Game played 11/15/2024.
General Game Notes: Neutral Zone viewed the WHL matchup between the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Saskatoon Blades on November 15, 2024. This was a tightly contested game and was fast paced from the opening puck drop. Both teams exchanged numerous chances but in the end, Saskatoon was able to come away with the 3-2 victory, thanks to a third period goal from Tyler Parr and strong defensive play to seal the game at the end.
Alex Worthington (G, L, 6’3″, 180, Edmonton Oil Kings, 05/02/2005)
Grade: B
Comments: Worthington has quick lateral movement and was busy this game making saves across his crease. When the play breaks down in front of him, he seems calm, keeping his eye on the puck and his body square, still in his crease and between his posts. Maybe his best asset is how quick his pads are. He made numerous kick saves, flashing his legs out on shots from the slot. He read the play and didn’t over-commit to what could happen. On odd-man chances, he kept his focus on the shooter but when the pass went across, he was already set up to make the quick save on the other side.
Josh Mori (D, L, 5’11”, 175, Edmonton Oil Kings, 03/27/2004)
Grade: B-
Comments: Mori made good plays in his own end and was able to transition quickly to create rush chances. He has a good skating stride that lets him skate the puck up the ice and into the offensive zone where he gets down low before moving it to a forward on the weak side of the ice. He reacts quickly to plays and is decisive with his next move. After a shot of his was blocked, he quickly picked up the puck, moved around the now still forward, and just missed with a pass to an open man waiting on the far side of the net.
Blake Fiddler (D, R, 6’4″, 210, Edmonton Oil Kings, 07/09/2007)
Grade: B
Comments: Fiddler played a calm game, making difficult plays look simple and keeping everything away from his net. He has an active stick that deflects lots of passes through the middle of the ice and off skater’s sticks. With the puck on his tape, he moves up the ice with confidence. He will either quickly snap a pass up to his winger or start skating into the neutral zone to dump the puck in deep. As he watched a play develop for the other team, he stepped up to intercept a stretch pass and skated it into the offensive zone, starting a chance that would lead to a goal for his team.
Marshall Finnie (RW, R, 6’2″, 191, Edmonton Oil Kings, 01/02/2004)
Grade: B-
Comments: Finnie works hard to create chances and isn’t afraid to get into the dirty areas of the ice. He crashes the net hard, putting his head and shoulder down to drive through the defenseman and try to get a shot off in tight or move from his forehand to backhand around the goalie. He sticks up for his teammates as well. After one of his younger teammates got knocked down with a big hit, he returned the favor with a hard check of his own on that opposing player who now picked up the puck. Finnie got caught watching the play in his own end and didn’t go after forward when he had the chance. He was then caught flat-footed which led to a goal against after he was passed by.
Cole Miller (C, R, 6’4″, 190, Edmonton Oil Kings, 02/04/2005)
Grade: B-
Comments: Miller does a lot of the little things right. He helps out in his own zone, recovering for his defensemen and backchecking hard. He made a big check on a pinching defenseman and after finding the puck, quickly moved it out of his zone and started a rush chance. Throughout the game, he showed off his quick first few strides. He gets up to a high speed quickly, often from a standstill, which gave him opportunities to get shots off when bursting to the middle from the boards in the offensive zone. After a missed pass on the rush, Miller quickly turned back the other way and caught up to the play that was going back into his end. He managed to intercept a pass and quickly turned and made a pass back to his teammates which led to a 1 on 1 opportunity.
Adam Jecho (RW, R, 6’5″, 198, Edmonton Oil Kings, 03/24/2006)
Grade: B+
Comments: Jecho has both size and skating ability and could get up and down the ice to make impactful plays in all three zones. He is an intimidating forechecker. He won’t beat defensemen with his speed but would dump the puck into the corner where he could follow tightly with the defender and as they got to the wall, he made his check and stole the puck to set up the offense. In all situations in the offensive zone, he plays with a controlled aggression and gets onto pucks quickly in the corners. With the puck in the offensive zone, he moves around the ice well, finding open space and taking a look at where his teammates are for passes. When moving down the wing on a rush, he received a pass too deep to cut to the net but instead, he went around the net for a wraparound chance that led to a scramble in front of the net.
Ethan MacKenzie (D, L, 5’11”, 171, Edmonton Oil Kings, 09/02/2006)
Grade: B
Comments: Mackenzie played really well defensively this game, showing great fundamentals at an impressive level. He maintains a close gap and as players try to take the puck to the outside, he is quick to swing his hip into them, checking them into the boards. Against fast skaters where he can’t close at the wall quickly enough, he keeps himself in the middle of the ice and can transition from backward to forwards without losing speed. As the last man back when regrouping, he’s comfortable holding onto the puck with pressure coming and waits until his team gets set up to then make a hard pass back up the ice. Mackenzie also had some powerplay time where he facilitated well from the point, quickly moving it off to his forwards on the half-wall.
Gracyn Sawchyn (C, R, 5’11”, 157, Edmonton Oil Kings, 01/19/2005)
Grade: A-
Comments: The older of the Sawchyn brothers led his line this game and developed tons of offensive chances through the middle of the ice. It was impressive to watch the amount of space he could create by moving towards the middle, giving himself options with how to create his next chance thanks to his quickness and high-end stick-handling ability. He has great edges and would make tight turns or stop and start to move into open space, quickly pulling away from the defender. He picked up an assist this game by making a hard-cut move to the middle of the ice, leaving two defenders behind him. He then made a pass to his open defenseman moving in, leading to a goal. He keeps his feet moving all of the time. If he’s not rushing up the ice or jumping onto a loose puck, then he’s helping out in his own end. He stopped a rush shot chance when backchecking where he caught up to the play just in time to poke the puck off the forward’s stick as he got set for a wrist shot.
Lukas Sawchyn (C, R, 5’10”, 174, Edmonton Oil Kings, 02/27/2007)
Grade: A-
Comments: Sawchyn plays with a quickness that gives him opportunities to get in tight to the net and showed great chemistry on a line with his brother. He has soft hands that he uses to slip by checkers and with great acceleration, he can make a quick move and then burst into open ice. He was all over the offensive zone, both with and without the puck, creating chances for his team. He read the breakout well when he got tight to the boards, gloved the puck down, and moved it back down into the corner before taking a big check. Sawchyn scored the first goal for Edmonton when he finished a nice backdoor pass, snapping it right away into the back of the net. Sawchyn showed off his skill when skating full speed with the puck on his rush chances. He could go out wide to beat a defender or when given too much space, could cut to the middle and make a play in the slot or tight in front of the net.
Ben Saunderson (D, L, 6’0″, 191, Saskatoon Blades, 09/24/2004)
Grade: B-
Comments: Saunderson creates offensive chances for his team from the blue line. At the point, he can walk the line well, find lanes to get his shots through, and could drag opposing players out of position to make passes in dangerous scoring areas. After moving from the middle of the ice towards the wall and taking a player with him, Saunderson looked to skate to the corner but then made a pass back to the now open high slot which led to a goal.
Brayden Klimpke (D, L, 5’10”, 156, Saskatoon Blades, 10/08/2007)
Grade: B
Comments: Klimpke played a solid shutdown role for his team but also has the skill to create offense. For a player who will have another year before getting drafted, it will be interesting to watch his offensive abilities progress. He made a great rush through the middle of the ice, keeping his speed as players looked to knock the puck off his tape. As he crossed the offensive blue line, he made a drop pass to his forward and went to the net to provide a screen and to be there for the rebound. In his own end, he is strong in his own corners despite almost always being the smaller player. He laid hits, held players against the wall, and could clear the front of his net. Klimpke also saved a goal against when he cleared the puck off the goal line just before it trickled into the net.
Colten Worthington (LW, L, 5’11”, 180, Saskatoon Blades, 08/27/2007)
Grade: C+
Comments: Worthington had some stand-out plays in this game but can improve on his consistency as he played a quiet game at times. He is solid on his skates and knocked over a player who was attempting to throw a big check on him. Worthington held his ground and came out on the winning side of the hit. He also showed flashes of offense to his game when he joined the rush. He looked to bring the puck up the ice through the middle but would try and do too much, having the puck poked off his stick as he crossed the blue line.
Ben Riche (LW, L, 5’10”, 180, Saskatoon Blades, 03/15/2005)
Grade: A-
Comments: Riche earned the first star of this game for scoring two goals and picking up an assist. He plays a complete game up the middle of the ice, contributing to the offense and returning to play a responsible defensive game as well. Defending the rush, he did well to clog up the middle of the ice, making it difficult for the Edmonton to go East-West. He picked off a few passes and didn’t allow odd-man chances to develop. When he got the puck in his own end, he quickly passed it to his wingers to start the breakout. Riche scored his first goal with a quick snapshot from the top of the circle, picking the top corner. His second came from finishing off a backdoor feed in tight at the net. He showed good speed in the offensive zone, quickly cutting away from pressure and finding open ice. On one play, he won a race to the puck that was in the neutral zone and made a slick no-look pass to his winger to create a counter-attack chance.
Tyler Parr (RW, R, 5’10”, 187, Saskatoon Blades, 01/30/2005)
Grade: B
Comments: Parr made an impact in all facets of this game. He plays on the half-wall on the powerplay where he was able to find his teammates in the high slot for one-timer chances. He would also get to the dirty areas to pick up loose pucks and wasn’t afraid to crash the net looking for a rebound. He got into a fight after taking a few cross-checks and did well for himself, coming away with a decisive win. He also plays on the penalty kill where he was a threat to take the puck down the ice when it got on his stick. Parr scored the game-winner in the third period with a perfectly placed shot. As he moved off the half-wall towards the net, he ripped a wrist shot in the top corner, right between the post and the goalies head where there was no chance to make the save.
Tanner Molendyk (D, L, 6’0″, 182, Saskatoon Blades, 02/03/2005)
Grade: B+
Comments: Molendyk created lots of offensive chances in this game from the backend, mainly through controlled zone entries and leading the rush. He has great speed and was able to take off and go end-to-end down the wing, controlling the puck deep in the offensive zone. He stays with shifty forwards trying to deke around him and isn’t afraid to throw the body around in his own corners. He picked up a primary assist on his team’s second goal of the game when he faked a shot from the point and moved down toward the net. When he got tight with the defender, he slid the puck across the crease to his teammate who was now wide open far side of the net.
David Lewandowski (LW, L, 6’1″, 178, Saskatoon Blades, 02/20/2007)
Grade: B+
Comments: Lewandowski has slick hands and can stick handle his way out of a phone booth. He was impressive to watch in tight spaces as he used his feet to just as much of an advantage to quickly fake and skate the other way, leaving defenders behind. Through the neutral zone, he split two opposing players, gained the blue line, and then moved to the wall while his teammates joined him. On the half-wall after losing control of the puck for a brief moment, he managed to pick it back up and fired a pass right away to a teammate in the slot for a one-timer chance. Lewandowski also showed that he could play without the puck on his stick when he followed the breakout, pick-pocketed the defenseman, and broke back the other way for a good scoring chance.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images