Sarah Mills: A birthday party to remember in Hawaii
It has been a very special and very memorable two weeks for Sarah Mills and her family. In today's Mills Minute, Sarah s...
The Zamboni has finished its final laps and a fresh sheet of ice is ready for players to skate on at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, ready for the Saskatoon Blades new season.
Last year saw the team playing Western Hockey League (WHL) playoff hockey, while also restocking assets that were traded away for their deep playoff run a couple seasons before.
Read more:
- Blades trade Molendyk to Medicine Hat for pair of players, five draft picks
- Saskatchewan basketball stars help Canada win 3×3 gold medal
- Canada’s sport system ‘broken’ and in need of change: Report
In the Blades locker room expectations have grown, and it’s not hard to see why.
The emergence of forwards Cooper Williams and David Lewandowski could make Saskatoon a lethal scoring team once again, and it’s hard to go wrong with Evan Gardner between the pipes — all players who will factor into internal leadership roles this year.
“These guys are still young themselves,” said head coach Dan DaSilva. “This team is not just about any one or two players or a line, it’s about all 25 on the roster committed to getting better every single day.”
Williams and Gardner both donned a jersey for Team Canada — Williams at the Under-18 Hlynka Gretzky Cup and Gardner for the Under-21 World Juniors summer team, an experience DaSilva believes will bode well for them moving forward.
“It’s obviously a credit to them as players and as people to be able to represent their country,” he said.
“I think they can bring back some things that they’ve learned through those experiences and just share those messages with the guys.”
The Blades are still a young team as they set out on the 68-game marathon that is the WHL season, but there was a buzz of excitement at this weekend’s training camp in Martensville.
“The inexperience we had last year, now everyone’s a year older, they got their feet wet a little bit last year,” said DaSilva.
“Now there’s an excitement and this buzz around the team. It’s great to be excited, it’s great to feel that we have a good group here, but … you have to show up and you have to do the work.”
The team has three to five roster spots up for the taking, and players like forwards Jagger John and Adam Halat and goaltender Ryley Budd could force their way on to the team.
“Making an impact right away, showing that they want to be here,” said DaSilva. “Nothing’s given here, everything is earned… just saying three to five spots (available) doesn’t mean that’s locked in either.
“If there are veteran players … that think it might be easy and they’re locked in, and they’re given their spot, and they take something for granted that’s not the case either.”
As the Blades gear up for the preseason it’s less about wins and losses and more about internal results, and DaSilva said they are looking for the things in players that can’t be taught.
“We call it Blades hockey … it’s work and competition .. it’s relentless, it’s fast and it’s hard,” he said.
“If these guys want to make impressions on the coaching staff and management, that’s the things they need to bring every single day, it’s the things that really require zero talent … it’s your attitude, it’s your preparation, it’s your habits, it’s your routines.”
DaSilva doesn’t want to look too far ahead.
“Our slogan is get better every day,” he said.
“That goes for the coaches, for the players, for everyone involved around our team, if you can get one per cent better every single day and everyone buys into that by the end of the season who knows where we end up, I think the sky is definitely the limit with this group.
The Blades preseason kicks off on Sept. 2 against the Prince Albert Raiders, and the regular season starts Sept. 19, with the Blades home opener taking place Sept. 20.
— with files from CKOM News
Read more:
