Upbeat Blades hit the road
The Saskatoon Blades — who rolled into Kennewick, Wash., just before 10 a.m. Pacific time on Monday — are out to prove they’re the ultimate U.S. road warriors.
The Blades hopped on the bus and left Saskatoon at suppertime Sunday night. After driving all night, the team bus arrived in the Tri-Cities area, where the Blades will play the Tri-City Americans on Tuesday night to kick off a Western Hockey League West Coast road swing that will see them play five games in 11 days.
The Blades, who quickly got on the ice Monday for a practice, are coming off a big 6-5 comeback win over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday night.
“It’s definitely a tough stretch,” said Blades head coach Dean Brockman.
“Certainly it’s great to go out on a positive. For us, we needed a positive coming into the trip, just to give us a little more confidence. We’re really going to focus on one day, one game and we’ll see how it goes from there.”
The Blades have made some roster moves heading into the U.S. road trip.
Goalie Joel Grzybowski was once again returned to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Battlefords North Stars. Forward Arjun Atwal was sent to the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Sherwood Park Crusaders.
“It was a case where we couldn’t get him into as many games as he would have liked and he just felt he needed to play more hockey and we totally understood that and he was sent back to his AJHL team,” said Brockman.
Meanwhile, 2002-born goalie Koen MacInnes has been called up for the road swing, while veteran goalie Ryan Kubic remains sidelined for at least another two weeks.
“The goaltending thing is a little bit tricky, but Koen MacInnes is close to here. I guess, for now, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Forward Logan Christensen, who hasn’t played since Oct. 10 because of an internal injury, is expected to return to the lineup this week.
The Blades play the Tri-City Americans on Tuesday night, then the Spokane Chiefs on Wednesday night, followed by games Saturday night in Everett, Wash., against the Silvertips and Sunday in Portland, Ore., against the Winterhawks before wrapping up the U.S. trip next Tuesday in Seattle, Wash., against the Thunderbirds.
They won’t play again at home until Saturday, Dec. 9, against the Kamloops Blazers.