Blades ready for Rebels in second round of WHL playoffs

After a thrilling first-round victory against the Regina Pats, the Saskatoon Blades are now prepared for new opponents.

On Friday, the Blades will welcome the Red Deer Rebels to SaskTel Centre to open their second-round series in the WHL playoffs.

Blades head coach Brennan Sonne said they are looking to come out of the gates firing in the best-of-seven series, unlike what happened against the Pats.

“When we went down 2-0, we talked about the story (the team) was going to be able to tell years from now,” Sonne said.

“The best stories are not one chapter long, so now we’ve got to put a period on that one, turn that page, and start writing Chapter 2. We’ve got to come out with a way better start then we did last series.”

Winning Game 7 against the Pats was a big accomplishment for the Blades, and Sonne said he believes his team learned a lot from that series, especially because you just can’t practise for some of those experiences.

“While we prepare and train the best we can, you can’t recreate those situations in practice. We’re battle-tested,” Sonne said.

“It’s nice to have an experience like that where you find success.”

While the Blades haven’t played since Monday, they aren’t too worried about losing a step when they face the Rebels.

Blades forward Jake Chiasson – who was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings at the trade deadline – said the Blades aren’t satisfied with just a first-round win, and there’s been no relaxing since Monday.

“(We were) happy with our effort in Game 7 and how we managed ourselves through that series. For us, it’s not so much building up to get back into the series, it’s just taking a step forward from where we left off,” Chiasson said.

The mid-season pickup has fit nicely into the Blades’ roster, surpassing his regular-season points total from Brandon in fewer games with the Blades.

Chiasson’s impact has also been noticed by his teammates.

“I feel like he was almost the perfect guy, literally, for our team,” assistant captain Trevor Wong said.

“He just brings a little bit of size, because we’re not the biggest team up front, and he’s a pretty big body and he just brings grit and skill, and his scoring ability is off the charts.”

Wong added that Chiasson brings a lot of experience to the table, which he’s been able to pass along to younger players.

One thing the Blades won’t have to worry about during the second-round series is WHL phenom Connor Bedard, but Chiasson said Red Deer is still a dangerous team.

“They have a lot of guys who can score, a lot of guys who can shoot the puck and, for that matter, a lot of good players. So for us, it’s just matching, and even going above and beyond that, and learning from what we saw against Regina,” he said.

Sonne said the Blades will have to come at Red Deer with a different attack than they did with Regina.

“They pose their own challenges. They pose their own threats and things we have to be cautious of, but I don’t think they are very similar. I just think Regina and Red Deer are very dissimilar as to what their identities are, how they play, things like that,” Sonne said.

The Blades will not have defenceman Blake Gustafson available for Game 1 due to injury. Sonne didn’t reveal who would start in net.

During the regular season, the Blades won three of four against the Rebels, but Saskatoon will see how it matches up against Red Deer in the playoffs on Friday.

Games 1 and 2 take place at SaskTel Centre before the series shifts to Red Deer.