After starting his junior career with the Swan Valley Stampeders back in 2015-16, Riley McKay played the past two seasons with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs.
This past offseason, the Swan River native was set for a big change as he moved closer to home as he signed on with the Saskatoon Blades. The 20-year-old became a Blade just at the perfect time.
Last season the team missed the playoffs by three points. This year, Riley and the rest of the Blades’ made a statement. They finished the regular season with a 45-15-8 record which put them in the second spot in the East division. It also gave them 24 more points than last season.
“We definitely had a pretty good year. If we look back at it from the start of the year, we didn’t really think we would do as well as we did,” said McKay. “We came to the rink every day with the mindset of getting better and we worked hard to achieve that.”
Riley struggled to get on the scoresheet much in the past two seasons. He combined for 21 points in 113 games with the Chiefs’. In 68 games this year with Saskatoon, Riley surpassed that by recording 27 points (12G) and he was a solid plus 12 which was also a career-high.
“I’m really happy with the year I’ve had,” said McKay. “I’ve had the opportunity to play with some great players. It’s a good feeling that I was able to put the puck in the net more often.”
McKay has also been recognized as a fan favourite around Saskatoon. He was named the @Subway_SK Fan’s Choice Player of the Year. It was a first-time honour for the Swan River native.
“It’s pretty sweet actually, I didn’t think I would get it,” said McKay. “Being a first-year player with this team and getting that award is a really awesome feeling.”
Riley and the Blades’ begin their quest to a WHL Championship tomorrow evening against the Moose Jaw Warriors. The series will be against Roblin’s Josh Brook and Tristin Langan.
Saskatoon went 5-1 against Moose Jaw in the regular season.
“I think we can make a really good run here, we’ve set ourselves up nicely to do that,” said McKay. “We just have to take it game by game. Moose Jaw is really good and they have some really strong players. We’re excited about the challenge and we want to make a good run.”
“It’s kind of motivation I guess like we had a lot of success against them,” he added. “With that being said, when you get to the playoffs, nothing that happened before matters. It’s all about winning the four games. We need to have a big game tomorrow.”
The just less than five-hour drive from Swan River to Saskatoon isn’t stopping any of Riley’s family. Several members of his family will be making the trip down to watch the first two games that go at SaskTel Centre.
Tristin Langan is also from Swan River and members of his family will be heading down to Saskatoon as well.
Perhaps we can call this series the “Battle of Swan River”.
“It means a lot to me that some of my family will be coming down,” said McKay. “I always got messages after games saying congratulations or before that they’re coming to the game. It really does mean a lot that I have all the support.”
