Game #14 – Thursday, April 8th, 2021 @ 6:00Pm - Brandt , Regina, SK

Prince Albert Raiders (4-7-1-1 – 10pts) Blades (9-2-2-0 – 20pts) 6th – East Division 9th – Eastern Conference 2nd – East Division 3rd – Eastern Conference PP – 8/53 (15.1% - 18th in WHL) PP – 9/48 (18.8% - 12th in WHL) PK – 43/60 (71.7% - 17th in WHL) PK – 42/48 (87.5% - 5th in WHL)

Tonight… The look to reignite their scoring touch as they welcome the into the Brandt Centre. After winning seven consecutive matches, the Blades have lost three straight, while the Prince Albert Raiders return to the rink after dropping a gritty 3-2 decision to the . Over their recent slump, Saskatoon has mustered just three goals — one of which on the powerplay — which is a stark contrast to their output throughout the month of March averaging 4.3 goals per game. This is the third of four meetings between the two provincial rivals, with the Blades earning two hard-fought victories on March 29th (4-0) and March 19th (3-1). Despite the Raiders record, Saskatoon should expect a difficult team to play against. Prince Albert tested the first-place Brandon Wheat Kings on Monday night, narrowly falling 3-2, and come into this one fresh off two days’ rest.

Tale of the tape… There’s never a shortage of drama between these two rivals, and the last meeting was certainly no exception. Blades Chase Wouters was handed a three-game suspension for cross-checking Raiders star late in the game, and Rhett Rhinehart served a two-game suspension for supplemental discipline. The two teams shared 52-minutes worth of penalties before the Blades took the victory by a 4-0 score. Historically, Saskatoon maintains a sizable advantage over Prince Albert, posting a 6-2- 0-0 record against the Raiders last season. Over the last five years, the Blades have won 16 out of 26 against their Highway 11 rivals.

Who to watch… Veteran captain Chase Wouters returned from a three-game suspension Tuesday, but was held off the scoresheet in a 3-2 overtime loss to . The three-year captain has points in four of his last five games, collecting nine points (4G-5A) in that time. The pending WHL graduate also has the most penalty minutes of any Blade with 25. prospect Tristen Robins scored his team-leading seventh of the season against Brandon, and is also no stranger to the scoresheet against PA, racking up a team-high five points (1G-4A). Veteran Nolan Maier has played some of his best hockey against the Raiders, stopping a combined 41 of 42 shots for a .976 save percentage.

Baby Shark… San Jose Sharks prospect Tristen Robins is enjoying a strong campaign so far. The 2001-born centreman sits second in team-scoring with 15 points (7G-8A) and leads the club with three powerplay goals. Over the last five games, Robins has collected six points (2G-4A), including a three-point performance last Monday against the Raiders. His recent surge up the scoring charts earned Robins a place on the East Division’s Team of the Week presented by RE/MAX. The Clear Lake, MB product is the lone NHL draft pick on the Blades roster — selected in the 2nd round (56th overall) by the San Jose Sharks last fall.

NHL Radar… Draft Eligible forward Colton Dach is taking a similar path as his older brother and former Blade, , cracking the latest ranking put together by NHL Central Scouting. The Fort , AB product has been ranked with a ‘C’ rating by NHL Central Scouting in the latest ‘Players to Watch’ list, indicating either a fourth-, fifth-, or sixth-round draft pick in 2021. Dach has also found plenty of success against the Raiders this season, scoring a pair of goals, including the eventual game winner, in Saskatoon’s 4-0 victory over Prince Albert on March 29th.

Higher for Maier… Veteran goaltender Nolan Maier inked his name into Blades lore on March 31st, earning his seventh victory of the season and record-setting 86th of his career. This passes the previous record, set by 33-years-ago. This is far from the only record in reach for the , SK product, however. The career-Blade needs one more shutout to match Andrey Makarov’s record of nine, and is 29 starts away from catching ’s record for most games played (177).

Captain’s Quarters… Pending WHL graduate Chase Wouters is enjoying an impressive final chapter to his storied career. The , AB native sits third in team scoring with 13 points (5G-8A), all while continuing to excel as one of the best faceoff artists in the WHL. The two-time Hardest Working Blade award winner sits 6th among centreman in the WHL with 143 faceoff wins, despite playing several fewer games than most players. Wouters also boasts a team-leading 57.2% success rate. Hailed as one of the greatest leaders in the WHL, the career-Blade is the only player in franchise history to wear the ‘C’ for three consecutive years.

Injury report Current Streaks n/a

Roster breakdown: Age Breakdown: Milestone Tracker 14 Forwards 2000 – 3 2003 – 5 Tristen Robins – 50 goals (49) 9 Defencemen 2001 – 6 2004 – 6 De la gorgendiere – 50 points (45) 3 Goalies 2002 – 5 2005 – 1 Daley – 100 points (88) Rhinehart – 200 games (197)

Team Leaders (20-21)

Goals: dach/robins (7) +/-: wouters/lisowsky (9) SV%: maier/macinnes (.908) Assists: Crnkovic (12) PPG: robins (3) GAA: maier (2.22) Points: crnkovic (16) SOG: robins (46) Rookie Points: lisowsky (9) Penalty Minutes: wouters (25) GWG: robins/dach (2) Faceoff %: wouters (57.2%

HOW THEY WERE BUILT

Round # Player (Overall - Year) 1st 6 Wouters(19th - 2015), De la gorgendiere(5th – 2017), crnkovic(10th – 2017), c. Dach(6th – 2018), Lisowsky (9th – 2019), MOLENDYK (5TH – 2020) 2nd 5 Maier(25th – 2016), plaschewsky(31st – 2017), macinnes(35th – 2017), Schneider (30th – 2018), SMITH (24th – 2019) 3rd 1 Chadwick (47th – 2019) 4th 1 Wright(70th – 2018) 5th 1 Saunderson (89th – 2019) 8th 1 Bocharov (160th – 2019) 9th 1 Shugrue (184th – 2018) 11th 1 May (228th – 2018) List 1 Paulhus Trade 8 robins (REG), McLeod (EDM), Stevenson (TC), Morozoff (SEA), Patrician (VAN), rhinehart (PG), daley (REG), Streek (POR)

2021 TEAM RECORDS

situation record Overtime Record 1-2 1-goal games 2-0-2-0 Shootout Record 0-0 2-goal games 4-1-0-0 Out-shooting opp. 7-1-0-0 3-plus-goal games 3-1-0-0 Out-shot by opp. 2-1-2-0 Scoring first 7-1-0-0 Shots are even 0-0-0-0 Opp. scoring first 2-1-2-0 vs. BC n/a Leading after 2 per. 7-0-0-0 vs. US n/a Trailing after 2 per. 2-1-1-0 vs. Central n/a Tied after 2 per. 0-1-1-0 vs. East 9-2-2-0

2019-20 TEAM

RECORD BY MONTH

Month Games Record Home Road September 3 1-2-0-0 0-2-0-0 1-0-0-0 October 13 7-4-1-1 3-0-1-1 4-4-0-0 November 13 6-7-0-0 3-1-0-0 3-6-0-0 December 6 3-2-0-1 2-2-0-1 1-0-0-0 January 13 8-4-1-0 5-3-0-0 3-1-1-0 February 11 6-4-0-1 3-2-0-1 3-2-0-0 March 10 3-1-0-0 1-1-0-0 2-0-0-0 Totals 68 34-24-2-3 17-11-1-3 17-13-1-0