The Blades are back - training camp and past season notes/bantam draft. Dach...
The Blades are back(in a few ways) In the playoffs and did so in style. Sweeping a talented Moose Jaw team before falling in 6 to the heavily favored(and future WHL champion) rival Prince Albert Raiders. I believe Saskatoon exceeded expectations last season and that experience is only going to help them moving forward. Saskatoon will host the inaugural CEBL championship which will be decided next Sunday then immediately after ushering teams and fans out of the building, Sasktel Center will flood the ice and the Blades start camp just hours later.
Bantam Draft: This was definitely the most exciting Bantam draft in quite some time(possibly ever) for many reasons - Savoie, the most highly touted western forward in recent memory was taken #1 overall and although he definitely is an exceptional player, he was "denied" status largely due to reporting concerns and not based on talent, regardless, he is signed and will be a WHL player(sorry Denver) The massive amount of trades, more notably at the very top or the list, I won't get into all the details now but this was the Bantam draft order:
#1 - Winnipeg
#2 - Winnipeg
#3 - Prince George
#4 - Prince George
#5 - Brandon
#6 - Brandon
Aside from the crazy order of picks the draft was very deep. But my favorite part of the draft was what the Blades did with their #3rd overall pick... They traded it to Winnipeg for the 9th overall selection, the 24th overall selection, a 2nd round pick next year, a 5th round pick next year. 2, 2nd rounders and a 5th just to move down 6 spots is a hell of a deal, especially considering that Saskatoon got their guy who they would have picked at number 3 anyways, so in essence you could say they just got a bunch or free picks. Still being overjoyed after hearing them call out "Lisowsky" at 9th overall, they got Hayden Smith with the 24th pick(who is arguably a 1st round talent as well, a speedy lanky winger from BC with a good scoring touch, hmmm sounds like i'm talking about Josh Nicholls, who was the 27th bantam pick in his draft, i know its way too early to say, but i can dream, right?) But anyways nabbing 2 highly skilled forwards in the draft is always an exciting prospect for fans.
This summer also saw Kirby Dach(NOT to my surprise) get selected at #3 overall to the Chicago Blackhawks, he was the highest CHL selection this year. It's definitely nerve wracking as his WHL future is up in the air. Does he stay in the NHL, does he take the 9 games and return, does he stay half the year only to return to the WHL after making the World Junior squad(like Brayden Schenn) All 3 options are very plausible. Though the Blades will definitely have at least 1 Dach in their lineup this year, as Kirbys younger brother Colton will be eligible as a 16 yr old full time rookie. So surely Kirby will return to play at least 1 season with his brother, right.... right!?
Bantam Draft: This was definitely the most exciting Bantam draft in quite some time(possibly ever) for many reasons - Savoie, the most highly touted western forward in recent memory was taken #1 overall and although he definitely is an exceptional player, he was "denied" status largely due to reporting concerns and not based on talent, regardless, he is signed and will be a WHL player(sorry Denver) The massive amount of trades, more notably at the very top or the list, I won't get into all the details now but this was the Bantam draft order:
#1 - Winnipeg
#2 - Winnipeg
#3 - Prince George
#4 - Prince George
#5 - Brandon
#6 - Brandon
Aside from the crazy order of picks the draft was very deep. But my favorite part of the draft was what the Blades did with their #3rd overall pick... They traded it to Winnipeg for the 9th overall selection, the 24th overall selection, a 2nd round pick next year, a 5th round pick next year. 2, 2nd rounders and a 5th just to move down 6 spots is a hell of a deal, especially considering that Saskatoon got their guy who they would have picked at number 3 anyways, so in essence you could say they just got a bunch or free picks. Still being overjoyed after hearing them call out "Lisowsky" at 9th overall, they got Hayden Smith with the 24th pick(who is arguably a 1st round talent as well, a speedy lanky winger from BC with a good scoring touch, hmmm sounds like i'm talking about Josh Nicholls, who was the 27th bantam pick in his draft, i know its way too early to say, but i can dream, right?) But anyways nabbing 2 highly skilled forwards in the draft is always an exciting prospect for fans.
This summer also saw Kirby Dach(NOT to my surprise) get selected at #3 overall to the Chicago Blackhawks, he was the highest CHL selection this year. It's definitely nerve wracking as his WHL future is up in the air. Does he stay in the NHL, does he take the 9 games and return, does he stay half the year only to return to the WHL after making the World Junior squad(like Brayden Schenn) All 3 options are very plausible. Though the Blades will definitely have at least 1 Dach in their lineup this year, as Kirbys younger brother Colton will be eligible as a 16 yr old full time rookie. So surely Kirby will return to play at least 1 season with his brother, right.... right!?
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