The end of the regular season is always a special time in the WHL. It is a common sight to have teams bring up their young prospects to practice with the team after their U18 AAA seasons have come to a close.
The Prince Albert Raiders currently have four prospects practicing with the team. Liam Myhre and Connor Howe made the trip across the hallway from the Prince Albert Mintos dressing room to join the Raiders.
2024 first rounders Brock Cripps and Ben Harvey are also with the team after their teams were eliminated from the postseason.
Raider interim head coach Ryan McDonald says it is important for the team to bring the prospects in for the day-to-day operations of the team and build relationships.
“It’s always nice to get the prospects in not only to get them on the ice, but give us staff an ability to sit down and have conversations and get to get to know them better. Just that quality time that you get to have when they get to come in.”
For 2024 fourth overall pick Ben Harvey, it was a successful campaign with the Edmonton Jr. Oilers Orange. In 30 games, Harvey posted 16 goals and 20 assists. He finished fifth in rookie scoring in the Alberta Elite Hockey League (AEHL) and third amongst 15 year old players behind Tri-City Americans prospect Crew Martinson and Spokane Chiefs prospect Ossie McIntyre.
Harvey and the Jr. Oilers Orange were bounced in the third round of the playoffs by the Sherwood Park Kings.
“There’s obviously lots of ups and downs like every season.” Harvey said. “The playoffs obviously didn’t go as planned, but it was a good season.”
Harvey dressed for his sixth game of the season with the Raiders back on Tuesday in a 3-1 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors at the Art Hauser Centre.
While it’s unclear how many more games Harvey will play in this season, the 15-year-old says he has been soaking up everything he can with the Raiders.
“It’s been super fun, super exciting, just to be around them leading up to playoffs here and just trying to do what I can to support them in any way I can.”
Brock Cripps, the second overall pick in 2024, also had a strong individual campaign for the St. George’s School U18 AAA prep team.
In 30 games, Cripps had seven goals and 39 assists which led all defencemen in scoring. Cripps says his season went well overall.
“I think it went well individually. I think I improved my game a lot, like both defensively and offensively and just playing more mature, so I think it was a good season overall and playoffs were good, but didn’t get the outcome that we wanted.”
Like Harvey, Cripps has also drawn into the lineup for the Raiders this season. In four games in the WHL, Cripps recorded his first WHL point against Swift Current on November 1.
Cripps says the experience playing and practicing with the Raiders has been beneficial for him.
“I think it’s been great just knowing what to expect for next year when you come up as a 16 year old so just getting experience up here is awesome so just be prepared for next year and know what you have to do to get better.”
The Raiders are rostering several 19-year-old defenceman this season with the likes of Justice Christensen, Vojtech Vochvest, Lukas Dragicevic and Matteo Fabrizi. Cripps says he has enjoyed getting a front row seat to those players and learning what he can from them from games and practices.
“They’re all really good players. I think they’re really mature on the ice. I’m watching their games, seeing how they play and kind of taking some stuff out of their book.”
Results from Friday night’s game in Saskatoon were unavailable as of press time. The Raiders conclude the regular season on home ice on Saturday night when they welcome the Saskatoon Blades. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
