‘Why not us?’: Blades keep underdog mentality heading into playoffs

It’s been a year of exceeding expectations and proving people wrong for the Saskatoon Blades, as they found themselves in the thick of the east division race in the final game of the Western Hockey League (WHL) season.

This came after the departures of key players like Brandon Lisowsky, Tanner Molendyk and Ben Riche.

Now, as the Blades head to Calgary to take on the Hitmen in round one of the  WHL playoffs, players are sporting a ‘Not Like Us’ t-shirt and a ‘Why not us’ mentality.

Blades head coach Dan Da Silva said the underdog role is something the Blades are used to.

“We’ve had that all year right from training camp,” he said. “We’re comfortable in these situations, we know that we are the underdogs, it’s no secret.”

The Blades have a few key players who have never experienced WHL Playoff hockey before, but Da Silva said the final month of the season was a peek into the playoffs for the young guns.

“Good thing for us, the playoffs started a while ago,” he said. “We’ve been playing in close games, meaningful games and games where every point matters.”

Da Silva said he will rely on the veterans who have playoff experience to guide the rookies.

“Those guys will be leading the charge like they have all year,” he said. “These guys have been to back-to-back conference finals, and they’ve been down three and come back; it’s a never-say-die attitude.”

Blades forward, Rowan Calvert said, while home ice advantage is a huge factor, it isn’t the end-all be-all.

“We’re not going to have that (home ice advantage) for as long as we go,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter because it’s first team to four (wins).”

Calvert said the ‘Not like us’ slogan is something that means a lot to the team.

“We’ve kind of relished that role where people thought we weren’t going to be so good this year,” he said. “Other teams are just not like us, there are things that we do, there’s a culture that we have that we think is very special.”

Blades netminder Evan Gardner said he hopes the slogan brings some chaos into the playoffs.

“There’s always got to be a few upsets in playoffs, so why not us?” said Gardner. “They’re (the Hitmen) a team that went out and bought a ton at the deadline … because they wanted to make a run, and I think it would be special to end them.”

Gardner is going to have his work cut out for him against Calgary, as they’re headlined by Oliver Tulk, Ben Kindel, Tanner Howe, Carter Yakemchuk and Sawyer Mynio.

Tulk and Kindel both had over 95 points on the year.

“I’m not going to keep a book on them,” Gardner said. “You don’t want to get in your head about where you think somebody is going to shoot (the puck).”

Blades Captain Ben Saunderson said the team is preparing for a war with Calgary.

“It’s not going to be easy,” he said. “I think they’re a really good playoff team.”

Saunderson said he is looking forward to playing the villain.

“A lot of people had us counted out at the start of the year,” he said. “We get to play the villain … it’s been something we use as motivation.”

As the Blades get on the bus and head to Calgary for what will be nothing short of a challenging first-round playoff matchup, following a regular season full of exceeding expectations, it remains unknown how their story will end.

Game one is set for Friday at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time.