Saskatoon Blades eager to reignite Highway 11 rivalry with Raiders, home opener ahead

Sleep hasn’t come easily this week for Saskatoon Blades goaltender Martin Psohlavec, and not just because of the hours he’s spent on an airplane over the past week.

Psohlavec is ready to skate onto Western Hockey League ice for his regular season debut this weekend, as the Blades kick off a highly anticipated home-and-home series with the Prince Albert Raiders.

“110 per cent,” Psohlavec said. “I can’t wait. I won’t be able to sleep these next few days, but I’m hyped. I’m actually so hyped, excited to see the fans.”

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Psohlavec is back in Saskatoon after the Philadelphia Flyers reassigned their second-round pick following his first NHL training camp.

The 18-year-old Czech netminder said the bright lights of the NHL are still far away, but was encouraged by what he heard from Flyers brass after his camp ended.

“It’s a long journey to go to the NHL, to make it,” Psohlavec said.

“Goalies take some time to get ready for the NHL, but they told me I look good. They told me to work hard and they know that I have a great place in Saskatoon to develop myself even more.”

Blades head coach Dan DaSilva is among those eagerly anticipating what their first-round pick from July’s Canadian Hockey League Import Draft can provide starting this weekend.

“We’re excited to have him back,” DaSilva said.

“I’m sure he had a great experience there in Philadelphia, but we were eager to have him back and we’re happy to have him out in practice. Just a big presence, big body, got a good personality on him.”

Friday’s weekend opener in Prince Albert will be the first meeting between the Highway 11 rivals since last spring’s second round playoff series, which saw the Raiders complete a decisive four-game sweep to eliminate Saskatoon.

Newly minted Blades captain Brayden Klimpke said their first meeting against the Raiders always brings some extra energy leading up to puck drop.

“We try to prepare the same way for any game, but it’s tough not to get juiced for the big ones,” Klimpke said. “Definitely looking forward to it.”

Saskatoon’s 2026-27 season opening road trip didn’t go to plan last weekend however, as the Blades suffered a 5-4 loss to Brandon and a 7-6 overtime loss against Moose Jaw.

DaSilva said it’s not the start they were looking for defensively, as they allowed 12 goals against and struggled to contain odd-man chances in their own zone.

“We’re working on how we’re taking the rush,” DaSilva said. “We gave up way too much off the rush last weekend, way too many scoring chances that led to either chances or goals.”

Klimpke, who was named WHL Player of the Week after three goals and five points last weekend, added there’s still plenty of time to iron out any defensive deficiencies.

“It’s early in the year,” Klimpke said. “We got a lot of new faces, so we’ll work the other stuff out and we’ll be ready to go this weekend.”

Along with the leadership he’s shown in being named the 65th captain in franchise history, DaSilva was impressed by Klimpke’s on-ice performance last weekend and believes it’s just a taste of what’s to come this season.

“He’s taken a giant leap,” DaSilva said. “We’re very happy to see how he’s looking and how he’s playing right now. He looks like a leader on the ice, he looks like he wants to be the best defenceman in the league.”

Despite only earning one out of a possible four points on the road last weekend, offence wasn’t an issue for the Blades with Hunter Laing (six points) and Klimpke (five points) in the early front seat for the WHL scoring race.

The Blades will face a Prince Albert team which went 1-1 to begin their season, which included a fight-filled tilt against the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday with 170 penalty minutes dolled out.

Alternate captain Kazden Mathies expects much of that physicality to spill over to this weekend’s series, but added that the attention will be on getting their first victory of the season.

“Just play our game and focus on what we need to do,” Mathies said. “We’ve been working all practice towards it and I think if we do that, we have a good chance at winning.”

While the Blades are counting down to their long-awaited home opener against the Raiders on Saturday night, they will first look to steal two points on the road Friday in their first trip to the Art Hauser Centre since last year’s playoffs.

Klimpke said it’s a trip north he circles every year and is excited to play the villain.

“It’s a fun atmosphere for sure,” Klimpke said. “Their fans don’t like us too much, but it’s a fun building to go into. It’s loud, it gives you a lot of energy and I enjoy playing there.”

It will be Psohlavec’s first time experiencing a regular season crowd filled with green and black, though he feels ready to face whatever opponent comes rushing across the blue line.

“I don’t really care if it’s P.A. or someone else, but we’re going to beat them,” Psohlavec said.

Lewandowski headed back to Saskatoon

A key offensive weapon is headed back to the Blades, as the Edmonton Oilers have returned forward David Lewandowski to junior.

Lewandowski, a fourth-round pick of the Oilers in 2025, had spent the past two weeks at the NHL club’s training camp and dressed in Edmonton’s 2-1 pre-season victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

Set to head into his third WHL season, Lewandowski led the Blades in scoring last season with 17 goals and 65 points in 57 games and contributed another nine points in 11 playoff games last spring.

Lewandowski, 19, also put up four points in five games for Team Germany at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships and is eligible to play for Germany again at the 2027 tournament this winter in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta.

Forward David Lewandowski is returning for his third season with the Saskatoon Blades after a stint at Edmonton Oilers training camp. (Steve Hiscock/Saskatoon Blades)

He’ll join Psohlavec and Russian winger Yegor Gusev as the third import on the Blades roster this year.

According to the Blades, Lewandowski is expected to be in the lineup on Friday for his season debut against the Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre at 7 p.m.

Saskatoon’s (0-0-1-1) home opener meanwhile will take place on Saturday at SaskTel Centre, with a 7 p.m. puck drop as well versus Prince Albert.