Hostilities will renew when the Saskatoon Blades host the Kootenay Ice on Sportsnet ONE & Sportsnet West at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT for Friday Night Hockey.
The Ice dismantled the regular season champion Blades in a stunning four-game sweep in the second round of last year’s playoffs. The Blades were believed to be the league’s top team, but ran into what turned out being the team of destiny. Kootenay went on to capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions after its upset over Saskatoon.
Although the rosters aren’t entirely the same, games between the Blades and Ice now carry added significance.
“I think there was a little more on the line when we met this year as opposed to our regular season meetings in the past,” Ice head coach Kris Knoblauch explained. “We felt extremely proud of what we did last year, knocking off Saskatoon and Saskatoon felt that they needed a little bit of redemption against us.”
The Ice delivered a knockout blow to a team that didn’t expect it. Kootenay now has the experience of playing in the MasterCard Memorial Cup, something the Blades will get next year when they host the tournament.
“What we’ve talked about a lot in regards to Kootenay is what happened against them in the playoffs last year,” Saskatoon head coach and general manager Lorne Molleken said. “That’s something that we need to learn from. They played extremely well as a team and competed extremely hard and were very successful against us. We couldn’t crack their armour.”
The Blades won the first regular season meeting, but lost the next two. Playoff positioning and the coveted home ice advantage are two important factors for both teams heading into the game. Kootenay is fifth in the Eastern Conference while Saskatoon is sixth with 11 games remaining in each team’s schedule.
“Standings change after every night in the WHL,” Knoblauch said.
Which goaltender can lead his team to victory?
Nathan Lieuwen was one of the feel-good stories of the year last season after finally emerging and showing the promise of a first-round bantam pick. He was drafted by Buffalo in the summer and is leading the league or among the leaders in all the statistical categories.
“We feel (Nathan) Lieuwen’s one of the best in junior hockey and it was certainly evident last year in the playoffs with how well he played,” Knoblauch said. “Nathan’s been really good throughout the season.”
Lieuwen is tied for most career regular season victories in a Kootenay uniform with 82.
The Blades will counter with Andrey Makarov, who nearly led the Russians to a stunning victory over Sweden in the gold-medal game at the world juniors. Makarov became one of the Blades’ top players after a year where he played only sparingly for Lewiston in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last season.
“In the early going, he was outstanding and won some games for us by himself,” Molleken said.
Where will the offence come from?
Both teams are similar in the sense that neither team boasts an electrifying goal scorer and relies on the depth throughout the lineup. Saskatoon has 10 players with 30 or more points this season, while Kootenay’s group includes nine players with the same point totals.
The Blades receive more offensive punch from their blue line, although they will be missing their captain, Duncan Siemens. He’s one of four regulars on defence who could miss the game.
“They’ve got three lines that can score and I think two guys are (Josh) Nicholls and (Matej) Stransky,” Knoblauch said. “They control the play down low so well. They protect it and create opportunities.”
In their second meeting, a 6-1 Kootenay win, Max Reinhart scored three goals. He leads the team in points with 66 in 52 games and the Blades will be keeping close tabs on him throughout the game.
“The one player that we have a heck of a time with is Max Reinhart,” Molleken said. “We, as a group, have to be better in all three zones of the ice to make sure that we stick to our plan and we believe if we do that, that second and third effort, we’ll have a chance to win.”
Will either team step up on special teams?
Although their overall numbers are quite similar, Knoblauch and Molleken would like to see more from their special teams. In Kootenay’s case, a zero-for-six power-play in Regina on Wednesday and a shorthanded goal against culminated in a 2-1 loss.
“Our power-play and penalty kill have been very hot and cold all season,” Knoblauch explained. “We want to make some changes to our power-play and get that going because we felt against Regina that our power-play cost us a win.”
The Blades lost five of their last six games. In their only win during that stretch, their power-play clicked on three-of-five opportunities. In the five losses, they went two-for-22 and allowed two shorthanded goals.
Can the Blades regain their sense of urgency?
A home playoff spot is slipping away from the Blades after a strong start to their season. Their recent slump puts them four points back of Calgary for fourth in the conference. Both Regina and Brandon are within two points, which means the Blades will need better efforts to stay in control of their playoff destiny.
Their next six games after this weekend are all on the road.
“We’ve been in a tailspin here and we understand that we’ve got a long, tough road ahead of us to make a playoff spot,” Molleken said. “It’s overall consistency and the willingness to pay a price to succeed. It boils down to hockey being a game of one-versus-one situations. That’s where the second and third effort has to come in if you want to be successful.”
Next up on Friday Night Hockey: London hosts Oshawa on Mar. 2.
