Blades Acquire Skrudland From Kamloops

[Shortys]

http://www.saskatoonblades.com


Saskatoon, SK: The Saskatoon Blades announced this afternoon that they have acquired Left Winger Scott Skrudland from the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for a Conditional Bantam Draft Pick in 2009.
Skrudland, a 6’5 190lbs left winger comes to the Blades following stints in Medicine Hat and Kamloops. Skrudland who hails from Winnipeg, MB will be following in family footsteps as he becomes the second Skrudland to skate for the Bridge City Bunch after being preceded by his uncle Brian who of course has had his number 10 retired by the team. Prior to being acquired by the hockey club today Skrudland had appeared in 6 games with the Blazers this season having yet to register a point and picking up 5 penalty minutes and a –2 plus/minus rating. Scott will wear the number 16 and will join the team in Kelowna on Wednesday October 25th and make his Blades debut as the team continues it’s trek through the B.C. Division

Scott Skrudland

July, 18, 1988

Winnipeg, MB

6’4, 182lbs

Year Team GP G A PTS PIM

06/07 Blazers 5 0 0 0 5

05/06 Blazers 45 2 3 5 51

03/04 Tigers 1 0 0 0 0

[Trav]

another grinder-physical type player by the looks of it.

[GBG BLEED BLUE]

yes the deal was a surprize(to me anyway) and hopefully he has some offensive upside as well. Is he 6'5 190? or 6'4 182?

On the Blades website in the roster section is says he is 6'4 and 185.

[Blades 4 Life!]

I think he would be the type of player that would stand in front of the opposing goalie and block his view(Holmstrom/Smyth type player). It would be alot harder to get him out of the way and it gives the team a scoring oppertunity, Molleken never puts players in front of the net and when ever someone is behind the net almost always there is never in front of the net. I think this would be the best thing for this new player. GoBladesGo

[Shortys]

Wednesday, November 01, 2006



CREDIT: Gord Waldner, The StarPhoenix
Scott Skrudland displays his battle wounds

When Scott Skrudland first learned he'd been traded to the Saskatoon Blades by the Kamloops Blazers last week, one of the first telephone calls he received was from his uncle Brian.

Go do it, give it your all, were the words of advice.

They weren't exactly original words of encouragement and support, but they were heartfelt and sincere. And if anybody knows what it takes to make a hockey player, it's Brian Skrudland.

The former Saskatoon Contacts' player who then stepped, somewhat unheralded, into a Saskatoon Blades' uniform in 1980, then also stepped, somewhat unheralded, into the NHL. Brian, who was ignored in the NHL draft, skated away with two Stanley Cup rings 15 years later.

"That's everybody's dream . . . mine," the 18-year-old 6-foot-4 Winnipeg native says. To make it come true, Scott knows he's got to elevate his game another notch, after scoring just two goals in his rookie season last year in Kamloops in 45 games.

Blades' coach Lorne Molleken threw him right into the heat of battle in his first two games with his new team -- in Kelowna and Prince George -- putting him at centre between Colton Gillies on left wing and Rastislav Konecny on right. "Might as well put him with good players and see what he can do," Molleken said, as he shook up his second line and moved Gillies from centre to the wing.

Konecny got both goals in Kelowna in a 2-1 win, but Skrudland didn't get a point, although he got into a fight and was rewarded with a shiner for his efforts. "It takes a bit of adjustment," playing with new linemates, he said afterwards. "They're both great players and they know what they're doing."

Tonight against the Everett Silvertips, he'll find new linemates -- likely Michael MacAngus and Walker Wintoneak -- as the Blades try and provide him with the best fit in their lineup.

"That's all I want," Skrudland says. "I think I'm an all-around player and I was happy last year (in Kamloops with two goals and three assists and 51 penalty minutes)." But this year he found himself limited to just six games and when it was apparent he wasn't figuring high in Kamloops' plans, he asked to be traded.

Considering he was a second-round bantam draft pick by Medicine Hat (in 2003), Skrudland hasn't exactly had a banner WHL career, yet.

The Blades are banking he has the same inner drive that uncle Brian (1980 to 1983) had with the Blades. And there are some marked similarities.

"Brian had to work hard . . . intense," Blades' owner Jack Brodsky said, and he 'chirped' a lot. Brian let other teams and other players know he was on the ice.

Scott, who as a youngster played a lot of street and pond hockey with his father Barry (former coach of the Kindersley Klippers Sr. A hockey team) and Brian, has inherited that aspect of the game. "Yeh, I chirp," he says. "It helps me get in the game and it gets the other team off it's game."

Nor is he afraid to bump and grind in the corners, another Uncle Brian trait. And now he's hoping he can regain the scoring touch he had as a minor hockey player and with the Winnipeg Thrashers AAA midget hockey club.

"I think I can play every aspect of the game," Brian says, but he needs the opportunity to show it. He doesn't lack confidence and Saskatoon is a wipe-the-slate clean opportunity to show it. "These guys are really close," he says.

Nor does he lack inspiration.

Last year when Kamloops played Saskatoon at Credit Union Centre, he looked up into the rafters and saw Uncle Brian's retired No. 10 Blades' sweater.

"I was here (for that ceremony) . . . the whole family was, just like we were in Dallas (1998-99) when Uncle Brian won the Stanley Cup.

"That sends chills up you."

BLADE BITS: The Silvertips open a six-game in 10-night East Division road trip tonight against the Blades. They stayed in Prince George last week on their trip east, to watch Prince George and the Blades. Everett is cruising along in top spot in the U.S. Division with 10 wins in 12 games and are on a five-game win streak, having outshoot opponents 22-7 over that period. Everett goalie Leland Irving leads the league with a sparkling 1.09 GAA and an equally impressive .955 save percentage and already has four shutouts in the 11 games he's started.

Go Blades!!