The Blades have indeed traded for Brayden Schenn from the Brandon Wheat Kings and a 3rd round pick in the 2012 draft.

The blades have sent a total of 6 players back to the Kings. 2 prospects and 4 1st round picks.

According to multiple sources the Saskatoon Blades have traded for World Junior superstar and local product Brayden Schenn.

There is no word on what Saskatoon is giving up.

Is this just part of a bigger deal ? Is Scott Glennie, also a wheat king, part of the deal ?

Hello Saskatoon.com readers. I guess it's been a while since I posted a blog so I thought i'd give it a go. I even had a "fan" asking where I'd been. Always nice to be wanted.

Where should I start ?

I guess I'll start with what everyone is talking about these days and it's the loss by Team Canada at the World U20 Hockey Championships otherwise known as the World Juniors. I, like many others in this country, was stunned as we watched the Russians run over the Canadian for ONE period and claim gold for the first time since 2003.

I went down to the River Bank on Wednesday evening with the sole purpose of seeing a friend's band play at "A Taste of Saskatchewan". But of course since I am already down there........I might as well indulge. ;)

I tried 4 booths. The first was EE Burritos and I had the Enchiladas. Very good, not a huge portion, but hot and fresh. Then I went for the Chicken Shanhai Noodles from Octane. Excellent, my favourite of all I chose. Spicy, cooked perfect. 10 out of 10. Then I went for the old standard, Wings from Wing World, the best wings ever. I had the hot and boy were they. The wings were hot (temperature) and crispy. Delicious. If you have them, remember to take lots of napkins, the get a little messy. The last thing I had was the Shrimp from The Victorian. I had first thought it was a Shrimp pasta dish but no it was really just Shrimp. Now, it had really nice flavour and the Shrimp were nice and big, but I got 4 for 2 tokens ($5). Am I glad I had them, yes I am. Would I have them again, not for that price, no.

Once I finished eating, it was time for my friend's band to headline the Wednesday Night Stage. His band's name is Fear of Knowing.  A really great band that sticks to the heavy metal favourites. Here is their MySpace address http://www.myspace.com/fearofknowingsaskatoon

I have not yet seen them play but I've heard from my friend some of the songs they play so I was really looking forward to it. I was able to chat with the band prior to the show and saw the first song "Fuel" and the last song "Wasted Years". They actually never played "Wasted" because the singer was having vocal issues.

I thought the set was really good. Some songs the band was better at than others. They even played "Pour some sugar on me" which is a really hard song to play. It wasn't perfect but pretty darn close, they definately pulled it off. The highlights for me were "No Remorse" and "Fade to Black" by Metallica, and "Peace Sells" by Megadeth.  They really killed those songs. I know my friend is a huge Megadeth fan, and I know he was pleased (I saw a fist pump) after they finished "Peace Sells".

Some other songs from their setlist include "Lit up" by Buckcherry, "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns n' Roses, "Hysteria" by Def Leppard and "Sex Type Thing" by Stone Temple Pilots.

I would definately goes see these guys again if I could.

As far as upcoming dates, they play Bud's On Broadway on August 1st and then at the Saskatoon Exhibition on August 14th.


That's it for today.

I am working today at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway.

Have a good weekend.


"Trusty Rusty"

Well, my family and I survived the Craven Country Jamboree. Here's a few of my experiences on the weekend.

We had bought our Craven tickets a year ago exactly today because of Kenny Chesney. He rarely comes to this part of the world and it may have been our only chance to see him.

We left Saskatoon Friday at 1030am and arrived in Lumsden just before 1230pm. We were stopped in the lineup at 1233pm. We arrived at our campsite at 4:02pm. We were in line for 3 and a half hours. 3 and a half hours with a 9 year old and a 4 year old. YIKES! but really, considering, they were pretty good. As the weekend went on, we realized compared to some people, we got off easy. Once we reached the gate, we were at our campsite in 5 minutes and that's not what most people experienced. We had a gold campsite and our area was unscathed by the rain and mud. We were right along the train tracks which made for a noisy time when the train passed but we didn't have people on all sides and that was a positive. It was also fairly close to the grounds and with my mother-in-law on the mend after hip surgery, that was a good thing as well. We'd love to have the same site again for next year.

Well, finally.

Most who know me know I have tried and failed to see Iron Maiden over the last almost 30 years.

After almost 30 years I finally got to see Iron Maiden live and boy they sure didn't disappoint.

So for those who don't know, I am a die-hard Boston Bruins fan and I have a certain disdain for the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Don't like em', don't need 'em, just get rid of 'em and life will be good.

By I have a dilemma for tonights game 7 between the Habs and the Washington Capitals.

If the Capitals win, the Bruins will play Pittsburgh and with the Matt Cooke/Marc Savard hit still fresh in the minds of bruin fans, it is destined to be a gritty affair.  But with Pittsburgh's talent it would be a real uphill battle.

Here's a tweet from Rider head coach Ken Miller's Twitter page.

WOW! GM Brendan Taman has received multiple trade offers regarding the upcoming CFL Draft. We are seriously considering a couple of them.

http://twitter.com/Coach_KenMiller

Hello all.

I am sorry it's been so long since I wrote. I have been busy with work and family stuff. This will be a short one today, but I will try and write more often.

This week I was in Brandon covering games 3 & 4 of the Brandon/Calgary WHL eastern conference final series.

As my wife and I watched Joannie Rochette finish her skating program last night I couldn't believe how focused she was. It wasn't a totally clean program, she didn't fall, but what an amazing performance. To even compete showed what type of person her mother and father raised and from my point of view, they did a hell of a job. She loses her mother and 3 days later is not only competing but finished in 3rd after the short progam. In my mind I thought maybe the pressure of that might get to her but she showed up again last night and showed her true canadian heart by putting together an amazing performance once again and was rewarded with a bronze medal and more important, the admiration of an entire country. I've always said the Olympics are a wonderful platform to teach our kids terrific life lessons and show them that anything is possible. Dreams can come true if you work hard enough. It doesn't always have to be about winning a medal. I think Canadians would have still been proud of Rochette if she'd finished in 10th or 4th. Just showing up to the event really showed what she's made of. That's the life lesson I'll pass on to my daughter. Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and it will test your will and character. To quote Martin Luther King Jr.

In this case it's a women but it still applies. I'd say Ms. Rochette passed that test with flying colours and I am sure her mother is very proud of her, where ever she is.

Have a good day.

Go Canada Go !!


"Trusty Rusty"