SASKATOON – The Saskatoon Blades are determined to seize the moment tonight at the opening game of the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup at Credit Union Centre (CUC).
In many ways, the Saskatoon Blades will be up against their toughest test of the season tonight.
The ‘Boys in Blue’ haven’t played a game in over seven weeks and when the time finally comes to kick off the national championship, they’ll be up against the mighty London Knights.
Far from ideal circumstances and it gets worse.
If the Blades can’t pull off a victory on opening night, their chances of moving on to the next round of the tournament take a serious nosedive.
Despite all of the negative attention surrounding the team following their early exit from the playoffs, the Blades have remained extremely positive.
The players and coaching staff have worked tirelessly to best prepare themselves for a shot at redemption.
One advantage the host team will have tonight can’t be found on the ice, but in the stands.
The hometown team will rely on their loyal fans to fuel the Blades competitive fire.
“I don’t know if they realize this” says defenceman Duncan Siemens. “But you can really pick up some momentum from hearing the roars as you come out of the gate.”
Tonight’s matchup will be an interesting one to say the very least.
The Blades are a bigger and older team than the Knights, but when it comes to recent Memorial Cup experience, the edge goes to London.
The Knights have 15 returning players from last year’s squad, who came just one goal away from winning the 2012 Memorial Cup.
Both organizations have unfinished business to take care of, but on Friday night, only one team will take a step towards achieving their ultimate goal.
The game starts at 6 p.m. at CUC and tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
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