Saskatoon Blades honour 3 legends in Hall of Fame induction

The Saskatoon Blades honoured three longtime members of the organization during their first-ever Legends Night on Saturday. Hallee Mandryk reports.

The Saskatoon Blades hosted the first ever ‘Legends Night’ in franchise history, where three longtime members of the Blades community were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“I was just dumbfounded. I felt like it was such an honour. I don’t know what the criteria is and I don’t know what the who’s on the board, I guess I do know that I’m very grateful,” Kelly Chase, one of the inductees, said.

Different generations of the Blades community gathered at SaskTel Centre for a ceremony prior to the puck drop on Saturday evening to celebrate the three inductees.

Kelly Chase and Mark Wotton were commended for their significant impact on the franchise in the 80s and early 90s before they each saw another level of success in their respective NHL careers.

The event also recognized some off the ice talent, as associate general manager, Steve ‘Hilty’ Hildebrand was inducted for his 25 years of service with the team in a variety of roles.

“Yesterday was quite the surprise....I was a part of these meetings for Kelly and Mark, and then I guess there was other meetings going on at the same time. So, it’s a special day,” Hildebrand said.

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The associate general manager shared that this honour has only added fuel to his goal of seeing the Blades bring the Memorial Cup home to Saskatoon.

“Anyone that’s close to me knows...my sole goal now as a manager...is to bring a championship to the city. And that’s our goal. And that’s waht we’re going to try and do,” Hildebrand said.

Mark Wotton played 296 games across five seasons with the Blades, and served as team captain for two of those seasons. Wotton shared that while he is originally from Manitoba, the Blades community is one he also calls home.

“Our teammates, we are a brotherhood. We spent a lot of time when we were younger together all the time, and we needed to have each other’s backs, not just on the ice, but off the ice as well....probably any teammate, [if] I needed something right now, they’d be there to help,” Wotton said.

Chase was with the Blades for three seasons and 195 games, and he expressed how significant that time was to him in an emotional acceptance speech.

The Blades legend shared that while he has been struggling with a series of health issues, including a leukemia diagnosis, the friendships he formed throughout his time with the Blades have created a strong community of support which he has relied on in recent years.

“The logo means everything to me....we wore our winter coats until June because they had Saskatoon Blades logo on it. So what does the logo mean to me? It’s the brotherhood that comes with the logo that we created that I think is supposed to be,” Chase said.

Wotton expressed that while being inducted into the Blades Hall of Fame would be special under any circumstances, the opportunity to be in the first group of inductees among Chase and Hildebrand is a point of pride.

“Kelly has just done so much community work and with what he’s going through, he’s such an inspiration to a lot of people right now. And...to be inducted with him is quite an honour. And then with Hilty being here for 25 years and with the success that the organization has had over this past time, it’s a good honor,” Wotton said.