Saskatoon Blades hope 'sound, structured' style might be enough to stave off Bedard
The Saskatoon Blades anticipate Friday’s playoff opener against the Regina Pats could be another sold-out game.
Director of business operations Tyler Wawryk says tickets are half sold already, and if the last two matchups with the Pats — and WHL lead-scorer Connor Bedard — were any indication, they’ll go fast.
“It’s huge for the club and it’s huge for the city as well,” he said.
“I met a few guys that came into our team store Friday morning — they flew in from Kitchener, Ontario … we’ve heard from fans. They’re travelling from all over the province, even places like Alberta and Manitoba that maybe didn’t have a chance to see Connor play. We’re seeing that from everywhere.”
Having the stands full, and people travelling from out of the city for games, has a huge economic impact for the city and province, says Wawryk.
The atmosphere has been electric, he said.
“It was wild. You could feel it in your chest when everybody stood for ‘Oh, Canada;’ just the emotion, the energy.”
Wawryk said they had 10,000 people at SaskTel Centre for warmups alone, “which is just absurd.”
This level of attention has been an adjustment for the players, he says. They were nervous at first, but they’ve embraced it.
“As a teenager to be able to play in front of what would be an NHL-type crowd, it’s special for them and their families. They’re coming from all over the country to see their sons play.”
It helps that the Blades have one of the strongest teams in its 60-year history.
“We broke 100 points for only the fifth time in 60 seasons,” said Wawryk.
“We have a really good team. We play defensively. We have two great goaltenders. We don’t have anybody in the top ten scoring, so we don’t rely on that. We play a real sound, structured game, and that’s what we have to do, because he [Bedard] is a generational talent and he is capable of taking over a game.”
Even without the Bedard bump, he says the club has seen major growth in attendance — up 30 per cent over last year.
“Just to see that fan support continue to grow and grow, and people getting comfortable being back in the larger crowd settings again, has probably been the most special part of this season.”
-With files from Laura Woodward
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6978861.1722008569!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are "standing and intact," including its iconic main lodge.
Major Canadian bank dealing with direct deposit outage on pay day
Scotiabank has acknowledged technical difficulties affecting direct deposits as clients report missed payments Friday morning. On Friday morning, the bank's client services phone line was playing an automated message assuring customers that work was underway to rectify the outage.
Elon Musk's estranged daughter calls out his 'entirely fake' claims about her childhood
Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon Musk's estranged daughter, publicly refuted several recent anti-trans statements her Tesla CEO and X owner father has made about her.
Reported rate of child pornography increased 52% in 2023, total crime up 3%: Statistics Canada
Last year, reported child pornography cases increased by more than 50 per cent in Canada, in part due to more cases being sent to police by specialized internet child exploitation units, according to a Statistics Canada report.
Sask. appeal court says anti-trans group cannot join constitutional dispute over pronoun law
Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal has denied a political group that opposes so-called “gender ideology” intervener status in a legal dispute over the province’s controversial pronoun law.
Justin Timberlake's attorney disputes he was intoxicated when arrested for DWI
A hearing in the case of Justin Timberlake being accused of driving while intoxicated was held Friday, where an attorney for the singer disputed his arrest in June.
What we know about 'malicious' attack on French train network ahead of Olympics opening
French transport was thrust into chaos Friday just hours ahead of the Olympics 2024 opening ceremony after a series of co-ordinated 'malicious acts' upended high-speed train lines.Here's what happened and what we know so far.
When Barbie learned what a gynecologist was, so did many other people, according to new study
A new study published Thursday in the journal JAMA Network Open has found that the ending in the 2023 blockbuster film 'Barbie' had an influence on online search interest in terms around gynecology, the branch of medicine that deals with women’s reproductive health.
Canada Soccer head investigating 'systemic ethical shortcoming' amid spying scandal
Canada Soccer chief executive officer Kevin Blue said he was investigating a potential 'systemic ethical shortcoming' within the program but has not considered pulling the women's soccer team from the Paris Olympics due to a drone spying scandal.