Blades Select 2 At CHL Import Draft.

Today the Saskatoon Blades picked Right Winger Andrej Stastny with their 1st pick,57th Overall. Stastny was a team mate of Marek Viedensky at the past World Junior Championships here in Saskatoon. He is 19 years old and stands 6'3, and weighs in at 212 lbs.

in the 2nd round the Blades traded picks with Prince George,sending an 8th round selection in the 2012 Bantam Draft to Prince George, in exchange for the Cougars 2nd round pick in this years Import Draft (61st Overall.)

They selected Matej Stransky: a 17 year old Centre from the Czech Republic. He stands 6'2 and weighs 190lbs. I believe his agent is also the same agent that Jyri Niemi has.

A good move today moving up in the 2nd round,and only giving up an 8th rounder in 2012.

They expect both players to be here when training camp starts on August 25th.

I am getting excited already. It is my birthday tomorrow,and Canada day the next day. So everyone enjoy Canada day and the long weekend.

4 Blades Selected in the NHL Draft.

3 of them were in the rankings: Josh Nicholls,Curtis Hamilton,and Charles Inglis. Only 2 of those guys were picked. Curtis Hamilton went in the 2nd round to the Edmonton Oilers. Josh Nicholls was selected in the 7th round by my favorite team!!!!! The Toronto Maple Leafs. Charles Inglis went undrafted,and unranked Randy McNaught went in the 7th round to the New York Rangers (there are now 3 players who played for the Blades in the Rangers system) Sam Klassen,Jyri Niemi and now Randy McNaught. Teigan Zahn re-entered the draft and Steve Yzerman's Tampa Bay Lightning picked him in the 7th round.

Congratulations to Curtis,Randy,Teigan and Josh on being selected by NHL teams.

This could possibly narrow down the Blades 20 year old situation too. Zahn and McNaught could end up in the AHL.

Blades Release Tenative 2010-2011 Season Schedule. Sign 2010 2nd Round Draft Pick.

The Blades have signed Aryton Nikkel to a WHL Contract. They have also released their schedule for this coming season. The Blades will open the season on September 24th with a home and home against the Prince Albert Raiders.

The Blades B.C Division Road trip is from Nov.30th-Dec 7th.

For the full schedule go to the Blades website.

Former Blade Wins Calder Cup. Blades Sign Goaltender.

The Hershey Bears and Braden Holtby defeated the Texas Stars to be the Calder Cup Champions this season. Cody Eakin of the Broncos and Former WHL'ers Dylan Yeo from Prince Albert and Karl Alzner were also part of that team.

Congratulations to the Hershey Bears.

The Blades have signed Adam Todd (2009 4th Round) to a standard WHL contract.

That is all for now.

Duncan Siemens Invited to U-18 Development Camp

He along with 9 other WHL rookies last season and Brandon Wheat Kings prospect Liam Liston also received an invite to Team Canada's camp in Calgary in July and August.

Good luck to all the players at this camp.

The Blades have 3 players (Curtis Hamilton,Stefan Elliott and Duncan Siemens) that could possibly represent Canada at tournaments and that is exciting if you are a Blades fan.

Hamilton & Elliott Recieve Invite.

The duo has been invited to Team Canada's Summer selection camp. There are alot of other WHL invites... Cody Eakin,Brayden Schenn to name a few.

It will be a busy summer for Curtis Hamilton because he is eligible for this summer's NHL Entry Draft,and he also attended the NHL Combine in Toronto.

Blackhawks and Brent Sopel win the Stanley Cup.

I was out of the loop, I did not even know that Brent Sopel played for the Blades but thanks to the WHL facebook page I was re educated again. haha. I was at work so I was not able to watch the game. The Blackhawks won in overtime. They also ended a 49 year drought.

Congratulations to both teams on a great series. This year 10 WHL alumni will have their names on the cup. Marian Hossa is one of those players.

The next order of business is the NHL awards and NHL draft this month,as well as the WHL Import draft.

Will the Blades take 2 players or just one?

Blades Sign Tim McGauley & Extend Contracts Of Hockey Ops Staff.

The Blades signed their 1st round pick in 2010 Tim McGauley to an education contract and they also gave new contracts to/extended the contracts of Head Scout Doug Molleken, Assistant GM Jarrod Brodsky,Trainer Steve Hildebrand,and Assistant coach Dave Struch. These deals will go until the end of the 2013 season.

That is also the same season that the WHL next hosts the Memorial Cup. Say what you will about the Western Conference having an edge in being picked but there are facts that argue why a team in the same divison/conference can not host back to back. A good example of that is Kelowna in 2004 and Vancouver in 2007. As well as London and Kitchener. Same division/conference.


I think the Blades and Saskatoon have an equally fair chance at hosting this major event again.

I of course would like to see the Blades enter into the Memorial cup in true fashion of winning the WHL and Ed Chynoweth Cup.

Hosting it and being WHL champs would be just as sweet.

The CHL Import Draft is on June 29th, the Blades have the 57th pick in the 1st round and pick 117th in the 2nd round. They may use both selections because as far as I know you can have 3 Imports but only dress two of them in a game,and must be down to the limit of 2 by a specific date. I think we will see one new import for sure because both Niemi and Viedensky are 20. We shall see what happens on June 29th .