Approaching a month since he was acquired by the Saskatoon Blades in a blockbuster trade with the Victoria Royals, Tanner Scott is finally settling into his new digs.
After four years of playing hockey on the west coast, the overage forward has taken up a new home in Saskatoon to close out his junior career.
“It was obviously a shock to me at first but I’ve been very happy to be here,” said Scott. “I have a lot of family here, so that made it initially really easy to come here because I’m billeting with my cousins. They’ve been really good billet-wise and the team has integrated me very quickly.
“I honestly feel like I got 20-something brothers in there too already.”
Acquired by Saskatoon as part of a package in exchange for franchise icon Brandon Lisowsky, Scott has slotted into the Blades’ top-six forward core and has provided some offence to help fill in the gaps of a much younger roster.
Scoring a pair of goals in blue and gold since joining the Blades to go along with six assists in 10 games, Scott has helped to anchor a line with Hayden Harsanyi and Tyler Parr.
Scott’s journey through hockey began on the rinks of his hometown of Sherwood Park, Alberta where he followed a junior path blazed by his older brother Mitchell Scott.
Providing a blend of speed and tenacity as one of the smallest players in the WHL, Scott will wind up his junior career in Saskatoon as one of the team’s trio of overage players.
While he doesn’t play a typical power forward game, he’s idolized one of the greatest goal scorers in NHL history with the Washington Capitals.
With just 23 games left in the regular season, the Blades are in the hunt for a playoff spot after being knocked out of top spot in the East Division by the Prince Albert Raiders.
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Winning just one of their last seven games, Saskatoon will be fighting for playoff seeding in the coming weeks and will need better consistency in their game according to Scott.
“We’re still working on some chemistry here I think,” said Scott. “The group of guys in there, it’s a lot of skill in there. As soon as we get that chemistry figured out and figuring out each other’s play styles, I think this could be a very scary team entering playoffs.”
The Blades get back on the ice Friday night at home, facing off against the Wenatchee Wild at 7:00 pm on ‘Les Lazaruk Bobblehead Night’ celebrating the team’s longtime play-by-play voice.