Royals wary of sharp Blades
GAME DAY: SASKATOON AT VICTORIA 7 p.m. at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre TV: None / Radio: The Zone 91.3 FM
The Saskatoon Blades bring with them a cautionary fable tonight to Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
If any other Western Hockey League teams want to go so-called “all-in” for a particular season, they need only look to what happened to the Blades organization. The decision to go all-in to host the 2013 Memorial Cup led to the trading away of many future prospects, which in turn has resulted in the Blades missing the playoffs the past five consecutive seasons.
Sports pundits estimate a championship earns about five seasons of goodwill among that team’s fan base, even if it isn’t followed by further championship success. But Saskatoon didn’t win the 2013 Memorial Cup, which would have at least given Blades fans something to proudly point to over the past five miserable seasons.
Only now is the oldest franchise in the WHL beginning to emerge from the hole it dug for itself. The resurgent Blades were 15-8-2 heading into Tuesday night’s game at Langley Events Centre against the Vancouver Giants.
The Saskatoon roster features Kirby Dach, projected for the first round of the 2019 NHL draft, Swedish-import Emil Malysjev, projected for the latter rounds of the 2019 NHL draft, and Norwegian import and 2017 Washington Capitals draft pick Kristian Roykas-Mathinsen.
There are also connections galore. Forward Eric Florchuk, the Royals’ first-round selection in the 2015 WHL bantam draft, returns for the first time since being traded last season. Florchuk earned a bit of infamy last spring when he went to Washington as the last player selected in the 2018 NHL draft, which in the NFL draft earns the title of Mr. Irrelevant. But Florchuk is proving relevant enough for the Blades with eight goals and 23 points in 25 games.
“Eric is a great guy and I’ve been impressed with his play this season,” said Royals head coach Dan Price.
“He is showing his versatility by playing left wing [Florchuk was a centre for the Royals] and is skating and moving the puck well.”
Also on the Blades’ roster is veteran 19-year-old defenceman Nolan Kneen from Duncan, who had 20 points in 22 games for the Kamloops Blazers, before being traded this week to Saskatoon.
On the Royals side of the puck, defenceman Matthew Smith is from Saskatoon, while forward Tyler Lees played 32 games last season for the Blades.
“Last season was a good step in their rebuild and I still have friends on the Blades team,” said Lees.
“But there are a lot of new faces, and there was a coaching change [over the off-season with Mitch Love replacing Dean Brockman].”
Smith, meanwhile, grew up watching the Blades play at SaskTel Centre.
“This Saskatoon team is different [than the past five playoff-less seasons] and there are a lot of good players,” said Smith.
Meanwhile, the Royals are 12-8 and looking to halt a two-game losing skid. It is the third time this season Victoria has lost back-to-back games. But that has not yet extended to a third-consecutive loss.
“This is a resilient group that does bounce back,” said Royals bench boss Price.
“We will be looking to come back hard against a Saskatoon team that is well structured and which has a balanced attack.”