Achi news desk-
Wind the clock to March 2023 and the Saskatoon U18 AAA Blazers find themselves in an eerily similar scenario to the one they are facing this spring.
“We’re back here again and it’s been a goal since the beginning of the year,” said Blazers captain Raiden Zacharias. “This is one of the steps in the way for us.”
The Blazers will play for one of Saskatchewan’s under-18 men’s AAA championships for the second year in a row, qualifying for the best-of-three provincial series as the top-seeded team in the league.
There they will battle the Regina Pat Canadians for provincial supremacy, the same team they defeated in five games last year to win the program’s first Saskatchewan title since 1992.
Going in as the defending champions, experience is what seven players on the team, including Zacharias, will lean on against Regina.
“I think it brings a lot of experience from the older guys to pass on to the younger guys for this time of year,” Zacharias said.
“Overall it was a great experience and it was one of our goals to get back there again this year.”
Saskatoon’s five-game win over the Canadiens Pat sparked a historic spring for the franchise, as the Blazers went on to win a Telus Cup regional qualifier in Warman before capturing a bronze medal in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., in their first appearance in national championship tournament since 1974.
It’s a streak that has taught the Blazers plenty of lessons heading into their second straight Saskatchewan championship series.
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“The seven players that have done this before certainly understand the ups and downs, and how we need to keep everything from an even-keeled perspective,” Blazers head coach Troy Walkington said. “Our highs can’t be too high and our lows can’t be too low, but still we can’t panic. We know we are a good hockey club and we have prepared well.”
The Blazers finished the 2023-24 regular season with a league-best 34-7-3 record highlighted by SMAAAHL top defenseman Brayden Smith and first-year forward Dayne Beuker, who led the league with 41 goals and 84 points in just 44 games.
A first-round pick of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the 2023 Western Hockey League Draft, Beuker was named Saskatchewan league MVP, top forward and rookie of the year for his dynamic season.
Beuker will now have a chance to follow up on what his teammates were able to do last year: bring hardware back to Saskatoon.
“I missed out on what they had last year,” Beuker said. “I’m really looking forward to trying to see what they did last year and going to do it.”
Facing the Estevan Bears and Tisdale Trojans in their first two rounds of playoffs, the Blazers conceded just one loss in seven games and have outscored their opponents 27-13 during the postseason.
Although Beuker said their path has not been easy with Estevan and Tisdale playing the state’s top seed hard.
“It really showed us that the playoffs are different than the regular season,” Beuker said. “Every game was close, tight so it was good to get those under our feet and we’re ready to go now.”
Although the Blazers have yet to face elimination at any point in their championship pursuit, Walkington agreed that the team has been tested and has been encouraging his players to grow from the frustration and pressure of the games a second chance.
“I don’t think an easy run for the first two rounds helps anybody,” Walkington said. “I thought we had some adversity and we rose to the occasion, we’re ready to play.”
It has also been a historic season for Zacharias in his third and final year playing the navy and orange, as he ended the regular season second in scoring in the league with 62 points.
Unofficially, Zacharias has not only moved into the Blazers’ all-time career points leader with 177 points in 128 games, but has also rewritten the record books at the state level.
Assisting on 124 goals during his U18 AAA career, Zacharias has passed Len Nielsen’s record of 121 career assists and is the third highest scoring player in Saskatchewan U18 men’s AAA league history.
“When you talk about guys who generate assists a lot of times they’re very patient with the puck and that’s certainly him,” Walkington said.
“He understands play, he gives pucks to guys at the right times, he can play his offside, he can play his right side, he can play in the middle of the ice and he can play 30 minutes if necessary.”
Speaking of his record performances, Zacharias credited the work of his linemates for being able to finish the plays he had helped set up.
“It’s really cool to look at it and hear about it,” Zachareias said. “But a lot of that goes to the teammates and the guys I’ve played with over the years.”
The Blazers will take on the Pat Canadians club with revenge on their mind, who themselves will be chasing their first provincial championship banner since 2017 and have taken three out of four meetings this season against Saskatoon.
Establishing another chapter in one of Saskatchewan’s great hockey rivalries.
“Regina is a good team and they deserve to be here,” Zacharias said. “At the end of the day it comes down to who wants more. I think with the guys we have coming back from last year knowing what it takes, we have the edge there.”
Game 1 of the AAA Saskatchewan U18 championship final will be played Friday night at 7:00pm in Saskatoon at the SaskTel Centre, before the series moves to Regina for Game 2 on Sunday afternoon.
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