The Saskatoon Blades are “all in” this season as the WHL trade deadline approaches.
As they prepare for the 4,000th game in franchise history when they take on Regina Friday, the team has gone through dramatic changes since August.
Going into the second half of the season, Blades coach Brennan Sonne believes the team is focused on the goals they set at the beginning of the year: hang an East Division banner for the regular season and win a WHL championship.
“We are all in, in terms of focus from a staff perspective, and I believe from a player perspective as well,” Sonne said after practise Thursday. “There's just a total commitment of doing whatever we need to be at our best, and being as tight of a team as possible.”
The Blades have added eight new faces since training camp, including a blockbuster trade Sunday to acquire former Regina Pats forward and Washington Capitals prospect, Alexander Suzdalev.
“Last year I was fortunate enough to play with him for a good chunk of the first half of the season and he was just so fun to play with,” said Easton Armstrong, a six-foot-three, 204-pound winger who joined the Blades earlier this season.
After playing the 2022-2023 campaign in Regina where he led the WHL in rookie scoring, Suzdalev has played in the Swedish professional leagues up until the trade.
“He is so electric and brings so much skill and smarts to the game, so I'm really excited about that addition that we made and it’s good that it’s someone that I already know," said Armstrong.
Suzdalev is expected to arrive in Saskatoon in time for the game Friday, but it’s unclear if he will play.
This week the Blades called up prospects Zach Olsen, Isaac Poll and Jordan Martin.
With so many changes to the roster, the top ranked WHL team relies on players who have been here to lead the way for the new ones, like fifth-year defenseman and alternate captain, Charlie Wright.
”We have a lot of new faces, young guys coming in as well,” said Wright, who has played all 247 career WHL games in some iteration of a Blades jersey. “Our culture is something that you’ve got to hop on board, or you're not going to fit in. We don't have any guys like that, everyone hops on board, so it's been really good.”
Wright says having team success helps everyone stay motivated and focused every day despite a long regular season.
“When you have a good team, and we’re having fun, that positive energy builds every day,” he said. “Guys are excited to come to the rink and take another step forward with each other every day.”
With the trade deadline looming on January 10th, there is still time to make another move.
But whatever the final roster is, Sonne knows it has to be a tight-knit team if they want to accomplish their goals.
“Honestly, how close we were last year afforded us that run,” he said of the historic playoff run last spring.
“It would be a massive miss not to recreate that. So the leaders are on board, the staff’s on board and we're just going to make this, not an all star team but a ‘team’ team, that's here for each other and loves being here.”
The Blades head to Regina to face the Pats Friday, then they'll go north to Prince Albert for a matchup with the Raiders Saturday.
