Don't look now, but the Saskatoon Blades are the hottest team in the WHL right now. With all apologies to the Portland Winterhawks, a 15-game winning streak speaks volumes as to just how well the Blades are playing, and yes, they have taken the lead in the race to be East Division champions. Though the Blades will be playing for the Memorial Cup no matter what happens in the WHL playoffs (they are hosting the Memorial Cup this year, thus ensuring their spot), the Blades are not content with just playing out the season. Behind the great goaltending of Andrey Makarov, the Blades are quickly becoming the dark horse in the WHL playoffs and could very well be a favorite come May. Their offense is led by Matej Stransky and Josh Nicholls, and their defense features Duncan Siemens and Dalton Thrower as their best players on the blue line. Erik Benoit has provided a boost since coming over from Kootenay at the deadline. Michael Ferland has also provided a boost since coming back from injury suffered while with Brandon, proving that the Blades made a shrewd decision at the trade deadline to trade for a guy who has produced in the past (Ferland was second on the Wheat Kings last season behind Mark Stone in scoring). Saskatoon will be playing in May, but the way things are going, they may not have much time to catch their breath between the WHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup, and that would be just fine with them.
No comments:
Post a Comment