Ashley Messier builds hockey legacy with sights on PWHL, Olympics
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The Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders will celebrate the opening of another Western Hockey League season Friday by renewing their hostile rivalry at the Art Hauser Centre.
Seven games across the WHL will launch the new season, but all eyes will be on Prince Albert, the home of the latest Ed Chynoweth Cup champions, as the team will celebrate its 2018 season of dominance by raising four banners to the rafters — one for the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for the best regular-season record, and championship banners for the WHL, the Eastern Conference and East Division.
Blades head coach Mitch Love is starting to get sick of attending opening night banner-raising ceremonies for other teams, especially when it’s an opponent that eliminated his team in the second round of the playoffs.
“We were part of that championship banner-raising last year to start the year in Swift Current, but it’s something that should motivate and light a fire under our guys’ asses to want to do the same thing,” Love said.
Even with high-profile departures of Ian Scott, Brett Leason and Noah Gregor, Prince Albert may not be regressing as much as fans across the league might think. Love certainly isn’t buying into that narrative.
“There’s a lot of carryover from their group last year, there’s a few changes in place, but the one thing I’ve seen in my years of junior hockey and playing defending-champion teams is there’s still that carry over of that culture that was in place and that championship mindset that’s passed on to their younger players,” he said.
“They’ll be a very competitive team, and I think for us to have the chance to start out with them, especially in their building where we never won a game last year, it should leave a bitter taste in our guys’ mouths and hopefully motivate them at the start of the season.”
The Blades, like most teams across the WHL a season ago, lost all four of their games at the Art Hauser Centre.
This year is different for the Blades and their second-year bench boss. After qualifying for a playoff spot for the first time in six years, even more is expected from a team that has bolstered its blueline in recent weeks.
Adding to the pressure to succeed is Saskatoon landing at No. 3 on the pre-season CHL Top 10 rankings.
“It’s pretty cool that everybody in the CHL will be talking about us, but it just kind of puts a target on our back for teams to come and beat us,” 20-year-old forward Riley McKay said of the honour.
Working towards that ranking begins in a raucous Art Hauser Centre, before the teams end a home-and-home series at SaskTel Centre on Saturday.
Love is expecting a crop of sophomore players — including Kyle Crnkovic, Tristen Robins and Aiden De La Gorgiendiere — to take big steps and assume larger roles in the absence of top scorers Max Gerlach, Kirby Dach and Dawson Davidson.
While Dach, the third overall selection in the 2019 NHL draft, still has an outside shot of returning to Saskatoon from the Chicago Blackhawks, Robins is hoping to occupy a spot on the team’s top six in the meantime.
“I think everyone’s goal is to play as high on the lineup as they can,” Robins said. “I’m just super fortunate where I’m playing right now and hopefully I’m going to stay there. I’m very excited.”
Robins had a knack for playing his best games against the Raiders last year, including a 1-0 win in the teddy bear toss game at SaskTel Centre that ended the Raiders’ 22-game point streak.
“Every time you’re playing a divisional opponent, especially the Raiders with the rivalry and everything, there’s just a little more tension in the air and a little more excitement,” Robins said.
Love doesn’t read into the pre-season rankings; he’s just excited to get the season started.
“I’m not sure how they come up with these rankings,” Love said of the rankings that have fans in Saskatoon buzzing with excitement. “The stock of it now is probably going to be different than heading into the playoffs in March, but at the same time, it does give us a base as a team and an organization that we have something to strive for.
“We’ve tried to work hard here to try to put the Blades back into a winning culture. It leaves us hungry for more.”