When i think of the Saskatoon Blades season, the word "1st" comes to mind. Some of which is in a positive way and some of which is in a negative way. The Blades finished 1st in the division. The Blades captured their 1st banner in 15 years. The Blades were out in the 1st round of playoffs. They were also considered to be on the losing end of the 1st WHL playoff upset. To cap it off in a positive manner they tied the all time(1st place) WHL road record.
Now, according to who you ask: The Blades in some minds had a successful season and had an unsuccessful season in other minds. In the negative minds you will hear comments such as "Still no WHL championship" The Blades were so good in the regular season then choke in playoffs. They will never win. All the regular season hard work was for nothing.....
Well thats where i would like to respectfully disagree. To begin not many people had the Blades to finish anywhere near the top. So any extra regular season success was a bonus. Now the playoff exit was hard, but it did go to a very entertaining game 7 in front of 10,000 strong. Burke Gallimore made a name for himself, Adam Morrison made a name for himself. The Blades inked the record books putting their name right beside the Hitmen in the road wins category. Also i had the privilage of experiencing live in PA something that Blades fans had longed for, for over 15 years. It happened as Stefan Elliott came up with some late game heroics ironically with 6 (his jersey number) seconds left in regulation to give the Blades the point they needed to bring home a division banner. That victory was bittersweet as it was the Blades last chance to set the Road record but they fell short in the S.O. However after seeing the reactions on the bench as they scored, im sure the boys in blue still had a great ride home.
Having said that it brings me to another point. A friend of mine currently resides in Brandon. And we had a friendly debate on who had a more successful season. The Saskatoon Blades or the Brandon Wheatkings. The Wheatkings made it to the 3rd round then got swetp by the Hitmen. The Blades captured an East div banner then lost in 7 to the Hurricanes. When the returning Blades players come back in Sept and start playing again, during every national anthem they will be looking at "2008/2009 East divsion champions - Saskatoon Blades" And knowing that they were a part of that will spark the players and leave a good feeling inside. Whereas the last season memories the returning Wheatkings will have is a 0-4 sweep from the Hitmen. Personally, id rather have the banner and the tied road record.
Thats all for now! In my next blog i will talk about a touchy subject, Kyle Beach.
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I agree about the blades this year. I think considering where they came from over the last few years, they've come EONS and the best could come out next year. Don't know squat bout Kyle Beach.
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