Blades expectations at an all time high ahead of 60th season

As training camp wraps up and the Saskatoon Blades prepare to start their 60th season, expectations in the room are at an all-time high.

After reaching the Eastern Conference finals last year for the first time since the 1993-94 season, the locker room has its eyes on one thing.

“I think we have a good chance to win it all,” said Blades goalie Austin Elliott. “We have an as strong or even better of a team this year than we did last year.”

Blades assistant coach Dan Da Silva also believes this team should be representing the Eastern Conference in the Western Hockey League (WHL) Finals this season.

“Without trying to sound too over confident or cocky, I think that winning the east and being in the WHL finals is our goal and I believe this is our time to do it,” said Da Silva. “Anything less is just meeting what we did last year, we want to raise the bar again.”

The Blades don’t seem to be affected by the extra pressure that comes along with being a WHL favourite.

“Last year we were one of the teams that everyone wanted to beat, I don’t know if that’ll come into play in the locker room this year,” said Elliott.

“I think there will be a little bit of pressure this year, and our expectations this year are high,” said Da Silva. “I think pressure is a good thing, diamonds are made from pressure, I think pressure will really show that we are the cream of the crop this year.”

All the work that gets put into a successful season starts with training camp, which can be a very exciting time for players.

“It feels really good to be out there again and there’s always a lot of excitement when everybody comes back to town,” said Elliott.

Things for Elliott have changed in the last five months as his goaltender partner Ethan Chadwick was traded to Seattle in the off-season leaving Elliott to be the Blades number one goalie.

“I put in lots of work in the off-season getting stronger and faster and I’m just trying to prepare myself to play a lot more this year,” said Elliott

Elliott has the full support and belief of the coaching staff this year to lead the Blades back to glory.

“He proved himself last year with the way he was able to play especially down the stretch and he came into the playoffs and won us some big games,” said Da SIlva. “We’re looking forward to seeing him really take the lead as a number one goalie in the league.”

Da Silva said Evan Gardiner is likely to be the backup for Elliott this year.

The Blades are also without a captain after Aidan De La Gorgendiere completed his 20-year-old season, but that hasn’t seemed to stop the senior players to help mentor the young players who are coming to camp for the first time.

“I’ve talked to (Ryley) Budd a bit and talked to Gardner a lot lately as well as talked to (Josh) Henry on my team as well,” said Elliott. “It’s cool to sort of talk to some of the younger guys.”

The Blades will head down to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders on September 6th to start the preseason.