Win the board for the Saskatoon Blades.
The Blades didn’t record their seventh straight win Wednesday night, but two of their players were named to Team Canada’s World Youth roster.
Defender Tanner Molendyk and newly acquired forward Fraser Minten will lead Canada at the upcoming IIHF Hockey U-20 World Youth Championship in Sweden.
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Molendyk and Minten were two of 22 players named to the roster Wednesday following a four-day selection camp in Oakville, Ont., and a pair of exhibition games against a U Sports Selects team that included University of Saskatchewan D-man Gunner Kinniburgh.
Molendyk is one of seven defenders selected, while Minten is one of 12 forwards, with the door open for Canada to move up to the lineup.
The Blades improved their home record to 11-1 this season with a 5-1 win over the visiting Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday night in front of 3,184 fans at the SaskTel Centre.
Saskatoon improved to 23-8-0-1 on the season.
The Blades scored three goals in a span of 1:45 in the first six minutes to take an early 3-0 lead and take the win on Wednesday.
Lukas Hansen, Brandon Lisowsky, Easton Armstrong, Morgan Tastad and Egor Sidorov, with an empty-netter for his 30th goal of the season, scored for Saskatoon, which led 3-0 and 4-1 by periods.
The Blades outshot the Blazers 26-25.
For the rookie Tastad, it was the second goal in three games.
Fellow rookie Evan Gardner stopped 24 of 25 to take the win.
“It doesn’t matter who is playing, the ethical and popular tables of competitiveness remain the same, so perhaps the cases are different, but that does not replace the duty of the game to the popular of the ethical and competitiveness framework that we want and demand. “This includes blocking shots. . . We have a popular team and they don’t have a good reputation for the full 60 minutes. Don’t get me wrong. There were some positives, but I also think we’re preparing for the (future) playoffs. “I thought we had taken our foot off the gas, to be honest. I envisioned it as one of those playoff learning games. I think, when you have a team down, you have to play the same way you did to defeat them, and I think we started to lack blocks for some reason, pushing and not supporting down. ” — BLADES HEAD COACH BRENNAN SONNE
Saskatoon product Logan Bairos, now captain of the Blazers in his final year in the WHL, played his first game in Saskatoon since joining Kamloops in 2020.
Wednesday marked the Blazers’ first trip to Saskatoon in 4 years since Dec. 13, 2019, when Kamloops beat Saskatoon 5-2.
The former Saskatoon Contacts defenseman, who grew up playing for the Saskatoon Wild Minor Hockey Zone, suited up in a full cage for Wednesday’s game after hitting a skate in the face, requiring stitches, the night before in Prince Albert.
Bairos was taken in the second round, 27th overall, of the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft.
Prince Albert-area products Ashton Ferster and Ashton Tait, a pair of forwards, also played for the Blazers in Wednesday’s game.
Newly acquired defenceman Nicholas Andrusiak made his Blades debut Wednesday despite having not yet practiced with his new team.
Andrusiak, a 5-foot-10, 188-pound Tisdale defenseman, finished the night with 2 more. Acquired Tuesday from the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels. The Blades have been lacking defenders lately, as Molendyk and Slovakian import Samuel Barick are lacking. Junior World Championships, while Grayden Siepmann and Carter Herman are injured.
The Blades will finish up their pre-holiday schedule with a game Saturday night at home to the Kelowna Rockets.
Playtime is 7 p. m. at the Sasktel Center Arena.
The Rockets are Saskatoon product Caden Price and Martensville’s Trae Johnson.
The Blades, who remain unbeaten in December, will return to action on Dec. 27 at home to rival Prince Albert Raiders after the Christmas break.
They will play at home on New Year’s Day with a morning and afternoon game against the Brandon Wheat Kings.
dzary@postmedia. com
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