John MacNeil
Daily Herald
The post-game pizza tasted that much better for Ben Harvey and the Prince Albert Raiders after their 5-4 overtime victory over the visiting Saskatoon Blades in Western Hockey League pre-season action Thursday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
Harvey scored two power-play goals while Maddix McCagherty, with a four-point night, also tallied twice, including the power-play winner 2:32 into overtime.
In front of a rare small crowd at the Art Hauser, the Raiders gained a measure of redemption five days after the Blades won 5-2 at Warman. With multiple players — five Raiders and three Blades — gone to NHL training camps, both teams gave greater opportunities Thursday to players trying to crack the roster and others hoping to step into bigger roles this season.
A week before the opening of the regular season, Harvey appears poised for his sophomore year in the WHL. The 17-year-old forward from Edmonton exhibited pro-like qualities as he played with purpose and ripped two one-timer goals on power plays in the first half of the game.
“Yeah, I really liked Ben’s game tonight,” said Raiders coach Ryan McDonald. “He’s a 200-foot player. He’s long, he plays heavy, he has great details within his game. You saw his shot tonight. He has a real hard, powerful, accurate shot. Got some great shots off on the power play and got rewarded.
“Just the way he has the ability to hunt the puck in all situations for us, he did a tremendous job for us tonight.”
Harvey picked up where he left off last Saturday with his strong third period in Warman.
“Feeling good,” he said after Thursday’s win. “Always ready to get going and excited to play. This year is going to be an exciting one. It’ll be fun to see where it goes.”
Last month, Harvey and two of his Raiders colleagues — defenceman Brock Cripps and coach McDonald — won gold as part of Team Canada at the Hlinka-Gretzky world under-18 tournament in Edmonton. Harvey celebrated his birthday during the championship, which was played in his hometown.
“It’s super special,” he said about that memory. “It’s definitely one I’ll remember for a long time. To win gold in my hometown is something very cool.”
Harvey has carried confidence into the pre-season. He was a go-to player all night Thursday through his multiple shifts in overtime. He and other Raiders are taking advantage of increased responsibilities while some of their teammates are attending NHL camps.
“Yeah, they get a cool experience right now to go to an NHL camp,” Harvey said. “The guys back here, we’ve got to step up, fill the roles and try to make a seamless transition.”
McCagherty, a 20-year-old forward, provided much of Prince Albert’s leadership Thursday, including his overtime heroics.
Owen Corkish also scored for the Raiders, while Cripps and Alisher Sarkenov added two assists each.
Saskatoon’s Hayden Harsanyi, with a two-point game, netted a short-handed goal with five seconds left in the second period to even the score at 3-3. McCagherty restored the Raiders’ lead seven minutes into the third, but the Blades’ Kazden Mathies replied with a highlight-reel goal with 8:30 remaining to set the stage for overtime.
It’s been that kind of a pre-season for Mathies, a 19-year-old forward from Martensville. Including two points Thursday, he has three goals and five points in two games.
“I’m just using my speed, which is my game, and it’s been working,” Mathies said. “My smarts, as well. It’s been helping me a lot through the pre-season.”
Konstantin Hutzinger and Yegor Gusev also scored for Saskatoon against 18-year-old goaltender Steele Bass, who went the distance in the Raiders’ net. The Blades countered with 16-year-old Max Hartel, who faced 40 shots while his teammates fired 32 on Bass. Hartel played U18 AAA last season with the Calgary Buffaloes.
The two 16-year-old forwards who fought in last weekend’s game — Athens Shingoose of Prince Albert and Kain Martinuik of Saskatoon — didn’t dress for Thursday’s rematch, but there were still sparks befitting a battle between the rival teams.
“Well, the rivalry is still there,” Raiders’ hometown coach McDonald said with a chuckle. “Every time we play the Blades, it’s an intense game, it’s a hard-fought battle.
“It took some extra time to get the job done tonight, but I like the way our group battled through the ebbs and flows of the game, where we got up, then it was back to even, and then kind of the push-pull as the game went on. I really liked our response. In the last six or seven minutes, after they tied it up, we played with urgency and we continued to push forward.”
Mathies, also familiar with the Art Hauser Centre from his visits with the U18 AAA Warman Wildcats, has learned all about the Blades-Raiders rivalry since he joined Saskatoon from the Seattle Thunderbirds in 2025.
“It was even more physical than the Warman game,” he said after Thursday’s contest. “A lot more hate out there and a lot more drive to beat each other.
“I think we had the mindset of not being out of it and continue to claw back, and that’s what we did. The result at the end wasn’t in our favour, but we did our best to come back in the game.”
Harvey set up the Raiders well in the early going as he clicked with fellow returning players on the power play.
“He had a few nice goals there,” Mathies agreed. “It’s hard for a goalie to save those. Those ones are going to go in, in this league, but you’ve got to get blocks on those, too.”
Cripps made his pre-season debut for Prince Albert, partnering with Hubert Clarke on the blue-line.
All pre-season, the Raiders have stuck with the defence pairing of Darius Hordal, 18, and Liam Myhre, 17, both making a credible push to graduate to the WHL this year.
“I think they both skate very well, so (they can rely on) their skating ability to skate themselves out of trouble, if they get into it,” McDonald said. “Just continuing to learn the game and build some chemistry together.”
The Raiders concluded their pre-season Friday night with a road game against the Regina Pats, who visit Saskatoon on Saturday night.
Before opening the regular season at home next Friday (Sept. 18) against the Pats, the Raiders have been auditioning prospects and roster players this week in the absence of their NHL campers — goaltender Michal Orsulak, defenceman Benett Kelly and forwards Riley Boychuk, Brandon Gorzynski and Jonah Sivertson.
“It’s an opportunity for guys to play up in the lineup, in spots that maybe they would not be in, if all those (other) guys were here,” McDonald said. “Again, continuing to showcase their abilities and their talents, but taking advantage of those opportunities when they come.”
It’s likewise for the Blades, who this week have been without their NHL camp participants — goaltender Martin Psohlavec, defenceman Brayden Klimpke and forward Cooper Williams.
Prince Albert defence prospect Kade Corbet, son of former NHLer Rene Corbet, recorded his first WHL pre-season point with an assist on Corkish’s game-opening goal Thursday. Corbet, 17, played U18 AAA last season with the Calgary Flames.
