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The Saskatoon Blades’ season is officially over.
A hat trick from Ben Kindel helped lift the Calgary Hitmen to a 6-2 win over the Blades on Wednesday night at SaskTel Centre to complete the sweep of their first-round best-of-seven series.
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“Proud of our team,” said Hitmen head coach Paul McFarland after the game. “I think we got contributions from all the way through our lineup. You win series because your team’s good. I give our players all the credit in the world.
The Blades kept the score 0-0 in the first period after killing off three Calgary power plays. In the second however, things went bad for the Blades very quickly.
The Hitmen scored three unanswered goals off the sticks of David Adaszynski, Kindel and Carter Yakemchuk in the opening six minutes of the second frame to put Calgary up 3-0.
Although the Blades were trailing, the team didn’t quit.
Zach Olsen and Hayden Harsanyi scored midway through the second period to cut down Calgary’s lead to 3-2.
That comeback from the Blades was short lived, as Kindel scored his second goal of the evening 11 seconds after the Harsanyi goal to put the Hitmen up 4-2 and silence the crowd of 5,228.
Oliver Tulk netted his second goal of the playoffs in the third period, and Kindel capped off his hat-trick on an empty Blades net, helping lift the Hitmen to the 6-2 victory.
The Blades left the ice heartbroken after failing to extend their season for another day.
Although there was plenty of disappointment about the Blades season coming to an end, head coach Dan DaSilva said he didn’t want to dwell on the negatives.
“As a coach, all you can ask of your group is that they show up every day and compete, work and have that drive to get better – to improve as individuals and to improve as a team,” DaSilva said. “Your goal is that they exceed expectations, and that’s what our guys did… There’s no reason for those guys to hold their heads down.”
DaSilva said the team knew Calgary was going to be a tough test after the Hitmen loaded up with veteran talent at the trade deadline.
“It’s a good hockey team. We’re on two different ends of the spectrum, if we’re being honest. They loaded up to go for it, and we sold off to rebuild and then go for it in a couple of years,” DaSilva said. “That’s the truth, but our guys never shied away for a second. They they showed up. They gave everything they had.”
DaSilva said the series was a good learning experience for his younger players.
“I think it’s great for our young guys to see that – to feel that type of pressure in those games. We had guys without playoff experience, and now they have experience – really good experience, really tough experience – but sometimes it’s best to learn the hard way,” DaSilva added. “Obviously, the sweep stings. At the end of the day, there’s lessons to be learned here.”
Captain Ben Saunderson and Grayden Siepmann, who are both at the 20-year-old age limit, played their final WHL game on Wednesday night. Tanner Scott did not dress in the series.
Although he was disappointed with the loss, Saunderson echoed the words of his head coach.
“That’s a really good hockey team over there,” Saunderson said.
“I’m so proud of our group. Our young guys have stepped up tremendously, and there’s a very bright future for this team.”
“You got to give credit where credit’s due, but we never quit,” he added.
