Over 20 games played in Saskatoon after being acquired from the Kamloops Blazers, west central WHL forward Vaughn Watterodt is enjoying his time playing under some great talent, all while in a familiar city.  

The young player only played six games in Kamloops colours this season before the Blades brought him in, only picking up an assist. The Blazers look like one of the WHL’s top teams headed into the playoffs, so cutting bait on a young skater like Watterodt to make room in the forward group was a competitive decision they were willing to make. 

Watterodt surely enjoyed the BC atmosphere, but was likely fine with being traded away by the team that drafted him in the sixth round back in 2019, because playing so close to home in Saskatoon has been a dream come true. 

It’s not like he joined a slouch of a team either, as the Rosetown native has seemed to soak in every minute of playing around immensely talented Blades players like team leader in points Kyle Crnkovic, who also sits as the current league leader in scoring with 66 points in 42 games, and record setting Blades goalie Nolan Maier who has been around with the team as starter since 2017. If Watterodt wasn’t there to chase the same goals, he may just be in awe of his teammates, but a media clip from the Blades well-respected goaltender after Watterodt’s first career goal shows the team reciprocates the young player’s respect as well. 

“Crnkovic is leading the league, and in net we have like one of the best goalies in the league. It’s been really good here in Saskatoon,” shared Watterodt wholeheartedly, “We are clicking which is really good, and looking forward to going on a run and seeing what this team can do.” 

The team did manage to go on a nice run as a high scoring bunch, and West Central Online only caught up with the local forward in part thanks to the team postponing three games and going into COVID protocol for a few days back at the end of January; though Watterodt was not one of the players kept off the ice for practice. 

“I only had COVID (previously) so I (was able) to still practice and stuff,” said Watterodt, who obviously wasn’t kidding about his stint with COVID as shown by these sick hands: 

Not only is his confidence radiating from playing a lot closer to home in Saskatoon, he feels his new coaches have really helped out with his game and placed him in a position to succeed and play his game comfortably. Everything about Saskatoon has been special so far, as Watterodt’s first goal actually came with a special member of the family in the crowd. He was happy to finally have the scoring touch. 

“Once I was able to score that first tip-in with my family and grandma there it was nice. I was able to get some more confidence over those games, and was able to put up some points so that was good.” 

Hear more from him about scoring a goal in front of his family members below:  

Watterodt and the Blades have a double-header this weekend at home, with Saturday's game coming against potential future NHL star Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats. Expect West Central Online to continue checking in on the local talent currently playing in the Western Hockey League ranks, as the regular season closes out in Saskatoon and other junior markets across the west. 

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