Blades off to a flying start with two quick victories
Kirby Dach was 10 years old, and well off the radar, the last time the Saskatoon Blades started a WHL season 2-0.
Well, they did it again, with a heaping helping from Dach, who collected three goals and two assists during the Blades’ 8-0 thrashing of the Swift Current Broncos Saturday night. Saskatoon beat those same Broncos 2-1 on Friday, and they’ve won their first two games of the season for the first time since 2011.
“Tonight was clear evidence of the work we’ve been putting in, and the work to come, as well,” Dach said at game’s end.
The Broncos are the defending WHL champions, but they’re no threat to repeat — the team is in the midst of a full-scale rebuild after stripping the cupboard for last season’s run.
The Blades, on the other hand, missed the playoffs each of the last five seasons. They’re billing this year’s team as something different, and — rebuilding Broncos aside — the start couldn’t have gone better.
Not that they ’re planning to bask in those two games.
“As a staff, we don’t overly concern ourselves on where we’re at right now,” said Blades’ new head coach Mitch Love, after a home opener witnessed by 6,637 spectators. “Were we good today? Yeah. We’ve got to be good tomorrow, too, if we’re going to be a successful
hockey team. We’ve got to bring it each and every day; we’ve got to compete against each other in practice, push each other and make each other better.”
Love replaced the fired Dean Brockman during the off-season, and the latter stood on the Broncos’ bench Saturday night as their freshly-hired coach. The Blades scored five times in the first period while outshooting the visitors 19-6.
By the third frame, the only drama was whether goaltender Nolan Maier would nail down the shutout, and he did just that, stopping all 17 shots he faced.
Dach said his team has experienced “a culture shock in the last month here” — a growing sense that this team is different than the ones that came before. That belief is expanding inside the lockerroom, he said, after a pre-season that saw Saskatoon go 6-1.
“We’re playing with a little bit more structure than we have in the past, and it’s showing out there on the ice,” said Dach, who is an early favourite to be selected top-10 in the next NHL entry draft. “We’re moving pucks a little bit quicker, playing a little bit faster as a team, burning teams a little bit more than we used to. Our game plan and our strategies have changed, and I think that’s helped our team.”
Dach’s linemates, Max Gerlach and Eric Florchuk, both collected three points Saturday night — Gerlach with a goal and two assists, and Florchuk with three helpers. Saskatoon also got a goal and two assists from Dawson Davidson, with the other markers coming from Bradly Goethals, Riley Mckay and Jackson Caller.
The Blades honoured the Humboldt Broncos during pre-game ceremonies, and wore special commemorative jerseys.
They’ll return to action this coming Saturday, when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7 p.m.