Blades Bio November 2025: Kazden Mathies

In the hours leading up to each of the 142 games of Kazden Mathies’ junior hockey career, it’s been a familiar routine for the 18-year-old.

A pre-game meal of chicken and rice, before putting on a lucky suit and hitting the ice just minutes down the road from where he grew up.

“I eat at the same time every day, leave my house at the same time every day,” said Mathies. “I’ll keep the same suit if we win and if we lose, I’ll switch a suit.

“I’m pretty superstitious.”

That consistent nature has paid off for Mathies, who is in the midst of his third WHL season and has become a key forward down the middle for the Saskatoon Blades nearly a year since being acquired from the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick.

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After incorporating into the lineup last season from Jan. 6 onward, Mathies said it’s been refreshing to start the season from training camp with this group of Blades teammates.

“It’s nice already knowing everyone,” said Mathies. “I’m already comfortable, so I can be myself and not be scared to say anything or do anything around the rink.”

Mathies is living out the dream of hundreds of minor hockey players in the Saskatoon area, as he is one of seven Saskatchewan-born players on this season’s Blades roster and one of just three to be from Saskatoon or the surrounding communities.

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Now, he’s charging out of the tunnel at SaskTel Centre where he watched games as a kid in nearby Martensville.

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“I grew up watching this team my whole life,” said Mathies. “Now playing for it is something I never would have thought of, it’s just really cool.”

Playing his minor hockey in the Martensville U15 AA Marauders system, Mathies would be selected 38th overall by the Thunderbirds in the 2022 WHL Draft which was just three picks ahead of his current Blades teammate Jordan Martin.

He’d go on to suit up for the Warman U18 AAA Wildcats in 2022-23 to lead the team in scoring, before embarking on his junior career in Seattle and later Saskatoon.

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Those early days in Martensville still stick out, however, including time spent on minor hockey sheets playing with a current teammate.

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“My first year of hockey I played with Tyrone Sobry,” said Mathies. “Playing back there having fun, just continued doing that as I grew up. I was probably like four or five years old when I played with [Sobry], but I knew him my whole life. It’s cool now playing with him, he’s a great teammate and a good friend to me.”

While he calls former Chicago Blackhawks stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews his idols growing up, it’s a far less flashy player which catches Mathies’ attention these days and another centreman who he models his game after.

That being two-time Stanley Cup champion and Tampa Bay Lightning veteran, Yanni Gourde.

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“He’s more of a two-way forward who works hard, gets to the corners and does kind of what I do on the ice,” said Mathies.

Through 25 games this season with Saskatoon, Mathies has already set a new career high with 12 points and is on pace to shatter his career mark of nine goals with six tallies already on the year.

A bit more familiarity with the WHL has helped the local two-way threat as well, as his confidence continues to rise with each puck touch he gets in Saskatoon.

“When you’re younger you just got to prepare,” said Mathies. “Just being confident playing your own game, don’t switch it up because you want to play like someone else. As soon as you get to the [WHL], just continuing the same thing. Don’t just back away and not try anything, just keep going.”

The Blades (14-9-2) are back on home ice Friday night hosting the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers (14-6-5), with a 7:00 p.m. puck drop at SaskTel Centre.