Blades make trade then head out on road for three games
After playing five straight games on home ice, the Saskatoon Blades are hitting the highway Friday.
The Blades are heading west on a three-game road swing in Alberta with games Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton.
“Nobody’s going to give us anything; we’re going to have to earn it,” said Blades head coach Mitch Love after watching his team get blanked 3-0 at home by the Everett Silvertips.
First up are the Red Deer Rebels. “Red Deer’s playing really good hockey right now and it’s going to be very similar to the opponent we just played. They’re competitive and they work hard. If we’re not ready to compete, work and execute, it’ll be a tough night.”
Saskatoon is now 8-4-1-0 after finishing 2-2-1 during that homestand.
“We had opportunities ( Wednesday),” said Blades forward and assistant captain Max Gerlach. “It’s just one of those things that we’re going to have to create (opportunities) each and every night.
“That (Silvertips) team competes really hard and we need to get to that stage with our team and compete every single night and (improve on) execution,”
Love thought that the Blades — after four days off in between games — looked a little rusty Wednesday against Everett. But Gerlach says that it’s no excuse.
Teamsare going to have days off and things like that, but it’s our job to bring it every single night.
“A lot of teams go play P.A. and then play us and get a little bit of a tune-up, but it’s on us,” said Gerlach. “Teams are going to have days off and things like that, but it’s our job to bring it every single night.”
CHRISTENSEN TRADED TO TIGERS FOR HADEN
On Thursday, the Blades completed a trade by sending 1999born forward Logan Christensen to the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for fellow 1999-born forward, Gary Haden.
The five-foot-10, 177-pound Haden is a veteran WHL forward with 121 games under his belt. Haden, a native of Airdrie, Alta., had a breakout season last season with 17 goals and 42 points in 70 games. This season, Haden had one goal and two assists in nine games with the Tigers before requesting a trade.
“Gary had a great season last year offensively and we felt this was a good opportunity to add some depth to our group,” Blades general manager Colin Priestner said in a news release.
Christensen played 197 WHL career games with the Blades.
“It’s never easy to trade a player that’s been with you as long as Logan has,” added Priestner, “but we believe a change in scenery will benefit him and give him some new opportunities.”