Saskatoon Blades

Updated on Sep 19, 2024

Edit

Comment

League Western Hockey League Division East Arena SaskTel Centre Location Saskatoon, Canada		Conference Eastern Home arena SaskTel Centre Owner Colin Priestner Date founded 1964

City Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Colours Navy blue, royal blue, silver and white Profiles Twitter

Saskatoon blades vs edmonton oilkings oct 20 2015 whl on shaw

The Saskatoon Blades are a junior ice hockey team in the Eastern Division of the Western Hockey League, formerly the Western Canadian Hockey League (WCHL). They are based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, playing at the 15,195 seat SaskTel Centre.

History

The Saskatoon Blades were founded in 1964 as part of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) and transferred leagues in 1966–67 with the foundation of the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, which included the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The WCHL renamed itself the Western Hockey League in 1978 with the inclusion of some US based teams. Of the seven original WCHL franchises, the Blades are the only team to have never relocated or left the league (the Regina Pats returned to the SJHL from 1968 to 1970). Players ages range from 16 to 20 years old, many of them still attending high school, and most come from other parts of Canada, the US, and Europe, to develop into potential professional National Hockey League prospects.

The Blades spent a number of seasons at the original Saskatoon Arena and there, developed many of the top professional players of their day, such as Bernie Federko, Wendel Clark and Pat Price. In the early 90s, the team was one of the strongest in the league and made it to the league finals twice, losing to the Kamloops Blazers in both 1992 and 1994. The Blades have not returned to the final round of the playoffs since despite several successful regular seasons, including winning the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy in 2010-11 as the regular season champions. Since then playoff success has been rare, and as of 2016 the Blades have the longest playoff drought in the CHL, having not made the playoffs since 2013. The Blades also hold the dubious distinction of having the longest championship drought in the Canadian Hockey League, having never won the WHL Championship or Memorial Cup in their entire history.

The Blades were owned by the Brodsky family for 37 years On August 27, 2013, the team was sold to Go Auto owner Mike Priestner for a reported $9 million. Throughout their existence the team has had a fierce rivalry with the Prince Albert Raiders, although recently the team has placed more of a focus on its growing competition with Regina Pats. Before the start of the 2005-06 season, the Blades retired their long-time mascot Helmutt, an anthropomorphic dog whose name was a pun on the word helmet, in favor of a mascot that would appeal to younger fans. Helmutt was replaced by Poke Check, a yeti, at the Blades home opener that season. He has since remained the team's mascot, and also appears at community events throughout Saskatoon.

Memorial Cup

The Saskatoon Blades have hosted the Memorial Cup twice in their existence. The first came in 1989, a year after the team began playing at Saskatchewan Place (now SaskTel Centre). As the host city they were allowed to play in the tournament independent of their season standing, and were joined in the competition by the WHL Champion Swift Current Broncos, OHL Champion Peterborough Petes and QMJHL Champion Laval Titan. In a surprising twist in the tournament the Blades finished first overall in the round robin with a 2-1 record, including a 5–4 victory over the Broncos, who had a 14-game undefeated streak dating back to the start of the WHL playoffs. Despite their unexpected strong performance and an automatic berth in the Cup Final, the Blades ultimately lost to the Broncos in overtime.

The Blades would again host the Memorial Cup in 2013, which included the Portland Winterhawks, London Knights and the eventual champion Halifax Mooseheads. The Blades finished the round robin with a 1-2 record (their lone win coming over the Mooseheads), and lost to the Knights in the tiebreaker. The Blades' goalie, Andrey Makarov, won the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the outstanding goalie of the tournament.

Highlights

In the 2008–09 season, the Saskatoon Blades made history by tying a WHL record for most road wins in a single season (28) with the 1999–00 Calgary Hitmen. In that season, the Blades went on to win their first East Division Championship since 1994.

With a 5-3 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday, March 9, 2011, the Blades clinched first place in the Western Hockey League and earned themselves the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as the WHL's champion with the most points earned during the regular season.