Hours after seeing his junior hockey career come to an end on Wednesday night, Ben Saunderson wasn’t ready to take off the only jersey he’s worn in the Western Hockey League.
He was sitting in the same locker room where his journey with the Saskatoon Blades began in 2019 as a fifth-round pick by the team.
“I didn’t want to get out of my stuff,” said Saunderson. “I went up and saw [Blades play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk] in my equipment, didn’t want to get out of it. Obviously it’s super special, greatest time of your life.”
After close to 300 combined WHL regular season and playoff games, all in a Blades uniform, Saunderson’s time in Saskatoon has drawn to a close along with fellow graduating overagers Grayden Siepmann and Tanner Scott.
This following a 6-2 loss to the Calgary Hitmen in Game 4 of Eastern Conference quarter-finals, giving Calgary a sweep of the first round series.
“When it comes to an end when you’re 20 [years old] it’s pretty sad,” said Saunderson. “I tried not to cry, the emotions got the best of me after the game which is good. My time in this league has been tremendous. To spend all five years in Saskatoon I’m super grateful.”
Saunderson spoke to the media on Thursday, his final duty as team captain following Saskatoon’s elimination from playoffs and the final chapter of the team’s 2024-25 season.
Missing just two games over the past two seasons, the Carberry, Manitoba product has been a consistent piece of the Blades blueline and will be a voice the team will be without next fall when he joins the NCAA’s Quinnipiac Bobcats.
“We’re going to miss him immensely next year,” said Blades head coach Dan DaSilva. “A great hockey player, phenomenal leader, better than I thought he’d ever be as a leader, honestly. I knew that he was really good off the ice in the community and really good in the locker room, but elevated his game when he needed to. He used his voice when he needed to and he made the rink an enjoyable place to come to every single day.”
Saskatoon’s struggled to get much going over their series against the Hitmen, outscored by a combined 19-6 total and did not hold a lead at any point over the four games.
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Helping to lead one of the youngest teams in the WHL post-season, alternate captain Rowan Calvert said it was an eye-opening experience facing a team like Calgary in the first round who expect to challenge for a league title.
“I think it was a big learning lesson for everyone,” said Calvert. “We battled, it might not have looked that way if you looked at the box scores. In a way, there was a lot of learning lessons for young guys and even guys like me.”
Despite the early exit, the Blades are calling this season a success after finishing one win shy of an East Division crown and surpassing expectations of where many people thought the team would finish after going all-in last year to chase an Ed Chynoweth Cup.
“We had an extremely young team that almost won the division and I feel like we’re one of the favourites to win the division again next year,” said Blades president and general manager Colin Priestner. “There’s no rebuild after having the best team in the league [last year], so I’m pretty proud of the job we’ve done.”
The inflection point of the season came at the WHL trade deadline with the Blades sitting first place in the East Division, deciding to pull the trigger on a series of trades to get younger and recoup assets lost during their last two playoff runs.
That included monster deals with stars like Tanner Molendyk, Brandon Lisowsky and Ben Riche heading out the door for a bevy of draft picks and players such as Hayden Harsanyi, Jack Kachkowski and Hunter Laing.
When asked if he had any regrets over the decision to become a seller at the deadline, Priestner said it was always the plan to retool this year.
“It didn’t matter what our record was at Christmas,” said Priestner. “We weren’t going to sacrifice three, four months or one extra playoff round to not build this thing properly back up.”
Blades star goaltender Evan Gardner is among the pieces expected to be back in the fall, approaching his third season in Saskatoon and is a potential candidate for Canada’s World Junior team in 2026.
Signing his NHL entry-level contract recently with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Gardner will be joining the American Hockey League’s Cleveland Monsters in the coming days to get a glimpse at the pro level.
“They’re in a playoff push right now so I’ll go be a black ace for them and kind of soak it all in,” said Gardner. “I think they just want me to be around [NHL prospects] and see what it takes to be a pro, and all of the stuff that you have to do on a daily basis.”
When asked who would be a suitable candidate to replace him as captain next season, Saunderson immediately mentioned longtime teammate Tyler Parr as a contender who will eligible for return as one of three overagers.
While disappointed at the outcome of just four games of playoff experience for the group, Parr is optimistic that the summer will bring a huge period of growth for their crop of 17-year-old players.
“When those guys turn into 18-year-olds next year it’s going to be pretty exciting to see,” said Parr. “At 18-years-old, you can make a big impact in this league. When you have as many of those guys as we do who are really solid players, I think it’s going to be a great recipe for success next year.”
Wrapping up his first season as head coach for his childhood team, DaSilva added he’s excited to see that same growth when training camp opens in early September.
A wait which he hopes will fly by, just like this past season has.
“The future is bright here in Saskatoon,” said DaSilva. “I would love to get started tomorrow, but unfortunately we have to wait a few months.”
Planning now begins for Preistner and the rest of management for the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft in May where they’ll pick in the first round for the first time since 2022, holding the Medicine Hat Tigers pick acquired in the Molendyk trade.
The WHL Expansion Draft is also coming up on May 7 to fill out players for the incoming Penticton Vees, who will select one player from the Blades organization who will be left unprotected.
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