When the Prince Albert Grand Council mapped out their schedules for their first annual winter festival, they wanted to make sure that there was an athletic element to the week.
As such, the PAGC Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Cup took place over the weekend at Carlton while the PAGC Youth Hockey Cup is being held this week at the Kinsmen and Crescent Heights Arenas.
“Our leadership group wanted to have a few events to get the week rolling, and both of these tournaments worked out great for us,” PAGC sports, culture and recreation coordinator Korey Diehl said.
“The social aspect of the tournaments is the biggest thing for else as it allows people from other communities to meet and build friendships with one another. We hope that we can partner up with the Prince Albert Winter Festival down the road and we grow together.”
A six-team female volleyball tournament and a 12-team men’s event were held at Carlton on Saturday and Sunday and featured squads from across the province, along with a men’s team that came from Edmonton.
“This is an event we feel that can grow in the future,” Diehl said. “We have a great facility here at Carlton and we can put everything in one roof. The word has started to spread around and we should have some more teams next year.”
The Youth Hockey Cup began Monday with 35 teams competing in atom, pee wee, midget and bantam tournaments.
“This is our third year doing the tournament and it’s been great for us to integrate with the Winter Festival,” Diehl said.
“There’s teams from all over Saskatchewan here and we even have teams from Manitoba that came for the week. Many of these teams play in the treaty tournament in Saskatoon later in the season, so it’s a good warm-up for them and gives them something to look forward to while they are on their break out of school.”
The atom and pee tournaments will conclude Tuesday, while the bantam and midget tournaments will take place on Wednesday and Thursday.
Games will be held at the Kinsmen and Crescent Heights Arenas from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day.
The Brandon Wheat Kings accomplished something this weekend that no other Western Hockey League team has during the 2018-19 season.
They became the first club to beat the Prince Albert Raiders twice this year and they also handed the league-leaders their first back-to-back losses of the campaign.
Following a 5-4 overtime setback at the Art Hauser Centre Friday, a lackluster start was too much for the Raiders to overcome as they dropped a 6-3 decision to their East Division rivals at Westoba Place.
“When the momentum goes the other way and you have some undisciplined play, it can be frustrating,” Raiders assistant coach Jeff Truitt said on the 900 CKBI post-game show.
“When the game is still tight and within reach, you got to have everyone on the same page. We’re fighting things a bit right now, but our discipline has got to be better.”
The Raiders ended up on the penalty kill on a season-high 10 occasions Saturday and gave up three goals on the man advantage.
It was also a short night for starting netminder Boston Bilous as he was pulled in favour of affiliated backup Brett Balas after 10 minutes of play.
“It’s not all his fault, but when you look at the scoreboard and he’s given up two goals on seven shots, you have to do something,” Truitt said.
“We shook up things up with our lines and we saw some things later in the game, but we were already down 5-1 halfway through the second and the difference was giving up those three goals on the power play.”
Stelio Mattheos recorded the fourth hat trick of his WHL career and his third of the season in the win, which also saw him pick up an assist on a Cole Reinhardt goal.
Luka Burzan led the way for the 26-22-3-4 Wheat Kings with a goal and four assists, while Reinhardt had a goal and two assists.
Ben McCartney also scored for the hosts, who received a 34-save performance from Jiri Patera.
With the win, which was the third straight for the club, the Wheat Kings are now just four points back of the slumping Red Deer Rebels for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 13 games to go in the regular season.
Justin Nachbaur scored twice in the loss for the 46-8-1-2 Raiders, who also got a goal from Dante Hannoun.
Balas, who plays for the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Calgary Canucks, made 15 saves in the final 50 minutes.
The Raiders will look to get back on track Monday at the Art Hauser Centre as they open up a five-game home stand against the Moose Jaw Warriors at 4 p.m.
Post-Game Notes
The last time the Raiders lost consecutive regular season games since a pair of setbacks in a home-and-home series with the Saskatoon Blades on March 16 and 17 of last year.
Prior to being on the penalty kill 10 times Saturday, the Raiders had allowed a season-high eight power play chances to the Regina Pats on Sept. 22, the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Oct. 5 and the Kootenay Ice on Nov. 24.
Dante Hannoun extended his point streak to seven games with his goal in the first period, while Sean Montgomery (six games), Parker Kelly (five games) and Sergei Sapego (five games) all saw their runs come to an end.
Brett Leason and Ian Scott missed their fourth straight game for the Raiders with lower body injuries, while the Wheat Kings scratched Jonny Lambos and Jonny Hooker.
Saturday’s Scores
Moose Jaw 6 Regina 3 (Brayden Tracey – One Goal and Two Assists)
Saskatoon 5 Lethbridge 2 (Kirby Dach – One Goal and One Assist)
Calgary 5 Medicine Hat 3 (Mark Kastelic – Three Goals – Second Hat Trick This Season)
Vancouver 2 Kelowna 0 (David Tendeck – 22 Saves – Third Shutout This Season and Sixth Career)
Portland 2 Red Deer 0 (Joel Hofer – 25 Saves – Third Shutout This Season and Fourth Career)
Victoria 5 Prince George 4 (Kody McDonald Shootout Winner – Two Goals – Carson Miller – Two Goals)
Seattle 4 Everett 1 (Roddy Ross – 46 Saves)
Tri-City 7 Spokane 5 (Kyle Olson – Three Goals and One Assist – First Career Hat Trick)
Pre-Game Notes
After a 6-3 home win over the Regina Pats Saturday, the 31-15-6-2 Warriors have an 11-point lead over the Brandon Wheat Kings for third spot in the East Division.
They are also 12 points back of the Saskatoon Blades for second place and have four games in hand on their provincial rival.
The Raiders have won three out of the four meetings with the Warriors this year, with their only loss coming in a 4-2 matchup at the Art Hauser Centre on Jan. 4.
Twin brothers Kaeden and Keenan Taphorn are both currently sidelined for the Warriors with upper body injuries.
A night after they fell 4-3 to the Regina Rebels on home ice, the Prince Albert Northern Bears were determined to end the regular season on a winning note.
Miranda Heidt tied the game with 59 seconds to go and captain Abby Soyko would complete the comeback with 1:07 left in overtime as the Bears picked up a 4-3 win of their own over the Rebels at the Kinsmen Arena.
“We knew that it was now or never for us,” Heidt said after the game “We wanted to get those two goals in the final minute to get three points and wrap up third place, but we’re still pretty excited about getting that overtime win.”
“It’s always a good feeling when you can beat the second place team in the league,” Soyko added. “After our game yesterday, we all texted each other this afternoon and talked about how we needed to have a better showing tonight and play not just for each other, but for the Humboldt Broncos as were paying tribute to them with our jerseys this weekend.”
After Heidt tied the game with the extra attacker, the Bears pulled goaltender Lexi Beuker again as they tried to get three points for a regulation win and clinch third place in the standings.
Although that didn’t happen, Soyko made sure that they finished the campaign in style as the captain’s shot from the slot got by Rebels goalie Payton Schlamp to complete her hat trick performance.
“We had so many chances before that, but we just couldn’t capitalize,” Soyko said.
“We were getting down to the final minute and I just shot the puck at the net. I was pretty surprised when we scored as I was just trying to get a shot on their goalie there.”
Beuker made 36 saves for the Bears to earn the victory.
Kaylee Dyer, Sydney Pedersen and Lauren Focht all scored for the Rebels, who recieved a 46-save showing from Payton Schlamp.
Soyko’s overtime heroics gave the Bears a regular season record of 17-9-2 and has them in third place in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League standings.
However, the team does not yet know where they will rank in the final league table and who they will face in the quarter-finals, which is expected to begin on March 7.
The 16-10-1 Swift Current Wildcats are just two points back of the Bears for third place and can clinch the spot with a regulation win at home tomorrow against the 1-25-1 Weyburn Gold Wings.
Meanwhile, the 11-12-3 Notre Dame Hounds have a two point lead over the 11-12-4 Battlefords Sharks for the fifth seed in the post-season.
The Sharks wrap up their regular season slate on the road Sunday against the 9-16-2 Melville Prairie Fire, while the Hounds host the 26-1-0 Saskatoon Stars tomorrow afternoon before visiting the 17-6-4 Rebels Wednesday night.
The Rebels had a well-balanced attack in Friday’s matchup as Samantha Sichkaruk, Jordan Fry, Hanna Bailey and Pedersen all found the back of the net and Chantel Weller stopped 24 shots.
Soyko led the offence for the hosts with two assists, while Brooklyn Anderson, Rhea Peterson and Kate Ball all scored in a game that saw Scout Anderson make 40 saves.
“It was a bit of a rough start for us yesterday as we sat back and watched them control the play,” Heidt said. “We had our legs going tonight and we were all working hard, which led to our result.
“We’ve shown what we are capable of and now we just have work on improving a few things ahead of the playoffs.”
Before the post-season begins, Heidt, Soyko, Ball and Jadyn Kushniruk will compete for Team Saskatchewan at the Canada Winter Games.
Their first round-robin game is slated for next Sunday in Red Deer against Manitoba.
A three-point night on offence earned Prince Albert Raiders forward Parker Kelly first star honours at the Art Hauser Centre Friday.
However, it was his play in his own end that left a sour taste in his mouth after his team dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to the Brandon Wheat Kings.
“We were all pretty soft tonight, myself included,” Kelly said. “It wasn’t a great defensive game for us and that’s what is comes down to in games like this. We need to change some stuff with our defensive zone play if we want to make a deep playoff run.
“We need to be heavier out there. We can’t get beat in the corners and us forwards need to be out there blocking shots. We were really easy to play against and it comes down to us leaders. We didn’t do our job and we need to figure things out.”
Head coach Marc Habscheid also lamented the team’s performance as they saw their five-game win streak come to an end.
“We were coming off that game in Swift Current on Wednesday (where Raiders picked up a 3-1 victory) which felt like a shinny game at times,” Habscheid said. “This was a completely different game where you need guys to compete.
“Some of our guys did that but we had a couple of our key guys who weren’t interested in competing one bit out there. I’m sure you can figure out who they were.”
In what was a back-and-forth game between the East Division sides, the Raiders took a 4-3 lead with 6:35 to go as Kelly potted his second goal of the night on the power play, only to see Luka Burzan tie things up for the Wheat Kings 15 seconds later.
“You have to give Brandon credit as they played hard and physical tonight in a game that’s huge for them,” Habscheid said.
“I didn’t like our resolve and I thought we were on our heels at times tonight. We wanted to play river hockey out there and it showed with the way some of our guys were playing.”
Lucas Punkari/Daily Herald Zach Wytinck is mobbed by his Brandon Wheat Kings teammates after he scored the overtime winner Friday against the Prince Albert Raiders.
After Stellio Mattheos and Cole Fonstad traded chances in the three-on-three overtime frame, blueliner Zach Wytinck proved to be the unlikely hero for the Wheat Kings as his long-range shot bounced off of the leg of Raiders defenceman Zach Hayes and went by goaltender Boston Bilous.
“It was a pretty crazy ending, especially with the amount of back and forth action between both teams,” Wytinck said.
“I got a good pass (from Linden McCorrister) and I was able to walk in. I backed off a little bit and tried to put it on net, but I ended up being a little bit lucky there with that ricochet.”
Thanks to that goal, the 25-22-3-4 Wheat Kings picked up their second win in a row and now find themselves six points back of the Calgary Hitmen and the Red Deer Rebels in the race for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
“We need all the points we can get here in these last 14 games,” Wytinck said.
“It doesn’t matter who we are playing in all honesty. We need to try and get wins however we can.”
Cole Reinhardt led the way for the Wheat Kings, who also got goals from Caiden Daley and Ben McCartney, while Jiri Patera stopped 28 shots.
Kelly had two goals and an assist to lead the way for the 46-7-1-2 Raiders, who received a two-assist outing from Max Martin.
Aliaksei Protas had a goal and an assist in the loss, while Sean Montgomery also found the back of the net after missing Wednesday’s game in Swift Current due to an illness.
Bilous made 23 saves as he suffered his first defeat in a Raiders uniform.
The two sides will square off again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Westoba Place in Brandon
The Raiders will then return home Monday for a 4 p.m. contest with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Post-Game Notes
Friday’s overtime loss was the first in a regular season game for the Raiders since Cameron Hebig gave the Regina Pats a 5-4 win at the Brandt Centre on Feb. 3, 2018.
It was also the team’s first extra time setback since Brayden Burke found the back of the net for the Moose Jaw Warriors in a wild 5-4 affair in Game 3 of the 2018 Eastern Conference quarter-final series at the Art Hauser Centre.
With the loss, the Raiders are now 3-1 against the Wheat Kings this season and saw a six-game home win streak over their divisional rivals come to an end.
Sean Montgomery and Dante Hannoun extended their point streaks to six games Friday, while Parker Kelly and Sergei Sapego have now recorded points in five straight contest.
Ian Scott and Brett Leason missed their third straight game for the Raiders with lower body injuries, while the Wheat Kings did not dress Vinny Iorio and Ty Thorpe.
Friday’s Scores
Regina 4 Edmonton 0 (Max Paddock – 30 Saves – Second Shutout This Season – Austin Pratt – One Goal and One Assist)
Lethbridge 7 Swift Current 2 (Jake Elmer – Three Goals – Second Hat Trick This Season)
Calgary 3 Medicine Hat 1 (Carl Stankowski – 29 Saves)
Saskatoon 8 Kootenay 3 (Kyle Crnkovic – Two Goals and Two Assists)
Everett 3 Kelowna 1 (Bryce Kindopp – Two Goals)
Victoria 4 Prince George 1 (Tanner Sidaway – Two Goals)
Seattle 6 Red Deer 4 (Matthew Wedman – Two Goals and One Assist)
Tri-City 5 Kamloops 3 (Beck Warm – 42 Saves)
Vancouver 5 Spokane 4 (Milos Roman – One Goal and One Assist)
Around the CHL
The Ontario Hockey League’s Niagara IceDogs have received a fine of $250,000 and have lost their first round picks in the 2019 and 2021 OHL Draft after the league found that the team had violated player recruitment policies.
The IceDogs, who are currently battling the Sudbury Wolves for the Central Division title and the second overall seed in the Eastern Conference, plan to appeal the penalty and blamed the alleged issues on the team’s staff in 2016.
Marty Williamson was the head coach and general manager of the team at the time and was fired shortly after leading the program to the OHL final.
After weeks of anticipation, four members of the Prince Albert Mintos will finally get the chance to represent Saskatchewan at the 2019 Canada Winter Games.
Local products Ashton Ferster, Logan Cox, Gabe Klassen and Marek Schneider will take to the ice Saturday night in Red Deer as they’ll battle Alberta in their first game of Pool B play in the men’s hockey event.
“We’re all pretty excited for it,” Cox said last week.
“You dream about being getting the chance to play on a big stage like this and it’s a real honour to play for our province.”
For Ferster, the opportunity to be at the Canada Winter Games with his close friends is something that he’s been looking forward to.
“I’m sure there’s going to be some nerves for us, but we’re all really looking forward to getting things started in Red Deer,” Ferster said.
“To have three teammates there is going to be nice. Obviously it’s a small province so we know a lot of the guys already, but the bond that we have with being from Prince Albert is a huge advantage as we’ve been playing together for a long time now.”
Team Saskatchewan, which also features a pair of Prince Albert Raiders prospects in defenceman Nolan Allen and forward Logan Linklater, are placed in Pool B for the tournament.
After facing the hosts from Alberta in their opening game, they will play British Columbia on Sunday and Manitoba on Monday.
“I feel like our defence is one of our biggest strengths,” Cox said. “We have a hard working group, but we also have a number of players that can score goals.”
The Raiders will also be represented by Alberta forward Tyson Laventure and Manitoba blueliner Tayem Gisalson.
Two of the biggest names at the tournament are Alberta forward Matthew Savoie and Ontario forward Shane Wright.
They have both applied for exceptional player status with Hockey Canada and could enter the Western Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey League as early as next season.
The playoffs in the men’s hockey tournament begin Tuesday with the gold medal game slated for next Friday night.
The women’s hockey event, which will feature Kate Ball, Miranda Heidt, Jadyn Kushniruk and Abby Soyko of the Prince Albert Northern Bears, gets underway next Sunday.
There’s a common thread among those that are part of the 2019 induction class into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame.
In addition to be involved as athletes, they’ve all given back to the community through volunteering or coaching.
“I think the spirit of being involved and helping others is something that we are all passionate about,” Derek Smith said.
“Everyone that’s inducted here have been part of the community for many years and they are all committed to growing the sports they have been involved with so we can continue to move them into the future.”
Smith was announced as one of the inductees into the Hall’s 29th class Friday morning, along with Blair Hoffman, Brad Bibby, Don & Ethel Hlewka, Paul Roy, Mark McElligott, Blake Edwards and Luc Robin.
The Hall will also recognize the Prince Albert Gymnastics Club as the Sports Organization of the Year during its induction banquet, which will take place at 6 p.m. in the Ches Leach Lounge on Saturday, April 27.
“It’s a huge honour for everyone involved with the club,” executive director Mike Amouri said. “Since I moved here in 2010, one of our goals has been to build the club and work towards having the chance to be recogninzed for something like this.”
“It’s been highly rewarding for us to see the kids come in when they are very young and work towards the senior level,” board of directors president Tammy Gillis added. “We’ve started to offer different programs to Prince Albert, such as the Special Olympics program a few years ago, and we plan to keep doing that in the years to come.”
According to Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame president Ellen Grewcock, Smith is believed to be the first person to be enshrined in three individual categories as he’ll inducted in the athlete, builder and meritorious service wings.
“I was pretty surprised to find out that I had been nominated for all three categories,” Smith said.
“Being a local boy, I was involved in sports growing up and I started to move in to the coaching side of things as I got older, which is something that I have always had a passion for.”
One of the top softball players in the city, Smith would later work behind the dugout for PA Minor Softball and was also the co-chair for the 2018 WBSC Junior Men’s Softball World Championship.
He’s also a coach for the Smashing Bananas volleyball program and is the president of the Prince Albert Community Basketball Association.
Hoffman, who will be inducted in the athlete and meritorious service categories, has been playing hockey and baseball in Prince Albert since 1960.
He also worked as a Recreations Coordinator and a Director of Parks and Recreation with the City of Prince Albert from 1975 to 2005, where he was involved with the upgrade or construction of venues such as the Art Hauser Centre, Prime Ministers’ Park and the Dave G. Steuart Arena.
Bibby, who will be enshrined as an athlete, has been a catcher in softball for two decades and has played for numerous teams at national championships.
In the winters, he’s taken his talents to the curling sheet where he’s skipped in the Econo Lumber Super League at the Prince Albert Golf & Curling Club.
He was also part of the 1989 Under 16 Juvenile provincial championship rink and the 2011 Saskatchewan Travellers Club Championship provincial winning team.
McElligott, Roy, Edwards and the Hlewkas will all enter the hall as builders.
Don Hlewka and his late wife Ethel took over the operations of Minto Bowl in 1968 and have watched on as 68 provincial champions and 19 national medalists all bowled out of the facility.
McElligott and Roy have worked together to help build rugby in Prince Albert since they moved here in the 1980’s, as they’ve put together the Rivers Dragons and Whiskey Jacks programs, along with Prince Albert Mini Rugby.
Edwards was a founding member of Ringside Fitness Centre, which helped to revive boxing in Prince Albert as their R-U-Tuff Enuff competition took the Prince Albert Boxing Club out of financial difficulties.
Robin, who will enter the hall in the meritorious service category, has coached hockey for 33 years and has also coached softball teams in the city for 12 years.
He was honoured with the Hockey Canada Century Tour’s Canadian Tire Heroes of Play Award in 2014 and also received the Prince Albert Minor Hockey Presidents Awards that same year.
Tickets for the induction banquet cost $50 each and are available at the Community Services department at City Hall.
As the Prince Albert Northern Bears decided who they wanted to raise money for this season, it was an easy decision.
The Saskatchewan Female AAA Hockey League team will be paying tribute to the Humboldt Broncos with special “We Play for Them” themed uniforms on Friday and Saturday night, as they’ll welcome the Regina Rebels to town for a pair of 7:30 p.m. games.
Those jerseys, which will also be worn for the first home game of the playoffs, will be auctioned off following that contest and the proceeds will go to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Mental Assistance Fund.
“It’s a real honour for us to be able to pay tribute to the Broncos like this and honour everyone with last year’s team,” Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby said.
“Every year the girls’ look for a different cause to help out and it ended up working out for us to help raise money for the SJHL’s assistance fund. It was just a matter of getting everything lined up with the Broncos and it all worked out for all of the parties involved.”
This weekend’s games are also the final two of the regular season for the 16-8-2 Bears, who are currently on a five-game win streak and sit in third spot in the league standings.
They are three points back of the 16-6-3 Rebels, who have a game in hand, and hold a three-point cushion over the 13-11-2 Swift Current Wildcats.
The Wildcats wrap up their season at home this weekend against the 1-24-1 Weyburn Gold Wings, while the Rebels host the Notre Dame Hounds next Wednesday in the final game of the regular season.
“If you’re a fan of stats and numbers, this is going to be a pretty exciting weekend,” Willoughby said. “Everyone’s going to be fighting for every point that they can get, as it could mean the difference between playing at home to start the playoffs or getting on a bus.
“We like how we’re playing coming into the playoffs. We’ve played well over the last couple of weeks and we hope that it continues this weekend against Regina.”
The two sides last squared off at the Co-Operators Centre on Oct. 27 and 28, as the Rebels came away with 5-1 and 4-3 wins respectively.
“I think both teams are pretty similar with how they play and I think you’ll see that in these two games this weekend,” Willoughby said.
“It all comes down to who wins the battles.”
The SFMAAAHL playoffs will begin on March 7, as players from around the league will be playing for Saskatchewan at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alta. starting next weekend.
The absence of three veteran players didn’t slow down the Prince Albert Raiders Wednesday in Swift Current.
Despite Brett Leason and Ian Scott both being sidelined with lower body injuries and Sean Montgomery’s streak of 155 straight appearances in a Raiders uniform coming to an end due to an illness, the top team in the Western Hockey League continued their winning ways as they wrapped up a four-game road trip with a 3-1 triumph over the Swift Current Broncos.
“It wasn’t the most intense game, but I thought we played well,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said.
“If you look at the shot total (43-16 in favour of the Raiders) it gives you a good idea of how things went from our perspective.”
The Raiders were led on offence by Dante Hannoun as he scored a goal and helped to set up a pair of markers for linemate Parker Kelly.
“Those two have had some good chemistry going as of late,” Habscheid said. “Usually we have ‘Monty’ together with those guys, but they didn’t miss a beat with him being out of the lineup.”
Spencer Moe teamed up with Hannoun and Kelly at the Credit Union iPlex and had a pair of assists for the 46-7-0-2 Raiders, who have won their last five games.
Boston Bilous made 15 saves in his second straight start, with his only blemish coming on a third period goal by Joona Kiviniemi that was assisted by Prince Albert’s Alex Moar.
Isaac Poulter stopped 40 shots for the 10-39-2-2 Broncos, who have lost six in a row.
Wednesday’s contest also marked the WHL debut of 17-year-old forward Cole Nagy, who was called up from the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blazers earlier in the day.
“I thought he did really well for his first game,” Habscheid said. “Cole’s a strong guy and he’s a smart player. He went about things the right way.”
Nagy, who signed his standard player agreement with the Raiders in January, is second in the SMAAAHL in scoring with 63 points in 39 games.
The Raiders will return to the Art Hauser Centre Friday for the start of a weekend home-and-home series with the Brandon Wheat Kings.
The team will be wearing their throwback 1988-89 jerseys for the contest, which will be auctioned off following the game at the Ches Leach Lounge.
Post-Game Notes
Although Noah Gregor and Cole Fonstad saw their six and five game point streaks end Wednesday, Dante Hannoun was able to extend his scoring streak to five games following a three-point night.
The Raiders hold a 4-1 advantage in the season series with the Broncos, which will conclude with a three games in six nights stretch from March 5-10.
Defenceman Austin Herron did not dress for the Broncos, along with forwards Ben King and Tyler Smithies.
Wednesday’s Scores
Brandon 5 Edmonton 2 (Stelio Mattheos – One Goal and Two Assists)
Lethbridge 6 Calgary 2 (Jake Elmer – Two Goals and One Assist)
Saskatoon 6 Medicine Hat 3 (Dawson Davidson – Three Assists)
Kamloops 6 Victoria 1 (Connor Zary – Three Goals – First Career WHL Hat Trick)
Around the WHL
The Red Deer Rebels were slated to visit the Everett Silvertips Wednesday, but that game was postponed until Thursday evening as the team was unable to travel due to road closures in the Pacific Northwest.
Meanwhile, the Prince Albert Raiders remain second in the Canadian Hockey League’s top ten rankings behind the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who have a 47-7-0-1 record and have won 17 straight games.
Thursday’s Schedule
Edmonton vs. Moose Jaw – 7 p.m.
Red Deer vs. Everett – 9 p.m.
Pre-Game Notes
The Raiders have won all three meetings with the Wheat Kings so far this season and are currently on a six-game win streak at the Art Hauser Centre against their divisional rivals in a run that dates back to Feb. 15, 2017.
After a 5-2 win at home over the Edmonton Oil Kings Wednesday, the 24-22-3-4 Wheat Kings find themselves six points back of the Red Deer Rebels and the Calgary Hitmen in the race for the two wildcard spots in the Eastern Conference.
Prince Albert product Braden Schneider is second in defensive scoring for the Wheat Kings this year as he’s scored eight goals and dished out 11 helpers in 42 games during his sophomore campaign.
It’s an important time of the year for the Carlton Crusaders and St. Mary Marauders senior boys’ basketball teams.
With only a month to go until the 5A rural regional tournament in Yorkton, both squads are trying to get the best results possible in order to have a higher seed for the event on March 15 and 16 as they try and clinch one of two spots at the 2019 Hoopla tournament in Saskatoon.
“When you enter the middle of February, there’s only one or two tournaments left at the most for many of the schools in our region,” Crusaders head coach Tim Strom said. “Any time that you can beat one of those teams, it gives you a chance to move up the ladder.”
“There’s certain schools like a Lloydminster or a Swift Current that you might not get to see until later in the season,” Marauders head coach Dave Seto added. “Whenever you can play those school at this time of the year, that’s always a huge game as you can get a better idea of where you stand.”
The Crusaders and Marauders got the chance to stay close to home over the weekend as they took part in the 12-team Marauder Invitational at St. Mary.
The host Marauders were able to make their way to the semifinal round after wins over the Tommy Douglas Tigers of Saskatoon and the Swift Current Colts, but they would end up falling to the Meadow Lake Carpenter Spartans.
“Meadow Lake beat us by almost 30 points when we played them at Carlton’s tournament in December, but we were within four points of them before they pulled away late to win by 10 points,” Seto said.
“I thought we played really well all weekend, especially against Swift Current as we beat them by 20 points in our first time seeing them all year. The competition was great all weekend and that’s what you want with Hoopla coming up.”
Lucas Punkari/Daily Herald Max Crawford of the Carlton Crusaders dealt with a pair of Lloydminster Comprehensive Barons during the Marauder Invitational tournament this weekend.
As for the Crusaders, they made it to the quarter-final round after a win over the Clavet Cougars but lose to the eventual tournament champion Lloydminster Comprehensive Barons.
They bounced back Saturday with a win over the Colts in the fifth place game.
“I thought it was a pretty good weekend for us,” Strom said. “The way we played with Swift Current was very important, as that’s a team we could probably face in Yorkton.
“I had no idea what our team was going to be like this season, as we had six players graduate from last year’s roster, but we’ve made a lot of strides. I think that shows with our tournament results as we’ve had four seconds, two thirds and a fifth this weekend at St. Mary.”
The Crusaders and Marauders will return to the tournament trail on March 1 and 2 as they’ll go to an event put on by the North Battleford Comprehensive Vikings.
Both schools are part of a nine-team field in the 5A boys’ rural regional, which includes tournament host Yorkton Regional, Warman, Lloydminster Comprehensive, Balgonie Greenall, Estevan and Swift Current.
The red-hot Prince Albert Mintos saw their recent strong performances come to an end over the weekend.
Having picked up victories in their last six contests, the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League club saw their win streak end Saturday with a 5-2 loss to the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox Saturday.
They would then drop a 5-1 decision to the host Swift Current Legionnaires Sunday as they fell to sixth in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League standings with a 22-17-2-0 record.
Swift Current Broncos prospect Dawson Springer had the lone goal for the Mintos in Sunday’s loss, while Regina Pats goaltending prospect Carter Woodside made 34 saves.
Prince Albert Raiders draft pick Logan Linklater scored two goals and had an assist for the Legionnaires, who received a two-goal performance from Christian Albertson.
Mason Strutt also found the back of the net and Jacob Herman stopped 19 shots.
Spokane Chiefs draft pick Chase Friedt-Mohr had a pair of assists in Saturday’s setback as he helped to setup goals for Springer and Gavin Ingram.
Keaton Sorenson led the way for the Hounds with two goals, which gave him the league with 31 on the season, and an assist.
Coalson Wolford had a goal and two assists for the hosts, while Will Lavigne and Lethbridge Hurricanes draft Drew Englot also scored for the defending Telus Cup champions.
Following this weekend’s slate of games, the Mintos are now two points back of the Legionnaires and are six markers behind the Hounds in the race for fourth place in the SMAAAHL standings.
The Mintos are three points ahead of the Beardy’s Blackhawks and have a five-point lead over the Saskatoon Contacts in the league table.
The Moose Jaw Generals are 10 points back of the Contacts with five games left in their regular season schedule, but they do play them twice in their quest to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Next up for the Mintos is a visit to the Yorkton Maulers Saturday and a road game against the Regina Pat Canadians Sunday.
They will conclude their regular season slate at the Art Hauser on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 1:30 p.m. against the Saskatoon Blazers.
The SMAAAHL regular season concludes on Wednesday, Feb. 27.
