The 2024-25 Western Hockey League (WHL) season is right around the corner and all eyes will be on the Saskatoon Blades. Last season, they finished first with 50 wins and 105 points thanks to the strength of their veteran core. Unfortunately, many of those veterans are gone, having either aged out or gone to play professionally, leaving massive gap at the top of the roster that will not be easy to fill.
However, the Blades’ remaining veterans aren’t too worried about the pressures of the upcoming season. “I don’t think our mindset changes going into this year,” said 20-year-old defenceman Ben Saunderson. “It’s not a re-set, laid-back year for us. We’re still looking to come out on top every night…It’s going to be a different way of winning. We had a lot of skilled older guys last year and sometimes we would get wins not playing our best hockey, and it’s going to need our full effort every night.”
“It’s going to be a different way of winning”
📽️ Defenceman Ben Saunderson ahead of Saturday’s @merlinyxe Home Opener pic.twitter.com/6qrx3sZJ08
— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) September 19, 2024
Saunderson’s high level of confidence in his team isn’t undeserved. This team knows how to win and has done so fairly consistently over the past four seasons. But, without Fraser Minten, Trevor Wong, Alexander Suzdalev, Yegor Sidorov, Easton Armstrong, and Charlie Wright, the Blades aren’t going to have the strongest offence like they did last season. Instead, Saskatoon will rely on their solid defence and stellar goaltending to grind out wins. They won’t be as pretty, but this team remains just as competitive as it did before.
Moose Jaw Series Left a Chip on Their Shoulder
Heading into the 2023-24 playoffs, Saskatoon was a favourite to take home the Ed Chynoweth Cup for the first time in franchise history. Unfortunately, they ran into the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Conference Final, losing to them in seven games. Those memories will be tough to forget for the returning veterans.
Although the game-seven overtime loss was a tough pill to swallow, Rowan Calvert may have one of the most painful experiences of the Blades’ final game. A Moose Jaw native, his older brother, Atley Calvert, played for the Warriors and helped them sweep past the Prince George Cougars, and Rowan was in the stands, supporting his family. But it was tough not to think about being on the ice instead.
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