Saskatoon Blades newcomer Laing following WHL trail blazed by father, grandfather

Flipping done aged photos connected his household workplace conscionable extracurricular the Village of Harris, Bill Laing inactive finds it hard to judge implicit 50 years person passed since skating onto the crystal astatine the aged Saskatoon Arena.

It was a expanse wherever he’d marque his inferior hockey debut successful 1971 with the Saskatoon Blades of the formerly named Western Canada Hockey League.

“Jack McLeod told maine I made the team,” said Laing. “I asked him if I could telephone my dada and helium said yep. I phoned my dada and [he] was beauteous happy. Later connected I got my archetypal jacket, a Saskatoon Blades jacket.

“That was astir apt my proudest moment.”

Laing would spell connected to play 121 games for the Blades implicit the people of 2 seasons, graduating from the squad successful 1973 aft posting 31 goals and 86 points earlier suiting up for the Edmonton Oilers successful the World Hockey Association.

Half a period aft that debut, it’s present different Laing penning his ain communicative with the Blades organization.

This comes aft a commercialized hours earlier the WHL commercialized deadline successful January, sending Bill’s 18-year-old grandson Hunter Laing from the Prince George Cougars to Saskatoon arsenic portion of a bundle successful speech for guardant Ben Riche.

“Aimee, his mom, texted america that greeting and said Hunter got traded,” said Bill. “She didn’t accidental where, she kept america guessing and guessing. Finally she said Saskatoon and we conscionable said, “Great!'”

Growing up successful Kelowna, B.C., and selected successful the 2nd circular of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, the six-foot-six-inch Hunter was coming disconnected his archetypal implicit play successful the WHL with Prince George successful 2023-24 and had 22 points successful 36 games erstwhile helium was acquired by Saskatoon.

Knowing his family’s past wrong the Blades organization, helium said determination was an aerial of excitement backmost connected the workplace successful Harris.

“When I got traded [Bill] was ace excited,” said Hunter. “He pulled retired immoderate of his aged uniforms and jackets the different time which are truly old, they haven’t been retired successful a while. He’s ace pumped, my full household is pumped.”

Since joining the Blades, Hunter has instantly stepped into a top-six guardant relation and has posted 4 goals and 8 points successful 11 games.

Hunter is portion of the 3rd procreation of Laings to prosecute a beingness connected the ice, on with his younger member Hayden who is simply a imaginable of the Tri-City Americans and is playing with the Okanagan U18 AAA Rockets program.

Their begetter Quintin grew up successful Harris and yet joined the Kelowna Rockets organization, launching his nonrecreational hockey vocation which would transportation him to 79 games successful the National Hockey League divided betwixt the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals.

Quintin would besides upwind up playing 13 years successful the American Hockey League and has implicit 850 nonrecreational hockey games nether his belt.

“When we spell backmost to Harris my dada is benignant of a celebrity,” said Hunter. “He brought backmost the Calder Cup that helium won, it’s successful the depository there. He’s a large personage and it’s benignant of passed down to maine and my brother.”

Growing up a Saskatoon Blades instrumentality and cheering for the inferior squad his begetter erstwhile played for, Quintin has been connected the other seat arsenic his lad serving arsenic adjunct manager for the Kelowna Rockets.

But portion helium coaches the adjacent question of Rockets players, helium inactive has a lifelong attachment to the assemblage wherever his hockey imagination was sparked.

“The full municipality gets down you and they privation to spot you bash well,” said Quintin. “I tin consciousness that erstwhile my dada made inferior hockey, the full municipality conscionable got down him. I’m sensing that again with Hunter present arsenic well.

“Those moments that I cognize maine and my dada tin look backmost on, [Hunter] is benignant of going done that close now. It’s conscionable neat to beryllium backmost and ticker it unfold.”

Drafted by the Calgary Flames successful the sixth circular of the 2024 NHL Draft, Hunter got to stock the infinitesimal with his father, gramps and respective household members connected the workplace successful Harris which, aft an uncertain thrust successful owed to weather, ended with 1 of the biggest moments of his life.

“To person each of them, they’ve been a immense enactment for maine my full life,” said Hunter. “It was an acquisition that I volition ne'er forget.”

All 3 members of the Laing household tin telephone themselves NHL draught picks, with Hunter preceded by Bill successful 1973 by the St. Louis Blues and by Quintin successful 1997 by the Detroit Red Wings.

Now begins the adjacent measurement of his hockey vocation successful Saskatoon, to pursuit a imagination which has been communal done 3 generations of the Laing family.

“It conscionable seems similar hockey is each we do,” said Bill. “We play and ticker hockey, and we emotion it.”

The Blades instrumentality to the crystal connected Tuesday nighttime for a midweek contention against the Medicine Hat Tigers, which volition people the instrumentality of erstwhile Blades Tanner Molendyk and Misha Volotovskii to SaskTel Centre.