Newest defenceman arrives just in time for practice
Harsch brings more playoff experience, just in time to face Regina Pats
Reece Harsch is the Saskatoon Blades’ newest rushing defenceman.
That is to say, Harsch has had little time to get ready for his debut with the Blades — his newest Western Hockey League team — on Friday night.
Harsch arrived in Saskatoon late Wednesday night after being acquired earlier that day from the Seattle Thunderbirds. He got into Saskatoon just in time for a Blades practice Thursday morning.
He’s expected to be in the lineup Friday when the Blades host the new-look Regina Pats. Game time is 7 p.m. at Sasktel Centre.
“Great team, great facility,” said Harsch when asked Thursday about his first impression of his new team. “These guys are in a good spot right now in the standings to make a push in the playoffs and I think we’ve got the guys to do it in here.”
The Blades, who are second in the WHL’S East Division with a 2311-5-0 record, now have four games over the next five days, including three straight starting Friday. They’ll play six games in nine days.
Nothing like jumping right into the rush for Harsch. Talk about activating your D-man.
Harsch, who was a member of Seattle’s WHL championship team in 2017, brings additional playoff experience to the Blades, who are on the verge of making the post-season for the first time in years.
While Harsch may be a new Blade, he’s no stranger to Blades head coach Mitch Love.
“I’m real familiar with Reece, having seen him plenty of times, probably more than what I would have liked in the U.S. Division (when Love was an assistant coach with the Everett Silvertips) some nights,” said Love.
“He’s a veteran guy who’s been in the league. He’s bringing 25 more games of playoff experience to our roster. We’ve added 90 games of playoff experience to a group that had very little, with only 30 other games of playoff experience, so that was something that was in the back of our minds as coaching staff and management to add to that group, and Colin (Priestner) and Hilty (Steve Hildebrand) and Dan (Tencer) have done a good job.
“That’s significant and I think it’s imperative if you want to be a playoff team in the Western Hockey League.”
The six-foot-three, 198-pound Harsch has 149 WHL regular-season games and 25 playoff games under his belt. During that span, he has scored 15 goals and 47 points to go along with 77 penalty minutes.
The Grande Prairie, Alta., native was selected by Seattle in the eighth round of the 2014 WHL bantam draft. He has two goals and eight assists, plus 25 penalty minutes, in 28 games this season.
“We feel Reece makes us a better team today and his leadership and experience will help our younger players continue to develop,” said Priestner, the Blades’ general manager who pulled off two trades Wednesday.
“He plays a hard game, has 25 games of playoff experience, and knows what it takes to win a championship in this league.”
Harsch wasn’t expecting to be dealt by Seattle.
“I was a little surprised,” said Harsch of being traded. “I know in the past that they (Thunderbirds) weren’t really open to trading at the deadline, but it’s exciting. I’ve never been traded before. It’s a great place to come to.”
Saskatoon sent 17-year-old defenceman Zach Ashton and a fifthround bantam draft pick in 2022 to Seattle for Harsch.
Ashton, a third-round pick by the Blades in 2016, has one assist in nine games this season during his rookie campaign while often being a healthy scratch.
To make room for Harsch, the Blades also traded veteran Seth Bafaro to the Vancouver Giants in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick in 2021.
The Blades have traded away four D -men — Bafaro, Ashton, Jake Kustra and Jackson Caller — since the season began.