By Darren Steinke

Stanks On Sports

Isn’t it great to have Justice Christensen back.

The 20-year-old captain and star defenceman returned to the Raiders on September 30 after attending training camp with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. While the Raiders have been playing strong in the early going posting a 6-0-1 record, Christensen’s poise has been so noticeable in the three games he has played this season.

While he isn’t the biggest player on the back end standing 5-foot-9 and weighing 191 pounds, Christensen has been a presence along the Raiders blue line, and it feels like there is an extra sense of security when he is back there. Of course, the best aspect of having Christensen back is his ability to score goals.

On October 8, all Raiders fans would have to admit it was a tonne of fun seeing Christensen score a pair of power-play goals off point shot blasts 23 seconds apart from each other in a 6-0 home ice victory over the Vancouver Giants. “Juice” had the “Juice Bomb” going once again at the Art Hauser Centre.

Last Friday, Christensen netted his third goal of the season joining in on an offensive rush against the Kamloops Blazers. He tipped home a shot from Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead, and they would claim a 5-2 victory at the Hauser on that night.

Also on Christensen’s tip in goal against the Blazers, star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring picked up the second assist on that play. With Christensen, Dube and Oiring in the fold, the Raiders 20-year-old situation is looking as solid as it has ever been.

Christensen, who was never selected in the WHL Prospects Draft, has been a career member of the Raiders signing on with the WHL franchise on May 3, 2022 from the Yale Hockey Academy under-18 Prep team in Abbotsford, B.C. He went through the expected growing pains all 17-year-old rookies experience in the WHL appearing in 64 regular season games in 2022-23 collecting two goals and seven assists.

The Red Deer, Alta., product broke out offensively as an 18-year-old sophomore in 2023-24 appearing in all of the Raiders 68 regular season games recording 45 points off 13 goals and 32 assists. Last season in his first campaign as the Raiders captain, Christensen found the back of the net quite a bit with his “Juice Bomb” as Prince Albert finished first in the East Division with a 39-23-5-1 mark.

Christensen led all WHL defencemen with 22 goals to go with 24 assists and a plus-19 rating in the plus-minus department once again appearing in all of the team’s 68 regular season contests. He became the first Raiders defenceman to score 20-or-more goals in one regular season since Jesse Lees netted 23 goals in the 2015-16 campaign.

To show how rare it has been for a defenceman with the Raiders to score 20-or-more goals in a season in the WHL history of the franchise, two of the franchise’s all-time greats in Manny Viveiros and Josh Morrissey each accomplished that feat once in their time with the club. Of course, James Patrick had 21 goals and 82 points in 60 regular season games in his one lone legendary campaign for the Raiders in their junior A days when they won their third Centennial Cup in 1980-81.

With all that noted, Christensen is a heart and soul member of the Raiders in the current day, and he would have been a heart and soul member of the club in any era of the team’s history dating back to the Raiders birth in 1971. While the Raiders looked strong in their first four regular season games of the current campaign, they seemed that much more poised, in control and purposeful on the ice with him back in the fold.

Christensen’s presence is one of the many reasons going to see the Raiders play will make for a great day at the rink.

Blazers’ Hurlbert as good as advertised, other notes

J.P. Hurlbert is already making what might be his one lone season in the WHL a good one.

The 17-year-old centre from Allen, Texas, left the United States national development hockey program to sign with the Blazers days before the team’s training camp opened. He is projected to be a first round selection in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

Heading into action on Tuesday, Hurlbert, who stands 6-feet and weighs 181 pounds, leads the WHL in goals (nine) and points (20). The Blazers are currently making their road trip through the WHL’s East Division. In the first game on that trip this past Friday, Hurlbert picked up assists on both Blazers goals as they fell 5-2 to the Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre.

One night later, Hurlbert was held pointless as the Blazers were blanked 3-0 by the host Blades in Saskatoon while holding a 32-27 edge in shots on goal. Even in that setback, Hurlbert had jump and made flash and creative plays in the offensive zone.

Last Monday, Hurlbert had helpers on all four of the Blazers goals as they slipped past the host Pats in Regina in overtime 4-3. The Blazers trust Hurlbert enough that he is already playing the point on the power play. Kamloops coaching staff, who are led by head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston, believe that Hurlbert is already mature enough that they already named him an alternate captain.

While the CHL leagues including the WHL lost a fair share of players to the NCAA Division I ranks this season, Hurlbert is part of the wave of United States born players who have come to the Canadian major junior ranks to showcase themselves in their NHL Entry Draft eligible year. When the NCAA changed its rules to allow CHL players back on November 7, 2024 for the start of the 2025-26 campaign, that created more of an incentive for players like Hurlbert to come to Canada.

Hurlbert has committed to play for the University of Michigan Wolverines starting 2026-27. When players from CHL were barred from playing in the NCAA, someone like Hurlbert likely would not have appeared on the Blazers roster.

Now, he is a player that is worth the price of admission every time he steps on the ice with the Blazers.

• On Tuesday, the Raiders traded the rights of 19-year-old defenceman Tyrone Sobry to the Saskatoon Blades for a conditional sixth round pick in the 2029 WHL Prospects Draft. Sobry started the season with the Raiders before they assigned him to the Junior A ranks in the Humboldt Broncos. Sobry has three goals and three assists in his first five games with the Broncos. The deal involving Sobry marks the first time since January 8, 2014 the Raiders and Blades have completed a trade with each other.
• Rookie 18-year-old forward Stryker Zablocki recorded her first four career points in NCAA Division I league play with the Northeastern University Huskies Women’s Team this past weekend. Last Friday, she had one goal and one assist in a 4-0 home ice victory over Providence. One night later, she had a pair of assists in a 6-1 home ice win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
• Raiden LeGall has gotten out to a hot start in his 19-year-old sophomore season with the Everett Silvertips. He leads the WHL in goaltending victories with six and has posted a 6-0-1 record, a 1.83 goals against average and a .929 save percentage in his first seven appearances with the Silvertips this season.

Darren Steinke is a Saskatoon-based freelance sportswriter and photographer with more than 20 years of experience covering the WHL. He blogs frequently at stankssermon.blogspot.com.