Rob Vanstone: Saskatoon Blades' speedy Tristen Robins can simply fly
Tristen Robins of the Saskatoon Blades has turned every one of his shifts into an event while playing in the WHL's East Division hub.
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It is clear that I am spoiled — but enough about my cologne.
In another context, I am cognizant and appreciative of the good fortune, in the form of media credentials, that allows me to enjoy immersion in Western Hockey League games at the Brandt Centre — the East Division hub.
Without further preamble, I present these easily digestible (burp) nuggets. Let’s call them (ugh) Hubble Takes (BOO!) …
• Tristen Robins of the Saskatoon Blades — a former Regina Pats prospect — is one of the most exciting players in the hub. Robins’ skating is next-level, which explains why the San Jose Sharks selected him in the second round (56th overall) of the 2020 NHL draft. Robins scored on a breakaway Wednesday to give Saskatoon a 6-5 overtime conquest of the Swift Current Broncos, who surrendered three unanswered goals in the final 3:58. He was traded to Saskatoon on Jan. 8, 2018 in a blockbuster that brought defenceman Libor Hajek to Regina, which was preparing to play host to the Memorial Cup.
• Saskatoon, which has a 6-0-1-0 record, is the only team in the hub without a regulation-time loss. The Blades have rebounded nicely from the surprisingly early ascent of Kirby Dach to the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. Dach, who would have been classified as a 19-year-old for WHL purposes this season, cracked Chicago’s roster a few months after being drafted third overall in 2019.
• Which reminds me: Swift Current won the 1989 Memorial Cup even though Joe Sakic played for the NHL’s Quebec Nordiques, instead of with the Broncos, that season as a 19-year-old.
• And consider this: The 1983-84 Pats won the East Division title even though defenceman Gary Leeman (Toronto Maple Leafs) and forward Nevin Markwart (Boston Bruins) cracked the NHL as 19-year-olds. With Leeman and/or Markwart in the lineup, the 1983-84 Pats would likely have disposed of the Kamloops Junior Oilers (now Blazers) in the league final and advanced to the Memorial Cup. Imagine a faceoff between Regina’s Dale Derkatch and the Laval Voisins’ Mario Lemieux at the CHL’s marquee event.
• Leeman, by the way, is the only ex-Pat to score at least 50 goals in an NHL season. He tallied 51 times for the 1989-90 Maple Leafs.
FIFTEEN IS A MAGIC NUMBER
• The 15-year-old players have created part of the hubbub within the hub. Much of the publicity, of course, has surrounded Pats centre Connor Bedard — the first WHLer to be granted exceptional-player status (which once applied to somebody named Connor McDavid in the OHL). The Moose Jaw Warriors also have a gem in Brayden Yager. He was chosen third overall in the 2020 bantam draft, two spots behind Bedard. The Blades boast defenceman Tanner Molendyk, who was chosen fifth. The Winnipeg Ice’s Zach Benson, the 14th overall selection, had six points after the first six games of his major-junior career.
• Suppose that the 2021-22 WHL season does begin, on time, in September — hopefully when the CFL is back in full swing, at long last. Imagine the buzz in the greater Regina area when fans finally get an opportunity to watch Bedard in person at a time when charismatic quarterback Cody Fajardo is back behind centre with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. How often does the Queen City boast superstar-calibre members of the Pats and Roughriders at the same time?
(SWIFT) CURRENT EVENTS
• Swift Current is easily the youngest team in the hub. Players on the Broncos’ roster entered this year’s COVID-shortened campaign with an average total of 51.2 games of regular-season WHL experience. The Ice (58.6) is the second-youngest team, followed by the Pats (59.1), Warriors (61.6), Brandon Wheat Kings (70.4), Blades (74.3) and Prince Albert Raiders (87.2).
• Three 20-year-olds — Michael Farren, Kaleb Bulych and Owen Williams — account for 47.9 per cent of the Broncos’ 1,331 WHL man-games.
• The Broncos have a gem in Josh Davies, who on Wednesday scored two goals on his 17th birthday — while wearing No. 17, appropriately enough.
DALEY NEWS
• Saskatoon teammates Caiden Daley and Chase Wouters lead all hubsters in WHL regular-season games, with 266. Factor in Daley’s 15 playoff appearances and he has a five-game edge on Wouters, the latter of whom is a rare third-year WHL captain.
• In the absence of a popcorn stand, at least the hub includes salt-of-the-earth people like Daley and Wouters.
• Who better to be the hub’s most-experienced player? Daley, who turned 21 on Feb. 5, has spent his entire WHL career with teams that are now situated in the Hubble (Brandon, Regina, Saskatoon).
MAX FACTOID
• It’s a small world after all. Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid — one of hockey’s all-time all-star people — once played for the Canadian Olympic men’s team with Vaughn Karpan, whose sister (Stephanie) is the proud mother of Prince Albert goalie Max Paddock.
• The hub includes two goalies with Memorial Cup experience — Paddock (Regina, 2018) and Winnipeg’s Carl Stankowski (Seattle Thunderbirds, 2017).
MOOSE JAW MATTERS
• Moose Jaw defenceman Denton Mateychuk, 16, plays with the poise of a 19-year-old. Only 5-foot-10, Mateychuk uses his superlative skating to negotiate his way out of trouble, when need be, and also delivers precise passes. The Warriors are already using him in all key situations.
• Warriors defenceman/captain Daemon Hunt has scored four times in seven games after going goal-less in his previous 29 contests. He went precisely two years between goals — scoring on March 16 of 2019 and 2021.
• Congratulations to James Gallo, the radio voice of the Warriors, who on Sunday called his 1,000th WHL game. It is also a treat to hear Phil Andrews (Pats) and Les Lazaruk (Blades) call hockey games again.
OVERTIME
• The goaltending, in general, has been mediocre during the teams’ first two weeks in the hub. Entering Thursday’s action, only six of the 15 East Division goaltenders who had made at least one appearance boasted a save percentage of 90 or more. Many of the struggling goaltenders are veterans.
• The officiating? Considerably better than the goaltending.
• Nobody within the hub drives opponents to distraction quite like Brandon’s Ridly Greig, whom the Ottawa Senators selected in the first round (28th overall) of last year’s draft. He is a premier pest with elite-level skills.
• Why isn’t Winnipeg left-winger Jackson Leppard a defenceman? DEF Leppard seems like a natural. (Reprise: BOO!)
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