzie, Logan Christensen, Jake Kustra, Anthony Bishop, Brayden Uhrich, and Libor Hajek).

DYNAMIC DUO: Cameron Hebig and Connor Gay come in tied for the league lead in points. After both have had offensive tears in the pre-season, they duo looks to dominate early on as the Blades look to continue their success.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: The Blades introduced Nick Zajac as the 56th captain in team history yesterday afternoon. The 20-year old from Headingley, MB has spent his entire career with the Saskatoon Blades, playing in 250 games and amassing 100 points (35G, 65A). Saskatoon will also go with 6 alternate captains. Mitch Wheaton, Connor Gay, and Ryan Graham will wear the As at home while Brycen Martin, Josh Uhrich, and Cameron Hebig will sport the A on the road.

HOME COOKIN': The Bridge City Bunch has been stocking up on local talent over the last few years and on the current roster it shows eight players from Saskatchewan and four from Saskatoon. What is even more impressive is these are impact players. 2/3 of the top line (Hebig, Gay) and 2nd line centre Sloboshan are from Saskatoon, while both goaltenders hail from Saskatchewan, Brock Hamm from Saskatoon, Nik Amundrud from Melfort. Along with Josh Uhrich, Nolan Reid, Jake Kustra, the Blades are certainly proud of their local talent.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS: On Wednesday, the team released 20-year old defenceman Isaac Schacher. Schacher was one of four over-agers vying for the three spots.

Check out the Saskatoon Blades Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from September 26, 2015


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