B.C Roadtrip

[GBG BLEED BLUE]

PLEASE POST ALL DISCUSSION ABOUT THE B.C ROADTRIP IN THIS THREAD

Tonight the Blades take on the Kamloops Blazers, Saturday they battle the Vancouver Giants,on Tuesday they play the expansion Chilliwack Bruins and face former Blade Jim Watt(if he starts)Wednesday they play the Kelowna Rockets and face David Schulz and the last game of the trip against Devin Setoguchi and the Prince George Cougars. All of these games will be a good test for them,and hopefully they wil be able to get a few wins from this 5 game trip. Also Stefan Elliot is supposed to play in a game on this trip.

[wango tango]

PLEASE POST ALL DISCUSSION ABOUT THE B.C ROADTRIP IN THIS THREAD

Tonight the Blades take on the Kamloops Blazers, Saturday they battle the Vancouver Giants,on Tuesday they play the expansion Chilliwack Bruins and face former Blade Jim Watt(if he starts)Wednesday they play the Kelowna Rockets and face David Schulz and the last game of the trip against Devin Setoguchi and the Prince George Cougars. All of these games will be a good test for them,and hopefully they wil be able to get a few wins from this 5 game trip. Also Stefan Elliot is supposed to play in a game on this trip.

look for holtby to start tonight and my guess is neufeld tomorrow against vancouver.

crowley stayed in saskatoon he has a sprained mcl. don't know when zahn will play again his back is still so-so. i'd be surprised if gillies wasn't in the lineup tonight.

elliot will probably be in the lineup against chilliwack, watch for curtis hamilton to also play a game or two also.

the first game is always important for setting the tone for the rest of the road trip. a win tonight in kamloops would be huge.

[East Watch]

I think we may see Curtis Hamilton in action when the team head to Kelowna on Wednesday. Hamilton plays in Kelowna with the Okanagan Rockets of the BC Midget League this season. It is a possibility we may see him tonight vs the Blazers in Kamloops due to the rather short distance from Kelowna. The reason I say this is because his Midget team is on a bye this weekend which would allow him to play with the Blades. However, I don't think he would be in Vancouver tomorrow night vs the Giants most definately. So look for Hamilton tonight vs Kamloops or Wednesday vs Kelowna(most likely definate).
As for Stefan Elliot...He will be in the lineup vs Chilliwack on Tuesday night. He plays hockey in Vancouver so that isn't an issue and it isn't an issue with his current midget team either(Vancouver NorthWest Giants) because they only play weekend games in the BC Midget league thus the reason we won't see him this weekend vs Kamloops or Vancouver.
It is possible we could see 6'7 235lb Kevin Philp on the trip but his team plays on the weekend so that would leave tuesday night vs Chilliwack as a possibility as well.

[GBG BLEED BLUE]

Yes Curtis Hamilton is in the lineup for tonight's game. At the end of the 1st period the Blades are trailing the Blazers 2-1,but they scored the 1st goal of the game. Now after 2 periods the score is 5-2 for the Blazers,and Holtby gets yanked and Neufeld is in net now. The score is now 8-5 Blazers,Brad Cole scored twice,and Brett Ward scored also. The final score is 8-5 for the Blazers with a little pushing and shoving after the final buzzer.

[GBG BLEED BLUE]

Mark MacIssac is the refferee for this game. :skeptical hopefully he calls a fair game tonight. Holtby is the starting goalie agian and hopefully he can have a better game (with the help of the TEAM) It looks like Stephan Elliot will have to wait until Tuesday to get into the line-up. Colton Gillies scored a Powerplay making the score 1-0 Blades. Rastislav Konecny gets the lone assist.

[East Watch]

As I told you guys above, Elliot won't be playing until Tuesday night in Chilliwack due to his Midget team being in action on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Hamilton is with the club because his Midget BC team is on a bye this weekend.

[GBG BLEED BLUE]

The Blades lost by a score of 2-1 but put on some pressure late to try and tie the game. Hopefully Tuesday Vs Chilliwack Bruins will produce a better result.

So far the Blades are 0-2 on the trip.

[Trav]

by the sound of it and nice to see Holtby rebound after being yanked, he did well by the looks of it. I thought the score would've been a lot higher seeing how the Giants are the top team in the country.

Hope Stepfan Elliot plays against the Bruin, that'd be nice.

[Swando]

by the sound of it and nice to see Holtby rebound after being yanked, he did well by the looks of it. I thought the score would've been a lot higher seeing how the Giants are the top team in the country.

Hope Stepfan Elliot plays against the Bruin, that'd be nice.


The Blades were full credit for "only" loosing 2-1. They did wqhat they had to do to eliminate chances in their defensive zone. I thot they had a lot of team speed coming out of their zone as well. Tape to tape passes were common and that has been a rarity with vistiting teams playing the Giants. I look for great things from the Blades this year and in the next 2 years with such a young roster. The PG trade will help greatly in the next 2 years as well.

[Trav]

Not to many opposing fans say to many positive things bout the Blades for whatever reason, least not on the network54 boards so nice to get ur feedback on the game.

We're all hoping the Setoguchi trade turns out well for the team. I'm sure it will.

[GF71]

by the sound of it and nice to see Holtby rebound after being yanked, he did well by the looks of it. I thought the score would've been a lot higher seeing how the Giants are the top team in the country.

Hope Stepfan Elliot plays against the Bruin, that'd be nice.

Holtby played well and Gillies was awesomme. IMO the Blades deserved better against the Giants. I think the Giants' experience was what won them the game. 'toon looks liek they will have a decent tem this year, but next year with a year under all the kids' belts...look out.

[dondo]

Not to many opposing fans say to many positive things bout the Blades for whatever reason

well I will, for a young team your guys really gave us a scare and played tight checking hockey all night. The team speed impressed me as well.

We had a crack addict for a ref but he was freaking out both ways, but it was good to see Gillies strut his stuff and I thought Holtby had a good night as well -- hey we were putting the whammy on him pretty hard late in the game, so he must've been good. Very few things tic me off more than fans who bring out the golaie chants after their team is up by more than a few goals --save it for the close games guys.

not great hockey on the whole, but your team is going to be quite good very soon.

[GBG BLEED BLUE]

The Bruins took control of the game with a 3-0 lead,and the Blades managed to score 2 goals but lost 5-2. Stefan Elliot was playing and was paired with Brad Cole. Elliot and Visnak where both victim to the Bruins physical play,but McCrae and Cloud stepped in to set the record straight. and the newly acquired forward Scott Skrudland is expected to be in the line-up against Kelowna. I hope the Blades can at least win 1 game on the remainder of the trip. In a rebuilding year these are the results you kind of expect(maybe not against the expansion Chilliwack Bruins) but the Bruins where physical and outworked the Blades,and outshot the Blades too. I knew that we would see growing pains and probably will for the rest of the season,I hope that some positives will pop up soon too.

The Blades are now 0-3 with 2 games remaining in this trip.

[Shortys]

The blades totaly were not in that game at all!! I think they totally underestimated the Bruins, and thought they could have an easy win.They took way too many stupid penalties, and were not together on there PK! I hope they can rebound and come on strong tonight against the Rockets.
I thought Elliot played ok for his first game, he looked pretty calm out there, and I could see the talent that will grow, and he will be a great addition for us next year!

[IamBatman]

The blades totaly were not in that game at all!! I think they totally underestimated the Bruins, and thought they could have an easy win.They took way too many stupid penalties, and were not together on there PK! I hope they can rebound and come on strong tonight against the Rockets.
I thought Elliot played ok for his first game, he looked pretty calm out there, and I could see the talent that will grow, and he will be a great addition for us next year!
Tonight is Hamilton vs Hamilton. Whether or not Curtis plays tonight is another thing, but it is kinda neat that our GM is playing against his son.

Curtis is also wearing No.9, the same number Bruce Hamilton wore while playing for the Blades.

[GBG BLEED BLUE]

Tonight Scott Skrudland is in the lineup as well as Curtis Hamilton and both of them are being put on the top 2 lines,Blaine Nuefeld is the starting goalie,and maybe adding these two players (Skrudland and Hamilton) will help the Blades get off to a good start.

The Blades just barely get past the Kelowna Rockets by a 2-1 final score but it is a win,so I can't complain. The Blades did not have a practice instead they watched game video, I think that has payed off for them,and Blaine Nuefeld played well in net, and it will be interesting to see which goalie gets the start on Friday against the Prince George Cougars.

The Blades record on this trip is 1-3.

[Tidball]

Great work guys first win on the long trip. WTG Konecny!!!!

[Shortys]

Any thoughts on how tonights game will play out against Setoguchi and PG? From the way PG has been playing, I would think that if we come out full tilt and don't sit back we will have a great chance of winning. My only worries are that PG has had a week off and that has given them a chance to get together as a team, and gel a bit better. IMO Setoguchi is going to come out strong and play his heart out to take us down. Should be a great game.
Go Blades!!!!

[GBG BLEED BLUE]

I also think the Blades are capable of winning this game if they do not hold anything back,and play smart. Dustin Cameron is in the line-up and Braden Holtby is the starting goaltender tonight.

The Blades lost the game 2-0,but they were probably tired,nearing the end of this trip. they went 1-4 on this trip,and hopefully they can get back on track at home against Everett.

[Sput]

The Blades didn't play a bad game, but you could tell they aren't used to the travel and the bus legs were a big factor. Holtby was OK in net, but definately wants the second goal back as it was a dribbler that got through him.

You've got a decent young team there guys. Keep them together for a while and they will be a force in a year or two.

[bones]

Im not sure if Holtby usually plays like he did tonight but he looked shaky, he was the fighting the puck alot, looked like he was having trouble tracking it and ended up looking behind him alot because he couldnt find it.The D did a good job of finding it for him most times and making sure that PG didnt bang it home.

[howley]

I think Holtby's confidence was shaken abit on this trip. Pulled twice. Interesting to see how he rebounds. Also note the only game the blades won was a start from Neufeld.

[PGFlyfisher]

Being the youngest team in the Dub( according to the radio) and at the tail end of a lengthy road trip, the Blades looked pretty decent.
Although being outshot almost 2:1 and only 1 shot in the 3rd, they were never out of what should have only been a one goal game. The second Cougars goal did indeed just squeek in.
No doubt the work ethic is there. The future is bright for Saskatoon, IMHO. :thumb: