The last remaining undefeated team was removed from the standings on Friday night when the Saskatoon Blades suffered their first loss of the season, falling 6-3 against the Swift Current Broncos. It was a frustrating loss; not only did they tie the game three times before the Broncos scored three unanswered goals in the third, but they had beaten them twice earlier this season already with practically the same lineup. The key difference was the Broncos’ experience. With 18-year-old Clarke Caswell back from the Seattle Kraken’s camp, Swift Current had a significant advantage over the Blades, who were still missing stars Brandon Lisowsky and Tanner Molendyk, as well as Tyler Parr and Lukas Hansen.
That same issue followed the Blades back home to take on the Everett Silvertips, who had all their core players back from camps. Julius Miettinen, Tarin Smith, Eric Jamieson, and Kaden Hamell were back from training camp, and along with Dominik Rymon, Tyler MacKenzie, and exceptional status defenceman Landon DuPont, the Silvertips were a formidable opponent with a lot of skill and experience. Although the Blades fought hard and managed to force the game into overtime, it wasn’t enough to overcome the Silvertips, who haven’t lost to the Blades since Oct 13, 2011.
Blades Rookies Continue to Lead the Charge
Despite lacking plenty of top talent, Saskatoon’s young core has proven that they can handle the bulk of the offence. Rookie Cooper Williams extended his point streak to six games with his first-period goal to open the scoring and Zach Olsen finally scored his first goal of his Western Hockey League (WHL) career and put up his first multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist. Fellow rookies Brayden Klimpke, Jordan Martin, and Hudson Kibblewhite also got onto the scoresheet, while rookie import Vlastimil Blazek looked much more confident with the puck and less afraid to engage opponents in the corners. It also was the first night in four games that sophomore William James didn’t get a point, proving how deep this Blades’ roster is.
Olsen especially stood out with his skating and physicality, putting himself into great positions to push the play forward and force the Silvertips to turn over the puck. His best play of the night came on the Blades’ first goal, where he carried the puck into the offensive zone, but then faced pressure from the Everett defender, so he made a quick decision to throw the puck towards the net, where Williams caught the pass and put it easily by the Silvertips’ goalie, Alex Garrett. Head coach Dan DaSilva praised the rookie’s efforts after the game, saying, “He’s been good as of late. For him, he’s a 16-year-old and it’s a very difficult league to play in as a 16-year-old, but the biggest thing for him is he’s always working and you always notice his skating and now it’s just getting adjusted to the systems and learning how to play in this league and be solid consistently.”
“All of our young guys have been really solid for us,” DaSilva added while talking to Les Lazaruk in the CJWW Radio post-game show. “[They’re] contributing every night, and that’s been a big reason why our record is where it is right now.” It’s a great sign that the Blades’ young stars are performing, but that quote may be a subtle jab at the team’s veterans, who haven’t been nearly as impactful. Ben Riche has been an excellent addition and Rowan Calvert has been a consistent force on both ends of the ice, but the rest have left a little to be desired six games into the season.
Lack of Experience Starting to Show
However, one problem with having an offence led by rookies is their lack of experience in handling the fast pace of the WHL. The Silvertips were a strong, fast team with a lot of high-end skill, and early on, the difference was blatantly obvious. Any time the Blades entered Everett’s zone, there were suddenly three Silvertips on top of them, forcing a turnover and preventing any shot attempts. Saskatoon eventually got into a rhythm, leading to the game’s first goal, but then they lulled and allowed two unanswered goals, both of which came on the power play. Players were left wide open, shots were fumbled, and pucks were turned over all throughout the game, constantly putting the Blades on their heels despite some incredible individual efforts.
“We’ve been a resilient group all year,” DaSilva said after the game. “It was the previous 50 minutes that was the issue tonight. We just didn’t establish our game at all and we were undisciplined and it burned us. So, we have a lot to learn, but again, it’s a stepping stone and we’re going to take our lessons from this and improve….There are always lots of things you can work on. We’ll watch the video and we’ll assess those again, the game happens quickly, so we’re going to watch the video and find a hole and plug it and there might be multiple right now and we’ve got to put plugs in all of them. So, it’s just a day-by-day process of getting better every day.”
Related: Saskatoon Blades Have Exactly What They Need in Ben Riche
Of course, it doesn’t help that the Blades were missing four of their core players, who have a combined 721 games in the WHL, not to mention the gap that already existed from the team’s graduating stars which included Fraser Minten and Trevor Wong. Without them, the Blades suddenly become the least experienced team in the league by a margin of over 400 games. That forced the team’s few remaining veterans to play a more defensive role, which led to more inconsistencies and mistakes that eventually cost Saskatoon the win. While they still managed to secure a point, they’ll need everyone on their A-game if they want to remain competitive in 2024-25.
What Happens When the Stars Return?
Although there were several times when poor defensive efforts put the Blades in a bad situation, one player who remained consistent, especially in his own end, was Morgan Tastad. The 6-foot-4 18-year-old used his size and strength very effectively throughout the game, stopping several breakouts by the Silvertips with solid positioning and a well-timed check. His calmness on the backend was incredibly valuable against Everett, as their speed and skill often caught the rest of the team off guard and gave them multiple odd-man rushes into the Blades’ zone.
It will be interesting to see how Tastad’s deployment is affected when Molendyk returns. Currently, he’s playing on the second pairing alongside Gradyen Siepmann and the duo were one of the team’s better defensive pairings last night, with captain Ben Saunderson and Klimpke manning the top pair. The most likely scenario is that Klimpke, who plays a highly mobile game similar to Molendyk, is moved to the third pair to make room for the Nashville Predators prospect whenever he returns. However, when that will be is difficult to say; it looks like Molendyk has made the Predators’ opening night roster, but coach Andrew Brunette seems to believe he’d be better suited in junior even though he’s close to NHL-ready.
However, Klimpke has been productive on the first pair, putting up two goals and two assists in six games. On paper, it makes sense to push Tastad, who’s also a left-shot defender and has just three assists in the same span, down to the third pair. The only problem is that then the second pair becomes a defensive liability as Siepmann is another mobile offensive defenceman, and although his defensive game has improved, he was a bit off against Everett as though he was being forced to play a style he wasn’t as comfortable with. Then there’s the issue of newcomer Cameron Sytsma, who was just acquired from the Silvertips, who also is a left-shot and plays a more defensive game. The Blades could have a log jam on their blueline before too long which may lead to some difficult decisions.
The Blades have nearly a week off before they hit the ice again to face the Spokane Chiefs at home for the only time this season. That will give them plenty of time to figure out what went wrong and how to best hold off another fast, tenacious team. Hopefully, they’ll also have some news regarding their four missing stars, which will make a world of difference.
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