‘It’s a fun matchup’: Blades, Pats excited about first-round series

It’s a Saskatchewan showdown as the puck drops on the WHL playoffs later this week.

In the Eastern Conference, the third-seeded Saskatoon Blades will take on the sixth-seeded Regina Pats, with Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Friday at SaskTel Centre.

“It’s a fun matchup and it’s exciting,” said Blades defenceman Blake Gustafson. “They have a lot of top-end talent and as a defenceman, it gives me an opportunity to play against some top-end guys.

“There’s no team in this league that isn’t a difficult matchup and there’s no easy series in playoffs, so we’re getting geared up for this.”

It’s also one last chance for Gustafson to win a Ed Chynoweth Cup, as he’s in his final year of junior eligibility. He was a member of the Red Deer Rebels before he was traded to Saskatoon in September.

“It’s everything. I feel like the last four years in this league have been working towards this moment and all of my energy and effort has been focused towards this since the Rebels got knocked out last year,” Gustafson said. “I’m as excited as a 20-year-old man can be.”

SaskTel Centre will be familiar territory for the Pats, who played twice in Saskatoon in the past 10 days.

Those games had crowds of around 15,000 people come out to watch the two junior hockey clubs battle it out.

“It’s been a lot of fun. (The arena) can hold a lot of people and for us to get to go out there with that many people and that atmosphere, it has been great,” said Pats captain Connor Bedard.

It’s the first time Regina has been in the playoffs since 2018 and the first time — and probably only time — Bedard will experience WHL playoff hockey. He is anticipated to be the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NHL draft.

“I’m super-pumped. Obviously last year was pretty upsetting not being able to get in; we were so close,” Bedard said.

The Pats will also have a new style and attitude heading into the first-round series.

Members of the team now have team mullets with graphics shaved into the sides of them.

Connor Bedard was sporting a new hairstyle on March 28, 2023. (Britton Gray/980 CJME)

The 17-year-old Bedard took inspiration from NHL star Patrick Kane.

“I don’t know whose idea it was, but a lot of guys went through with it and it brings the guys closer together,” Bedard said. “Patty Kane did it when he had his mullet so I handed a photo of him to the hairdresser and kind of held it out there for a bit.

“I think (Kane’s) is a little nicer — he suited it — but mine’s all right.”

The Pats also have a team motto for the playoffs: Against all odds.

“It’s something that the guys liked. We’re not the highest seed but we will go out there and prove people wrong,” Bedard said.

“I’m on the team and I think we’re going to win. If I had to say who was going to win the whole thing, I would pick us for sure.”

Bedard was the WHL leader in goals (71) and points (143) and tied for the league lead in assists (72) during a phenomenal season.

So Gustafson and the Blades will need to find a way to stop one of the league’s most dynamic players.

“I’ve been seeing Connor for the past two years now … Every time, he is in the back of your mind so it’s always a challenge and a challenge I enjoy,” Gustafson said.

“I think every team goes into a playoff series knowing every hit is an investment and we will be playing Connor Bedard just as hard as we will be playing any other Regina Pat.

“Hopefully we will be bringing the energy — and we will too. That’s what makes playoffs exciting for everybody.”