{"id":172077,"date":"2025-09-27T03:29:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T03:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/172077\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T03:29:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T03:29:11","slug":"saskatoon-blades-bank-on-goaltending-depth-with-return-of-gardner-from-nhl-camp-saskatoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/172077\/","title":{"rendered":"Saskatoon Blades bank on goaltending depth with return of Gardner from NHL camp – Saskatoon"},"content":{"rendered":"

A week and a half after flying out to Ohio to take part in his second career NHL training camp, Saskatoon Blades<\/a> starting goaltender Evan Gardner<\/a> has arrived back in the \u2018Bridge City\u2019 with a few new stories.<\/p>\n

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They include a handful of short conversations with fellow Columbus Blue Jackets top goaltending prospect Pyotr Andreyanov.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t speak a lot of English and I didn\u2019t speak a lot of Russian, but I thought we got along great,\u201d said Gardner. \u201cI threw in a few Russian swear words and he thought that was pretty funny, so I\u2019d say we\u2019re off to a pretty good start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gardner, who was drafted in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Blue Jackets, has returned to the WHL after getting into a pre-season game with Columbus against the St. Louis Blues stopping six shots.<\/p>\n

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Now, he\u2019s back inside the Blades locker room for his third and potentially final season with the team with an air of confidence gained during his time surrounded by NHL veterans and prospects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just really felt confident out there while I was there that whole time,\u201d said Gardner. \u201cI felt like I got my swagger when I was there and I would say I\u2019m bringing that back, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Gardner\u2019s return has solidified Saskatoon\u2019s goaltending group for the 2025-26 WHL season, as he\u2019ll lead the team\u2019s netminders after going 23-13-5 in 44 games last season putting up a 2.82 goals against average, .911 save percentage and a trio of shutouts.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be joined on the big club once again by fellow 19-year-old Ethan McCallum, who was acquired by the Blades last October from the Medicine Hat Tigers, as well as prospects Taye Timmerman and Ryley Budd.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s competition in the league like we do,\u201d said McCallum. \u201cI think we do have one of the best goalies in the league and to have [Gardner] back now especially, that brings the competition up even more. It\u2019s awesome, it just brings an extra level to practice every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

All four goaltenders got extended looks during the team\u2019s pre-season schedule, with the team sending Budd to the Alberta Junior Hockey League\u2019s Bonnyville Pontiacs to compete in his first full season of junior hockey.<\/p>\n

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At just 17 years of age, he\u2019s expected to be a big part of the Blades future, according to head coach Dan DaSilva who emphasized the difficult decisions needed to pare down the goaltender from camp.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe goaltending depth here in the organization is great,\u201d said DaSilva. \u201cIt\u2019s a good problem to have. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s really a problem, it just makes the decisions difficult and so we\u2019re still monitoring that situation for sure. I think all four goalies are capable of playing in the league, being starters in the league at that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have tough decisions to make and time is going to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Gardner off at Blue Jackets camp, the Blades kicked off the WHL season last weekend with a tandem of McCallum and Timmerman cracking the opening night roster against the Prince Albert Raiders.<\/p>\n

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Following a 4-2 loss in their first game of the season in Prince Albert, the Blades responded with a 3-2 win in their home opener on Saturday capped off with a Brayden Klimpke overtime goal to secure their first win of the season.<\/p>\n

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In that game, McCallum stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced, winning the team\u2019s inaugural \u2018Blade of the Game\u2019 sword which is awarded by the players to the most selfless and deserving teammate each night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honour,\u201d said McCallum. \u201cI think last year it was more orientated towards player of the game and this year I think there\u2019s a lot more meaning and impact behind that sword. To be given the first honours of it was pretty special and I couldn\u2019t have done it without the guys in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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McCallum has seen his confidence grow since being acquired by Saskatoon last fall, earning a string of starts late in the season with Gardner on the shelf with a knee injury to finish his first season with the Blades with a 3.26 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just a work in progress,\u201d said McCallum. \u201cI think as the years go on as you\u2019re playing in the league you learn more and I think with the organization that I\u2019m with right now have really helped me grow as a person. I think the whole mindset has changed. It\u2019s just a game, have fun with it and just simplify it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Timmerman, he was sent down to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League\u2019s Warman Wolverines on Thursday with the return of Gardner into the fold.<\/p>\n

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Starring last season for the Northern Manitoba Blizzard en route to being named Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoff MVP, Timmerman was able to parlay that success into a WHL contract.<\/p>\n

That resiliency has caught DaSilva\u2019s attention, noting the team will be watching his development in the SJHL closely in case he\u2019ll need to be called back up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hasn\u2019t given us any reason to not feel confident in giving him a start,\u201d said DaSilva. \u201cWill that happen with Evan coming back? I\u2019m not sure\u2026 but he definitely exudes confidence from the net, has made some big saves. He has not given us any reason to doubt that he wouldn\u2019t be capable of playing in a regular season game.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the net will be primarily Gardner\u2019s this season, the Blades boast one of the most promising goaltending rooms in the WHL which the Blue Jackets prospect believes will be in good hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously [Budd] and [Timmerman] are a little younger than me, so I\u2019m just trying to help them out any way that I can,\u201d said Gardner.<\/p>\n

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\u201cStaying in contact with them, just trying to help them out because it\u2019s going to be their net soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visiting the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday night, the Blades (1-1) will wrap up their southern Alberta road swing on Saturday against the defending WHL champions in the Medicine Hat Tigers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A week and a half after flying out to Ohio to take part in his second career NHL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,88280,448,88279,16373,82,25260],"class_list":{"0":"post-172077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-evan-gardner","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-saskatoon-blades","13":"tag-saskatoon-sports","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-whl"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}