
Since the calendar flipped over to 2025, various sports bodies and teams have been producing quarter century all-star teams. I was just recently looking at one created for the Prairie Football Conference of the CJFL produced by an independent outlet.
I’ve seen lists come out for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and some NHL teams. Jason Kerr here at the Herald suggested maybe I should come up with one for the Raiders.
It didn’t take me long to agree that it would be a fun idea. At some point, I think a lot of WHL teams will likely have a contest or create a marketing angle to select quarter-century all-star teams.
A Prince Albert Raiders quarter century all-star team from 2000-25 would be anchored by a trio who are automatics.
Leon Draisaitl, Josh Morrissey and Ian Scott would be locks on the Raiders quarter century team. Draisaitl is the high scoring centre and Morrissey is one of the best to ever play defence for the Raiders and both have had outstanding NHL careers.
In my 26 seasons covering the WHL, Scott would be one of the top three money goalies I’ve seen in my time on the overall circuit. He backstopped the Raiders to the WHL championship in the 2018-19 campaign, and I believe he would have had a long stint in the NHL had injury not cut short his playing career.
After the locks ran across my head with Draisaitl, Morrissey and Scott, I thought about who should be the other two forwards and the second defenceman. I also wondered how I should approach the forward group.
Should I choose the three best forwards or select with a natural centre, left-winger and right-winger. If I went with natural positions at forward, Seth Leonard would be the left-winger and Brett Leason would be the right-winger.
Leonard is the last Raiders player to score 50 goals in a season during his final WHL campaign in 2003-04. Leason, who currently plays for the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, was a force leading the Raiders in scoring in their 2018-19 campaign with 89 points coming off 36 goals and 53 assists in 55 regular season games played.
Ultimately, I decided to group the forwards overall and choose who I thought were the three best. Without further adieu, here are my selections.
Forwards
Leon Draisaitl (2012-14)
The product of Cologne, Germany, is best known as a superstar with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers these days. Before joining the Oilers, Draisaitl made a name for himself as one of the WHL’s top players.
In two seasons with the Raiders, Draisaitl appeared in 128 career regular season contests piling up 59 goals and 104 assists for 163 points. After collecting 105 points in the 2013-14 campaign, Draisaitl was selected in the first round and third overall by the Oilers in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Draisaitl was great with the fans in P.A. and his positive interactions with a youth named Brayden Yager helped inspire Yager on his hockey journey where he helped the Moose Jaw Warriors win their first WHL title last season as a star player and is how helping the Lethbridge Hurricanes on making a push. Yager wears #29, because that is Draisaitl’s number.
Parker Kelly (2015-2019)
The power forward was one of Raiders most popular players ever and was part of the core group of veterans who helped the Raiders win the WHL title in 2018-19.
A career member of the Raiders, Kelly appeared in 273 career regular season contests for the Raiders piling up 93 goals and 95 assists for 188 points. Raiders faithful loved Kelly’s unrelenting work ethic which serves him well in the current day playing as a regular with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.
Raiders fans will like this tidbit too. Following the Raiders WHL championship win in the 2018-19 campaign, I was visiting the Saskatoon Blades business office and dropped Kelly’s name.
Everyone working in the big open area stopped what they were doing and turned and looked. You could tell by that interaction which Raiders player was the biggest headache for the rival Blades.
Kyle Chipchura (2002-2006)
The personable power forward endeared himself to the hearts of the people of Prince Albert pretty much from the time he arrived in the city. He truly did arrive in “Hockey Town North” as a boy and left as a man.
Another career member of the Raiders, Chipchura appeared in 216 career regular season games collecting 59 goals and 106 assists for 165 points. In the 2004-05 campaign, Chipchura suffered an Achilles tendon injury in his right foot in a practice on December 3, 2004.
He returned for the post-season and was a key member in helping the Raiders on “The Run” where they made the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series and fell in a heartbreaking seven games to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Chipchura had four goals and seven assists in 14 post-season games in the 2005 WHL Playoffs.
He was the Raiders captain in 2005-06 and helped Canada win gold at world juniors in that season. Chipchura would play 482 career regular season games in the NHL from 2007 to 2016 with the Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks and Phoenix-Arizona Coyotes franchise collecting 31 goals and 73 assists for 104 points. Currently, Chipchura serves as an assistant coach and manager of player development with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings.
Defencemen
Josh Morrissey (2010-2014)
Morrissey is best known these days as one of the star defencemen with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. Before joining Jets, Morrissey made a name for himself as one of the all-time great blue-liners in the history of the Raiders.
He appeared in 229 career regular season games for the Raiders recording 60 goals and 119 assists for 179 points. He helped Canada win gold at world juniors during the 2014-15 campaign and then was dealt by the Raiders to the Kelowna Rockets before the WHL’s trade deadline in early January.
Morrissey was selected in the first round and 13th overall by the Jets in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He has been a career member of the Jets organization since turning professional in the 2015-16 campaign.
Kaiden Guhle (2017-2021)
These days Guhle is best known for being a regular on the blue-line of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens. Before joining Les Canadiens, Guhle made a name for himself as one of the best puck moving defencemen the Raiders ever had.
He actually debuted for the Raiders as a 15-year-old on December 2, 2017 in a 4-1 setback to the Oil Kings in Edmonton. Guhle ultimately appeared in 164 career regular season games for the Raiders recording 17 goals and 58 assists for 75 points.
As a 16-year-old rookie in 2018-19, Guhle played regular shifts on defence for the Raiders helping them win the WHL championship. All five other members of that starting six on defence were 19-year-old veterans.
Guhle helped Canada win silver at world junior during the 2020-21 campaign. He was dealt to the Oil Kings in a blockbuster trade on December 1, 2021 and would help the Oil Kings win a WHL title later on in that campaign.
Goaltender
Ian Scott (2015-2019)
Scott goes down as one of the all-time greats to ever suit up between the pipes for the Raiders. A career member of the Raiders, Scott appeared in 175 career regular season games for the club recording an 87-64-14 record, a 2.90 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and 11 shutouts.
His final campaign was the magical one in 2018-19 as he backstopped the Raiders to a WHL title. In the regular season, Scott appeared in 49 games recording a 38-8-3 record, a 1.83 goals against average, a .932 save percentage and eight shutouts. He also scored an empty-net goal on November 16, 2018 in a 3-1 victory over the Tri-City American at the Art Hauser Centre.
Scott suited up in all of the Raiders 23 games in the 2019 WHL Playoffs recording a 16-7 record, 1.96 goals against average, a .925 save percentage and five shutouts. He was a member of Canada’s world junior team in 2018-19. When the dust settled on that campaign, he piled up a number of awards including being named the WHL’s top goaltender, the MVP of the WHL Playoffs and the CHL goaltender of the year.
Head coach
Marc Habscheid (2014-2022)
November 1, 2014 would go down as a big day in the history of the Prince Albert Raiders as star bench boss Marc Habscheid was named the team’s head coach.
Habscheid took over a mid-season replacement from Cory Clouston. From that point, Habscheid became the best head coach the Raiders had behind their bench since team icon Terry Simpson last held that role in 1990.
He came in at a time when there was a feeling the Raiders might not ever win a WHL title again and a successful season was reaching the second round of the WHL Playoffs. Habscheid had his Raiders teams playing in the image of the Raiders clubs of Simpson’s era.
With Habscheid behind the bench, the Raiders had a magical 2018-19 campaign where they topped the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 mark and went on to win the WHL championship. Fans in “Hockey Town North” loved to rally around Habscheid, especially when he took some fun shots at the rival Blades.
General manager
Curtis Hunt (2015-present)
June 8, 2015 was another huge day in the history of the Prince Albert Raiders, because it was the day Curtis Hunt came home.
Hunt patrolled the Raiders blue-line from 1984 to 1987. He helped the Raiders win the WHL championship and the Memorial Cup to become CHL champions in 1984-85 as a rookie. He was the club’s captain in his final season as a WHL player in 1986-87.
He was already a long time hockey coach and executive when he came back to the Raiders in June of 2015. Hunt has played a key role in building rosters and engaging in the community that has allowed the Raiders to get back to carrying the prestige they had in Simpson’s era.
It was heartwarming to see him raise the Ed Chynoweth Cup when the Raiders became WHL champions in the 2018-19 campaign with a roster he primarily built. If you ever get to cross paths and have coffee talks with Simpson, you wouldn’t believe in the immense pride he has in Hunt for the work his former defenceman has done with the Raiders.
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.