Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
Saskatoon Blades associate general manager Steve ‘Hilty’ Hildebrand spent months planning the first ‘Legends’ Night’ in franchise history.
Helping to put together the framework of a night celebrating Blades icons Kelly Chase and Mark Wotton, little did Hildebrand know his own plaque would be going up next to theirs.
Read more:
- Saskatoon Blades introduce team hall of fame and annual Legend’s Night
- Kelly Chase among first named to Saskatoon Blades Hall of Fame
- Well-rested Saskatoon Blades face uphill climb in chase for east’s fifth seed
A surprise of a lifetime which was captured in a now-viral video posted Friday, recognizing Hildebrand as part of their inaugural induction class for the Saskatoon Blades’ Hall of Fame.
“(Friday) was quite the surprise,” Hildebrand said.
“I was a part of these meetings for Kelly and Mark, I guess there was other meetings going on at the same time.”
The trio of Hildebrand, Chase and Wotton were recognized for their lasting impacts within the Blades organization on Saturday night with a pre-game ceremony alongside friends, family and supporters.
President and general manager Colin Priestner said the idea for a Blades Hall of Fame was born out of a need to celebrate generations of players, coaches and builders beyond their formal jersey retirements.
“It’s just a special day,” Priestner said. “We’ve got different eras here coming together and three different people that meant so much to the organization over different decades.”
For Chase, it was an emotional day returning to Saskatoon amid his ongoing battle with cancer and several other health challenges in recent years.
Racking up the fourth-most penalty minutes in Blades history, Chase became one of the most feared fighters not only in the Western Hockey League, but also during his 458-game NHL career.
“I was just dumbfounded,” Chase said.
“I felt like it was such an honour. I don’t know what the criteria is and I don’t know who is on the board. I do know that I’m grateful.”
Chase, who dressed in 195 games in Saskatoon between 1985 and 1988 as a fan-favourite, spoke to the crowd at SaskTel Centre pre-game in a speech which captivated the over 10,000 fans in attendance.
Surrounded by his former junior teammates for his induction on Saturday, Chase called the group his ‘3 a.m. guys’ who he said would drop everything to lend a hand.
Even in the middle of the night.
“I could call Kevin Kaminski or (Curtis Leschyshyn) for anything,” Chase said.
“(Dave Chartier), (Randy Smith), they’re coming. (Tony Twist), Brett Hull, I’m so lucky. To have those guys here, that’s the best.”
It was a day full of emotions for Wotton as well, returning to the rink and the city where he spent five years and nearly 300 games with between 1989 and 1994.
“Seeing the plaque and just looking how young I was a long time ago was just kind of a shocker,” Wotton said. “There’s so many great names on that wall, it’s just unbelievable really.”
A two-year captain of the Blades, Wotton led Saskatoon to Game 7 of the 1994 WHL Final where they’d fall heartbreakingly short of a championship to the Kamloops Blazers.
Wotton spent nearly two decades playing the sport professionally in Canada, the United States and Russia, as well as 43 career NHL games with the Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars.
Often sporting a letter on his jersey, he said the lessons learned during his time in junior influenced the leader he’d become across over 1,000 professional games.
“It’s just something I think has come naturally,” Wotton said.
“I played 17 years (professionally) and I think 15 of those years I was captain or assistant captain. It’s just something that I was surrounded with good people and good leaders, role models growing up.”
As for Hildebrand, he enters the Blades’ Hall of Fame after celebrating 25 years with the organization which began back in 2000 as equipment manager after being hired from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Flin Flon Bombers.
Hildebrand spent 13 years in the role while also representing Canada at the World Junior Championships, before joining the team’s front office as associate general manager in 2013.
“From being a trainer, an equipment manager and now in management, it means the world to me,” Hildebrand said.
“Anyone that’s close to me knows this, my sole goal now as a manager, along with Colin (Priestner) and Dan (DaSilva), is to bring a championship to this city.”
Along with the trio inducted on Saturday, the Blades have also created plaques recognized all previously retired players, coaches and builders who have banners hanging in the rafters of SaskTel Centre.
A legacy adorning the walls of SaskTel Centre which Chase believes is reflective of the franchise’s rich history and the hundreds of players who are bonded together through blue and gold.
“We wore our winter coats until June because they had the Saskatoon Blades logo on it,” Chase said.
“So what does the logo mean to me? It’s the brotherhood that comes with the logo that we created that I think is most important.”
Following a ceremonial puck drop pre-game with the inaugural inductees, the Blades took on the Prince Albert Raiders to close their 2025-26 regular season.
For the second night in a row, Prince Albert came away with a 4-0 victory led by two goals by Brayden Dube and a 30-save shutout by Steele Bass in net.
Saskatoon’s two losses this weekend to the Raiders has solidified their sixth-place position in the Eastern Conference with a 34-27-5-2 record, setting up a first round playoff series against the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Game 1 between the Blades and Oil Kings will be played on Friday in Edmonton with a 7 p.m. puck drop.
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