Some home cooking seems to be all the Prince Albert Northern Bears needed.

The Bears played their first home game of the season at the Art Hauser Centre on Thursday, picking up a 3-1 win against the Battleford Sharks. It was the Bears’ first win of the season after an 0-4 start.

“The girls were excited after this one obviously,” head coach Jeff Willoughby said after the game. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a game at home, about five weeks. It’s been a tough struggle the last few games, and it’s nice to see us come out on the right end tonight.”

The Bears opened the scoring on the power play after a scoreless first period. Julia Cey beat Sharks goalie Emma Backman to put the Bears up 1-0 at 3:21 of the second period.

The Sharks would find an equalizer before the second period ended on a weird play in front of the Bears net, when goalie Brooke Archer mishandled a shot on goal, allowing Brooklyn Siemens to knock it in.

It would remain a tie game until the third period when Calla Kampen broke the deadlock. Kampen fired with a shot past Backman’s blocker just seconds after the Sharks goaltender made the save of the season on a diving stick save.

The Bears bench was excited after taking the lead, something they haven’t been able to do very often this year.

“There’s always a lot of pressure this season,” Bears leading scorer Sophia Zuck said after the game. “We’re pretty new with our rookies, and we just wanted to set our foot out there and know that we’re capable of winning games.”

Prince Albert added an insurance goal with seven minutes left in the third period when Zuck led a 2-on-1 break up the right wing, and sniped a laser shot past Backman’s blocker. The tally gave the Bears their first two goal lead of the season.

The Bears would hold onto the two-goal advantage, even killing off a penalty in the final two minutes of the game to secure the win. Brooke Archer made 19 saves on 20 shots to earn the win for Prince Albert.

Zuck said it felt great to finally pick up that important first win.

“It felt amazing out there,” she said. “The girls were pumped up before the game and I knew all of them were focused and ready to play.”

For Willoughby, playing the first game of the home season was a nice change for his girls.

“They were excited, you could tell,” he said. “For the first ten minutes it might’ve been a little bit of a nervous excitement, but I think they settled in as the game went on. They went after it tonight, and they got a good result.”

The Northern Bears now head back on the road this weekend for a pair of games in Swift Current on Saturday and Sunday. Willoughby hopes his team can carry over the success they had on Thursday.

“We learned a little bit of our identity tonight. We just have to take what we did tonight and instill that in them for this weekend and keep building.”

Puck drop for Saturday’s game in Swift Current is at 7:45.

The St. Mary Marauders football team is 4-1 this season, and that has them tied atop the standings in the 6A division.

Three teams from Saskatoon (St. Joe’s, Holy Cross, and Walter Murray) also sit at 4-1. The Marauders are fresh off of a 35-12 win last week against North Battleford, and head coach Curt Hundeby was happy with his team’s performance.

“We did a really good job I felt,” Hundeby said. “North Battleford is a really good football team. Our guys did a really good job of stepping up their physical play. I thought we had really good plays from our defense, with a couple of goal line stands which were huge, and offensively we were able to chew up some good yardage. All in all it was a good team effort.”

On Thursday night, the Marauders have a very good chance to end their regular season schedule with another win, as they take on the Tommy Douglas Tigers, who have just one win this season. Results from Thursday’s game were unavailable by press time.

This is scheduled to be the last regular season game for St. Mary, after their Canadian Tire Classic game against the Carlton Crusaders was cancelled in early October due to a COVID case.

A date for a reschedule between the two teams has not been announced yet, and with the season getting closer and closer to an end, it seems very unlikely that there will end up being a make up game. It unofficially counted as a Marauders win, and counted as a win in the standings for them, and a loss for the Crusaders, and that can have a huge impact on playoff implications for both teams.

Meanwhile, the Carlton Crusaders will play their final regular season game on Friday at home to Evan Hardy. Evan Hardy has a 1-4 record in the 5A division, while Carlton holds a 3-2 record in the 6A.

Playoff Implications

While a bracket hasn’t been set yet, it’s simple. A St. Mary loss and a Carlton win means both teams will have a 4-2 record on the season, leaving them tied in the 6A division.

If the Marauders win and the Crusaders lose, St. Mary would finish the regular season with a 5-1 record, compared to the Crusaders 3-3.

If both teams lose, it would end up a 4-2 record for St. Mary, and 3-3 for Carlton.

The Crusaders are guaranteed not to drop any further in the 6A standings, as the teams underneath them (Tommy Douglas and Centennial) both have 1-4 records. If a miracle happens and all four teams in first place lose and they win, then they will be tied on top of the standings. For the Marauders, they can drop from a tie of first down to a tie for second if they lose and Carlton wins. However if they win, they will secure at least a tie for top spot in the standings come playoff time.

The Prince Albert Raiders received some key additions to their lineup, as Belarusian goaltender Tikhon Chaika and forward Vladislav Shilo arrived at practice this week.

Chaika, an 18-year-old who went 2-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA at the World Junior U18 Tournament last year, was happy to talk about his arrival.

“I’m so excited,” Chaika said on Wednesday. “I can’t wait to get my first start in the WHL.”

The Raiders have had a history of Belerusians on their team, the most prominent being Alex “The Viper” Protas, and Ilya Usau. Protas was a part of the championship winning team in 2019, and Usau led the team in rookie scoring in 2019-20 with 52 points in 58 games.

When asked about the success of Belarusian players on the Raiders squad, Chaika said he knew coming in that he would add to that list.

“When I came here, I could feel this power of Belarusian players,” he said. “The coaches and my teammates know about Belerusian players, and I’m so excited to play on this club.”

Chaika arrived in PA at the same time as Shilo, so he already had time to get to know his fellow countryman and new teammate.

“Vlad is pretty bad at English,” Chaika said with a chuckle. “But I try to study (with) him, so I think after a couple of times he can speak with you.”

Chaika will likely get his first WHL start this weekend when the Raiders travel to Medicine Hat on Friday, and Lethbridge on Saturday. He was all smiles when asked about getting his first start in the Western Hockey League.

“I can’t explain how excited I am,” he said. “I’ve been preparing all season, all of last season and this preseason. Now I’m here to help the Raiders win. Every game.”

Chaika also had a message to Raider fans, telling them what to expect from him this season.

“I am a smart goalie who always has fun,” he said. “I’m excited to play on this team, and I’m here to help win.”

Chaika was supposed to arrive in Prince Albert back in August, but after troubles acquiring his visa, that delayed his trip by nearly two months. Now, after nearly 23 hours on the road, both he and Shilo have finally made it.

The travelling isn’t quite done however, as both players will join the Raiders in Alberta this weekend for a pair of road games. First, it will be a trip to Medicine Hat for the second half of their home and home series. The Raiders had the entire week off to prepare, while Medicine Hat played a game on Tuesday, taking down the Swift Current Broncos 5-4 in overtime.

They’ll have a short rest after Friday night’s game, then travel to Lethbridge to take on the Hurricanes. Puck drop for both games is at 7 pm.

The Prince Albert Mintos are 6-2 to start their 2020-21 campaign, their best start to a season since 2016, when they also went 6-2.

Four of those six wins this year have come against the Estevan Bears, including two last weekend in Estevan. On Saturday, Prince Albert played their first overtime game of the year, coming out with a 4-3 win over the Bears, then followed with a 3-2 shooutout win on Sunday.

“The ones down in Estevan were a litte tougher,” Minto head coach Tim Leonard said. “We were shorthanded, but we sure showed a lot of character. I thought the kids were relentless for 120 minutes in Estevan, which was awesome to see, and hopefully it shows what kind of character this team is made of.”

The Mintos were struggling early on Saturday, trailing 3-1 after the first period, with two of those goals against coming on the powerplay. However, they were able to rebound, thanks to second and third period goals from Nate Misskey and Jacob Cossette, who has been on a tear to start his season.

Travis Swanson scored the winner for the Mintos at 3:43 of overtime. It was Swanson’s second goal the season, and gave Prince Albert their fifth win of the year.

Swanson found the scoresheet again on Sunday in part of a 3-2 shootout win in Estevan, scoring the winning goal in the shootout for the Mintos.

The game was scoreless heading into the third period, before the Bears scored two quick ones to go on top 2-0 with under eight minutes left in regulation. Then Cossette and Nate Misskey scored less than a minute apart with five minutes to go to tie the game.

A scoreless overtime would send the Mintos to their first shootout game, where Cossette would score again, followed by Swanson’s clincher, giving the Mintos their fourth straight win, all coming over the Bears.

Leonard said his guys are still learning new things every game.

“Lots of kids are new to this league still,” he explained. “It’s a tough league and one of the best in Canada. With that, every game is a battle. Our guys have come prepared every night. So far the kids are learning that anybody can beat anybody, and I was proud of them this weekend.”

Ty Shumanski and Jayden Kraus split weekend duties between the pipes, with Shumanksi making 16 saves in Saturday’s win, and Kraus making 22 saves, plus two more in the shootout in Sunday’s victory.

Meanwhile, Minto rookie Ashton Tait has been off to a hot start to his 15 year old rookie season, putting up six points in seven games to begin the year. The Mintos were without Tait on Sunday, as he travelled to Red Deer, as he will be taking part in this week’s WHL Cup. Leonard explained Tait’s impact on the team so far this year.

“He’s a big part of our offensive unit. He plays a 200 foot game,” Leonard said. “He’s incredible to coach and I can put him out in any situation. But while he’s gone we have others that can eat that offensive time up while he’s gone, and we’re playing with a next man up attitude.”

Next up for the Mintos is a double date with the Swift Current Legionnaires on Saturday and Sunday in Swift Current; the last two games of a four game road trip for PA.

“Our special teams have to come into play this weekend,” Leonard said ahead of this weekend’s games. “We have to stay out of the box and when we get chances on the powerplay we’ve got to get it going. We just need to tune those two areas a bit, and we’ll find ourselves having more success.”

Puck drop in Swift Current on Saturday is at 8pm. sports@paherald.sk.ca

The Prince Albert Raiders bounced back from a 4-1 loss to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday with a nail biting 3-2 shootout win over the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday.

This marks the first time the Raiders have played a team outside of the East Division since March 3^rd, 2020 (Calgary). For coach Marc Habscheid, it was important to leave the Art Hauser Centre with both points.

“We needed the win,” Habscheid said. “It would’ve been tough to go 0-2 at home. The kids found a way to win, so it was positive that way. Now we go on the road for two.

“It was nice to get the two (points) in the win column. We still have lots of work to do, but a win always makes things a little better.”

The Tigers opened the scoring just a minute and a half into the game, when Oren Shtrom scored on a cross crease play in front of Carter Seryhenko, beating him on the blocker side for his first goal of the 2021-22 season. The Raiders would bounce back from the early deficit, edging the Tigers in shots 12-11 after the opening frame.

Prince Albert would find their first goal of the game with five minutes left in the second period on the powerplay. Cale Sanders deflected Remy Aquilon’s point shot past Tigers keeper Beckett Langkow to tie the game 1-1. That was not only the first goal of the season for Sanders, but his first career Western Hockey League goal.

The Claresholm, Alberta native is entering his second full WHL season, after playing 34 games with the Regina Pats last year, as well as three games with the Pats the year before. He was excited after the game to tally his first goal in the Dub.

“It took long enough, that’s for sure,” Sanders said jokingly after the game.

Sanders said he was pleased with how his team responded after giving up the early goal.

“We had a good bounce back. All the guys were loud on the bench, which helped after that. Last night we didn’t win as many battles and tonight I thought we won a lot more and we were a lot harder on the puck,” he said.

The Raiders extended their lead just two and a half minutes later when Ozzy Wiesblatt buried a rebound off a Reece Vitelli shot to make it a 2-1 game. Wiesblatt picked up his fourth goal of the year, and sixth point in as many games.

Prince Albert would give up a goal four minutes into period number three, as Noah Danielson got loose on a breakaway and beat Serhyenko with a shot high over the blocker, tying the game at 2-2.

The game would remain tied heading into overtime. The Raiders had three good chances to win it in their first overtime game of the year, but failed to capitalize, sending the game to a shootout.

Kaiden Guhle and Reece Vitelli both scored in the shootout, while Carter Serhyenko stopped Oren Shtrom and Lukas Svejkovsky to secure the win.

The Raiders will now head on the road for a pair of games in Alberta, starting Friday with a rematch against the Tigers. Then they’ll head to Lethbridge on Saturday for a date with the Hurricanes.

Puck drop for Friday’s game in Medicine Hat is at 7pm.

The St. Mary Marauders senior boys took home the bronze at the senior volleyball tournament at Carlton Comprehensive High School this weekend.

The Marauders held off the Wilkie Broncos in two sets for the victory. Coach Rene Quintal was pleased with the team’s performance in their final game of the weekend.

“I thought our guys really took the feedback from the coaches to heart,” he said. “We did a lot better job of controlling our block defensive systems when we were serving.”

The Marauders won their first playoff game Saturday morning, defeating St. Joseph of Saskatoon, before falling to the Swift Current Colts in the semi-final.

Captain Lane Vermette played a huge role in St. Mary’s win, creating opportunities on the attack, as well as coming up with clutch blocks on the defensive side. Vermette was proud of how his teammates rebounded from their earlier loss.

“The guys’ heads were a bit low during the semi-final game against Swift Current, but in this game our first line went out and did absolutely great,” he said after the game. “Our second line matched their intensity, it was perfect.”

In a tournament that featured some of the province’s best teams, a third place finish was satisfying for the Marauders. They now shift their focus to the City Championships in two weeks, where they will go head to head with the Carlton Crusaders.

Vermette said the overall confidence of the team grew this weekend, especially with having beaten the Crusaders B team on Friday.

“Obviously, their Senior A team will be a bit better, but our guys our confident that we can take that one as well.”

Quintal added that his team will have to play with an “every point matters” attitude.

“We need to approach every point like it’s the last point of the game,” he said. “We really just need to work on trying to end the rally as quick as possible.”

This isn’t the first tournament the Marauders have won this season. They also took top spot in their first home tournament of the year. Quintal’s focus right now is to keep working on their success that they’ve been having.

“We have a really good, cohesive unit that can play together, and we also have lots of team depth. Hopefully we can continue to improve on our blocking, which will help our back court defense,” he said.

Meanwhile for the Carlton Crusaders, the A team finished second in their pool on Friday night, but struggled in Saturday’s games. They dropped their first match on Saturday to Swift Current, and also dropped their games against St. Joseph and Holy Cross to finish eighth in the tournament.

The B team finished third in their pool on Friday, but also struggled in Saturday’s action. They dropped all three of their games as well to end the tournament.