Blades’ Maier poised to take franchise wins record from mentor

Tim Cheveldae last strapped on the pads as a goalie for the Saskatoon Blades at the end of the 1987-88 WHL season.

It wasn’t until after the final buzzer of Cheveldae’s last game when he was told he was the Blades’ all-time leader in wins with 85.

Now, 33 years later, Cheveldae is ready to watch Nolan Maier attempt to break the wins record when the Blades take on the Winnipeg Ice on Wednesday night in Regina.

“Eighty-five games is a few wins, but you look at the franchise being around for 57 years, you would expect it to be in the 100- to 110-win category as far as the goalie with the most wins,” Cheveldae said.

“I knew it was going to be broken and the fact that Nolan should break it, I couldn’t be more happy.”

More than 25 years after his final game in a blue and gold uniform, including a pro career spanning 10 years with multiple NHL teams, Cheveldae returned to the Blades as a goaltending coach in 2013 — a position he left just before the pandemic shut down the league in 2020.

When a young, freckle-faced Maier showed up to his first Blades camp as a 14-year-old, Cheveldae was there to greet him.

“He was just drafted by the Blades, and we were doing a bunch of drills. He wanted to be the first guy in line, and that sort of shows, ‘I want to be a leader, I’m confident in my abilities and I’m able to do this,’ ” Cheveldae said of the impression Maier left on him.

“Right away, that showed what type of individual he is.”

Maier remembers the camp fondly as the day his approach to hockey shifted.

“Wanting to get better every day and being a professional every day,” Maier said of his biggest takeaway from Cheveldae’s leadership.

“He always wanted to do things the right way all the time. Being instilled with that from Day 1 in this organization and from him was very helpful for me in being able to achieve a goal like this.”

Maier’s path to success started in his 17-year-old season when he took over as the team’s full-time starter in 2017-18. It’s a role he isn’t expected to relinquish until he ages out of the league next season.

Watching Maier get to this point in his career after years of hard work brings an added level of joy for Cheveldae, so handing off the record to a kid from Yorkton whom he loved working with is sort of the ideal scenario.

“It’s nice to know him and know the type of person he is, too,” Cheveldae said. “He’s a team guy, and he’s a good individual. When you see someone like that succeed, you’re more than happy for him.”

Maier tied the record with added style points by beating the archrival Prince Albert Raiders in a 4-0 shutout Monday to improve his record to 6-0-0 this season in the East Division hub in Regina.

Blades head coach Mitch Love has had a front-row seat to some of Maier’s greatest performances. After Maier’s statistics took a bit of a dip last year, Love said Maier has entered this season with a new determination.

“You could see he put a lot of work in, and I’ve seen a maturity to his preparation. He wanted to bounce back a little bit,” Love said.

“We know he’s approaching Blades history here, and I know that will be something special to him, the team and his family. He’s earned that. He’s been a loyal soldier for the Saskatoon Blades.”

Cheveldae can’t believe his 85 wins stood as the most in franchise history for 33 years, and having Maier be the man to try for Win No. 86 and beyond feels like a hand-picked selection.

“It’s great to see somebody like Nolan, somebody that I know and have a tonne of respect for, break it,” Cheveldae said.

That admiration is the same coming from Maier, who can’t thank Cheveldae enough for helping to make him the goalie he is today.

“Being able to share that (record) with (Cheveldae) right now, especially being able to have him as a mentor for me for my first three years in Saskatoon, was pretty special,” Maier said, “and I think that’s something I probably won’t ever forget.”