History
The Saskatoon Blades were originally founded in 1964 as a team in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and transferred leagues in 1966–67 with the foundation of the Western Hockey League. They are the only team remaining in the league from the WHL's foundation still in their original city (the Regina Pats are also still around, but they dropped out of the WHL to go back to the SJHL from 1968 to 1970). The Blades spent many seasons at the old Saskatoon Arena where they built up a strong fan base and developed many top players. In 1988, they moved to what was then known as Saskatchewan Place (now Credit Union Centre) and hosted the Memorial Cup tournament in May, 1989, where they finished the round robin with a 5–4 victory over the Swift Current Broncos who had a 14 game undefeated streak, which consisted of sweeping through the WHL playoffs and winning their 1st two round robin games. However, the Blades lost in overtime in the Memorial Cup Final to the Broncos. They also lost in the WHL league finals in 1992 and 1994 to the Kamloops Blazers in seven games. The Blades have never won the Ed Chynoweth Cup, and currently have the longest championship drought in the Canadian Hockey League.
The Blades are currently owned by the Brodsky Family. They have been a huge success at the gate. Throughout their existence, the team has had a fierce rivalry with both the Regina Pats and the Prince Albert Raiders. As many of the players are still in their mid-teens, Marion M. Graham Collegiate plays host to many of the players, due to the short distance.
Before the start of the 2005-06 season, the Blades retired their long-time mascot Helmutt, an anthropomorphic dog whose name was a pun on the helmet, in favor of a mascot that would appeal to younger fans. The Blades introduced Poke Check, a yeti-like creature, at the Blades home opener that season. He has since remained the team's mascot, and also appears at community events throughout Saskatoon.
In the 2008–09 season, the Saskatoon Blades made history by tying a WHL record for most road wins in a single season (28) with the 1999–00 Calgary Hitmen. In that season, the Blades went on to win their first East Division Championship since 1994.
With a 5-3 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday, March 9, 2011, the Blades clinched first place in the Western Hockey League and earned themselves the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as the WHL's regular season champion.
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