WHL Saskatoon Blades

Round 2 vs the Rebels Kicks off this Weekend at SaskTel Centre

Published on April 13, 2023 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


Saskatoon Blades celebration
Saskatoon Blades celebration
(Saskatoon Blades)

Chapter 1 is in the books, but our journey is nowhere near over.

The Saskatoon Blades lock horns with the Red Deer Rebels for a Round 2 best-of-seven series! The two Eastern Conference titans walked out of their first-round matchups victorious but both in different fashions.

Saskatoon went the distance in a seven-game thriller vs the Regina Pats while the Rebels dealt with the Calgary Hitmen in five games.

The Blue and Gold hold home-ice advantage once again with games 1 and 2 taking place this weekend at SaskTel Centre!

Game 1 is Friday, Apr. 14th at 7:00pm followed up by Game 2 Sunday, Apr. 16th for a 4:00pm start.

Clash of the Titans

The Saskatoon Blades (4-3) and the Red Deer Rebels (4-1) begin their second-round best-of-seven playoff series tonight at SaskTel Centre. Saskatoon earned 101 points during the regular season, nine more than the Rebels, but finished third behind the visitors in the Eastern Conference standings. Division winners in each conference get first and second for the first-round in the WHL. The Winnipeg ICE won the East Division with the most points in the league at 115 while the Rebels secured first in the Central Division. Home-ice advantage goes to the Blades however due to re-seeding.

In the regular season series Saskatoon won three of the four meetings, outscoring their opponent 16-12 in the process. History went in favour of the Blue and Gold the last time these two met during the postseason in 2010, sweeping Red Deer in four games. Energy levels are different for each club after Round 1 as Red Deer handled the Calgary Hitmen in five games, while the Blades went the distance vs the Regina Pats in a series-deciding Game 7.

Hockey fans were the true winners when the Blades squared off against Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats in Round 1. Saskatoon's provincial rivals jumped out to a 2-0 series lead and were 27-seconds away from making it 3-0, but Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick Brandon Lisowsky tied the game to force overtime. Forward Egor Sidorov netted the game-winner, followed up by a second straight game of extra time heroics, this time courtesy of Edmonton Oilers prospect Jake Chiasson. Both teams went on to win a game at home respectively, before Saskatoon closed the series 4-1 on home soil Monday in Game 7 at SaskTel Centre.

Who to Watch

Alternate captain Trevor Wong exploded in Game 3 vs Regina and hasn't looked back. The 5-foot-9 speedster is on a five-game point streak with three goals and ten points during that stretch. Wong is tied for the team-lead in playoff scoring alongside Sidorov but was the top scorer during the regular season with a career-high 86 points in 68 games. In four games vs the Rebels, the 19-year-old center recorded three multi-point games giving him three goals and eight points total.

If you're a goalie staring down Egor Sidorov, good luck. The NHL Draft eligible forward had five goals in Round 1 and currently rides a six-game point streak. In his sophomore season Sidorov became the first Blade to score 40 goals since Max Gerlach during the 2018-19 campaign, accomplishing the feat in just 53 games. The 6-foot sniper is a game-changer on the ice with his ability to score in bunches, something Red Deer experienced first-hand this year when he tallied four goals and three assists in the season series.

Vancouver, BC's own Spencer Shugrue had the game of his life in Game 7 vs Regina. The 19-year-old blueliner scored the opening goal of the contest with under a minute remaining in the second period, and Saskatoon never looked back. Shugrue also assisted on Chiasson's game-winning goal in the third for his first career multi-point playoff game and the second of his career. Counting regular season games, the 5-foot-8 blueliner has six points in his last eight outings.

Saskatoon, SK. product Ethan Chadwick took the starters crease in Game 3 after his tandem partner Austin Elliott got the nod in games 1 and 2. Chadwick won three straight starts, including back-to-back 4-3 overtime decisions in Regina bringing the series tied 2-2 to Saskatoon. Rookie Elliott would regain the crease for his first career Game 7 and stood tall stopping 25 of 26 shots to secure the series win. Both netminder's stellar play allowed the club to rotate goalies all season long and be confident in whoever they start in any given game.

Veteran blueliner Aidan De La Gorgendiere is giving everything he has in his final WHL season. The Langley, BC. product had seven assists vs Regina and came off a career season scoring 65 points in as many games from the back end. The 6-foot-1 defenceman quarterbacked one of the top powerplay units all season long and finished fifth in the league for assists while on the man-advantage with 31. De La Gorgendiere etched his name in Blades history on Mar. 24th, 2023 vs the Pats tying Wendel Clark for the tenth most points by a defenceman in Blades history. Not only that, but he did also it in front of 14,768 fans in the club's second straight sellout. Hungry is the perfect word to describe De La Gorgendiere as he plays to keep his WHL career alive.

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Saskatoon Blades celebration
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Western Hockey League Stories from April 13, 2023


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