Blades wrap season as players clean out lockers

The Saskatoon Blades season officially came to an end this week, and players and coaches were left with mixed emotions.

The Blades were swept in the WHL Eastern Conference final at the hands of the Winnipeg Ice, with the fourth loss coming Wednesday night.

“I’m still sad,” head coach Brennan Sonne said after talking with his players.

“We wanted to take it further. This group, even right now, they don’t want to go home. They want to keep playing.”

The Blades were put to the test in the first two rounds, dropping their opening two games to the Regina Pats only to come back and win the series in seven games. The Blades then became the third team in WHL history to erase a three-game deficit, completing the reverse sweep in round two against the Red Deer Rebels.

Even though it stung a bit to know the season has ended, centre Trevor Wong said he knows the guys who are returning to the team will come back knowing what it takes to advance.

“It gives us a lot of confidence knowing that we can be a team to contend for a championship, but also we’re hungry and we know we can do it,” Wong said.

He said the first two rounds were a grind, and the team ultimately just ran out of gas during the Winnipeg series.

It was also the end of the WHL career of team captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere, who said emotions were still raw from Wednesday’s loss.

“It’s awesome to be the captain of this team. I love this organization,” De La Gorgendiere said.

He said there were a lot of great memories from his career in Saskatoon, but one that will last forever will be the comeback to defeat Red Deer in the playoffs.

“We’re the third team in WHL history to do that, so that’s pretty special. Sonne said after the game, ‘we’re never going to forget that,’ so that’s something pretty cool and something I won’t forget,” the captain said.

Sonne – who was named WHL Coach of the Year this week – said he’s optimistic about next season.

“Prior to this season I said: ‘I think it’s going to be a like a big step, close to a leap,’ and I hope we take another step next year. I think we have the potential for it,” Sonne said.