Blades GM excited for challenge that awaits in Eastern Conference final

For the second straight season, the Saskatoon Blades are heading to the WHL’s Eastern Conference final.

The Blades booked their ticket to the conference final after defeating the Red Deer Rebels 7-0 in Game 4 on Wednesday night.

In the best-of-seven final, Saskatoon will take on the winner of the Swift Current Broncos-Moose Jaw Warriors semifinal. The Warriors lead that series 3-1, with Game 5 set for Friday in Moose Jaw.

For Blades president and general manager Colin Priestner, his vision for his hockey club is going to plan.

“It’s a great feeling knowing that it’s really difficult to get to the conference finals, as we saw last year,” he said. “To get back two years in a row is something the Blades haven’t done since the ’80s. (I’m) really proud of everybody, but I think we all have a feeling that we aren’t really satisfied.

“Our goal was to get through the first two rounds in an efficient manner and we did so, doing it in nine games instead of 14. I think we all feel good about our health, energy and spirit going into Round 3.”

Saskatoon beat the Prince Albert Raiders in five games in the first round before sweeping Red Deer.

Priestner felt his team was out of gas by the time it had the chance to face the Winnipeg Ice in the conference final last year. The Blades played an emotional seven-game series against Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats, followed by a seven-game series with Red Deer.

“Last year, we were playing another extremely talented team in Winnipeg (and) we simply just didn’t have anything left in the tank emotionally or physically after those two rounds,” Priestner explained. “We had injuries piling up and it felt like we just played two once-in-a-decade series back to back. We really had very little chance of beating a rested team on the road like Winnipeg.”

Every year, Priestner suggests there are four teams that could usually win it all in the WHL. He feels his team is one of those teams this year and thinks the next round is really when things will heat up.

If one storyline has stuck out for the Blades this playoffs, it has been the outstanding play of rookie goaltender Evan Gardner.

Gardner was given the Game 2 start against Prince Albert after Austin Elliott lost Game 1 after giving up four goals on 20 shots.

Since Brennan Sonne made the move to start Gardner, he’s 7-0 and has a .928 save percentage with one shutout.

Priestner is proud of the way the rookie goalie has handled himself so far on the big stage.

“He’s an extremely special goalie. I think he’s one of the very best goalies in the world for his age. Obviously because he’s not 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-3, he’s not as high on some of the rankings as he would be if he was an inch or two taller,” Priestner said of the 6-foot-2 netminder. “I think he’d be a first-round NHL pick if he was an inch or two taller.

“I think he’s got incredible upside, but he also just has a very stable presence in the net. He’s not overly emotional in the net and keeps the game very simple. Because of that, he generally doesn’t have a lot of off nights and when he does like the other night (Game 3, when the Blades won 8-5) he bounces back with a shutout.”

“If he’s not on his ‘A’ game and that happens, then we have Austin Elliott who is also like an all-star goalie,” Priestner added. “He has come in in relief twice in these playoffs and has been really good. That’s a great thing to have in your organization when you don’t have to worry as much about goaltending.”

When the Blades begin their series against either Moose Jaw of Swift Current, they’ll be without one of their best players. Easton Armstrong still has two games remaining on his four-game suspension after he collided with Rebels goalie Chase Wutzke in Game 2.

Initially, Armstrong’s suspension was listed as “to be determined” on the WHL website. Armstrong missed Game 3 and the Blades were notified on Wednesday before Game 4 that his suspension would be for four games.

Priestner said the team wasn’t arguing if there should’ve been a suspension for the hit, but he didn’t like how the league was able to implement a two-game suspension initially and then upgrade it to a four-game suspension.

“It’s a process that I’m not a huge fan of myself. The logic behind it is it’s not always the intention of the play but the outcome if there’s an injury,” Priestner said.

“(The league) kind of give a baseline number for the hit – let’s say two games – if the goalie wasn’t hurt because he played the rest of that game and really well. The symptoms kind of popped up after the game and he started not feeling great on the way home. We got a call about four or five hours later saying that (Wutzke) might not be able to play and there may be an injury so the suspension may be longer.

“They set it as ‘to be determined,’ which was two games is what they told us, and once they found out he was injured and not able to play, then it became four games. I think it’s something as managers and owners we have to talk about with the league this summer.

“I just don’t think you should be telling a player he has a two-game suspension and then tell him it’s four games when nothing about the play changed. I think we have to look at the intention of the play more than if there was an incidental injury on it. I don’t think there’s any ill intent on Easton’s part. I think we should always look at what the act was and not what the injury was just because there’s so many variables.”

Priestner said the conference final will likely begin on April 26 at SaskTel Centre — and he’s excited for what should be a rocking barn.

“I can’t wait for next Friday,” he said.