SASKATOON – The young Saskatoon Blades have shown resilience in the early faceoffs of the 2015-16 WHL season. On Oct. 4, the boys in blue erased a two-goal deficit, earning a hard-fought point against the Vancouver Giants.
This is the second time this season Saskatoon has come from behind to force overtime.
“I thought in the first period we let them take it to us pretty good but again, they figured it out and did what they had to do,” said Bob Woods, the Blades head coach and general manager.
READ MORE: Giants down Blades 5-4 in OT
A pair of young guns stepped up in a big way against the Giants. Sixteen-year-olds Lukus MacKenzie and Jake Kustra scored their very first WHL goals to help fuel the Blades comeback bid.
“It feels pretty good, a lot of pressure off my back. I got that first one out of the way and tried to help out the team as much as could this game,” said Kustra.
“Just an unreal feeling really, it means so much also to get it at home as well. Alongside the loss, it doesn’t feel as great but definitely it’s a special moment,” said MacKenzie.
On Oct. 2, the Medicine Hat Tigers downed the Blades in overtime 3-2.
The Blades have picked up points in all four of their games this season but have lost three overtime games in a row. These are outcomes that don’t sit well with Saskatoon’s leading scorer, Cameron Hebig.
“We’re sick of losing. We can’t be happy. We can’t be average. I mean, we always want to bring it every game and we always want those two points,” said Hebig.
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Last season, the Saskatoon hockey club would have been happy to have picked up two points out of four over the weekend but expectations are a lot higher this year.
“I like the fact that our guys aren’t happy with one point, they want two points and last year against a good team we’d be doing cartwheels stealing a point but now we expect more,” said Woods.
The Blades host the Kootenay Ice on Wednesday at the SaskTel Centre.
Jack Haskins contributed to this story
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