Ruzicka Does Impression of a Wall in Brandon Goal to Frustrate Blades Again

A fourth straight setback saw the Saskatoon Blades revert to being frustrated by a goaltender – in fact, for the second time in 11 days, it was Filip Ruzicka who had Bridge City Bunch shooters looking skyward following a 4-1 victory by the home-standing Brandon Wheat Kings.

Ruzicka made 31 saves, 18 of them in the second period alone. Twelve of those stops came on three successive Blue and Gold power play chances. The 17-year-old Czech, who stands 6’7″ and weighs 230 pounds, made a save that was the turning point of the contest during those Saskatoon man advantages. With Brandon up 2-1 and, after making a save and moving the wrong direction that the rebound was heading, Ruzicka desperately dove to his left and snared Cooper Williams’ labelled shot at what looked like a wide open net. Ruzicka didn’t play until after the Wheaties started the season 0-4-1. Since then, he has recorded 10 of Brandon’s 12 wins -including two against the Blades in which he has stopped 65 of 68 shots. Only Jack Kachkowski could beat him, a cross-crease pass that glanced off a Wheat King defenceman’s skate and past the startled goaltender. On the other side, Ethan McCallum was solid between the pipes for the Bridge City Bunch, stopping 29 of 32 shots. For the 14-12-2 Blue and Gold, they are 5-9-2 since embarking on their U-S Division road trip and have been out-scored 62-45. The Blades had scored 48 goals in starting the season 9-3-0. Since then, opposition goaltenders have been one of the three stars in 10 of the 16 games – four firsts, three seconds and three thirds. Saskatoon will attempt to not get “goaltended” in their next game Sunday when they host Big City-Saskatchewan rival Regina in the first head-to-head meeting of the season. Game time is 4 o’clock at SaskTel Centre. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show interview with head coach Dan Da Silva and the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L website…..

SASKATOON Goals SASKATOON PLAYERS (plus) BRANDON PLAYERS (minus) Per. Time  G-As1-As2 1st 19:17  37 4 20 23 37 82 6 13 17 58 62

BRANDON Goals BRANDON PLAYERS (plus) SASKATOON PLAYERS (minus) Per. Time  G-As1-As2 1st 9:46  10-7-14 5 7 10 14 58 19 25 37 56 71 2nd 1:45  17-21-12 5 10 12 17 21 9 11 37 56 82 3rd 12:04 PP  14-11-13 3rd 18:55 EN  26-10-27 10 12 26 27 62 4 11 16 23 27 82