LEAN ON ME
Blades goaltender steals game with thrilling 45-save performance
Jasper Ojoghoro, who moved to Canada four months ago, gets help from Saskatoon Blades’ Chase Wouters with his first time ice skating at SaskTel Centre on Sunday. The Blades beat the Regina Pats on Saturday, but lost to Moose Jaw in overtime Sunday.
It was a reunion for some and homecoming for others.
For Cam Hebig, Libor Hajek and Ryan Kubic, it was the first time they suited up against their former Saskatoon Blades team as new members of the Regina Pats.
For Blades newcomers Dawson Davidson and Tyler Brown, it was their first game against their former Pats team.
While neither Brown nor Kubic got the nod in goal against their respective former team, Hebig and Hajek were certainly a focal point when the Pats rolled into Saskatoon to play the Blades on Saturday night.
Hebig scored a goal and added an assist during what was his first Saskatoon homecoming since being traded to Regina.
While it was enough to garner the game’s third star, the biggest star proved to be Blades goalie Nolan Maier, who stole the game with a 45–save performance in a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over the Pats.
“Nolan was fantastic, as he has been for most games,” admitted Pats assistant coach/GM David Struch, himself a former Blade making his own homecoming before an announced crowd of 4,346 fans at SaskTel Centre.
With the win, Saskatoon improved to 23-21-2-1.
The Pats slipped to 24-20-5-0 as both teams continue to jostle for playoff positioning in the Western Hockey League’s extremely strong Eastern Division.
“For sure, Nolan was the difference,” concurred Blades head coach Dean Brockman, whose team continued its weekend homestand with a game Sunday afternoon against the Western Hockey League leading Moose Jaw Warriors.
“You can see why he’s a special player.”
Blades captain Evan Fiala knotted the score at 3-3 with 7:38 remaining in regulation before newcomer Eric Florchuk, with his second tally of the night, notched the game-winner 1:27 into suddendeath OT.
“Both him and Libor, I thought they played really well,” said Struch.
“I thought we did some things really well. The mistakes that we did make ended up in the back of our net and that’s the unfortunate part of the game. When you’re in a situation like this — we’re both fighting for positions in the playoffs — those types of things happen.
“I thought it was a good game. I thought we carried the momentum for the most part, but (the Blades) stayed in the game and it’s all based on work ethic.”
Saskatoon opened up with a 2-0 lead on goals by Florchuk and Chase Wouters before Regina answered back with three straight goals by Jesse Gabrielle, Hebig and Sam Steel.
“It was weird being on the other side and playing against my former team,” offered Hebig, a Saskatoon native. “I was excited to be back and it’s just too bad we didn’t come out with the win.”
Earlier this week, Brockman predicted that Hebig would likely figure prominently in his return to Saskatoon.
“Cam’s a really good player,” stressed Brockman. “They (Hebig, Steel and Logan Nijhoff ) were around the net all night. In the first period, I think he (Hebig) missed about six or seven chances. I’m glad he only got one, to be honest.”
Regina out-shot Saskatoon 4832.
“I prefer getting lots of shots than having the odd few every 10 minutes or so,” said Maier. “It felt really good to get that many shots and get the win.”
Maier seemed to get better as the game went on, playing shutout hockey for the third period and OT.
“(Maier) was good,” said Hebig. “I thought we had a lot of good chances. They just weren’t going in for us. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
Regina was 0-for-4 on the power play. Saskatoon was 0-for-1.
“We were giving it everything we’ve got,” said Brockman. “Obviously they’re a much better team after the deadline. For us, I’m glad we kept the game where it was. That was the hardest working game we’ve played in a while, so that’s good.”
The mistakes we did make ended up in the back of our net and that’s the unfortunate part of the game.
WARRIORS 5, BLADES 3
On Sunday afternoon, the Blades gave the WHL’s top team, Moose Jaw, all it could handle.
In fact, the game was still tied up with 10 minutes left in regulation.
Brayden Burke’s goal, with 7:03 remaining, proved to be the gamewinner for the Warriors, who got an empty-netter from Jayden Halbgewachs as insurance.
Josh Paterson, with two, and Florchuk scored for Saskatoon, which rallied from a 3-1 deficit to start the third period.
The Blades, who went 0-for-2 on the power play, were out-shot 36-19. The Warriors went 0-for-3.