Gardner returned this week from the Columbus Blue Jackets’ training camp and is expected to be back in the lineup Saturday (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre) against the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Evan Gardner got his first taste of the NHL, but now he’s back with the Saskatoon Blades.
Gardner returned this week from the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets’ training camp and is expected to be back in the lineup Saturday (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre) when the Blades host the Brandon Wheat Kings.
“(The NHL experience) was unreal,” said Gardner, who was selected in the second round, 60th overall, in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft by the Jackets.
“I was there for quite a while. It was really fun being there, being around all those NHL guys and all the prospects. It was unreal.”
While welcoming him back, the Blades found themselves with four goalies on their roster, so they promptly reassigned 16-year-old goalie Ryley Budd to the Canadian Sport School Hockey League’s Edge School squad.
Gardner joins 20-year-old Austin Elliott and Logan Cunningham.
“It was good to see Gards back,” said Blades head coach Dan DaSilva. “He looks solid in the pipes. Obviously a great experience for him going to Columbus and getting in a pre-season game is very cool, so it’s good to have him back. There will be decisions to be made now in net and we’ll get there when we get there and see how things play out.”
Gardner, who was a standout rookie in the Western Hockey League last season with the Blades, got to see some NHL action and quickly learned some lessons.
The biggest takeaway?
“Just always being ready,” he said. “You just need to be always ready because you never know. There were a few times where I kind of laid back (in the crease) and thought the puck was going to be getting out of the zone but the next you know, somebody’s batting it out of the air and they’re coming down on an odd-man. Just always staying ready (is key).”
He will continue to work on his skating and play “big” in net by “allowing to present myself bigger just around the crease doing different stuff, being able to make myself look as big as I can because I am on the shorter end for goalies,” the 6-foot-1 Gardner pointed out.
“Just stuff like that. Most of the stuff we did there was pretty simple. It’s pretty funny. You think that there’d be some different stuff you’d do around there, but honestly it kind of gets simpler and simpler as you go up.”
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