nivek_wahs
09-20-2007, 08:20 AM
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/sports/story.html?id=01a460bc-44c4-4fe6-8db4-0f14877314fe
Blades build toward Cup run
Doug McConachie, The StarPhoenix
Published: Thursday, September 20, 2007
As if there isn't already a lot of weight on the shoulders of the Saskatoon Blades to turn last year's last place finish around.
Now their coach and general manager Lorne Molleken has said he expects the Blades to vault into a "Top 4" team and have home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The pressure on the "kids" is even greater. The Blades are eyeing a bid for the 2010 Memorial Cup and that puts kids like defencemen Teigan Zahn, Stefan Elliott, Ryan Funk and Sam Klassen, along with forwards Gaelan Patterson, Curtis Hamilton, Travis Toomey, Walker Wintoneak and Derek Hulak and goaltenders Braden Holtby and Garrett Zemlak all squarely in the limelight.
To make a bid next summer will mean these youngsters have to perform admirably this season, to give belief that they can be the backbone of a contending club in the Cup year.
Blades' owner Jack Brodsky is hungry to host the event for the second time in Saskatoon history. That the city could put on a great Memorial Cup is not an issue, but whether the Blades can be there -- legitimately -- is. In 1989, they backed into the national junior championship as host city and came within an overtime goal against the Swift Current Broncos of winning.
Brodsky desperately wants to go in the front door as WHL champions. For that to happen, everything keys on the kids of today.
Colton Gillies, even though he's still 18, probably won't be in a Blades' uniform for the Memorial Cup because he's a first-round NHL draft pick and would only return to Saskatoon as an overager. It's not likely to happen. And if the Blades trade one of their goaltenders later this year or next year (both would be 19 and would want to play full time), whoever stays would be 20 and unfortunately there's no guarantee he would even be here.
But the Blades have to build a tradition as well, and that also explains why they brought three 20-year-old Saskatoon natives to their lineup this season, expecting them to be leaders on the ice and help lift those youngsters in ability.
There's no sure bet when it comes to predicting how well your team will play when you bid for the championship, Brodsky says, but you've got to be in a situation where you know you've got a legitimate chance. With 22 teams in the WHL, opportunity doesn't knock easily.
The Blades go into this season extremely young on the blue-line -- possibly two 16- and three 17-year-olds -- and that leaves them vulnerable. But Molleken also knows the key to a Memorial Cup isn't how many goals you score, but how many you stop. So he's doing it with a purpose, hoping that a little tinkering and a trade or two can give him as good a defensive unit as one can have in the 2009-10 season.
That's also why he's challenged his team to finish in the top four this year. He wants to see how they face adversity. This club not only has to make the playoffs, but win at least one, if not two, rounds to give belief that there are better days ahead. It's been 13 seasons -- 1993-94 -- since the Blades last advanced further than two rounds.
dmcconachie@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007
Blades build toward Cup run
Doug McConachie, The StarPhoenix
Published: Thursday, September 20, 2007
As if there isn't already a lot of weight on the shoulders of the Saskatoon Blades to turn last year's last place finish around.
Now their coach and general manager Lorne Molleken has said he expects the Blades to vault into a "Top 4" team and have home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The pressure on the "kids" is even greater. The Blades are eyeing a bid for the 2010 Memorial Cup and that puts kids like defencemen Teigan Zahn, Stefan Elliott, Ryan Funk and Sam Klassen, along with forwards Gaelan Patterson, Curtis Hamilton, Travis Toomey, Walker Wintoneak and Derek Hulak and goaltenders Braden Holtby and Garrett Zemlak all squarely in the limelight.
To make a bid next summer will mean these youngsters have to perform admirably this season, to give belief that they can be the backbone of a contending club in the Cup year.
Blades' owner Jack Brodsky is hungry to host the event for the second time in Saskatoon history. That the city could put on a great Memorial Cup is not an issue, but whether the Blades can be there -- legitimately -- is. In 1989, they backed into the national junior championship as host city and came within an overtime goal against the Swift Current Broncos of winning.
Brodsky desperately wants to go in the front door as WHL champions. For that to happen, everything keys on the kids of today.
Colton Gillies, even though he's still 18, probably won't be in a Blades' uniform for the Memorial Cup because he's a first-round NHL draft pick and would only return to Saskatoon as an overager. It's not likely to happen. And if the Blades trade one of their goaltenders later this year or next year (both would be 19 and would want to play full time), whoever stays would be 20 and unfortunately there's no guarantee he would even be here.
But the Blades have to build a tradition as well, and that also explains why they brought three 20-year-old Saskatoon natives to their lineup this season, expecting them to be leaders on the ice and help lift those youngsters in ability.
There's no sure bet when it comes to predicting how well your team will play when you bid for the championship, Brodsky says, but you've got to be in a situation where you know you've got a legitimate chance. With 22 teams in the WHL, opportunity doesn't knock easily.
The Blades go into this season extremely young on the blue-line -- possibly two 16- and three 17-year-olds -- and that leaves them vulnerable. But Molleken also knows the key to a Memorial Cup isn't how many goals you score, but how many you stop. So he's doing it with a purpose, hoping that a little tinkering and a trade or two can give him as good a defensive unit as one can have in the 2009-10 season.
That's also why he's challenged his team to finish in the top four this year. He wants to see how they face adversity. This club not only has to make the playoffs, but win at least one, if not two, rounds to give belief that there are better days ahead. It's been 13 seasons -- 1993-94 -- since the Blades last advanced further than two rounds.
dmcconachie@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007