The Saskatoon Blades may not have had the season they wanted, but that’s in the rearview mirror now. “Everything resets back to zero here,” said head coach Dan DaSilva on Wednesday’s media conference. “All the playoffs mean is that we’ve all earned our right to be there, to compete in the playoffs, and for us, the rankings are out the window. It’s a fresh slate, and we’re excited to get going.”
After finishing in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, the Blades will travel to Edmonton to take on the third-place Edmonton Oil Kings in the first round of the Western Hockey League (WHL) Playoffs. The two teams met four times this season, and although the Oil Kings won three of their matchups, excitement is high for their series.
“It’s gonna be a good series,” said team captain Tyler Parr. “We’ve had some good games with them so far in the regular season. They’re a highly skilled team, a fast team, they can score a lot of goals, but we just got to play them hard.”
It won’t be easy, but the Blades are eager to get onto the ice at Rogers Centre and prove that they are capable of upsetting one of the top teams in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Whatever the result, this series promises to be an exciting tilt, so here are a few things to keep in mind as the two teams prepare for their first-round matchup.
Blades’ 2025-26 Season Series Against Edmonton
The Blades and Oil Kings opened their regular-season series against each other on Oct. 19 in Saskatoon, with David Lewandowski named the game’s first star after putting up a goal and an assist in the 4-3 victory. Just over a month later, the two teams rematched in Edmonton, and this time, the Oil Kings came away with the win. Rowan Calvert scored twice for the Blades, but two unanswered power-play goals from Andrew O’Neill and Ethan MacKenzie silenced the Blades, allowing Edmonton to win 6-5.
The Oil Kings returned to Saskatoon on Jan. 9 for another tight game, with Edmonton’s core of Max Curran, Miroslav Holinka, and MacKenzie scoring twice on the power play to take the game 3-1. Their final match-up on Jan. 25 saw the Blades’ defence significantly impacted by injuries, and the Oil Kings took advantage, jumping out to a 3-0 lead by the end of the first period and finishing the game 5-1, with Saskatoon’s only goal coming early in the third.
Since their last loss to the Oil Kings, the Blades have shown they can upset a strong team when they’re on their game, beating the Calgary Hitmen, Penticton Vees, and forcing the Prince Albert Raiders to a shootout. The biggest problem, it seems, is that they just can’t stay out of their own way.
“We do feel that focus needs to primarily be on us,” said DaSilva. “Yeah, it’s us versus them, but it’s also us versus us in terms of how well we can play our game. We know that if we’re playing our game, at the top of our game, we can play against anyone in this league, so the focus is on us being the best we can be right now.”
Blades and Oil Kings Playoff History
2026 marks the first time the current Oil Kings’ franchise will meet the Blades in the playoffs, although Saskatoon had met two previous clubs before. The original Oil Kings played the Blades three times, with their last series in 1971. Edmonton was the top-ranked team that season with a league-leading 346 goals, 40 more than the second-place Flin Flon Bombers. The Blades finished third in the Division despite posting a losing record, largely thanks to star Orest Kindrachuk, who finished his final junior season with 49 goals and 149 points. Unsurprisingly, the Oil Kings won that series four games to one and went on to claim their first WHL title.
Five years later, Edmonton became the Portland Winterhawks, leading to a league restructuring and a new playoff format. From 1977-80, the league used a divisional round-robin tournament as the first round of the playoffs, switched to a best-of-seven series for the Division Final, then back to the round robin for the WHL Semifinal. In the middle of this, Flin Flon relocated to Edmonton, becoming the second Oil Kings’ club, and met the Blades in the first round of the 1979 playoffs. After eight games, the Blades and Brandon Wheat Kings moved on to round two, while Edmonton went home before relocating again to Great Falls, Montana.
Despite the lack of history, this year’s matchup is reminiscent of last season’s series against the third-place Calgary Hitmen, another team that loaded up at the deadline and went on to sweep the Blades in four games. It’s never easy to get swept, but for some, it still weighs on their minds.
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“I can’t say for others, but for myself, it’s something I still think about,” admitted goalie Evan Gardner. “It just felt like we got rolled; it felt like we couldn’t gain any traction in that series, it felt like we were helpless. It wasn’t fun for anyone. It wasn’t a fun series to be a part of, getting embarrassed like that. I know for myself, it gives me a ton of motivation, and I imagine it gives everyone else a ton of motivation in that room as well.”
That motivation will mainly be focused on starting strong. The Blades gave up the first goal against the Hitmen in each of their four games, putting Saskatoon in a much tougher situation than they needed to be. “The start of the series is always huge, and the first game, the first shift really sets the tone,” said DaSilva. “But it’s a long series, right? It’s a best-of-seven for a reason. We’ll be ready for game one, and we’ll be ready for the start of the game, and our guys are excited to get down to Edmonton and get started.”
Saskatoon’s X-Factors
The Blades are a year older and more experienced, but pulling off an upset will take everyone, from rookie to veteran, working together to get past a very strong Oil Kings’ squad. Here are a few players to watch who will play a big role in getting Saskatoon off on the right foot.
Evan Gardner
Few goalies have been as dominant in the WHL as Gardner. In 2023-24, he nearly took the Blades to the Final as a rookie with a .910 save percentage (SV%) and a 10-1-3 record. Then, in 2024-25, he was one of five goalies to post a .910 SV% while playing over 40 games.
Gardner remained one of the busiest goalies this season, finishing with 52 games played, the second-most in the WHL behind Victoria Royals’ Ethan Eskit. He also posted his third 20-plus win season with a career-high 25 wins, and with his 10th career shutout, he now owns the second-highest total in franchise history. He also received some consideration for Team Canada’s World Junior roster after he was named to the Summer Showcase.
Coach DaSilva rarely puts one player under the spotlight, instead focusing on the team and their cohesion, but even he couldn’t deny Gardner’s role. “He’s not the only one, but he’s going to play a big part in the series,” said DaSilva. “He’s had some playoff experience, he’s one of the best goalies in the league, and we have full confidence in him.”
Zach Olsen
Another player DaSilva has high expectations of is Zach Olsen, a burgeoning power forward who can greatly affect the flow of the game around him. “Zach’s built for playoffs,” said DaSilva. “He plays every game like it’s a playoff game: fast, physical, relentless on the forecheck, hard to play against. He’s going to be one of those guys, a bit of an x-factor for us. He’ll play a big role in all areas of the ice, and he plays in all situations, so Zach will be someone we expect to drive the bus a little bit for us in the playoffs.”
Olsen’s aggressive style earned him a spot on the WHL Top Prospects roster, where he was one of the most noticeable players on the ice until a hand injury took him out of the game. He returned to the team on Mar. 18 against the Wheat Kings, and it looked like he had never left – he was full of energy every shift, attacking the puck and forcing turnovers and mistakes with his hard, physical play. He’ll be a constant thorn in Edmonton’s side all series long.
Rowan Calvert
In his 20-year-old season, Calvert led the Blades with 31 goals, finishing 24th in league scoring. Like Olsen, he’s a hard-working, two-way forward, but he also brings a wealth of knowledge and experience. Along with Gardner and Parr, he experienced the heartbreak of losing to the Moose Jaw Warriors in the 2024 Eastern Conference Final. Everyone knew the winner of that game had a great chance to take the Ed Chynoweth Cup, and after six overtime games, Saskatoon fell by just one goal at home.
The only problem is that Calvert went down with an injury in the Blades’ second-last game of the season. He’s currently day-to-day, but the team is hopeful he’s close to returning. “It’s going to be massive (to get him back),” said Parr. “He’s a huge part of our team. He does everything for us off the ice, leadership in between periods, stuff like that.” Calvert has been a huge part of the playoff push this season, and it would be heartbreaking to see him miss his final go-around with the Blades.
The Penalty Kill
The last x-factor is the Blades’ penalty kill. “I think during the regular season, their power play was pretty lethal against us,” said Gardner. “They were always doing damage through the regular season against us on their power play, so I think if we really buy in on our PK and find a way to shut them down throughout the series and really frustrate them, that’ll be a key to getting some wins and potentially winning the series.”
Part of the reason it has lagged in the past is injuries. The Blades’ defence has been hit with injury after injury; Derek Thurston, acquired back in November, was expected to bring a gritty, playoff brand of hockey to the blue line, but has been on the sidelines since December. Jordan Martin, Isaac Poll, and Kaden Allan have also missed significant time, forcing the team to rely on rookies Luke Dumas and Jack Lavallee much more than expected. But with everyone healthy, the Blades are ready for whatever is thrown at them.
Blades Ready for a Tough Series
The Blades aren’t strangers to what they’re up against. The Oil Kings boast several World Junior players, including MacKenzie, Holinka, and Curran. But they still believe in their ability to upset a top team.
“We’re fired up in that room,” said assistant captain Brayden Klimpke. “I think we all believe in this group, and we know the kind of damage we can do. We have a lot of confidence going into this series, and we’re all excited…Every team is zero wins, zero losses, everyone has zero points, so I think it’s a big reset for everyone, and I don’t think it matters what seed we are or if they’re higher than us, it doesn’t matter.”
The Blades and Oil Kings get underway on Friday, Mar. 27, at Rogers Centre in Edmonton at 7:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, returning to Saskatoon for games three and four on Mar. 31 and Apr. 1.
