Saskatoon Blades defying expectations with 1st place start to WHL season

Brandon Lisowsky’s archetypal extremity of the play came astatine an opportune clip for the Saskatoon Blades connected Tuesday nighttime against the Regina Pats.

Lisowsky scored connected a two-on-one unreserved to implicit a 4-3 comeback triumph successful overtime, conscionable minutes aft a Tyler Parr tying extremity to bushed the buzzer with 33 seconds near successful regulation.

“It’s evidently bully to get that archetypal 1 retired of the mode and hopefully they support going in,” said Lisowsky.

Trailing 3-2 precocious successful the 3rd period, Saskatoon pulled Logan Cunningham with Parr batting a puck retired of the aerial and past Regina netminder Kelton Pyne.

“It shows however overmuch we’re consenting to enactment and we’re not going to spell distant ever,” said Blades guardant Ben Riche. “No substance if we’re up 6-2, down 6-2 oregon successful a choky 3-2 game, we’re conscionable not going away.”

Despite each signs pointing towards a twelvemonth of maturation pursuing the departure of stars similar Trevor Wong, Egor Sidorov, Fraser Minten and Charlie Wright, the Blades person fired retired of the starting blocks with a 7-1-1 grounds implicit their archetypal 9 games.

It equals 1 of the champion starts successful franchise history, vaulting Saskatoon into the apical spot successful the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

“It’s a large commencement to the season, absolutely,” said Blades caput manager Dan DaSilva. “But it’s conscionable a commencement and it’s not astir however you start, it’s however you finish. We’re very, precise blessed with our grounds close present but let’s marque nary mistake, there’s inactive tons of enactment to bash here.”

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Along with the instrumentality of Lisowsky, Evan Gardner and Tanner Molendyk from NHL camps, the Blades person besides added import guardant David Lewandowski to their roster.

Lewandowski began the play playing successful Germany’s apical nonrecreational men’s league and is projected arsenic 1 of the apical Germans eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft.

“I already played connected the tiny crystal successful immoderate tournaments,” said Lewandowski. “Also successful Germany immoderate clubs person tiny ice, it was not that hard to alteration but I similar the tiny crystal more.”

Not adjacent a period into the season, the Blades inactive look a agelong roadworthy towards replicating past year’s Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy arsenic regular play champions.

According to Lisowsky and the remainder of the Blades locker room, however, they’re determined to beryllium pre-season prognostications wrong.

“Obviously, radical don’t truly deliberation that we’re inactive a bully team,” said Lisowsky. “Like I support saying, successful the country we inactive deliberation we’re the champion squad successful the league.

“I deliberation that’s wherefore our grounds shows that.”

The Blades volition purpose to determination to 8-1-1 connected Thursday night, arsenic they statesman a abbreviated two-game Alberta roadworthy travel against the Edmonton Oil Kings.