WHL Saskatoon Blades

Six Unanswered Sink Blades against Blazers

Published on December 11, 2015 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


SASKATOON - Saskatoon sported their gold & blue retro Pacman jerseys tonight but the Kamloops Blazers scored six unanswered goals to leave the Blades black & blue.

It was just the start the Blades needed though as Saskatoon finally broke out of a streak of nine straight games in which they gave up the first goal. Carrying a 6-0-1-0 record when tallying the first marker, things looked positive for the Blades early on.

"We wanted to get the first goal and a lead and we did that," said Head Coach and GM Bob Woods.

Cameron Hebig would bat a puck out of mid-air which deflected off his own skate, a plays of the week caliber goal which was the culmination of a very strong period for the Blades. A Gage Quinney goal would score late in the period to show a tied score after the first 20 minutes.

The 2nd period was dominated by Saskatoon products, unfortunately, those of the Blazers variety. Collin Shirley got it started for Kamloops 5:41 into the 2nd as he beat Brock Hamm on a breakaway to give the Blazers their first lead of the game.

17-year old, Saskatoon product Garrett Pilon, who played his midget hockey for the Saskatoon Contacts, doubled the Blazers lead just past the mid way point of the period. Pilon took a feed from the corner before roofing it past Hamm from the slot, the first of his two point, 1st star performance.

Kamloops would tack on two more before the period ended, and as the score clock showed zeros, the Blades were looking at a four goal deficit.

"I don't know what happened in that 2nd period," said Woods. "We got away from doing the things that got us 17 shots in the 1st period."

The lopsided score prompted a goaltending change to start the third. 16 year old Dorrin Luding entered to make his WHL debut. It wasn't a welcoming experience for the rookie however, as just 17 seconds in to the frame, a point shot from Ondrej Vala took a hop and found the back of the net. The Prince George native would be solid the rest of the period, stopping the final 10 shots he faced.

McCarty would convert late for the Blades but it wasn't enough as Saskatoon was handed their 5th straight loss, and 9th loss out of their past 10 home games. A tough result for the Blades to swallow who were confident coming in after a strong week of practice.

"All together, we've got to do some soul searching," said Blades captain Nick Zajac, who had two assists on the night. "I thought there were parts of our game that were good and others that were really bad." he added.

"We can't give up here," said Cameron Hebig. "We have to stick together as a team, play the system, and I think the biggest thing is just working hard."

Perhaps the recent string of trades has the Blades out of sorts. Whatever the problem may be, it needs to be solved soon as the Blades have a quick turnaround, facing off against the Regina Pats on Sunday. Puck drop is at 4PM.

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Western Hockey League Stories from December 11, 2015


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