By Scott Fisher /

The Eastern Conference championship might be out of reach.

But the Saskatoon Blades could lock up home-ice advantage until the East final.

The Blades recently swept a three-game road trip through the Central Division — with wins over Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Kootenay — to improve their record to 32-11-3-1, good for second spot in the conference.

The perfect road trip also put a number of Blades in 
elite company.

Head coach Lorne Molleken joined the 400-win club while goaltender Braden Holtby equaled the franchise record for shutouts (five) with a 5-0 whitewashing of the homestanding Tigers.

Holtby tied Ed Humphreys’ team record of five goose eggs. Humphreys also shared a shutout with current Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison during the 1971/72 season.

Rookie ‘tender Adam Morrison stopped 31 shots in Cranbrook to remain undefeated in regulation (7-0-1-0).

Molleken praised his team’s defensive awareness during the picture perfect road trip.

“The guys played extremely hard,” Molleken told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “To come on a trip like this and only allow three goals in three games, that’s very satisfying.”

The Blades were a league-best 19-3-1-0 — including five straight Ws — on the road in mid-January. They also had not lost in regulation during their past nine starts (7-0-1-1).

IN PASSING
Les Clark, the patriarch of one of Saskatchewan’s royal hockey families, died in January at the age of 72.

The father of former all-star Blade and Toronto Maple forward Wendel Clark died while vacationing in the Bahamas with his wife, Alma.

All three of his sons — Wendel, Donn and Kerry — played for the Blades in the 1980s.

BLADE BITS
RW Burke Gallimore, who was one point shy of being seceond in team scoring, was a healthy scratch in the final game of the road trip in favour of D Brendon Wall ... Saskatoon product Christian Magnus, 16, had two points in three games since joining the Ice from the Swift Current Broncos at the 
trade deadline.

TOP COACHES: 400-WIN CLUB
Ken Hodge 742 Edmonton, Portland
Ernie McLean 548 Estevan, New Westminster
Pat Ginnell 518 Flin Flon, Victoria, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, New Westminster
Jack Shupe 466 Medicine Hat, Victoria
Bob Lowes 453 Seattle, Brandon, Regina
Peter Anholt 450 Prince Albert, Seattle, Red Deer, Kelowna
*Don Hay 425 Kamloops, Tri-City, Vancouver
Doug Sauter 417 Calgary, Medicine Hat, Regina, Brandon
*Don Nachbaur 414 Seattle, Tri-City
Marcel Comeau 411 Calgary, Saskatoon, Tacoma, Kelowna
*Lorne Molleken 401 Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Regina

*denotes active head coach