In the words of Saskatoon Blades president and general manager on Thursday, it finally feels like the Blades are cool again.
Less than 24 hours after falling 3-2 in a hard-fought Game 4 at the hands of the Winnipeg Ice in the WHL’s Eastern Conference finals, the Blades are wrapping up a season that has seen the ‘Bridge City bunch’ return to the spotlight in Saskatoon.
The Blades saw record-breaking attendance over the course of their 10 home playoff games, with the team’s feisty sprit and determination on full display.
“It’s like 115,000 or 120,000 fans that came out to games,” said Priestner. “It’s insane, it’s something that I’ve never seen in junior hockey and it’s so exciting that they got to watch such a passionate team, such a passionate coaching staff. And, they got to fall in love with the team. ”
A historic playoff run, the Blades became the first team in league history to overcome 0-2 starts in two series to advance to the next round by beating phenom Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats before besting the Red Deer Rebels in a second-straight seven game series.
Winning four straight after going down 3-0 to the Rebels, the Blades also became the third team in WHL history to complete a reverse sweep joining the 2013 Kelowna Rockets and 1996 Spokane Chiefs in the process.
“We had a meeting in Red Deer one day and we talked about our top-three favourite hockey moments,” said Blades defenceman and alternate captain Charlie Wright. “I would say two of them are from this playoff run and both of them are the Game Sevens. So, it was absolutely something that I’ll never forget.”
Making it to the third round of the playoffs, it’s the furthest Saskatoon has advanced since the 1993-94 season where they competed for a WHL title against the Kamloops Blazers.
While much of the team’s nucleus will be returning for another season at SaskTel Centre, the Blades are saying goodbye to a trio of 20-year-old leaders.
Graduating from the WHL are forward Josh Pillar and defencemen Aidan De La Gorgendiere and Ben Gustafson.
Pillar returned closer to home with a trade from Kamloops at the 2022 WHL trade deadline, as the Warman product dressed in 45 regular season games over parts of two seasons and was in the lineup for 17 of Saskatoon’s 18 post-season games this spring.
It was an emotional goodbye for De La Gorgendiere after five season on the Blades blue line, the last two of which he skated with the captain’s ‘C’ on his chest.
On Thursday, he referenced the support he received from the organization following the passing of his mother Marla in 2019 and being able to enjoy his final WHL season after working his way back from a shoulder injury that ended his 2021-22 season prematurely.
“We were enjoying every moment we could together because you never know when it’s going to end,” said De La Gorgendiere. “That was one thing that we took to heart. It’s awesome to be captain of this team, I love this organization.”
For Gustafson, he was acquired from the Red Deer Rebels back in September and became a valuable and dependable presence in Saskatoon’s top-four defence core.
“The day I was traded it was the scariest day of my life,” said Gustafson. “I looked at the roster and I didn’t know a single guy on this team. The first couple of weeks were really scary just getting to meet everybody, it turned out being the best scenario ever and the happiest year of my life.”
Saskatoon’s season has sparked record-breaking crowds over this spring, including a sell-out of 15,000 spectators in March against Bedard and the Pats.
That was followed up by attendance numbers reaching five-digits, especially in the Game 7 tilts against Regina and Red Deer.
A wave of support that head coach Brennan Sonne was able to see grow the further his team went in the post-season.
“I was driving before Game 4 to the rink in the morning, it was like 7:30,” said Sonne. “There was a young kid, maybe eight years old, waiting for his bus with his backpack on and he was wearing a Blades jersey, I hadn’t seen that before. The crowds that came in, the fans, the buzz of the city, man it was special.”
Sonne’s work was also rewarded by the WHL this week with the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as the league’s coach of the year, leading the Blades to just their fifth 100-point regular season in franchise history.
“I want Brennan to be here for as long as we can possibly have him because of the impact he’s making on these kids’ lives,” said Priestner. “He’s going to be having his first child here in a month and my wife and his wife are very close. We just had our daughter three weeks ago and he’s having a daughter, so it’s going to be something special to watch them become buddies too.”
The sting of coming so close to the WHL finals is a feeling that isn’t expected to subside anytime soon according the Blades players and staff.
According to Jayden Wiens, who broke out for eight goals this playoffs, that’s feeding the burning fire to reach even greater heights in 2023-24.