Most Western Hockey League (WHL) teams might have one or two 16-year-old players in their lineup on a regular basis. Last season, the Saskatoon Blades had five.
“It was for sure a challenge last year having so many young guys and stuff but I think we grew a lot as players and as a group,” said defenceman Jake Kustra.
“We’ve known each other right from the get-go soon as we were picked by the Blades and we’ve grown close as a group and we’re hopefully going to be part of a core group moving forward,” added forward Josh Paterson.
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The Blades certainly hope that’s the case. Along with Kustra and Paterson, forwards Lukus MacKenzie, Cam Hausinger and Logan Christensen combined to play 284 games as rookies, gaining valuable experience that should serve them well heading into year two.
Older teammates like forward Cameron Hebig can relate. As Saskatoon’s leading goal-scorer last season, he has seen his numbers improve each year since posting 26 points in 67 games as a 16-year-old in 2013-14.
“That next year you get more confident, you get more comfortable with the league and the experience they got obviously helps so I think they should be excited for this upcoming year and ready to take on a bigger role, and I think they’re ready for it,” he said.
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With the Blades adopting a playoffs-or-bust mentality this season they’ll be counting on their sophomores to embrace the opportunity before them.
“We’ve been in a slump for the past couple years so we definitely take it upon ourselves as the guys coming up to be able to help our team win and you know, we want to win a championship here so we’ll do everything we can to help,” MacKenzie said.
The Blades play their first pre-season game Sept. 1 against the Moose Jaw Warriors. The regular season begins Sept. 23 when Saskatoon visits the Swift Current Broncos.
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