Saskatoon Blades defenceman Bryton Sayers latest goal came in a 6-3 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Nov. 12. The tally doubled Sayers season total and remarkably also that of the Blades entire defensive corps.
Twenty-one games into the season, Sayers remains the only Blades blueliner to light the lamp, but the 20-year-old Prince Albert, Sask., native isn’t concerned.
“We’re doing really good for plus-minus and you know D-men, we’re not supposed to be extremely offensive but you know what, Libor (Hajek) and (Nolan) Reid are doing a lot on the power play to get assists and stuff, so I think just from generating good shots on net I think that’s a big plus,” Sayers said.
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While it’s true that Hajek and Reid have combined for 19 assists, it’s hard not to draw a line between Saskatoon’s 2.62 goals per game – fourth-worst in the WHL – and the lack of scoring from their back end.
“A lot of guys that haven’t put up a lot of numbers are squeezing it and you don’t want to pressure, put the emphasis on that, but certainly you know, lack of goal scoring is definitely a problem,” head coach Dean Brockman admitted.
The natural question, then, is how do the Blades generate more offence from their defence?
“Just recognizing opportunities where they can get up in the play,” Brockman said.
“It also starts too, when you got the puck on your stick, you’ve got to find lanes to the net. Shot blocking is a big part of the game today, so just finding those lanes. You’ve got to move and walk across the blue line.”
According to the bench boss that kind of patience and poise comes with experience, something the Blades’ defence group doesn’t have in abundance.
“A lot of young guys from the blue line on our group are used to just firing away when they get it. Well they have to have a little more of a patient game up there.”
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Saskatoon recently acquired 19-year-old defenceman Jordan Henderson from the Spokane Chiefs, but with just three career WHL goals to his name it’s unlikely Henderson will suddenly start filling the net. However his presence may help in other ways.
“Now we finally have some depth, and when you have depth, if guys don’t adhere to what we’re talking about or doing the things that we have to, maybe they just gotta watch for a bit,” Brockman explained.
And while strong play in their own end remains the rearguards’ top priority, a little offence certainly wouldn’t hurt.
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