Over four months have passed since the Saskatoon Blades came within a single goal of advancing to their first WHL Championship Final series in three decades, falling in Game 7 overtime of the Eastern Conference Final.
Blades forward Rowan Calvert not only had to deal with the crushing heartbreak of that loss, but watched on as his older brother Atley captured a WHL title with the Moose Jaw Warriors the following week.
“He brought the cup to the house and I told him, ‘Don’t bring it to the house,’” said Calvert. “I wasn’t too happy about that honestly and that’s more of what I’ve thought about being so much closer to it.”
The Blades enter the 2024-25 WHL season a much different team than the one that left the ice at SaskTel Centre in May.
Stars such as Trevor Wong, Egor Sidorov, Fraser Minten, Alexander Suzdalev, Charlie Wright and Vaughn Watterodt have departed the organization either through graduation, promotion to professional hockey, or through off-season trades.
That’s left behind a roster which will feature 10 rookies in the lineup, a fact that overage defenceman Ben Saunderson said will force the Blades to play tight, lockdown hockey throughout the season.
“We had a lot of skill and older guys last year,” said Saunderson. “Sometimes we would get wins not playing our best hockey, it’s going to need our full effort every night for a win.”
Saskatoon native Dan DaSilva will also begin his first season as head coach of his hometown Blades, after 2022 WHL Coach of the Year Brennan Sonne resigned this offseason to take an assistant coaching position with the American Hockey League’s Coachella Valley Firebirds.
“Our expectations are that we get better every day and that we exceed expectations from the outside,” said DaSilva. “We want to be better than people think we’re going to be and we’re going to do that by competing, by working and being really, really hard to play against.”
The Blades are expected to be led offensively by veteran stars Brandon Lisowsky and Tanner Molendyk, as well as centre Ben Riche who was acquired for Watterodt from the Victoria Royals and is expected to slide into Saskatoon’s top-six forward core.
Breakout rookie Evan Gardner will also be back in net following his selection in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft in June by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Saskatoon kicks off the 2024-25 season on the road Friday night in Swift Current, before holding their home opener Saturday at 7:00 pm versus the Broncos.