Playoffs have arrived for the Saskatoon Blades, who head into the WHL post-season with a much younger team than in years past, hungry to prove their doubters wrong.
Heading into their first playoff series against the Calgary Hitmen in a quarter century, the Saskatoon Blades are taking inspiration from acclaimed rapper Kendrick Lamar.
They’re using the title of his hit diss track Not Like Us as their slogan heading into the WHL post-season and carrying a belief in proving doubters wrong like they’ve done all year.
“A lot of people had us counted out at the start of the year and [we were] just kind of that underdog, underdog, underdog,” Blades captain Ben Saunderson said. “We’re going in there every night and we get to play the villain. Even on the road, we’re going in there Friday and Sunday getting to play the villain and try to steal some points.”
The Blades, who had been projected to take a large dip in competitiveness in 2024-25, are back in the WHL playoffs as the six seed in the Eastern Conference after finishing just one win shy of capturing the East Division banner.
Now they’ll take to the ice against a Hitmen team that also came up just shy of the Central Division title and finished the season with a 14-point difference in the standings compared with the 82-point Saskatoon squad.
According to head coach Dan DaSilva however, it’s not a foreign situation for this year’s Blades roster.
“We are the underdogs, it’s no secret,” DaSilva said. “We know that, we’re well aware of that and it’s a motivating factor for us.
Saskatoon is coming off back-to-back trips to the Eastern Conference final, falling in Game 7 overtime of a wild series last year with the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors.
A select group of veterans played major roles in both of those playoff runs, however, this will be a much more inexperienced Blades team gliding out for Game 1 against Calgary with just 10 skaters returning from the 2024 playoff roster.
“We got a lot of guys that this is their first taste of playoff experience,” veteran forward Tyler Parr said. “To be a guy who can lead the guys into the fight and kind of set an example is going to be huge for us.”
One constant for the Blades will be in net, with Evan Gardner back between the pipes for Saskatoon after playing in 15 playoff games for the team last spring.
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Saskatoon Blades head into first round of playoffs on the roadRecently signing his NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Gardner has bounced back from a lower-body injury that kept him out for the majority of February and will be good to go for the series against Calgary.
“Being able to return and come back the way I did I think is a huge confidence booster,” Gardner said. “It just helps you ease back into it, because you know you’re still able to play how you were before the injury.”
Watching his starter play eight straight periods of shutout hockey just a few weeks ago, DaSilva said it’s good timing for his group to have Gardner back healthy.
“He’s a big part of our hockey club,” DaSilva said. “I know he gives the guys a big sense of comfort back there knowing you have an NHL drafted and signed goaltender behind you to cover up any mistakes.”
On the other side of the ice, the Hitmen won’t have as much certainty with WHL all-time goaltending wins record holder Daniel Hauser suffering an injury last weekend and listed as day-to-day heading into the series.
Whoever will be in the opposing crease, DaSilva believes the Blades will have to grind out wins to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
“We’re going to have to capitalize on our opportunities,” DaSilva said. “For us, it’s probably not going to be pretty, we’re going to be very, very simple. We’re going to be really, really hard-working and a relentless group. Not a lot of change from what you saw through 68 games of the regular season.”
Possessing elite talent such as Tanner Howe, Carson Wetsch, Oliver Tulk, Ben Kindel, Carter Yakemchuk and Sawyer Mynio, the Hitmen will pose the biggest test yet for the youthful Blades squad.
Splitting the season series and only dropping one game to Calgary this year, however, Gardner added that playing spoiler is a role the team feels confident embracing once again.
“They’re a team that went out and bought a ton at the deadline and throughout the year leading up to this because they wanted to make a run,” Gardner said. “I think it would be special to end them.
“There’s always got to be a few upsets in playoffs, so why not us?”
The Blades and Hitmen will face off at 7 p.m. on Friday for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals, with Game 2 going at 2 p.m. Sunday from Scotiabank Saddledome before the series shifts to Saskatoon on Tuesday.
As for the East Division champion Prince Albert Raiders, they’ll also begin their series on Friday evening with Game 1 against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings.
