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It’s Over Broncos, Blades Have the High Ground

By Les Lazaruk Mar 14, 2025 | 11:14 PM

On “Star Wars Night” Friday in Swift Current, the force was with the Saskatoon Blades.

Evan Gardner (pictured) stopped 22 shots for his second shutout of the season while the Bridge City Bunch denied the Broncos the room to work their offensive magic from the previous three head-to-head meetings as the Blue and Gold recorded an important 3-0 triumph. The win allowed the 35-22-7 Blades to stay tied with Brandon for first place in the W-H-L’s East Division. The Wheat Kings downed visiting Moose Jaw 4-1 Friday while the Prince Albert Raiders continue to lurk one point back after out-lasting Red Deer 4-3 in overtime on Friday night. The shutout was the sixth of his career for Gardner, a second round pick of the N-H-L’s Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2024 N-H-L Draft. Defenceman Jack Kachkowski notched the winning goal, opening the scoring just 4:53 into the game. Hunter Laing added insurance with an early third period power play tally while Cooper Williams scored from long range into a vacated Speedy Creek net. Williams added two assists, as did David Lewandowski. Saskatoon returns home to entertain the Regina Pats on Sunday at 4 o’clock at SaskTel Centre. Following are the audio highlights from CJWW’s broadcast, plus Les Lazaruk’s Post-Game Show interviews with head coach Dan Da Silva and Kachkowski plus the official game summary courtesy the W-H-L…..




Game Report 1021905 Western Hockey League
PLAYED AT: InnovationPlex – Swift Current, SK
Date: Mar 14, 2025
Visiting Team: Saskatoon Blades
Manager:
Home Team: Swift Current Broncos
Manager:
SASKATOON LINEUP
Pos No.  Name
G 33  McCallum, Ethan
G 35  Gardner, Evan
C 2  Saunderson, Ben (OA)
3  Martin, Jordan
4  Klimpke, Brayden
9  Olsen, Zach
11  Kibblewhite, Hudson
13  Poll, Isaac
18  Lodge, Kohen
A 20  Parr, Tyler
21  Siepmann, Grayden (OA)
A 23  Calvert, Rowan
25  Williams, Cooper
26  Harsanyi, Hayden
27  Laing, Hunter
29  Scott, Tanner (OA)
32  Dej, František
37  Kachkowski, Jack
52  Tastad, Morgan
86  Lewandowski, David
SASKATOON PENALTIES
Per. No. Min  Offence Off PP PS Start On
3rd 9 2:00  Hooking 8:33 1 8:33
3rd 86 2:00  Roughing 15:31 1 15:31
3rd 9 2:00  Roughing 19:32 19:32
SWIFT CURRENT LINEUP
Pos No.  Name
G 30  Dyck, Reid (OA)
G 35  Rocha, Joey
A 2  Mayo, Hunter (OA)
5  McGregor, Josh
7  McFaul, Jace
A 12  Gould, Rylan
13  Burzynski, Grayson
14  Gabriel, Connor
16  Birnie, Brady
17  Rondeau, Parker
18  Hanson, Otto
19  Wilke, Trae
23  Rookes, Kurt
24  Dezainde, Carlin (OA)
C 25  Caswell, Clarke
26  Mistelbacher, Luke
28  Yerex, Daxon
32  Dingman, Sawyer
38  Ročák, Marek
39  Gauchier, Jaxen
SWIFT CURRENT PENALTIES
Per. No. Min  Offence Off PP PS Start On
1st 19 2:00  Tripping 8:51 1 8:51
2nd 17 2:00  High Sticking 12:00 1 12:00
2nd 7 2:00  Checking from Behind 17:02 1 17:02
3rd 5 2:00  Tripping 3:20 1 3:20 4:31
3rd 32 2:00  Roughing 19:34 19:34
3rd 23 2:00  Roughing 19:35 19:35
SASKATOON Goals SASKATOON PLAYERS (plus) SWIFT CURRENT PLAYERS (minus)
Per. Time  G-As1-As2
1st 4:53  37-86-25 4 25 27 37 86 7 12 19 24 28
3rd 4:31 PP  27-25-86
3rd 19:04 EN  25 2 20 21 23 25 2 19 24 25 26 39
SWIFT CURRENT Goals SWIFT CURRENT PLAYERS (plus) SASKATOON PLAYERS (minus)
Per. Time  G-As1-As2
POWER PLAY OPPORTUNITIES
SASKATOON 1 / 4
SWIFT CURRENT 0 / 2

PENALTY SUMMARY
SASKATOON 6 min / 3 inf
SWIFT CURRENT 12 min / 6 inf

POINT SUMMARY
SASKATOON 3 G + 4 A = 7 Pts
SWIFT CURRENT 0 G + A = 0 Pts
SCORING 1 2 3 Total
SASKATOON 1 0 2 3
SWIFT CURRENT 0 0 0 0
GOALTENDER/SAVES (Time) 1 2 3 Tot. On Off
SAS – Gardner (60:00) (W) 7 6 9 22 /0:00 3rd/20:00
SC – Rocha (56:29) (L) 6 12 6 24 /0:00 3rd/16:29
SC – Rocha (0:56) (L) 0 0 0 0 /19:04 3rd/20:00
Stars of the Game TIME OF GAME:
 SAS – 35 Gardner  Start: 7:09 PM
 SC – 35 Rocha  End: 9:24 PM
 SAS – 37 Kachkowski  Attendance: 2535
OFFICIALS
Referee: Adam Bloski (16)
Referee: Ty Skene (19)
Linesmen: Levi Schutz (110)
Linesmen: Devan Thiessen (94)

CERTIFIED CORRECT
This report has been checked and verified against the Official Western Hockey League Game Report.