Title: Laying An Egg
Author: 2008-2009 Saskatoon Blades
Theme: The more things change, the more they stay the same

Why does this keep happening? I think its time to step back and have a serious, introspective look at what is going on with this hockey franchise. We make it to the playoffs and its all the same story over again. The Blades breeze into the playoffs with a great record, playing solid hockey and they meet a team that is much worse than they are, and the Blades lay a big, fat egg.

Why?

At this point I think we have to contemplate the idea that something is fundamentally wrong with the franchise. Is this not the flagship franchise of the WHL? If its not, then shouldn't it be? Its a big city (WHL wise) and major-junior hockey is the only game in town here. The Blades can't draw 3,000 fans to a regular season game consistently and when they finally get a decent (but not a full house) crowd for a playoff game, they drop a load in their collective drawers.

Why does this happen?

Over and over again, the Blades continue to fall on their swords. For every gain that they make, they stumble over themselves to screw it up. The faces keep changing (this is junior hockey) but we keep seeing the same story. When the Blades can make the playoffs (something sorely missing over the last decade) they choose to flame out in the first round.

They can't drop an egg in round one. It can't happen. They just finally pulled it together enough to make the playoffs in the first place, and then they lose to a 7th place team. Get ready for a lot of echo in the building next season, when we've got 15,000 seats, and we can't get 20% of them full for a game against Prince Albert.

Things have got to change.