“Blades jinx” haunts Rebels

Saskatoon sweeps season series with Red Deer

The Blades celebrate a second period goal from Rowan Calvert (#23).

While being consistently inconsistent has been the Saskatoon Blades forte in the 2025-26 WHL campaign, one thing they can consistently do is beat the Red Deer Rebels.

On Wednesday playing before 3,307 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades edged the Rebels 3-2 in a back-and-forth contest that was the final regular season meeting between the two sides in the current campaign. With the win, Saskatoon swept the season series with Red Deer taking all four head-to-head encounters between the two sides in regulation time. Overall dating back to last season, the Blades have won seven straight games against the Rebels.

Rowan Calvert had the Blades first goal on Wednesday.

Lots of players on both sides had good games in Wednesday’s clash, but the performance of two reliable veterans in 20-year-old standout left-winger Rowan Calvert and star netminder Evan Gardner, who turned 20-years-old in late January, put the Blades over the top.

On the scoresheet, Calvert recorded one goal – his 27^th of the season – and a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department. Well above what was seen in the statistical department, he was steady and reliable playing a 200-foot game.

When it came to defensive responsibilities, Calvert was always in the right position. When the Rebels pulled breakout 18-year-old rookie netminder Matthew Kondro for an extra skater inside of the final two minutes of the third, Calvert played a key part with his positioning in allowing the Blades to hold on to their 3-2 lead at the end of the contest.

Evan Gardner made 33 saves for the Blades on Wednesday.

Calvert and the Blades shutdown unit basically kept the Rebels pinned in their own zone for about the final 44 seconds of the third to preserve their one-goal victory.

Gardner made 33 saves to pick up the win in the Saskatoon net in another stellar outing. The puck stopper, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, earned his 23^rd victory of the campaign to match his career high for wins in a season set in the 2024-25 campaign.

The Blades were able to ride out times when the Rebels carried the momentum and rally with push backs. Any adversities that came up, the Saskatoon side was able to overcome them. Saskatoon has done this a number of times this season, but they haven’t been able to do that over a consistent long stretch of contests.

Matthew Kondro made 33 saves for the Rebels on Wednesday.

The Rebels, who are battling for their playoff lives, came out with a big push after downing the Raiders in Prince Albert 4-3 on Tuesday. Against the Raiders, the Rebels entered the third period trailing 3-1 before rolling off three straight goals to pull out the victory. It was a huge win for Red Deer as the Raiders sit second overall in the WHL and are rated second in the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday.

On Wednesday against the Blades, the Rebels hit the scoreboard first just 1:55 into the opening frame, when 17-year-old left-winger Cameron Kuzma roofed home a power-play goal with a drive from the top of the left faceoff circle for his 10^th tally of the season. Red Deer would hold a 17-12 edge in shots on goal after 20-minutes but was unable to expand the 1-0 lead due to the work of Gardner.

Cameron Kuzma scored the Rebels first goal on Wednesday.

The Blades came with a big push back in the second frame. At the 8:39 mark of the second, Blades 18-year-old centre Kazden Mathies attempted to score on a wraparound only to be stopped by Kondro.

The rebound went out to Calvert close in at the right side of the Red Deer net, and Calvert popped the puck home to even the score at 1-1. Calvert’s tally came during a stretch when the two sides were playing four skaters versus four skaters due to off-setting penalties.

At the 15:14 mark of the second, Blades star sophomore centre Cooper Williams, who turned 18-years-old in February, intercepted a pass by a Rebels player in the Red Deer zone. Williams proceeded to skate into the left corner of the Red Deer zone and centred a pass to 19-year-old import left-winger Elias Pul. Pul wired home his ninth goal of the campaign to put the Blades in front 2-1.

Poul Anderson had the second goal for the Rebels on Wednesday.

During their pushback in the second, the Blades held a 15-7 edge in shots on goal for the frame.

The Rebels didn’t go away and showed their traditional no quit will in the third. Just 77 seconds into the frame, Rebels 18-year-old right-winger Poul Anderson wired home his 19^th goal of the campaign from the top of the right faceoff dot in the Saskatoon zone to even the score at 2-2.

Saskatoon wasn’t shaken by that change in momentum. With 5:07 remaining in the third, Blades star import right-winger David Lewandowski fired home a lazer shot from the point for a power-play goal that put the host side up for good at 3-2.

David Lewandowski had the winning goal for the Blades.

Kondro turned away 33 shots to take the setback in goal for the Rebels.

With the win, the Blades ended a two-game skid improving to 31-25-4-2 to remain solidly sixth overall in the Eastern Conference. The Rebels fell to 23-33-2-2, but they still continue to hold a one point lead over the Moose Jaw Warriors (21-33-5-2) for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Red Deer has one game in hand on Moose Jaw.

The Blades return to action on Friday when they host the Warriors at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

The Rebels also get back at it on Friday when they travel to Medicine Hat to take on the Tigers (7 p.m. local time, Co-op Place).  

The Blades celebrate their win on Wednesday.

Over their final six games of the regular season, the Blades will try to find the consistency they had during their first 12 contests of the regular season, when they jumped out to a 9-3 start. They can potentially be a handful for whoever they face in the post-season, if they can find the consistency to play well over a longer stretch.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Raiders, Tigers in final sprint for top spot in Eastern Conference

The Raiders are in a final sprint for first in the Eastern Conference.

For the WHL regular season, the final sprint is here and has just taken off from the starting line.

The Prince Albert Raiders sit in an exciting place having locked up first in the East Division with a 45-8-5-1 mark entering play Tuesday. They lead the Medicine Hat Tigers (42-9-5-3) by four points for top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Tigers lead the Edmonton Oil Kings (39-16-3-2) by nine points for first in the Central Division. Medicine Hat should take the Central Division title. The Tigers would need to lose seven of their last nine games in regulation to give the Oil Kings a chance at first in the Central Division.

Edmonton is pretty much out of the loop as far as the race goes for first in the Eastern Conference. The Raiders just need to win two more games to eliminate Edmonton from having a shot at first in the conference.

That means the Raiders and the Tigers will engage in a nine game sprint to see who takes top spot in the conference. Prince Albert with a four point lead in the standings and could go out and win just five of nine games to put Medicine Hat in a bind for getting top spot. In that scenario, the Tigers would need to win seven of their last nine games and get a point from an extra time loss to overtake the Raiders.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Huskies Track and Field Teams have mastered family feeling

The Huskies Women’s Team enjoys an eighth straight Canada West title.

Track and field might be mostly an individual sport, but you never feel alone when you are with the University of Saskatchewan Track and Field Teams.

It is something you can easily see during the Canada West Track and Field Championships the Huskies teams hosted this past February 20 and 21 at the Saskatoon Field House. Over the course of the two-day event, the Huskie athletes that weren’t competing in any track disciplines or were done competing were moving around to various other track disciplines to cheer on other members of the Huskies teams.

If you were on the floor of the Field House where all the track competition is taking place, it was seemingly impossible to not cross paths with a Huskie athlete. While it looks like the competition floor is large, it feels like the track events are happening right on top of each other as everything is actually taking place in a compressed space.

Thanks to the tight confines, Huskie athletes had no problems cycling from the running track, the sand pits used for long and triple jumps, the throwing area, the high jump area and the pole vault area. When a Huskie athlete sets to do an event, that athlete was usually accompanied by a vocal cheering section. That athlete was not alone.

When the competition came to a finish, the Huskies Women’s Team took home an eighth consecutive Canada West title finishing first in the team standings with 186 points. On the men’s side, the Huskies placed fourth in the team standings with 103 points, while the University of Alberta Golden Bears took top spot with 143.5 points.

Hannah Hagerty (#428) is cheered on by her Huskies teammates.

The family feeling on the Huskies track teams saw the strong team results come from a whole host of individual results.

On the women’s side, the Huskies took the top three spots in the 60-metre sprint. Kailee Woitas claimed top spot with a time of 7.46 seconds just edging Hannah Hagerty, who had a time of 7.47 seconds. Selena Keyowski came in third with a time of 7.51 seconds.

Hagerty, who is in her fifth and final season of eligibility, picked up a gold medal in the long jump with a leap of 6.30-metres, which was good for a Huskies record. The record she broke was set in 1990 by Vanessa Monar at 6.27-metres.

Along with the medals in the 60-metre and the long jump, Hagerty collected a gold medal as part of the Huskies 4 X 400-metre relay team that included Jaedyn McLaughlin, Grace Igbiki and Emma Egert. That foursome took top spot with a time of three minutes and 47.07 seconds.

Igbiki, and Egert would team up with Hailee Woodhouse and Keyowski to take the 4 X 200-metre relay in a time of 1:35.75 to set new Canada West Conference and Canadian indoor records.

Nicole Ostertag won the final of the 60-metre hurdles in a Canada West record time of 8.07 seconds. Olamide Olaloku took the triple jump with a Canada West record leap of 12.73-metres breaking an 18-year-old mark previously held by Janine Polischuk of the U of Regina Cougars.

The Huskies Women’s Team sweeps the podium in the 60-metre sprint.

Woodhouse, who would take honours as the Canada West rookie of the year, picked up a gold in the 300-metre race in a time of 38.34 seconds.

Jason Reindl, who is head coach of both Huskies Track and Field Teams, was named the Canada West Women’s coach of the year, and Huskies assistant Karlyn Wells took honours as the Canada West Women’s assistant coach of the year.

On the men’s side, Liam Oster captured gold in the 60-metre Hurdles with a time of 8.29 seconds. Ashwin Witt topped pole vault clearing a bar set at 4.85 metres, and Nathan Pinno took first in shot put with a throw of 16.60 metres.

Josh Tam placed second in the heptathlon collecting 4,899 points over seven events. Tam also took honours as the Canada West Men’s Community Service Award winner.

The Huskies have built a storied history in track and field. The Huskies Women’s Team has won 29 Canada West titles and seven U Sports championships, and the Huskies Men’s Team has captured 20 Canada West crowns and five U Sports titles.

Most of the Huskies history was built under the watch of the late Lyle Sanderson, who left an iconic legacy as head coach from 1965 to 2004. Reindl, who was a Huskies athlete in their U Sports team title wins in 2002 and 2005, became the Huskies head coach in 2017 and has played a key part in allowing the Huskies to continue to be one of Canada’s top track and field programs. The Huskies track athletes roll with a family togetherness you often find with the best squads in teams sports like baseball, basketball, football and hockey.

The Huskies Women’s Team does a conference champions parade.

Before the 2025-26 season comes to an end, the Huskies Teams head to the U Sports Track and Field Championships that start Thursday and run through to Saturday in Winnipeg, Man., at the James Daly Fieldhouse.

The track programs from the University of Guelph and the University of Western Ontario are expected to be the favourites to challenge for the Women’s and Men’s team titles.

While those squads are strong, you can expect the athletes from the Huskies Teams will leave their marks before all is said and done.

Draper era ends with Pandas

The Howie Draper era has come to a close at the University of Alberta.

On Monday, the U of Alberta Athletics Program announced that Howie Draper has decided the 2025-26 campaign was his last working behind the bench as head coach of the Pandas Women’s Hockey Team and has elected to retire. In the summer of 1997, he was hired on as the Pandas first head coach in team history as they embarked on the inaugural campaign in U Sports women’s hockey.

Since that start, Draper has been the Pandas head coach for all but one season of their existence. The born and raised Edmonton product has guided the Pandas to a record 15 Canada West Conference titles, eight U Sports national titles and the most wins in U Sports Women’s Hockey at 715.

“Though my passion for serving our student-athletes has always been and will continue to be strong, I feel like it’s time for the program to have a new coach who possesses fresh energy, ideas and enthusiasm to help bring the program back to national prominence,” said Draper in a release. “My experience as a student-athlete at the U of A was life changing, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have played a similar role for those within the Pandas Hockey program for the past 28 years.”

This past season Draper guided the Pandas to a 12-9-2-5 record where they finished fifth overall in Canada West. The Pandas season came to an end after they fell 2-1 in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series to the U of Manitoba Bisons. The Bisons have since advanced to the Canada West Championship Series.

One season earlier in 2024-25, the Pandas finished second overall in the Canada West regular season standings with a 24-3-0-1 mark. The Pandas would advance to the Canada West Championship Series to face the first place University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. U of A swept that best-of-three series 2-0 winning both games of the set in overtime with star forward Abby Soyko scoring the extra time winners in both contests.

At the 2025 U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship Tournament, the Pandas fell 3-0 to the host U of Waterloo Warriors in a quarter-final and finished the event with a 1-2 record.

Draper, who will turn 59-years-old on April 3, has been named the Canada West coach of the year eight times and the U Sports coach of the year four times in women’s hockey. He was the inaugural coach of the PWHL’s New York franchise in 2023-24 and picked the first ever regular season head coaching victory on that circuit.

Draper has been inducted into the Alberta Hockey and City of Edmonton Sports Hall of Fames. With the 2002-2007 Pandas hockey dynasty teams that won five national titles and six straight Canada West championships, Draper was inducted with those squads to the U of A Sports Wall of Fame. From the start of the 2001-02 campaign, Draper coached the Pandas through an undefended streak that lasted 110 games and included 109 wins, one tie and three U Sports championships.

He earned the University of Alberta Alumni Excellence Award in 2007.

In 2025, Draper was given the Hockey Canada Gordon Jukes Award for outstanding contribution to the development of amateur hockey in Canada at the national level.

To go along with his time with the Pandas, Draper has extensive international coaching experience. He guided Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2022 World Under-18 Championship in Wisconsin. He has also spent time as an assistant coach with Canada’s Women’s National Team and was the head coach of the 2013 Canadian FISU Team in Trentino, Italy.

Before his coaching days, Draper was a defenceman on the U of A Golden Bears Men’s Hockey Team from 1985 to 1990 playing under head coaches in the iconic Clare Drake and Billy Moores. Draper helped the Bears win the University Cup as U Sports champions in 1986, which was ultimately Drake’s last national championship win with the team. Draper also helped the Bears win the Canada West title in 1989.

The U of A will conduct a nation-wide search to find the next head coach of the Pandas hockey program later this spring.

Illness causes absence

It is never fun being sick.

I admit I have been down with a hanging around illness, which has kept me off here. My last previous post came back on February 18.

I got it around February 19, while cleaning up after a big snowfall here in Saskatoon. I thought I got over it on February 21, but it came back after finishing up the big snowfall clean up a day later.

The illness is now down to congestion and a cough. I suspect I am dealing with a bacterial infection. I tried to go see a doctor once to get an antibiotic to deal with this, but the medical clinic was overflowing with people who were under the weather, so I elected to try and ride this out.

I am pretty much over the illness now, so hopefully, I will have clear sailing ahead.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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CHL Top 50 Players promotion great way to engage game’s history

CHL Top 50 list gets people talking

Mike Modano in action in the 1980s. (Photo courtesy the WHL)

At times it feels like a hockey player’s exploits in the NHL are always remembered, but memories of a player’s junior days seem to evaporate over time outside of the junior community that athlete played in.

On February 10, the Canadian Hockey League announced a promotion listing its top 50 players of the last 50 years. The promotion is being done as part of festivities of the CHL recognizing its 50^th anniversary season in the current campaign. The CHL in its current form was created on May 9, 1975 as the umbrella organization that the WHL, OHL and QMJHL play under.

For the CHL’s Top 50 Players List, it was selected by a panel of more than 40 media members who submitted ranked ballots from one to 50, which were guided by a weighted evaluation framework designed to ensure consistency across eras.

Media members considered a player’s impact beyond the CHL – including NHL and international success, major awards and championships and Hall of Fame recognition – alongside on-ice achievement in CHL member leagues. A player’s accomplishments during their time in the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL through production, individual honours, team success and sustained dominance were taken into account.

Selections also accounted for historical significance, recognizing milestones, era-defining influence, generational impact and lasting contributions to CHL history. To be eligible, players must have competed in at least one full season in the WHL, OHL or QMJHL during the CHL’s 50-year history beginning in 1975-76. For players who competed in 1975-76 and also played prior to that season, their entire CHL career was considered when evaluating on-ice accomplishments.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Raiders rally past Blades in Valentine’s Day heart stopper

Prince Albert takes tiebreaking shootout 2-0 and contest 5-4

The Raiders celebrate their win on Saturday night.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Sometimes the Prince Albert Raiders have to live out the phrase, “Just win baby.”

The Raiders found a way to do just that in taking on their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades in a regular season clash on Saturday, which was also Valentine’s Day. The contest was likely both thrilling and hard on the hearts for the fans of both squads. The hosts took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission only for the visitor to score four straight in the first 7:42 of the second to surge ahead 4-2.

Prince Albert proceeded to rally back by scoring once during the remaining time in the second and the equalizer in the third to force a 4-4 tie. After the two sides played through a scoreless three-versus-three overtime period, 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring and star centre Braeden Cootes scored as the first two shooters in the tiebreaking shootout to allow the Raiders to take that session 2-0 and the overall game 5-4 to the delight of most of the 2,892 spectators at the 2,580 seat storied and historic Art Hauser Centre.

Aiden Oiring (#19) puts the shootout winner past Evan Gardner.

The win came off the heels of the Raiders dropping a 4-3 decision to the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Friday. That setback saw Raiders 19-year-old import defenceman Matyas Man be given a suspension with a length to be determined for his part in a second period fight with Wheat Kings 18-year-old right-winger Joby Baumuller, who was injured in the bout.

Man was given a roughing minor, an unsportsmanlike conduct minor, a fighting major and a game misconduct for that fight, while Baumuller was given a fighting major.

Aiden Oiring had an assist in regulation time on Saturday.

After the eight hour bus trip back to Prince Albert, Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald was pleased his side found a way to take Saturday’s clash with the Blades.

“Guys dug deep,” said McDonald. “You know what, we had some tough travel coming back, no excuses, and that is what that room does in there.

“They dig deep right till the end, and it took us 65 plus to get the two points, and those guys played hard right till the bitter end.”

The Raiders, who are rated second in the latest CHL Top 10 Rankings, built their 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes with goals coming off the sticks of Ben Harvey and Brandon Gorzynski. Harvey, who is a 16-year-old rookie right-winger, deflected home a backhand shot rookie 18-year-old import left-winger Alisher Sarkenov at the 3:47 mark of the first.

Brayden Klimpke had a pair of assists for the Blades.

Gorzynski put an off-speed shot from the point home through a screen with 25.4 seconds remaining in the opening frame to give the Raiders their two-goal edge.

The Blades quickly erased that advantaged by scoring four straight goals in the first 7:42 of the second to take 4-2 lead. Hunter Laing, with his 21^st goal of the campaign, David Lewandowski, Ben Bowtell and captain Tyler Parr all had singles in the surge. 

Parr capped the goal explosion scoring on a breakaway. With that tally, Parr now has goals in four straight games.

“I think some of our puck management and our risk management started to go a little bit,” said McDonald. “We got under some pucks.

“They started flying some guys out of the zone, and they started getting some rush opportunities. Give them credit, (because) they capitalized on some of our mistakes. Halfway through the second period, the guys snapped back in, and were getting strong through the middle.

Justice Christensen had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

“We had numbers in the picture. We were able to kill those rush opportunities for them and get pucks going back into the other direction.”

Just 51 seconds after Parr’s goal put the Blades in front 4-2, the Raiders got a key traction marker from sophomore right-winger Riley Boychuk, who tipped a puck home from the front of the Saskatoon net. Boychuk got his stick on a shot taken by Gorzynski from the left side boards in the Saskatoon zone.

“It was huge,” said Oiring of his linemate’s goal. “They had a couple of quick ones back to back there.

“When we went out there, we had to shift the momentum a little bit, just put her deep. We got a lucky bounce to put her in the net.”

The Raiders celebrate a first period goal by Ben Harvey (#20).

At the 5:22 mark of the third, the Raiders evened the game’s score at 4-4, when 17-year-old right-winger Brandon Sivertson shoveled home the puck from the front of the Saskatoon net collecting a rebound from a shot he took. Sivertson’s tally was his 19^th goal of the campaign.

“Everyone in our group, we battle right to the end,” said Sivertson. “It is important for everyone to battle hard.”

Both teams had their chances to pull ahead through the remainder of the third. In overtime, Blades 18-year-old centre Kazden Mathies was stopped by Raiders star netminder Michal Orsulak on an early breakaway. That was the Blades only shot on goal in overtime, while the Raiders couldn’t find the back of the Saskatoon net with their seven shots on goal.

Hunter Laing had the Blades first goal on Saturday.

That set the stage for the tiebreaking shootout, where Oiring and Cootes both fired home goals low to the stick side on Blades star netminder Evan Gardner. 

Oiring, who had an assist in regulation time, said the Raiders coaches do scouting work to give the players options on what to do in the shootout.

“We definitely have an idea in our head, and we have a plan A going down,” said Oiring, whose team is 2-0 in tiebreaking shootouts this season. “If we see it, we execute it, but if not, there is a plan B that we are thinking off.

“I think both the shooters really stuck with plan A there.”

Orsulak stopped 18 shots over 65 minutes and both shooters he faced in the shootout to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. 

Tyler Parr scored the Blades fourth goal on Saturday.

Gardner turned away 32 shots over 65 minutes and didn’t turn away any shooters in the shootout to take the extra time setback in net for the Blades.

Raiders captain and star defenceman Justice Christensen finished with two assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department. Blades offensive-defenceman Brayden Klimpke finished with two assists and a plus-one rating.

With the win, the Raiders improved to 41-8-5 to remain first in the Eastern Conference and second overall in the WHL. The Blades remained sixth overall in the Eastern Conference as their record moved to 27-22-4-2.

The Raiders return to action on Monday when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors (2 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Brock Cripps brings the puck up ice for the Raiders.

The Blades also get back at it on Monday when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings (2:30 p.m., Assiniboine Credit Union Place).

After the Raiders tied Saturday’s game in the third, McDonald was pleased his players didn’t get discouraged when they couldn’t take the lead in the rest of that frame or win it in overtime. The bench boss liked how his players continued to battle.

“Sometimes it takes longer than 60 minutes,” said McDonald. “In this case tonight, it took 65 plus, but that is our group.

The Raiders salute their faithful at the Art Hauser Centre.

“We just keep pushing and pushing and pushing until we find a way to get it done.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Prince Albert Northern Bears alumna stars at Huskie Women of Influence Breakfast

Kaitlin Willoughby, right, chats with Heather Morrison.

The centre stage spotlight of the University of Saskatchewan Huskie Women of Influence Breakfast was a deserving spot for Kaitlin Willoughby.

These days Willoughby skates for the Montreal Victoire as a checking forward in the PWHL. From 2013 to 2018, she was a star forward with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey Team skating to a legendary career where she still sits as the program’s second all-time leading scorer. Before that, she was a star with the Prince Albert Northern Bears, who were then known as the A & W Bears, of the SFU18AAAHL.

On Tuesday morning before a packed TCU Place in Saskatoon, Willoughby was the keynote speaker for the third annual Huskie of Women of Influence Breakfast that raises scholarship funds for the Huskies women’s programs. She took part in a sit down style question and answer session with emcee Heather Morrison, who is a local area broadcaster.

While Willoughby talked about her hockey journey through all parts of her life, she enjoyed the vibe at the breakfast.

“I think seeing this event, I think it is in its third year, and just to see the support of people in the community showing up for women athletes at U of S I think it is really incredible to see,” said Willoughby. “Events like this are what makes it possible to have female athletes play a sport at the university and be able to financially have a little bit of aid in getting their degree and also playing a sport.

“I’m all about supporting that and to see everyone turn up today and hear the stories of the athletes were just incredible.”

This story of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Hurricanes rock Blades with third period surge

Berge nets two in 4-2 win to end 12-game road skid

The Hurricanes celebrate a second goal from Owen Berge (#29).

Matt Anholt just wants his Lethbridge Hurricanes to win the day.

The Hurricanes first-year head coach, who has been with the team since the 2018-19 campaign, knows his squad is in a rebuilding stage after making it to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series last year. In the 2024-25 campaign, the Hurricanes finished sixth overall in the WHL with a 42-21-3-2 record and loaded up with trades to make their long post-season run.

Due to massive graduations on their roster, the Hurricanes have taken their lumps in 2025-26 as they go through a rebuild. They are looking for good signs and breakthroughs like the one they had on Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre against the host Saskatoon Blades.

Owen Berge had a pair of goals for the Hurricanes.

The two teams entered the third period of a WHL regular season clash locked in a 1-1 tie, and the Hurricanes exploded for three straight goals. Owen Berge, who is a 19-year-old centre, started the surge with a pair of tallies and left-winger Gavin Lesiuk, who turned 18-years-old near the middle of January, potted a single to give the visitors a 4-1 lead.

The Hurricanes would proceed to pull out a 4-2 victory before 4,397 spectators. The win allowed Lethbridge to improve to 16-35-0-1 and also end a 12 game losing skid on the road.

Before Saturday’s win over the Blades, the Hurricanes last road win came on November 18, 2025, when they slipped past the Royals in Victoria 4-3. Lethbridge entered Saturday’s game having been blanked 6-0 one night earlier against the powerhouse Raiders in Prince Albert.

Gavin Lesiuk celebrates scoring a goal in the third period.

“I think, when wins are hard to come by, every win is good,” said Anholt. “I think our guys really dug in tonight after losing a hard game last night in P.A.

“As good as P.A. is, it is still no fun to get blown out, obviously, in any sort of game. It was a really good job by our guys, but especially our leadership group to get the guys back in order and come in and get a greasy road win.”

At the 5:59 mark of the third, the Hurricanes started their surge working on the power play and pouncing on a Blades miscue. Blades 18-year-old defenceman Isaac Poll had the puck behind his net and threw a clearing attempt up the centre of the ice.

Berge intercepted the clear, skated down in front of the Blades net, and wired home a shot to the top right corner of the cage to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead. He proceeded to score his second of the night at the 11:32 mark of the third potting home a rebound at the left side of the Saskatoon net that came from a long distance drive from 17-year-old rookie right-winger Easton Daneault. That tally pushed the Hurricanes lead out to 3-1.

Matteo Fabrizi, left, and Tyler Parr engage in a fight.

Just 50 seconds after Berge’s second tally, Lesiuk was forechecking the Saskatoon zone, and he stole the puck from Blades 19-year-old defenceman Tristen Doyle. Lesiuk jetted into the left faceoff circle and drove a shot to the top right corner of the Saskatoon net to make the Hurricanes advantage stand at 4-1.

With 5:54 remaining in the third, Blades defenceman Jack Kachkowski, who turned 19-years-old near the middle of January, drove into the Lethbridge zone down the left wing and put a pass across the face of the Hurricanes net to Blades overage captain Tyler Parr positioned by the right post. Parr tapped the puck home into an empty cage to trim the Hurricanes lead to 4-2.

The Blades thought they had a goal with 1:14 remaining in the third coming off the stick of 20-year-old star right-winger Rowan Calvert. Calvert put a shot on net that was stopped by the left pad of Hurricanes 18-year-old netminder Koen Cleaver, but then Cleaver was driven into the net by a mass of bodies that surrounded the net. The officials blew the play dead and ruled no goal.

Hudson Kibblewhite (#22) scored the Hurricanes first goal.

Saskatoon was not able to score in the 74 seconds that remained on the clock, which allowed Lethbridge to pick up the win.

Anholt said his Hurricanes didn’t do anything fancy in the third period surge.

“I would say it was just the overall battles,” said Anholt. “We just probably won maybe a little more than we were winning in the second and the first, especially at the end of the first more so.

“Just some of those simple little battles, especially between the blue lines, you win those battles and you usually are going to lead to O-zone time. You look at any of our goals, even our power-play goal, there is always maybe a little sequence of events that led to that. It is just those little battles that lead to good stuff, and I think our guys dug in a little more in the third.”

Koen Cleaver made 33 saves in goal for the Hurricanes.

The contest began with a spirited fight just 22 seconds into the opening frame between Parr and Hurricanes 20-year-old defenceman Matteo Fabrizi. Parr, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 192 pounds, and Fabrizi, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 240 pounds, engaged in a long and feisty bout that finally ended with Fabrizi getting a takedown.

At the 7:32 mark of the first, the Hurricanes opened the scoring of Saturday’s game on a goal from 18-year-old centre Hudson Kibblewhite. Kibblewhite, who is a former member of the Blades, tipped home a point shot in front of the Saskatoon net that came off the stick of 18-year-old defenceman Carsen Adair.

Kazden Mathies had the Blades first goal on Saturday.

With just under nine minutes to play in the first, the Blades just missed getting the equalizer as Calvert drove a shot off the post.

Saskatoon came out flying in the second holding a 14-3 edge in shots on goal for the frame. The Blades evened the score at 1-1 scoring on the power play at the 10:23 mark of the second period.

Blades star 17-year-old centre Cooper Williams had the puck at the left side boards in the Lethbridge zone and passed the puck across the face of the Hurricanes net to 18-year-old centre Kazden Mathies. Mathies controlled the puck at the right side of the Lethbridge net and quickly potted his 15^th of the campaign for the equalizer.

Cooper Williams set up the Blades first goal.

That set the stage for the third period to play out as it did starting with the Hurricanes three-goal surge.

Evan Gardner turned away 16 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades (26-22-3-1). Cleaver stopped 33 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Hurricanes.

“Honestly, the biggest goal for us is just trying to win the day and try to get better every day as an individual and then hopefully that makes us better collectively,” said Anholt. “Every practice, that has kind of been the mentality and just being competitive, being even competitive against yourself and trying to improve every day in the gym, on the ice and all that stuff.

The Blades thought they scored with 1:14 remaining in the third.

“I think we’ve seen some really good strides by a lot of guys, and Gavin Lesiuk is one of those young guys that has obviously had a really good game tonight. He is one of many on our team right now, because we’re so young. (We’re focused on) just winning the day and trying to compete every day.”

The Blades get back at it on Saturday when they host the Regina Pats (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Hurricanes are off until Friday when they return home to host the Everett Silvertips (7 p.m. local time, VisitLethbridge.com Arena).

Anholt said he reminds his players on his young team that the experiences they are picking up will be valuable down the road.

The Hurricanes celebrate their win on Saturday.

“That is kind of the ebbs and flows of the WHL,” said Anholt. “We’re a young team right now, but we won’t be a young team soon.

“All of a sudden, we’ll be an old team, because a lot of these guys will grow up together. Right now, we’re just trying to take lessons. For example P.A., you take lessons from even how good they are and what makes them successful.

“Everett has got a lot of similarities to that P.A. team, where they play fast and they’re deep and they get on you. It is going to be a really hard challenge on Friday. I’m happy that we’re at home, so we can at least set some matchups.”

Blades great Maracle fighting cancer, funds being raised

A Norm Maracle hockey card.

Saskatoon Blades all-time great netminder Norm Maracle is fighting Burkitt Lymphoma, which is a very aggressive and fast-moving cancer of the B cells – a type of white blood cells.

Maracle, who is 51-years-old, recently received this cancer diagnosis. A GoFundMe page was set up about five days ago to raise funds to help him and his family through this challenging time.

Maracle played goal for three seasons for the Blades from 1991 to 1994. He was with the club for arguably the team’s most memorable three-year stretch.

As a 17-year-old rookie in the 1991-92 campaign, Maracle appeared in 29 games with the Blades posting a record of 13 wins, six losses and three ties, a 3.41 goals against average, a .946 save percentage and one shutout. In the post-season, Maracle started the majority of the Blades games as they advanced to the WHL Championship Series falling in seven games to the Kamloops Blazers, who moved on to capture the Memorial Cup as CHL champions.

Maracle, who stood 5-foot-10 and weighed 205 pounds in his playing days, went into his second season with the Blades as their main starter in the 1992-93 campaign. During the regular season, Maracle appeared in 53 games posting a 27-18-3 record, a 3.27 goals against average, a .910 save percentage and one shutout. The Blades fell in a best-of-seven conference semifinal series to the Regina Pats in five games.

The 1993-94 campaign was a stellar 19-year-old season for Maracle. He appeared in 56 regular season games for the Blades posting a 41-13-1 record, a 2.76 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and two shutouts. He proceeded to once again backstop the Blades into the WHL Championship Series where they again fell in seven games to the Blazers, who went on to win the Memorial Cup.

For the 1993-94 campaign, Maracle was named the winner of the Del Wilson Trophy as the top goaltender in the WHL and he claimed honours as the CHL’s goaltender of the year along with being named a CHL first team all-star.

During Blades games, it was common for Blades fans to scream out “Norm” like in the television show Cheers, when Maracle took the ice.

After his time with the Blades, Maracle moved on to a lengthy professional career that ran from 1994 to 2012 that included playing in 66 NHL regular season games split between the Detroit Red Wings and the Atlanta Thrashers.

For those looking to help Maracle in his battle with Burkitt lymphoma, the link for his GoFundMe page can be found by clicking right here.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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