For a team that’s been ranked number one in the country for most of 2024, the Saskatoon Blades sure didn’t look like it over the last week and a half.
Riding a 20-game unbeaten streak in regulation on home ice, the Blades suffered just their second regulation loss of the year at SaskTel Centre on Feb. 23 against the Brandon Wheat Kings.
That kicked off a series of three straight games where the Blades failed to meet their team’s standards, suffering convincing losses to the Wheat Kings, Red Deer Rebels and Lethbridge Hurricanes.
“We weren’t competing like we can and we weren’t playing as hard as we could,” Blades forward Rowan Calvert said. “It seemed like we were feeling almost comfortable earlier, like these games aren’t meaningful.
“But all games are meaningful, we’re playing against ourselves just as much as we’re playing against our opponents.”
The streak marked just the second time this season that Saskatoon had gone three straight games without a victory, a far cry from their usual dominance on home ice that has catapulted the Blades into contention for a Western Hockey League championship.
According to head coach Brennan Sonne, it was a shift away from the details that made them so successful that resulted in their worst stretch of hockey yet this season.
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“At times in a season you lose sight of the basics,” Sonne said. “There’s a lot going on and a lot being said, blah, blah, blah. At the end of the day, it’s about the work. After the game against Lethbridge I thought we just reset and got back to basics.”
With one of the deepest lineups in the WHL, the losses served as a jolt to the system that forced the Blades to look inward and simplify their game.
What followed last Saturday was a dominant showing on the road in Brandon to get back on track, outshooting the Wheat Kings 49-21 en route to a 4-0 victory.
Led by a shutout from netminder Austin Elliott, the Blades were able to regain their scoring touch with a pair of power-play goals and a defensive effort that limited Brandon to just five shots in the third period.
“We’re really proud of that performance,” forward Vaughn Watterodt said. “Everyone was going, from (Elliott) in net to everyone up from and on defence. It was really nice to see all the boys bounce back there.”
Eight games removed from the playoffs, the Blades are verging on locking up the Eastern Conference’s top seed with a nine-point lead over the Moose Jaw Warriors for first place.
After facing their first real test of adversity in months, captain Trevor Wong feels the team is now better prepared to weather the ups and downs of what could be a long playoff run this spring.
“You go down one (game), let’s say, you got to regroup right away because you play the next day,” Wong said. “If you lose three more you’re out, so you’re playing for your lives pretty much. I think that patch of adversity we went through is good for us and going into the post-season I think it will help us a lot.”
Set to host the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday night, the Blades will be facing the top team in the Central Division and will be leaning on the lessons they learned over their recent struggles, according to Sonne.
The goal is to roll over that experience into the post-season in just a few short weeks.
“I think it’s such a good lesson,” Sonne said. “Honestly, it’s such a good lesson for our team. I think it was massive for team-building in the sense of when it’s not going right, there’s an answer.
“What’s our north on our compass? They know what it is now.”
The Blades and Tigers will face off at 7 p.m. at SaskTel Centre on Friday, before Saskatoon hosts the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday which will be highlighted by the retirement of Frank Banham’s jersey prior to puck drop.
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