Blades, Pats getting ready to rumble in first-round matchup

The second season in the Western Hockey League begins on Friday night, and both the Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats are making their final adjustments.

Both teams enter the playoffs with high hopes of a long run. The Blades were one of the top teams throughout the entire season, while the Pats have hockey’s top prospect in Connor Bedard.

The regular season closed for both Saskatoon and Regina last weekend, so they’ve each had ample time to prepare to face off against each other in the first round.

“The last six weeks, two months, for us we’ve just had so much hockey that now we have a practice week it just feels like, ‘Let’s go! Enough practice! Let’s go play,’ ” Blades head coach Brennan Sonne said with excitement in his voice.

That feeling of enthusiasm resonates in Regina as well, as it’s been five years since the Pats participated in the playoffs.

“Players that are here now weren’t here when we were last in them. It’s just us as a staff. But I think it’s something (the players) worked hard to do the last couple of years,” Pats head coach John Paddock said.

Although there is always a lot of pressure going into the playoffs, don’t expect to see any drastic changes in the way the teams play.

“There’s no new formulas or anything like that,” Paddock said.

“We try and refine our game a little bit, and hope its refined itself during the course of the season.”

For most of the season, he said they focus on working on their own game rather than preparing for their specific opponents, but that changes in the playoffs when you could see the same team seven times in a row.

It could also play to the benefit of each coaching staff that the two teams faced each other three times in March.

“The tape is fresh enough and we’ve played them enough recently that I don’t think you need to deep dive as much because you just covered it already,” Sonne said.

Two of those games in March came during the last three games of the regular season, and with sold-out crowds at SaskTel Centre, it gave players a bit of a playoff experience.

Saskatoon will be able to lean on some of its experience from last season, but it will be the first time in the playoffs for many on the Regina side.

“Hopefully you can rely on that experience a little bit to get through the rough patches, because it’s a short series,” Sonne added.

But the Blades will once again have to deal with Bedard, who led the WHL with 143 points, but they were able to keep him pointless in two of their meetings.

“Connor’s going to make great plays. Connor’s going to do great things out there. And when he does, we have to move on to the next shift really quickly,” Sonne said.

He said he will also rely on the depth of his roster, something he’s done all season.

“We have felt it’s been a benefit for us,” Sonne said.

“Trying to play all four lines as much as possible, trying to utilize our depth and not overtaxing guys, wearing guys down and giving everyone a role. And that’s not going to change.”

The other question in the minds of Blades fans is who will start in net. Austin Elliott and Ethan Chadwick split time between the pipes all season. Sonne kept his cards close to his chest, not laying out his plan for the two netminders.

Each team has its own motto going into the WHL playoffs, marked on all team gear, with the Blades wearing “Unfinished Business” and the Pats using “Against All Odds.”

Paddock said the mottos aren’t a major concern for him.

“I think every team has something that’s somewhere between corny and unique so far. I think it’s good,” Paddock said.

The first two will take place in Saskatoon at SaskTel Centre before shifting to Regina next week.

–With files from CJME’s Britton Gray