Ryan Graham has played 238 games as a Saskatoon Blade. Only one of them has come in the post-season.
“It’s five years of my life and one playoff game’s definitely not good enough, so we’re gonna make the playoffs this year for sure,” said Graham, a forward entering his final year of junior hockey.
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It’s a bold statement from a player whose team has missed the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, but it’s one the Blades feel they’re ready to back up.
It starts with new head coach Dean Brockman, who wants to establish a winning culture in the dressing room and on the ice.
“There’s so many life lessons in winning that if you throw the compete in there and have guys battle against each other I think it’s important,” Brockman said.
“It’s kind of what a regular season is. It’s all about compete, it’s all about working and it’s all about winning.”
“Since day one, Dean took over the team here, I got a call from him and it was all about winning,” Graham echoed. “It was all about changing the culture and being positive, supporting the guys around you.”
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While the team has only just begun training camp there’s already a sense that Brockman’s message is being heard.
“Last year it almost seemed like some games we were sitting back, we were worried like, ‘Oh, these guys are really good.’ This year it’s definitely a lot different. We’re going into it knowing that we are gonna do a lot of stuff and we’re not accepting anything but playoffs,” defenceman Bryton Sayers said.
If the expectation of playoff hockey in Saskatoon puts any added pressure on the team, Brockman is fine with that.
“I would hope that they feel some pressure. I think you’ve gotta excel under pressure. You know when you have a timeline and you have two weeks to get it done you’ll probably take the full two weeks but when you have one day to get it done, you get it done that day. That’s pressure and I think that’s a good thing,” he said.
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Now it’s up to the Blades to put in the necessary work in camp and throughout the season to turn their words into reality.
“We’ve done our share of losing. Now it’s to turn the page and make sure that we get off on the right foot,” Brockman said.
“Winning is so important. Obviously I keep my job if we win but guys get more comfortable and they feel more relaxed. They don’t feel as tensed up when they’re playing the game and really we owe it to our fans to win hockey games.”
The Blades play their first exhibition game Sept. 1 against the Moose Jaw Warriors at a pre-season tournament hosted by the Regina Pats.
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