I can still hear Mark Odnokon’s laugh when I told him Terry Simpson was selling up his captains and players again saying he didn’t have anything to do with the success of the Prince Albert Raiders.
During this particular chat, I was talking to Odnokon, who was often referred to as “Ozzy,” about the 1981-82 Raiders that won the team’s final SJHL and Centennial Cup national junior A championships before the team graduated to the major junior ranks the next season. Odnokon, who was a feisty winger in his playing days, served as an assistant captain with that 1981-82 Raiders team along with Robin Bartel, while Bob Lowes was the captain.
Of course, Simpson is the iconic head coach and general manager of the Raiders, who has been retired from the game for some time now. Simpson always tried to deflect credit to his captains and players for the many successes the team had. He was trying to sell that he really didn’t need to do anything for a Raiders team that went 57-3 in the regular season and 20-3 in the post-season in that 1981-82 campaign saying the captains ran the show.
“Stanks,” said Odnokon, giving a pause before going on. “You’ve been around for a long time.
“You know better than that. Don’t let him (Simpson) get away with that.”
We both then broke into a laugh.
That exchange came before a long form interview I did with Odnokon about the 1981-82 Raiders in late August of 2024. The interview basically became a conversation showing a background that we had known each other and been friends since 2001, when I moved to Prince Albert and lived there for three years as the sports writer for the Daily Herald.
During that visit, I don’t think either of us imagined that just under two years later Odnokon would pass away after a short battle with cancer. He died this past May 24 just nine days after the Raiders fell in the WHL Championship Series with a 7-2 loss in Game 5 of the set to the Everett Silvertips at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre.
I still have that interview file stored on a transcribing program. I had played it back a couple of times in recent days, and it felt like “Ozzy” was still here.
At the time of his passing, Odnokon was still a member of the Raiders coaching staff serving as a skills coach and the team’s Respect Champion. In his 63 years of life, Odnokon spent decades as a member of the Raiders. He was a stick boy for the Raiders first Centennial Cup winner in 1976-77, was a late season call up for their second Centennial Cup championship team in 1978-79 and was a full-time player for their final two Centennial Cup triumphs in 1980-81 and 1981-82.
After serving as head coach and general manager of the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs from 1988 to 1990, he returned to the Raiders as an assistant coach in the 1990-91 season. Odnokon was pretty much a part of the Raiders staff for most of the years he lived from that moment until his passing. It was really only broken up for a long stretch from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s when he was a scout for the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.
During our talk about the 1981-82 Raiders, Odnokon made a crack about his forever ties with the Raiders.
“They either can’t get rid of me, or I can’t leave,” said Odnokon with a laugh. “I don’t know.”
The “I can’t leave” part of the jest might be the truest part. During his life, Odnokon was an active member of the Raiders for almost all their major accomplishments and along the way helped make Prince Albert “Hockey Town North.”
He was with the Raiders when they finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season standings and won the Ed Chynoweth Cup to become WHL champions for a second time. He was with the Raiders last season when they finished second overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 52-10-5-1 mark and won the WHL’s Eastern Conference title before falling in the WHL final.
Odnokon was with the Raiders for almost all their major accomplishments. He missed out on the 1984-85 campaign when they won the WHL championship and Memorial Cup to become CHL champions. That season, Odnokon was playing for the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs Men’s Hockey Team in the NCAA Division I ranks.
I knew something was up for Odnokon when the Raiders were in last season’s WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series against the Medicine Hat Tigers, when the series went to Medicine Hat. When I took my spot in the Co-op Place press box named the “Bob Ridley Broadcast Centre” for the Tigers iconic play-by-play voice, Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt and Oknokon would usually sit to the left of me.
Hunt was there, and Odnokon was missing. I just figured Odnokon was pulled away for an upbeat family matter. I didn’t realize he was in the hospital at that time.
A year early in the 2025 WHL Playoffs, the Raiders faced the Tigers in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series. Hunt and Odnokon were sitting to the left of me, when I was experiencing a challenging time emotionally in that series.
Games 1 and 2 of that set, which the Tigers won in a sweep, were at Co-op Place. That marked the first time I had been back in Medicine Hat after a number of my young adult friends committed suicide during the coronovirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 and made national news programs. Those friendships were forged from 2004 to 2014 when I was the beat writer covering the Tigers for the Medicine Hat News.
Odnokon and I had a really long visit in that press box where I was talking about what it was like to be back in town and either drive past or visit old hang outs where I spent time with those friends. I also told the story about my old friend Mike Engel, who was a carpenter in the Hat and once went to training camp with the Tigers.
I told Odnokon that Engel always wanted to be a member of the Tigers but realized at that camp he wasn’t going to be good enough to play with the Tigers or in the WHL. Engel said he had a really good exit meeting with the Tigers brass where they told him what they liked in his game and what he needed to work on.
Engel was super happy to have that exit meeting, because he felt they could have easily just cut him and not needed to give any explanations. He kept the letter containing his invite to Tigers training camp until his passing.
Odnokon told me that was a great story. He said it showed that Engel’s character was good because he took ownership of the reality of the situation and didn’t blame someone or something for why he was cut. Odnokon said it was cool that Engel spoke highly of the Tigers from that experience and telling that story gave a good impression about him and that team.
At the end of that visit before we went to work, Odnokon fixed my shirt collar and my tie. I hadn’t realized I had ruffled them up. It was a small thing that helped put you at ease and get on to the task at hand.
During his celebration of life on May 31 at the Hauser, I started to learn about different parts of Oknokon’s life like the impact he had as an educator at Carlton Comprehensive High School, as a player with the Bulldogs and a coach with the Mustangs. My awareness about those parts of his life are still more at the infancy stage.
All through summer, I had been thinking about what it would be like for the Raiders to start another season and “Ozzy” wasn’t going to be there. His memory is still going to be part of the team’s home opener on Friday at 7 p.m. when they host the Regina Pats at the Hauser.
The Raiders will be donating a portion of the 50/50 draw to the Mark Odnokon Fund – Beyond the Game. The fund aids Carlton Soccer Club players who may need extra support to participate fully in that sport. Donations to that fund assist with equipment, registration, fees, travel, meals and other expenses.
Hearing this brought a smile to my face as it was classic Raiders as they continue to strive to be more than just a hockey team to the community of Prince Albert. The foundation for that goes back to when Odnokon was part of the Raiders formational years.
He was a reminder of their past and helped them forge ahead in the future. You have to suspect his spirit will be watching over the club as the Raiders take their first strides without him in the physical world.
Darren Steinke is a Saskatoon-based freelance sportswriter and photographer with more than 25 years of experience covering the WHL. He blogs frequently at stankssermon.blogspot.com.
