Hildebrand’s career shows power of opportunity for Raiders draftees

Darren Steinke
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Hildebrand’s career shows power of opportunity for Raiders draftees

Darren Steinke

Columnist

When one looks at the Prince Albert Raiders draft selections in 2025, you have to wonder, “Who is going to be the guy.”

You could also ask the question, “Who will be the guys?”

Those questions can be asked when it comes to every WHL draft. The Raiders had three of the first seven selections in the first round of the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft in 2023 and two of the first four picks in the first round of the 2024 Prospects Draft in 2024. Excitement in those years focused on those early first round selections.

The Raiders went into the 2025 draft season on the heels of star netminder Max Hildebrand completing his WHL career. During his WHL career that went from 2021 to 2025, Hildebrand appeared in 143 regular season games for the Raiders posting a 69-53-12 record, a 3.06 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and five shutouts.

Hildebrand had a gem of a campaign in 2024-25 taking his final lap around the circuit as a 20-year-old. He recorded a 33-16-5 record, a 2.87 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and three shutouts. He played a huge role in helping the Raiders win the WHL’s East Division title with a 39-23-5-1 mark.

He was outstanding for the Raiders in the post-season that saw them eliminate the Edmonton Oil Kings in a fierce seven-game first round series before falling in a sweep to the Medicine Hat Tigers. In the 11 games the Raiders played in the 2025 WHL Playoffs, Hildebrand posted a 3.05 goals against average, a .919 save percentage and one shutout.

Hildebrand won the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy as the WHL Goalie of the Year.

He is currently up for the goaltender of the year honour at the CHL level. On top of that honour, Hildebrand was a first team WHL Eastern Conference all-star, a nominee for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL player of the year and the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s humanitarian of the year.

The kicker to Hildebrand’s career was the Raiders selected him in the 13th round and 286th overall in the then WHL Bantam Draft. He was the second last player picked in that draft.

Still, Hildebrand, who was 5-foot 10 and weighed 182 pounds in 2019, had an opportunity with a WHL team. By the end of his WHL career, Hildebrand stood a fit 6-foot-1 and weighed 188 pounds and he was one of the top puck stoppers in major junior hockey in Canada.

For the players that were picked in the Prospects Draft held this past May 7 and 8 and the U.S. Priority Draft on May 8, they can look to Hildebrand’s example of what can be accomplished in the WHL, if you get down to work once you are presented an opportunity. Draft days in the WHL are milestone days for players, because when they are selected, they get to celebrate the result of the hard work they put in to that point in time of their hockey lives.

After the celebrations of those draft days conclude, the players embark toward committing to more work as they continue to grow both physically and mentally. As long as you are picked, you have the opportunity to one day be the guy.

For the Raiders, will Noah Ulry be the guy? Ulry, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 157 pounds, was selected in the 11th round and 246th over all to be the Raiders final pick in the 2025 Prospect Draft. The Olds, Alta., product had nine goals and 15 assists in 32 regular season games last season suiting up as a forward with the Red Deer Rebels under-15 AAA squad.

Could Evan Wandler be the guy? Wandler, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 155 pounds appeared in 18 games with the Calgary Northstars under-15 AAA squad last season posting a 2.46 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. The Raiders took Wandler in the third round and 59th overall in the Prospects Draft.

Could Athens Shingoose be the guy? Shingoose, who stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 128 pounds, piled up 31 goals and 29 assists in 32 regular season games playing forward with Winnipeg’s Rink Hockey Academy’s under-15 prep team. The Raider selected him in the first round and 16th overall in the Prospects Draft.

Could Gavin Hamelin be the guy? Hamelin, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 146 pounds, piled up 35 goals and 53 assists in 59 games with the Dallas Stars Elite 14U AAA squad last season. The Raiders selected Hamelin in the first round and 22nd overall in the 2025 U.S. Priority Draft.

You could make a similar case for all the Raiders draft selections in 2025. They all have an opportunity to be the guy.

Miller ensures Pats get first round win, Vees pick up Bursaw

In case anyone forgot, Alan Millar is one of the elite executives in the WHL, and he got to show that again during the WHL Prospects Draft.

Millar joined the Regina Pats as their general manager and vice-president of hockey operations before the 2023-24 campaign. While the Pats have missed the post-season for the past two campaigns, Millar will do his best to ensure the Pats return to the playoffs and make consistent appearances in the post-season soon.

When round one of the Prospects Draft was held on May 7, it wasn’t a question that the Pats would take phenom forward Maddox Schultz first overall. Schultz, who turned 15-years-old on March 15, is from Regina and helped lead the Regina Pat Canadians under-18 AAA squad to the Telus Cup. In 44 regular season games with the Pat Canadians, Schultz, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 165 pounds, piled up 43 goals and 50 assists.

Millar made a deal with the Kelowna Rockets to get the third over all selection in the first round of that Prospects Draft giving up a second round selection in that same draft and first round selections in the 2026 and 2027 Prospects Draft. With the third overall pick in the first round, the Pats nabbed forward Liam Pue, who turned 15-years-old on February 16, from Langley, B.C. Pue, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 154 pounds, piled up 30 goals and 20 assists playing for Langley Hockey Academy’s under-18 team.

While there are always uncertain ties when it comes to draft 15-year-old players, it is viewed that both Schultz and Pue are as sure bets as there could possibly be. Millar has managed to get them both coming to the Pats.

As a bonus, the Pats had a first round pick that formally belongs to the Everett Silvertips. The Pats got that selection in a trade back on November 16, 2024 that ended up being the 23rd and final pick in the first round. With that selection, the Pats took forward Logan Henry from Prince George, B.C.

Henry, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 172 pounds, played last season with the Burnaby Winter Club’s under-15 prep team recording 32 goals, 19 assists and 116 penalty minutes in 31 regular season games.

Also on May 7, the WHL Expansion Draft was held for the incoming Penticton Vees. The Vees took 18-year-old forward Liam Bursaw from the Raiders players list. Bursaw, who is from Warman, Sask., played last season with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks of the junior A British Columbia Hockey League collecting 11 goals and two assists in 50 regular season games.

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.

2024-25 WHL campaign was a good one for Raiders

Darren Steinke
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0
2024-25 WHL campaign was a good one for Raiders

By Darren Steinke
Stanks On Sports

The faithful in “Hockey Town North” gave their Prince Albert Raiders a well deserved sendoff last Thursday at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders had just seen their 2024-25 campaign come to an end after being blanked by the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 3-0 in Game 4 of a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. The victory allowed the Tigers to sweep the set 4-0.

That contest saw Raiders star 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand depart with one last gem seen by the standing room crowd of 3,208 spectators at the 2,591 seat facility. He was sensational making 54 saves keeping the Raiders in that contest. The truth in the WHL is most players end their careers with a loss, but Hildebrand added the exclamation point on a memorable campaign.

Hildebrand had a spectacular regular season posting a 33-16-5 mark, a 2.87 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and three shutouts. In the Raiders 11 games in the post-season, he posted a 3.05 goals against average, a .919 save percentage and one shutout.

Thanks to his work in the regular season, Hildebrand is a nominee for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL player of the year, the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy as WHL goaltender of the year and the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s humanitarian of the year. In the history of the Raiders dating back to their start in junior A in 1971, Hildebrand had one of the best seasons a Raiders goalie ever had.

The Raiders had a special season that saw them reach heights they hadn’t seen since the 2019-2020 campaign was halted due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that gripped the world. Due to the pandemic, there were no WHL Playoffs in 2020 or 2021.

The Raiders won the WHL’s East Division title with a 39-23-5-1 mark, and that was their first division title win since the ill fated 2019-2020 campaign. Raiders fans will always carry a great memory of how that first place finish in the division came about.

Prince Albert entered the last two games of the regular season needing to sweep a home-and-home series with the archrival Saskatoon Blades to top the division. On March 21 before 10,990 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Raiders were trailing 2-1 until gritty centre Harrison Lodewyk scored with 5:07 remaining in the third to force a 2-2 tie and overtime. Just 98 seconds into overtime, breakout star winger Brayden Dube drove home the winner to give the Raiders a 3-2 victory.

One night later at the Hauser, the Raiders were greeted warmly by the 3,264 spectators that packed into the building, and another classic finish followed. Locked in a 3-3 tie with the Blades, Raiders star 19-year-old defenceman Lukas Dragicevic drove home the winning goal with 3:01 remaining in the third period to give Prince Albert a 4-3 victory.

Photo by Darren Steinke.
The Prince Albert Raiders give a final salute to their faithful at the Art Hauser Centre on April 17, 2025. The Raiders had just been eliminated from the WHL Playoffs with a 3-0 loss in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series.

In a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs, the Raiders fell behind 3-1 in the set to the Edmonton Oil Kings. Prince Albert roared back with three straight wins to take the series 4-3. It marked the Raiders first series victory in the WHL Playoffs since winning the WHL title 3-2 in overtime over the Vancouver Giants in Game 7 on May 13, 2019 at the Hauser.

The Raiders latest victory in a Game 7 was a crowd pleaser. On April 8, the Raiders took the ice before a sellout crowd of 3,293 spectators at the Hauser and blanked the Oil Kings 5-0.

Hildebrand stopped all 30 shots sent his way to pick up the shutout win in goal. Dragicevic had one goal, three assists and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department. Star centre Aiden Oiring had one goal, one assist and a plus-two rating, and breakout rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph had three assists and a plus-two rating.

Overall, lots of Raiders left great memories in the 2024-25 campaign. Star 20-year-old right-winger Niall Crocker set career highs in the regular season with goals (27), assists (38), points (65) and plus-minus (plus-four) in 67 games. He graduates from the WHL playing five seasons as a full-time player and a career member of the Raiders.

Star right-winger Rilen Kovacevic came over in a trade with the Moose Jaw Warriors on January 7 and made a big impact. In 60 regular season games split between the Warriors and Raiders, Kovacevic piled up 26 goals and 33 assists.

Tomas Mrsic was a star left-winger who came over to the Raiders before the start of the campaign in a trade with the Tigers. Mrsic led the Raiders in regular season scoring with 90 points coming off 33 goals and 57 assists to go with a plus-five rating.

Dragicevic came to the Raiders before the start of the season in a deal with the Tri-City Americans and turned into everything the Raiders expected and more. During the regular season, he piled up 70 points coming off 18 goals and 52 assists to go with a plus-four rating. Dragicevic developed a strong love for the community of Prince Albert becoming a heart-and-soul Raider along the way.

Photo by Darren Steinke.
From left, Ethan Bibeau, Max Hildebrand and Daxon Rudolph react to their Prince Albert Raiders being eliminated from the WHL post-season on April 17, 2025 at the Art Hauser Centre.

The 2024-25 campaign was also about the special 16-year-old rookies in Rudolph, left-winger Ty Meunier and right-winger Riley Boychuk. All three made head turning plays during the campaign to allow fans to get excited about the future.

Rudolph recorded seven goals, 34 assists and a plus-13 rating in 64 regular season contests. He is a finalist for the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy given to the WHL’s rookie of the year. Rudolph is also up for the Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s scholastic player of the year.

Still, the Raiders experienced their bumps too. They started 2-7-2 after coming home from a tough road trip through the circuit’s B.C. Division.

After getting back on track, then head coach Jeff Truitt missed the team’s first 15 games after the Christmas break taking a medical leave to have eye surgery. With Ryan McDonald serving as interim head coach, the Raiders went 10-4-0-1 and had played really well. That turned out to be an omen.

On March 10 with six games remaining on their regular season schedule, Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt relieved Truitt of his duties. The Raiders went 1-3-2 in their last six games under Truitt. It appeared they were going for a parallel finish from the 2023-24 campaign where they went 2-9 over their final 11 outings combined in the regular season and post-season.

Hunt told Nathan Reiter of the Daily Herald that he made the decision because he thought a new voice was needed in the dressing room. McDonald became the interim head coach for the rest of the campaign.

The Raiders went 5-1 with McDonald as interim head coach over their final six regular season games to capture the East Division championship. The exciting first round comeback series win over the Oil Kings followed.

Prince Albert ran into a buzz saw in a Tigers team that has been on a heater for a lengthy stretch. The Raiders played well in the first two games of the series in Medicine Hat falling 6-4 in Game 1 on April 12 and dropping a heartbreaker 5-4 in overtime in Game 2 on April 13. The Tigers found another gear when the series switched to Prince Albert and that included taking Game 3 at the Hauser 6-1 on April 16.

The Tigers topped the Eastern Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 47-17-3-1 mark. They took out the Swift Current Broncos in five games in a best-of-seven first round series.

In their last 43 games between the regular season and playoffs, the Tigers are an impressive 36-4-2-1. There are no disappointments when you bow out of the post-season against a foe that is playing that well.

Bottom line – the Raiders were a tonne of fun to watch in the 2024-25 campaign. Any time Raiders fans think back to this campaign, they can do so with a big smile.

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.

Tigers offence is hot, Raiders won’t quit in mixed bag series

Darren Steinke
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Tigers offence is hot, Raiders won’t quit in mixed bag series

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – The Medicine Hat Tigers can light it up, and the Prince Albert Raiders won’t back down.

Those have become the two biggest themes over the first two games of a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the two sides. The Tigers prevailed in the first two games of the set at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat by scores of 6-4 in Game 1 on Saturday and 5-4 in overtime in Game 2 on Sunday. Games 3 and 4 are set for Wednesday and Thursday night respectively at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

The first two games of the series could have gone either way. The Raiders had big third period rallies in both contests, and on the bus trip home to “Hockey Town North,” they likely thought they really should have had Game 2.

The Tigers have been impressive offensively. It feels like by now everyone has seen the spectacular highlight of Gavin McKenna’s short-handed tally from Game 2 that gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead in that contest. The 17-year-old superstar left-winger has seemingly made all the sports highlight shows in Canada and is all over social media with video of that goal that needs to be seen to be believed.

McKenna, who isn’t NHL Entry Draft eligible until 2026 due to his December birthday, is the most famous player in the WHL. He finished second in league scoring with 129 points coming off 41 goals and 88 assists to go with a plus-60 rating in the plus-minus department. He has 19 points coming off five goals and 14 assists to go with a plus-six rating in the plus-minus department.

With that said, the young man that might be the biggest engine that drives the Tigers is heart and soul captain Oasiz Wiesblatt, who turned 21-years-old on April 8. During the regular season, Wiesblatt posted 36 goals, 67 assists, 103 points, 148 penalty minutes and a plus-47 rating. He has 16 points coming off nine goals and seven assists to go with a plus-five rating in seven post-season games.

It is really rare in the current day to see one player collect over 100 points and over 100 penalty minutes in the regular season. After Wiesblatt, it is possible it might not happen again in the WHL for a very long period of time.

He has a feisty and agitating style on the ice, which makes him a basically a professional wrestling “bad guy” in the eyes of fans from opposing teams. He has a soft spot for Prince Albert as older brother Ozzy won a WHL title with the Raiders in 2019. In “The Gas City,” Oasiz Wiesblatt could run for mayor.

If you spend any sort of time in Medicine Hat, stories are numerous of Wiesblatt going out of his way to sign items for kids, joke around and play with youngsters and do things to make their day. He is the type that would help an elderly person in a wheelchair to get across the street and help get a Tim Horton’s order or go out of his way to visit with team supporters who are battling illnesses like cancer. You get why he is captain pretty quickly with the amount of “good guy” stories that come up about him in the Hat.

You might wonder if all those stories are true. They might not be, but there are so many of them out there in the Hat that you believe Wiesblatt is an ultimate genuine great person off the ice.

McKenna and Wiesblatt lead a Tigers offence that has gone 5-for-8 in the series with the Raiders on the power play and has scored two short-handed goals. You almost forget that players like former Raiders player Ryder Ritchie, Bryce Pickford, Liam Ruck, Mathew Ward, Hunter St. Martin, Tanner Molendyk and you could name the rest of the Tigers roster.

The Raiders have shown they won’t mail any games in. Trailing 5-1 after two periods in Game 1, the Raiders pulled 20-year-old star netminder Max Hildebrand looking to give him some rest for Game 2.

Prince Albert proceeded to get singles from Daxon Rudolph, Dayce Derkatch and Brayden Dube in the third period and were trailing by the contest’s final outcome 6-4 with 4:08 to play. They pulled Dimitri Fortin for most of the final 2:40 of the frame pressing hard in the Medicine Hat zone only to be fended off by the Tigers.

Game 2 was really evenly played with the Tigers taking a 2-0 lead in the third period, which proceeded to run wild. McKenna looked to ice the game with his second short-handed tally of that contest coming with 2:15 to play to give the Tigers a 4-2 edge.

Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Rilen Kovacevic proceeded to score goals on the power play and with the goalie pulled in a span of 35 seconds of each other. His tally with the goalie pulled was the equalizer that forced a 4-4 tie and overtime.

At that point, it looked like the Raiders had the Tigers right where they wanted them. The Tigers recomposed themselves for overtime.

Raiders gritty centre Harrison Lodewyk, who was having a good game, got penalized for a boarding minor on a hit he threw on Tigers defenceman Jonas Woo. Just eight seconds into the power play, Ruck deflected home a Pickford shot to give the Tigers the 5-4 victory.

Lodewyk, who had a goal earlier in the third period, is a quality veteran who has played four full seasons in the WHL with the Raiders and turned 20 in early March. You can bet he was thinking he cost his team the game, and he was emotionally getting picked up by his teammates. The faithful in “Hockey Town North” will likely get a read off that and give Lodewyk a pick me up cheer the first time he touches the ice.

His hit on Woo was bad enough that it does open the door for potential supplemental discipline. Fans might have to wait until Game 3 to find out any revelations on that front.

Rudolph, who turned 17 in March, has looked outstanding for the Raiders posting one goal, one assist and a plus-two rating in the two games against the Tigers. He was named the WHL’s rookie of the week on Monday, which marks the second time in 2024-25 he has picked up that honour. He has looked like a super rookie.

Raiders interim head coach Ryan McDonald has the “believe” factor going big time in his club. It is clear the Raiders players are listening to the young bench boss and feel empowered on the ice.

On the goaltending front, Hildebrand has still been solid for the Raiders even with the Tigers offensive outbursts. The Tigers started rookie Jordan Switzer, who turned 18 in January, in the first two games against the Raiders. He was solid in the first 40 minutes of both games and looked to be gripping the stick too tightly in the third periods when the Raiders started to rally.

Tigers star 20-year-old starter Harrison Meneghin attended the funeral for his father, Derek, this past Thursday. He dressed as the backup in Games 1 and 2 against the Raiders.

One of the toughest challenges any WHL player faces is if one of their parents passes away during their playing career. The Tigers won’t start Meneghin until Meneghin gets to the point emotionally where he is ready to go.

Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins has his masters in social work, and you can bet the Tigers will have counseling support systems available to help Meneghin. That will play into the decision of when Meneghin will start next.

At the moment, Game 3 is a big one. Including play in the regular season and post-season, the Tigers have won 34 of their last 41 games, and it would be a huge uphill climb for the Raiders, if they do go down 3-0 in the set.

If the Raiders claim Game 3, this series is one they can win, and that is not some made up thing.

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.

Raiders versus Tigers – a battle of legacy franchises

Darren Steinke
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Raiders versus Tigers – a battle of legacy franchises

By Darren Steinke
Stanks On Sports

So who is the better player – Mike Modano or Trevor Linden?

If you remember this question or debate and you live in Prince Albert or Medicine Hat, you are – like me I hate to say it – old or getting older. The question does show that the paths of the Prince Albert Raiders and the Medicine Hat Tigers have been intertwined in the past.

The Raiders and Tigers – they are two of Canada’s legacy junior hockey franchises.

The Raiders were born in 1971 as a junior A team. They won the Centennial Cup as national junior A champions in 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1982. After the second Centennial Cup win, Raiders legendary head coach and general manager Terry Simpson foresaw the day was coming soon that he thought the community owned franchise in “Hockey Town North” needed a bigger challenge.

While Simpson will downplay and say he had a small role in the Raiders moving from junior A to the major junior ranks, you will admit when sitting and talking to him about those times he envisioned the great things that came for the Raiders at that time in history. The Raiders jumped to the WHL, which is one of the CHL’s three major junior circuits, for the start of the 1982-83 campaign.

They won the WHL title and the Memorial Cup as CHL champions at the end of their third season in major junior in 1984-85. Those championships happened because Simpson believed that Dan Hodgson, Dave Pasin, Emanuel Viveiros, Dale McFee, Ken Morrison and netminder Ward Komonosky would be the guys that would win those titles for the Raiders when the team was getting hammered in that first major junior campaign in 1982-83.

The Raiders would add another WHL title in 2019 with Curtis Hunt as general manager and Marc Habscheid as head coach. Dante Hannoun scored the overtime winner in Game 7 of the WHL Championship Series against the Vancouver Giants at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre. Throughout their history, the Raiders have delivered numerous memorable moments for their fans.

The Tigers were born one year before the Raiders, and the Medicine Hat franchise joined the WHL in 1970 founded by the trio of George Maser, Joe Fisher and Rod Carry. Hockey in the 1970s was colourful to say the least, and Maser, Fisher and Carry had their share of colour. It was safe to say there were times they were kings of “The Gas City.”

In just their third season in 1972-73, the Tigers won their first WHL championship with stars Tom Lysiak, Lanny McDonald and Boyd Anderson. They played at the Memorial Cup championship tournament held that year at the fabled Montreal Forum. Going 1-1 in round robin play, the Tigers didn’t have the edge in standings tiebreakers and didn’t qualify for the tournament final.

Maser took sole ownership of the team in 1979. Before the start of the 1982-83 campaign, Maser brought in Russ Farwell to be the team’s general manager, and it would be Farwell who got the Tigers on the road to the elusive Memorial Cup.

Farwell’s Tigers collided with Simpson’s Raiders in 1985 in what is now the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series. The Raiders claimed victory in five games in the best-of-seven series on their way to winning the WHL title and Memorial Cup.

Farwells’ Tigers met Simpson’s Raiders again in the 1986 Eastern Conference final. It was the heaviest of heavyweight showdowns with the Tigers topping the WHL at 54-17-1 and the Raiders were right on their tail at 52-17-3. The series went to a deciding Game 7 where the Tigers prevailed 4-1 in their storied and historic first home rink in The Arena.

After beating the Raiders, the Tigers at that time felt they had won the Memorial Cup. They had a hangover after that series win and fell to the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL final in five games. Linden was a young associate player call-up centre in his 15-year-old season and was with the Tigers when they fell to the Blazers.

He was born and raised in Medicine Hat and grew up idolizing the Tigers and listening to their iconic play-by-play voice in Bob Ridley on radio. Linden, whose home became a frequent team hang out, was determined that ending wouldn’t happen again.

The returnees and core players from that Tigers team showed they learned their lessons well. The Tigers won WHL and Memorial Cup titles in both 1987 and again in 1988. The first Memorial Cup title came under the guidance of colourful head coach Bryan Maxwell and the second under equally colourful head coach Barry Melrose, who had a unique new school style way of thinking.

George Maser passed away on November 29, 1990 due to a heart attack, which brought some uncertainty to the Tigers franchise in Medicine Hat. Sons Darrell and Brent Maser took over the team.

Unlike their father, Darrell and Brent developed a style where they like to stay behind the scenes and let good hockey guys run the team. They don’t get enough credit for this, but they are good community guys too.

It is common for donations to show up quietly for a charity, cause or sport organization, but they try to avoid taking any credit for that. Actually, Darrell and Brent do more nice things for people behind the scenes than most know, but they are good with staying anonymous.

They also like to win, and there was frustration when the Tigers missed the playoffs for five straight seasons from 1998 to 2002. After bringing in a string of old school head coaches, the Masers allowed then general manager Rick Carriere to make an outside the box hire for that position.

In came the classy Willie Desjardins, who was as new school as they get. Desjardins was the ultimate players’ coach with a masters in social work. Players realized Desjardins cared and understood them, and they took off. The Tigers won their fourth WHL title in Desjardins second season with the team in 2003-04.

He took on the role of general manager to go along with head coach before the 2005-06 campaign started. The Tigers won their fifth WHL title in 2007 with Brennan Bosch scoring the double overtime winner in Game 7 of the WHL Championship Series against the Giants at The Arena.

After going off to coach in the professional ranks following the 2009-10 campaign, Desjardins was brought back to the team as head coach and general manager before the 2019-20 campaign started. Now at age 68, Desjardins is still as good as ever.

The Tigers finished second overall in the WHL regular season at 47-17-3-1. In their last 39 games between the regular season and playoffs, the Tigers are an impressive 32-4-2-1.

Now, they are going to play a Raiders squad on the rise still overseen by Hunt as general manager in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Raiders topped the East Division with a 39-23-5-1 mark having overcome a 2-7-2 start. They are guided by a youthful interim head coach in Ryan McDonald, who was born and raised in “Hockey Town North.”

Game 1 of the series is set for Saturday at 7 p.m. local time at the Tigers new home rink in Co-op Place.

The series will see Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna go up against Raiders star 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand. On Thursday, both were named among the six finalists for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Player of the Year.

The Tigers enter the series as heavy favourites. That also leads into another interesting side plot.

The players on both respective teams really and truly believe they have the best fans in the WHL. Both fan bases are passionate, and in a players’ poll earlier this season, the Hauser was voted as the second toughest road rink in the WHL to play in. This could be a series where the club that loses at home first is in trouble.

Oh, back to the Modano versus Linden debate. Modano did have the better NHL career putting up more than 500 points than Linden did to go with a Stanley Cup title win.

In junior, Modano had more than double the regular season points than Linden did, but Linden has two WHL and Memorial Cup titles to his credit. Modano went first overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, and Linden was picked second overall in that same draft.

If they met up today, maybe they could have a Maverick and Iceman moment from the movie “Top Gun: Maverick.” For those that remember and lived through those old days, you can smile, because they happened and hold on to fond memories.

It is time for the Raiders and Tigers teams of the current day to let their stories play out.

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.

Get ready for another classic Game 7 Tuesday

Darren Steinke
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0
Get ready for another classic Game 7 Tuesday

Darren Steinke
Stanks On Sports

How many Prince Albert Raiders fans remember Dante Hannoun’s overtime goal?

The above query is a rhetorical one for most in “Hockey Town North.” If a Raiders fan has trouble remembering the Dante Hannoun goal, they were either not born yet, recently began following WHL hockey or are living under a rock.

The moment came in what was arguably the most exciting Game 7 played in the history of the WHL. It occurred in the league championship series in 2019 at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre.

You don’t even need to see video footage to picture it. For most Raiders fans, that scene is ingrained in their memory.

The Raiders were locked in a 2-2 tie in double overtime with the Vancouver Giants. The winner was going to the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup.

If you are honest, it was a series where both teams played with a heart of a champion. The Raiders took a 3-1 series lead, and it looked like they landed the knockout blow posting 8-2 and 1-0 victories in Games 3 and 4 respectively at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.

The Giants got off the mat, dusted themselves off and evened the series at 3-3. They pulled out a 4-3 victory in Game 5 in Langley and claimed Game 6 at the Hauser 4-2 to set up the Game 7 showdown.

That led to the moment the Raiders faithful will forever cherish that came with 1:35 remaining in overtime in Game 7. Raiders 20-year-old centre Noah Gregor got a hold of the puck along the right-wing boards.

He jetted around behind the Vancouver net out to the left-wing boards at the edge of the faceoff circle. Gregor made a little spin and passed the puck across the face of the Vancouver goal to his 20-year-old linemate in Hannoun, who was set up beside the right goalpost.

Hannoun, who was playing right wing as opposed to his regular centre spot, tapped in the backdoor feed past Giants netminder David Tendeck. The Raider won 3-2, took the WHL title, and the sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre exploded like never before.

The cheers continued as Hannoun raced down the ice in celebration and jumped into the right corner boards of the Raiders zone where he was mobbed by his teammates. The on ice celebrations went on for about three hours.

In the history of the WHL, the only thing that could match what happened at the Hauser on May 13, 2019 took place in another storied and historic building that is no longer in use. Back on May 14, 2007, the Medicine Hat Tigers claimed a 3-2 double overtime victory over the Giants in Game 7 of the WHL Championship Series. Martensville, Sask., product Brennan Bosch scored the winner to set off the celebrations that night for the sellout crowd of 4,006 spectators at The Arena in Medicine Hat.

You could argue for weeks and months which contest was better. The fact is those were the only two nights to date the WHL title was decided in Game 7 in overtime, and both contests were all-time classics.

For the Raiders, their Game 7 overtime WHL title win marked the last time a Game 7 was played at the Hauser. That will change on Tuesday at 7 p.m., when the Raiders host the Edmonton Oil Kings in Game 7 of a first round series in this year’s WHL Playoffs.

Game 7s are exciting. While a league title is not normally on the line, enough energy gets built up from the fact the winner moves on and the loser goes home.

Game 7s don’t come around as often as you might think. There were 30 series played combined in the 2023 and 2024 WHL post-seasons and only three of those series went to Game 7.

In the first round of the current post-season, there will be two Game 7s for sure, and there could be a third, if the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the visiting Everett Silvertips on Monday night.

The Raiders last Game 7 was their WHL title winning game in 2019. Before that victory, the Raiders previous Game 7 came in the 2018 WHL Playoffs when they dropped a 5-4 decision to the Warriors in Moose Jaw. After that contest, the Raiders previous Game 7 came in the 2005 Eastern Conference Championship Series, where they dropped a 5-1 decision to the Wheat Kings in Brandon.

That came nine years after the Raiders previous appearance in a Game 7. On April 10, 1996, the Raiders downed the Regina Pats 5-1 in Game 7 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series at the Art Hauser Centre then known as the Comuniplex. In the old smarty box seat configuration, a sellout crowd of 3,567 packed into the Raiders fabled home barn that night.

How long ago was that contest? Steve Kelly scored twice for the Raiders, while Jason Issel, David Van Drunen and Marian Menhart had singles. Rod Branch made 25 saves to pick up the win in goal, and Chris Phillips had one assist for Prince Albert.

The Raiders erased a 3-1 series deficit with their Game 7 victory that night. At the moment, that marks the last time Prince Albert has rallied back to win a series after trailing 3-1. That could potentially change against the Oil Kings on Tuesday, when the Raiders are again trying to complete a series win after trailing the set 3-1.

Since 1996, there have only been two Game 7s played at the Hauser and Tuesday’s contest will be the third. How the storyline of this one will play out remains to be seen. With two straight wins, the Raiders do enter the contest with a lot of momentum.

If fans don’t want to miss out on Game 7 excitement, they would be wise to get to The Hauser on Tuesday night. Who knows when the next one will come around.

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.

Long battle ahead? – Raiders, Oil Kings delivering solid post-season fight

Darren Steinke
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Long battle ahead? – Raiders, Oil Kings delivering solid post-season fight

So far, the Prince Albert Raiders and Edmonton Oil Kings are delivering your typical solid post-season series.


After two games, the series shows the potential of possibly being a longer one, which has been rare in recent WHL post-seasons. In 2023, only two of the eight best-of-seven first round series went past five games with four of those sets being sweeps. In 2024, only one of the eight first round series went past five games and there were also four series sweeps.

In this year’s battle between the Raiders and Oil Kings, a split of the first two games is a fair result for both teams. The Oil Kings claimed Game 1 this past Friday at the Art Hauser Centre 3-1 with an empty-net goal.


Edmonton held a 40-32 edge in shots on goal, but the Raiders left that contest with a feeling of what might have been. There were times in that contest it seemed like nerves of playing the first game of the post-season might have gotten to the Prince Albert side.


The Oil Kings first two goals by Gracyn Sawchyn and Landon Hanson respectively came off mistakes by Prince Albert players. Sawchyn scored short-handed 29 seconds into the contest on a misplayed puck by Raiders 20-year-old star netminder Max Hildebrand. Hanson’s tally at the 9:03 mark of the second came off the Edmonton side intercepting a pass by Raiders breakout rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph in the Prince Albert zone.


The Raiders failed to score on six power-play chances in Game 1 and that included a double minor for high sticking against Sawchyn late in the second period. Prince Albert had the WHL’s third best power play in the regular season, clicking with a 28.2 per cent success rate, so normally, the Raiders would be good for one or two goals if they have six power-play chances in one game. It can be argued the Raiders weren’t at their best in Game 1, but it was a game they still could have realistically won.


One night later on Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders came out with a big bounce back 6-1 win. While the final result was a sound one for the Raiders, the Oil Kings dealt with their share of “what ifs” that might have changed the momentum of the contest.


The visitors controlled the first period holding a 19-6 edge in shots on goal only to be foiled by Hildebrand doing Hildebrand things to keep pucks out of the Prince Albert net. Raiders captain Justice Christensen one-timed home a shot from the left faceoff circle in the Edmonton zone to put the hosts up 1-0 with 35.6 seconds remaining in the first.


The Oil Kings had an outstanding opening frame and found themselves down 1-0 in the first intermission. Christensen’s goal swung the momentum for the rest of Game 2 in favour of the Raiders.


After 20-year-old winger Rilen Kovacevic pushed the Raiders lead out to 2-0 at the 2:35 mark of the second, the Oil Kings had a chance to turn momentum back into their favour. Edmonton star right-winger Lukas Sawchyn scored at the 6:01 mark of the second on the power play to cut the Prince Albert lead to 2-1.


Right after scoring, he was cross checked to the ground by Christensen. Christensen was given a roughing minor on a penalty that didn’t need to be taken. Had the Oil Kings scored on that ensuing power play to even things up at 2-2, the complexion of Game 2 all of a sudden looks different.


Instead, the Raiders came up with a big penalty kill. Moments after that kill, Raiders star 20-year-old left-winger Niall Crocker scored on the power play for his first of two goals in the contest and away the Prince Albert side went.


The Raiders success on the power play returned going 2-for-4 in Game 2. The Oil Kings had to lament being 1-for-9 with the man advantage in Game 2. Edmonton also held a 43-26 edge in shots on goal in the contest too.


Following the game, Kovacevic, who helped the Moose Jaw Warriors win a WHL championship last season, said experience was going to be the best teacher for the Raiders players and getting more time skating in the post-season will benefit the team. That was likely best seen with Rudolph, who turned 17-years-old in early March.


The skilled rearguard had some nervous moments in Game 1. Rudolph proceeded to bounce back nicely in Game 2 looking calm and composed in picking up three assists and posting a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department.


Oil Kings overage centre Marshall Finnie, who is known to be one of the WHL’s best agitators, tried to get under Rudolph’s skin. Rudolph held his ground in strong fashion and has not spent any time in the penalty box so far in the post-season. After staying out of the penalty box in Game 1, Finnie collected a goaltender interference minor for getting an extra shot in at Hildebrand and a 10-minute misconduct for having too much lip on the ice in Game 2.


The one-on-one battle between Rudolph and Finnie has become a notable side plot in the series. As the series goes on, more side plots will likely emerge.


The series should continue to be a tight one with the Raiders sporting a 39-23-5-1 record in the regular season, while the Oil Kings posted a 37-27-2-2 mark. The two clubs met five times in the regular season with the Raiders winning three of those contests.


Both clubs have a feistiness that is suited for playoff hockey. Expect this series to have a few more twists and turns before it finally closes out.


Return of the Thunderbirds, other notes


The Seattle Thunderbirds are doing their best to put a scare into the Everett Silvertips.


After going all in for a load up to win the WHL title in 2023, the Thunderbirds failed to qualify for the WHL Playoffs in 2023-24 posting a 27-38-2-1 record. That development didn’t surprise anyone.


They turned heads returning to the WHL Playoffs this season finishing eighth in the Western Conference with a 30-33-4-1 mark and winning four straight heading into the post-season.


They were 16th in the overall WHL standings making them significant underdogs on paper facing the Silvertips in a best-of-seven first round series. The Silvertips finished first overall in the WHL with a 48-12-4-4 mark.


They are minus one of their top players. Star left-winger Carter Bear was lost for the campaign in a 6-5 road win over the Tri-City Americans due to an Achilles laceration on March 7. In 56 games with the Silvertips, Bear had 40 goals and 42 assists for 82 points to go with a plus-33 rating in the plus-minus department.


In Game 1 Friday at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, the Thunderbirds skated away with a 3-2 victory. Hayden Pakkala, who is a former member of the Raiders, had one goal and one assist for Seattle skating through his final post-season as an overager. Thunderbirds star netminder Scott Ratzlaff, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Buffalo Sabres, made 45 saves to pick up the win in goal.


Defenceman Landon DuPont, who is an exceptional status player skating in the WHL full time as a 15-year-old, picked up helpers on both Silvertips goals.


One night later on Saturday at the Angel of the Winds Arena, the Silvertips were up 2-1 until Thunderbirds 20-year-old left-winger Nathan Pilling deflected home a shot from captain Braeden Cootes with 29.7 seconds remaining in the third to force a 2-2 tie and overtime.

Silvertips captain Eric Jamieson scored at the 7:33 mark of overtime to deliver Everett to a 3-2 victory that evened the series at 1-1.

Ratzlaff made 44 saves to give the Thunderbirds a chance to win Game 2 of the series and go up 2-0 in the set.


The Thunderbirds host Games 3 and 4 at the Accesso ShoWare Centre in Kent, Washington, on Tuesday and Friday respectively. It is plausible that Seattle could get an upset win in the series. Overall, Thunderbirds tenured general manager Bil La Forge and long time head coach Matt O’Dette have to be given major credit for the rabid rebuild of their club.


The Brandon Wheat Kings found out Monday a one-game WHL imposed suspension was handed down to 20-year-old star offensive-defenceman Luke Shipley. At the end of the Wheat Kings 4-3 loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in Game 2 of their first round series on Saturday at the VisitLethbridge.comArena, Shipley was given a major penalty for cross-checking and a game misconduct. Hurricanes centre Jordan Gustafson also received a one-game for a cross check thrown at the end of the game during all the post-game activities that included Shipley’s penalty. Gustafson was given a minor penalty on the play.


The Spokane Chiefs found out on Monday they will be without superstar right-winger and WHL scoring champion Andrew Cristall for one game due to a WHL imposed suspension. Cristall was given a major for cross-checking and a game misconduct with 3:45 to play in the third period of his club’s 7-5 victory in Game 2 of a first round series against the Vancouver Giants played at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C., on Sunday.


On Monday, the WHL suspended Swift Current Broncos 16-year-old left-winger Sawyer Dingman one game for an obscene gesture. In the Broncos 6-3 loss to the Tigers at Medicine in Game 2 of their first round series on Saturday, Dingman gave the middle finger salute to the 5,947 spectators in attendance at Co-op Place after leaving the contest taking a roughing minor inside the final minute of the third period.


On Monday, Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt was named the WHL’s player of the week for picking up five goals and one assist in helping his team take a 2-0 first round series lead over the Broncos. Victoria Royals netminder Johnny Hicks was named the goaltender of the week.

Hicks picked up two wins in staking the Royals out to a 2-0 series lead over the Tri-City Americans. He posted a shutout, gave up just two goals and recorded a .962 save percentage in those two wins. Chiefs 16-year-old centre Mathis Preston was the WHL’s rookie of the week.

In helping the Chiefs take a 2-0 series lead over the Giants, Preston had a hat trick in the Chiefs 7-5 Game 2 win on Sunday.


On Friday, the feel good moment of the WHL Playoffs so far came in Medicine Hat. Tigers 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin made 21 saves to pick up a 4-0 shutout victory over the Broncos in Game 1 of their series played before 5,458 spectators at Co-op Place. The win was Meneghin’s first start since the unexpected passing of his father, Derek. Meneghin found out about his father’s passing after the Tigers 5-2 regular season ending win over the Hitmen in Calgary on March 23, which gave the Tigers the Central Division title and top spot overall in the Eastern Conference.


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.

Raiders experienced playoffs before playoffs in sweep of Blades

Darren Steinke
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Raiders experienced playoffs before playoffs in sweep of Blades

By Darren Steinke
Stanks On Sports

The Prince Albert Raiders experienced playoffs before the actual WHL Playoffs began.

Now, that experience will help them as they head into the WHL post-season as the league’s East Division champions taking on the Edmonton Oil Kings in a best-of-seven first round series. Games 1 and 2 of that series are set for Friday and Saturday respectively at the Art Hauser Centre with a 7 p.m. start time on both nights.

The series should be a tight one with the Raiders sporting a 39-23-5-1 record in the regular season, while the Oil Kings posted a 37-27-2-2 mark. The two clubs met five times in the regular season with the Raiders winning three of those contests. The Oil Kings play a gritty and feisty style that will make them a tough out in the post-season.

The Raiders received ample preparation for what awaits them thanks to the experience they gained closing the regular season in a home-and-home series with their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades. Last weekend, those two clubs entered their final two head-to-head matches with both sides knowing they would win the East Division, if they swept that series.

When the two sides met last Friday before a season high 10,990 spectators at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, that contest’s intensity felt like a playoff game. The energy both the Raiders and Blades showed on the ice was a step up from any regular season contest they played to that point.

The Raiders got an early jump and an early lead with breakout 19-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube scoring 24 seconds into the game to give Prince Albert a 1-0 edge. The Blades came with a big push back and would go ahead 2-1 by the 7:25 mark of the second.

From the time the Blades took the lead until the second intermission around, Raiders star 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand made five tremendous saves to keep the Raiders to within one. Hildebrand made a number of big saves early in the third. That set the stage for the Raiders to gain a momentum changing moment when gritty veteran centre Harrison Lodewyk potted the equalizer with 5:07 remaining in the third that forced a 2-2 tie.

The Raiders proceeded to carry momentum from that point with Dube scoring the winner 98 seconds into overtime deflecting home a midrange shot from captain Justice Christensen. Hildebrand was officially credited with 35 saves after a statistical double check, and he was the biggest reason the Raiders won that game. The Blades attracted enough of their own fans to that contest to provide a challenging road environment for the Raiders, and the Raiders overcame the challenges that came their way to get the win.

Due to the fact the Raiders won in extra time allowing the Blades to pick a standings point, the Brandon Wheat Kings were eliminated from contention for first in the East Division. When the Raiders and Blades met last Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre to close their respective regular season schedules, it was a winner take all clash for the division title.

A standing room crowd of 3,264 spectators packed into the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, and the Raiders faithful were in post-season form with their energy. That contest felt like Game 2 of a post-season series. Both teams were still intense but making their attacks up and down the ice with more purpose.

The momentum swung back-and-forth with the Blades going up 1-0 before the Raiders assumed a 3-1 lead. The Blades pulled even at 3-3 at the 9:11 mark of the third.

That set the stage for Raiders star defenceman Lukas Dragicevic to score the winner on the power play with 3:01 remaining in the third to put the Raiders up 4-3 and nearly blow the roof off the Hauser. The noise increased that much more when the Raiders killed off the final seconds of the third to pull out the one-goal victory and claim the division title.

When the dust settled the Raiders experienced what it was like to basically win a back-and-forth playoff game and experience the post-season energy that comes from their storied home rink. Raiders fans of all ages received an experience they would never forget. For anyone involved with the team, you are already amped up to get things started this coming Friday in Game 1 against the Oil Kings.

The Raiders are rolling into the post-season riding some new confidence that comes with their current five-game winning streak and pride in having won a division title. At that point, you want to get more and keep the good vibes going.

Prince Albert got great preparation skating in two games that had a post-season feel right before the post-season started. Now, they are ready to make noise and turn heads in the actual post-season.

Vees a great addition to WHL, other notes

The worst kept secret in major junior hockey became official on Monday.

During a press conference in Penticton, B.C., it was announced the Penticton Vees will be joining the WHL as an expansion franchise for the start of the 2025-26 campaign. The organizational body that runs the Vees junior A franchise that plays in the British Columbia Hockey League will run the WHL club.

That means the Vees will come into the WHL overseen by their long time head coach and general manager Fred Harbinson, who has built himself into legendary status in Penticton. The Vees have existed as a junior A club since 1961 and won junior A national championships in 1986 and 2012. Harbinson guided the Vees to the 2012 title.

The Vees play out of a WHL ready arena in Penticton’s South Okanagan Events Centre, which seats 5,000. That facility has been home to the Vees since 2008. Graham Fraser will continue to be the majority owner of the Vees, which he has been since 2008.

Most importantly Hockey Canada has approved of the Vees joining the WHL and returning to sanctioned hockey activities. The BCHL has been operating independent of Hockey Canada since 2023. The Vees will complete their current 2024-25 BCHL campaign.

The Vees are going to be a great addition to the WHL. The greater Penticton region is home to nearly 45,000 people, and the Vees have been a storied club operating in a WHL ready facility. They will also have great natural rivalries with the Kamloops Blazers and the Kelowna Rockets.

The actual surprise came when the WHL announced the initiation of a franchise application process for the City of Chilliwack to begin play in the 2026-27 campaign. Chilliwack was home to the WHL’s Bruins for five seasons from 2006 to 2011. The Bruins were sold following the 2010-11 campaign and relocated to Victoria to become the Royals.

The sale and move of the Bruins franchise to Victoria to become the Royals left some pretty strong bitter feelings in the Chilliwack community. The hockey landscape changed last November when the NCAA ruled players from the CHL’s three major junior circuits will be eligible to play for NCAA Division I teams starting on August 1 of this year. You can bet that development and the passage of time created the environment where there was a desire to put a WHL franchise back in the 5,000-seat Chilliwack Coliseum.

Time will tell what other developments will come from the changes in the WHL’s and hockey’s landscape with the NCAA rule change. Still, the Vees will be good for the WHL and getting a team to Chilliwack will be good for the Major Junior circuit too.

  • Just a reminder regarding the WHL Playoffs, the division winners for two conferences are the top two seeds for the first round of the post-season. Starting in round two, teams are reseeded by their overall placing in the conference during the regular season. That means starting in round two the Raiders would not have home ice advantage in the Eastern Conference side of the bracket if they face the Medicine Hat Tigers, Calgary Hitmen or Lethbridge Hurricanes.
  • The Tigers might be the most dangerous team going into the WHL’s post-season. They topped the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a 47-17-3-1 mark and placed second overall in the WHL. Medicine Hat had an impressive 28-3-2-1 record in the second half of the regular season and won 10 straight games to close the regular season.
  • One of the big questions heading into the WHL Playoffs is how bad is the lower body injury to Calgary Hitmen star netminder Daniel Hauser? The Hitmen listed Hauser as being out day-to-day on Sunday. He did not dress for Sunday’s season ending 5-2 loss at home to the Tigers that determined the winner of the Central Division and top spot in the Eastern Conference.
  • Star right-winger Andrew Cristall of the Spokane Chiefs won the WHL’s regular season scoring race with 132 points coming off 48 goals and 84 assists. Tigers star left-winger Gavin McKenna finished second with 129 points coming off 41 goals and 88 assists. Cristall played 57 games split between the Chiefs and the Rockets. The Rockets traded Cristall to the Chiefs before the WHL’s trade deadline. McKenna skated in 56 games with the Tigers.
  • The Everett Silvertips head to the WHL Playoffs topping the league’s overall standings with a 48-12-4-4 record, but they are minus one of their top players. Star left-winger Carter Bear was lost for the campaign in a 6-5 road win over the Tri-City Americans due to an Achillies laceration on March 7. In 56 games with the Silvertips, Bear had 40 goals and 42 assists for 82 points to go with a plus-33 rating in the plus-minus department.
  • The Seattle Thunderbirds wrote an impressive story making the playoffs finishing eighth overall in the Western Conference with a 30-33-4-1 mark. The Thunderbirds made a big load up to win the WHL championship in 2023, proceeded to miss the playoffs in 2024 and returned to the post-season in the current campaign. The Thunderbirds have won four straight heading into the playoffs.

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.

Raiders getting spark after coaching change

Darren Steinke
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Raiders getting spark after coaching change

By Darren Steinke
Stanks On Sports

Maybe the Prince Albert Raiders really did need a new main voice behind the bench.

On March 10, the Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt relieved head coach Jeff Truitt, 59, of his duties. Ryan McDonald, 37, was promoted from assistant coach to interim head coach.

At the time of those moves, the Raiders were sitting first in the WHL’s East Division with a 34-22-5-1 record. They had a one standings point lead over the Brandon Wheat Kings and Saskatoon Blades.

During the final six games where Truitt served as the Raiders head coach, they posted a 1-3-2 record including dropping both ends of a home-and-home series to the archrival Blades in regulation. It seemed like the Raiders were repeating a trend from the previous campaign, where they went 2-9 over their last 11 games including action in the regular season and the WHL Playoffs. It is possible that parallelism was one of the factors that went into Hunt’s decision to make a move.

Hunt told Nathan Reiter of the Daily Herald that he made the decision because he thought a new voice was needed in the dressing room. The Raiders got a preview of what things would look like with a new main voice behind the bench during their first 15 games after coming back from their Christmas break.

Over that time, McDonald served as interim head coach as Truitt was on medical leave for eye surgery. During those 15 games, the Raiders posted a 10-4-0-1 mark and had played really good.

The Raiders also added 20-year-old right-winger Rilen Kovacevic, 19-year-old defenceman Matteo Fabrizi and rearguard Linden Burrett, who turned 19-years-old in early February, via trades during the first seven games of that stretch. During McDonald’s final eight games as interim head coach, the Raiders were moving on with a new tinkered identity with the additions.

When Truitt returned, there would have been another adjustment when he retook the role of head coach. The Raiders kept rolling when Truitt returned until the slide during his final six games behind the bench.

With the experience of that 15 game run right after the Christmas break, Hunt had an actual idea of what things looked like when Truitt wasn’t behind the bench and McDonald was running the show.

Since making the coaching change, the Raiders traveled to Lethbridge on Wednesday, March 12, held leads of 2-0 and 3-2, but fell to the host Hurricanes 5-3. On Friday, the Raiders went to Red Deer, fell behind 3-1 and rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory over the host Rebels. Star centre Aiden Oiring scored a hat trick including the winner in overtime.

On Saturday, the Raiders ventured to Edmonton for their latest WHL regular season clash to play the host Oil Kings before 12,142 spectators at Rogers Place. Riding a 32 save performance from star 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand, the Raiders posted a 4-1 victory for their second straight win.

While the sample sizes are small, it is appearing Hunt might be right in that a new main voice was needed behind the bench.

Entering play on Tuesday, the Raiders sported a 36-23-5-1 mark and were sitting one standings point behind the Wheat Kings (36-22-4-3) and Blades (36-22-3-4) for first in the East Division. All three squads have three games remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

If the Raiders get their expected home win over the Moose Jaw Warriors (14-43-6-2) on Tuesday night, they will be in first place for one night. The Wheat Kings and Blades go head-to-head on Wednesday night in Brandon, so the winner of that clash will be sitting alone in first place in the East Division after that night.

If the Raiders win out, the potential is there for them to take top spot in the division.

Still, it is tough to see Truitt go. He is one of the true good guys in hockey with a decorated coaching resume. He joined the Raiders for the start of the 2018-19 campaign as an assistant coach after Dave Manson left to join the professional ranks.

Truitt helped the Raiders win their second WHL title in that special 2018-19 campaign. He was promoted to head coach at the start of the 2022-23 campaign and posted a 93-91-10-4 record as Raiders head coach as the squad went through a reload.

The reality is the business of sports is tough. In sports and especially the hockey world, there are a lot of good guys trying to do the best they can, and that is all anyone can do at the end of the day.

When a sure thing wasn’t in 2005

It was an ultimate example of the cliché, “That is why they play the games.”

On Saturday, March 19, 2005, it was the second last day of the regular season for the WHL’s 2004-05 campaign. The Wheat Kings held a two standings point lead for first place in the Eastern Conference over the Medicine Hat Tigers, and both squads were playing their final regular season contests that day.

Medicine Hat claimed the season series over Brandon collecting three wins and an overtime loss in five head-to-head encounters. If both teams ended up tied for first in the standings, they would both have 45 wins and 96 standings points, but the Tigers would have the tiebreaker due to winning the season series.

The Tigers were hosting the Swift Current Broncos, who had been eliminated from playoff contention and had a record of 22 wins, 40 losses, six ties and three overtime losses going into that contest. The Wheat Kings traveled to Regina to face the Pats, who had a record of 11 wins, 49 losses, four ties and six overtime losses going into that encounter. The Pats were locked into finishing last in the entire WHL.

For their game with the Pats at the rink then known as the Agridome, the Wheat Kings started star rookie netminder Tyler Plante and dressed almost all their stars including Eric Fehr, Ryan Stone, Lance Monych, and Steven Later. Tim Konsorada was the main big name that didn’t play for the Wheat Kings that day.

The Tigers thought the chances the Wheat Kings would lose to the Pats were very slim and elected to healthy scratch a number of their top players against the Broncos to give them an extra day of rest leading to the WHL Playoffs. The scratches included Clarke MacArthur, Cam Barker, Derek Dorsett, Jarret Lukin and Cody Blanshan.

Medicine Hat had two star goalies in Kevin Nastiuk and Matt Keetley. However for this last regular season game, associate player call up Blaine Neufeld, who was in his 17-year-old season, saw his first ever WHL action making his first start net for the Tigers before a sellout crowd of 4,006 spectators at The Arena.

The clash between the Wheat Kings and Pats had an earlier start time. After the Tigers and Broncos completed warm-ups, word spread that the Pats had jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the second period over the Wheat Kings.

All of a sudden, it appeared the clash between the Tigers and Broncos wasn’t going to be a write off. Still, the Tigers at that point in time had to hit the ice with the roster they committed to.

Thankfully for the Tigers, they had good depth. Defenceman Kris Russell, who was playing in his sophomore 17-year-old season, scored his 26th goal of the campaign to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the first.

Utility player Kieran Block pushed the Tigers edge out to 2-0 at the 5:36 mark of the second. Before the second ended, right-winger Josh Aspenlind replied for the Broncos to trim the Tigers edge to 2-1 going into the second intermission.

During the second intermission, word came out the Pats had beaten the visiting Wheat Kings 5-3. First place in the Eastern Conference was officially up for grabs.

The Tigers controlled the third period of their clash with the Broncos holding a 14-1 edge in shots on goal to preserve the 2-1 victory to take first in the Eastern Conference. Neufeld made 16 saves to pick up his first WHL win.

Medicine Hat finished the regular season with 45 wins, 21 losses, four ties and two overtime losses. Brandon posted a mark of 45 wins, 21 losses, five ties and one overtime loss.

If anyone is penciling in for sure victories during the final week of the current WHL regular season, all one has to do is look back at the Tigers and Wheat Kings at the end of the 2004-05 campaign to remember there are no sure things.

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.

Banner battles are fun, Raiders fight for East Division title

Darren Steinke
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Banner battles are fun, Raiders fight for East Division title

By Darren Steinke
Stanks On Sports

Being in the chase for banners is fun and winning banners is even more fun.

The WHL regular season is heading down its final straightaway, and the Prince Albert Raiders are in a heated race for first place in the East Division. Entering play on Tuesday, the Raiders (33-20-5-1) hold down first place in the East with a one standings point lead over the Brandon Wheat Kings (32-19-4-3).

Sitting three points back of the Raiders and two points back of the Wheat Kings are the Saskatoon Blades (31-20-2-4). Both the Wheat Kings and the Blades have a game in hand on the Raiders.

Basically, the team that plays the hottest down the stretch will take the division title. The club that wins the East Division will also be the second seed in the WHL’s Eastern Conference for the first round of the playoffs.

That is a big prize considering the fact that the first place finisher will be the only East Division team with home ice advantage for the first round of the post-season. The top three teams in the Central Division sit ahead of the Raiders in the Medicine Hat Tigers (41-17-3-1), the Calgary Hitmen (39-15-3-3) and the Lethbridge Hurricanes (38-19-2-2).

The Hurricanes are third in the Central Division and are eight points up on the Raiders in the overall Eastern Conference standings. The odds of the Hurricanes or either the Hitmen and the Tigers hitting a tailspin to fall out of one of those top three spots is slim.

After the first round, the teams reseed via conference standings points, which means the Tigers, Hitmen and Hurricanes would all have home ice advantage over the Raiders if the WHL standings entering play Tuesday remain as they are.

With that noted, the Raiders, Wheat Kings and Blades aren’t struggling to earn a post-season berth. Entering play on Tuesday, the Raiders need just one more win of any type to officially be in the WHL Playoffs.

Still, it is pretty special any time you can win a division championship banner. The Raiders last earned a division banner for topping the East Division for the 2019-20 campaign, which was cut short due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. There were no WHL Playoffs in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

The Raiders also got a division banner among the many banners they claimed for topping the WHL’s overall standings in 2018-19. Of course, the Raiders went on to capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions in the 2019 post-season.

Before the 2018-19 campaign, the Raiders last division banner came from the 1998-99 campaign for topping the East Division. That Raiders team included a pair of 16-year-old rookies named Scott Hartnell and Riley Cote, Milan Kraft, Marc Brown, Cody Jensen, Garrett Prosofsky, Nick Schultz and netminder Evan Lindsay.

For any of the players that were on Raiders teams that topped the East Division, it is still cool to visit the Art Hauser Centre and see the banner you won hanging in the rafters. The same would go for players from the Wheat Kings and Blades for their respective home rinks.

Overall, the Raiders in the current campaign have had a memorable season. The obvious joys have come from watching 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand, Tomas Mrsic, Aiden Oiring, Lukas Dragicevic, Brayden Dube, Rilen Kovacevic, Niall Crocker, Justice Christensen and Daxon Rudolph all have great campaigns. Actually, you can go down the Raiders lineup and pretty much everyone has created memories including backup netminder Dimitri Fortin, Vojtech Vochvest, Matteo Fabrizi, Harrison Lodewyk, Riley Boychuk, Ty Meunier, Ethan Bibeau and Dayce Derkatch.

As far as the Raiders go, now is totally the time to live in the present. This Raiders team has been an enjoyable one to watch. Before you know it, the current campaign will be over, but the memories will remain.

Huskies host Mount Royal in Canada West men’s hockey final

While most in Prince Albert will be focusing their attention on a home-and-home series between the Raiders and Blades this weekend, there will be folks in “Hockey Town North” paying attention to the Canada West Conference men’s hockey championship series.

Of course, the Raiders host the Blades at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday, and those clubs go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. While those games are going on, Merlis Belsher Place on the University of Saskatchewan campus will be hosting the best-of-three Canada West Championship Series between the host Huskies and the Mount Royal University Cougars.

Games 1 and 2 of that series are slated for Friday and Saturday respectively at 7 p.m. on both nights at Merlis. If necessary, Game 3 is set for Sunday at 6 p.m. at Merlis. There will be Raiders followers that are likely hoping the Canada West final goes to a series deciding Game 3.

The Huskies topped the Canada West regular season standings with a 23-5 record and were rated second in the final U Sports Top 10 Rankings. They eliminated the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a Canada West semifinal series claiming a 4-2 victory in a series deciding Game 3 this past Sunday at Merlis before a standing room crowd of 2,605 spectators.

The U of S roster contains former Raiders players Landon Kosior, Keaton Sorensen, Rhett Rhinehart and Ty Prefontaine. Rhinehart and Prefontaine had short stays with the Raiders. Former Prince Albert Mintos under-18 AAA players Josh Pillar and Ashton Ferster are also with the Huskies along with Prince Albert minor hockey system product Ethan Regnier.

The Huskies are guided by head coach Brandin Cote, who was a Raiders assistant coach in 2016-17. Cote was named the Canada West coach of the year on Tuesday.

The Cougars finished second overall in the Canada West regular season with a 22-6 mark and were rated fourth in the final U Sports Top 10 Rankings. They took out the U of Alberta Golden Bears 4-2 in a series deciding Game 3 in the other Canada West semifinal series last Sunday in Calgary at the Flames Community Arena.

Mount Royal’s roster contains fourth-year forward Spencer Moe, who was one of the core players in the Raiders WHL title win in 2019. Moe played his entire WHL career with the Raiders from 2016 to 2021. The Cougars roster also contains third year defenceman Remy Aquilon, who played three seasons for the Raiders from 2019 to 2022.

Thanks to making the Canada West final, the Huskies and Cougars have advanced to the U Sports Championship Tournament – the University Cup. That event, which will be played in an elite-eight single-elimination format, runs from March 20 to 23 at TD Place in Ottawa, Ont.

Soyko pushes Pandas to Canada West final

Abby Soyko had the most memorable game of her university career to push the U of Alberta Pandas women’s hockey team to their Canada West final.

Taking on the Mount Royal University Cougars in a series deciding Game 3 of a Canada West semifinal last Sunday at the Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton, Alta., Soyko came up clutch, scoring twice and assisting on the overtime winner in a 3-2 Pandas victory. In overtime, the all-time leading scorer for the Prince Albert Northern Bears female under-18 AAA team put a drive on net, and the rebound of the third-year forward’s shot was buried home by linemate Natalie Kieser.

In the three game series with the Cougars, Soyko posted two goals, three assists and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. During the 2024-25 regular season, Soyko appeared in 18 games with the Pandas recording career highs in goals (10), assists (10) and plus minus (plus-13) in being named a second team Canada West all-star.

Game 1 of the Canada West final is set for Thursday, Game 2 is slated for Friday and if necessary, Game 3 will be held on Saturday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Games 1 and 2 are set for 7 p.m. local time, while Game 3 is scheduled for 5 p.m. local time.

The Pandas, who finished second overall in Canada West with a 24-3-0-1 mark and were rated third in the final U Sports Top 10 Rankings, travel to Vancouver to face the UNB Thunderbirds in a best-of-three Canada West Championship Series. The Thunderbirds topped Canada West with a 25-2-1 mark and were rated first in the final U Sports Top 10 Rankings. UBC’s roster contains fourth-year defender and Bears grad Kailee Peppler.

Both the Pandas and Thunderbirds have qualified for the U Sports Championship Tournament that will be played in an elite-eight, single-elimination format from March 20 to March 23 in Waterloo, Ont.

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.

Raiders’ grad Kosior leads P.A. connections that power Huskies

Darren Steinke
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Raiders’ grad Kosior leads P.A. connections that power Huskies

By Darren Steinke
Stanks On Sports

Landon Kosior and a number of other Prince Albert connections have put the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey Team on quest to capture Canada West Conference and U Sports national titles.

Last Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place on the University of Saskatchewan campus, the Huskies concluded their regular season downing the University of Manitoba Bisons 4-2. That win allowed the Huskies to improve to 23-5 and lock up first place in Canada West and home ice advantage through the conference playoffs. The last time the Huskies pulled that feat off was back in the 2018-19 campaign under now retired legendary head coach Dave Adolph.

U of S is also rated second in the U Sports Top 10 rankings.

The Huskies roster includes Kosior and Keaton Sorensen, who are grads of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders. U of S’s roster includes Rhett Rhinehart, who started his WHL career with the Raiders, and Ty Prefontaine, who played the first three games of his WHL career with the Raiders before playing most of his major junior career with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Josh Pillar and Ashton Ferster are grads from the Prince Albert Mintos under-18 AAA team who are skating with the Raiders. Prince Albert product Ethan Regnier came up through Prince Albert’s minor hockey system and found his way to the Huskies after playing in the WHL with Swift Current Broncos and Everett Silvertips.

Huskies third-year head coach Brandin Cote served as a Raiders assistant coach way back in the 2016-17 season.

Kosior has arguably had the biggest impact on the Huskies. He moved from being a high level offensive-defenceman with the Raiders to continuing that same role at U of S.

During his final two WHL campaigns from 2021 to 2023, Kosior played in 128 regular season games recording 35 goals and 73 assists for 108 points. After playing the first half of the 2023-24 season with the Iowa Heartliners, Kosior joined the Huskies for the second half of that campaign and posted four goals and five assists in his first 11 regular season contests with the U of S.

In the Huskies 2024-25 U Sports regular season that just wrapped up, Kosior appeared in all of the team’s 28 games recording four goals and 21 assists to go with a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department. The 22-year-old was Huskies third overall leading scorer and their top scoring blue-liner.

Sorensen is in his second full season with the Huskies. In the 2024-25 regular season, the 23-year-old forward appeared in 18 games posting five goals, six assists and a plus-11 rating. He had a big farewell season with the Raiders in 2022-23 posting 25 goals, 28 assists and a plus-five rating in 64 games.

Pillar, who had a spectacular final season with the Mintos in 2017-18, was plagued by health battles finishing up his WHL career with the Kamloops Blazers and Saskatoon Blades. In his second season with the Huskies, the 23-year-old played in all 28 regular season games with the U of S side this past regular season, which had to be seen as a huge accomplishment.

He recorded seven goals, 17 assists and a plus-seven rating. Pillar was the fourth leading scorer for the Huskies.

Rhinehart, who played 33 games with the Raiders from 2016 to 2018, appeared in 22 regular season games for the Huskies in this past regular season picking up 11 assists. Prefontaine, who played three games for the Raiders in 2015-16, suited up in 24 regular season games for the Huskies recording five goals, three assists and a plus-19 rating.

Ferster, who finished up with the Mintos in 2019-20, appeared in 21 games with the Huskies as a U Sports rookie putting up two goals, nine assists and a plus-14 rating. Regnier came to the Huskies after spending two seasons from 2021 to 2023 with the Mount Royal University Cougars. With the Huskies in 2024-25, he skated in 21 games posting two goals, nine assists and a plus-five rating.

Cote played his entire WHL career from 1996 to 2002 as a centre with the Spokane Chiefs. He turned to coaching once his playing days were wrapped up. In 2016-17, he got to work with a number of young Raiders players who would make up the core of the club’s WHL championship team in 2018-19.

After working as an assistant coach with the Broncos, Cote joined the Huskies as an associate coach on the bench with Mike Babcock in the 2021-22 campaign, when Babcock worked his one season as Huskies head coach. Cote, who is now 43-years-old, took over the head coaching duties the next season.

Heading into the 2025 post-season, the Huskies are looking to make the Canada West Championship Series for the first since last winning the conference title in the 2019-2020 campaign in what was Adolph’s final season as head coach. They have a bye to a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series to be played February 28 to March 2 at Merlis Belsher Place.

The Huskies will face the winner of a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series between the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (18-8-0-2) and the MacEwan University Griffins (10-15-2-1) to be played this Friday to Sunday in Vancouver.

During Huskies hockey playoff runs and especially if they host the conference final, Merlis Belsher Place is usually jam packed. With the Prince Albert connections on the Huskies, there will be a few folks in “Hockey Town North” keeping tabs on the Huskies run.

Raiders Christensen hits big milestone with 20th goal

Justice Christensen has gone to a place no Raiders defenceman has gone for some time.

On Monday, the Raiders 19-year-old captain recorded two goals, two assists and a plus-four rating in an 8-2 victory over the Warriors in Moose Jaw. Christensen’s second tally of the night also marked the first time he has scored 20 goals in one WHL regular season. Entering play on Tuesday, Christensen sat tied with Bryce Pickford of the Medicine Hat Tigers for most goals by a defenceman this season at 20.

Christensen also became the first Raiders defenceman to score 20-or-more goals in one season since Jesse Lees netted 23 goals in the 2015-16 campaign. Lees also recorded 35 assists to finish with 58 points to go with a plus-nine rating in 71 regular season contests.

To show how hard it is for a defenceman to record 20 or more goals in one regular season, two of the best to ever put up points in the back end with the Raiders in Manny Viveiros and Josh Morrissey each only hit the 20-goal plateau once.

In his final campaign with the Raiders in 1985-86, Viveiros recorded 22 goals and 70 assists for 92 points playing 57 regular season contests for the Raiders. Viveiros, who was the Raiders captain that season, missed time with the Raiders playing for Canada’s world junior team and suiting up for four games with the NHL’s Minnesota North Stars that season.

As far as the Raiders history in the WHL goes, Viveiros is the club’s third all-time leading scorer recording 321 points on 60 goals and 261 assists playing 251 regular season games from 1982 to 1986.

As captain of the Raiders in the 2013-14 campaign, Morrissey recorded 28 goals, 45 assists and a plus-six rating in 59 regular season games with the club. Morrissey missed time due to playing for Canada at world juniors that season.

For Christensen, the most impressive part of his 20-goal campaign is that 19 of his tallies have come even strength. Entering play on Tuesday, Christensen also had 20 assists and a plus-19 rating appearing in all of the Raiders 53 games to that point in time.

From the back end, Christensen is having a rare special individual season for the Raiders, and he still has lots of time to keep building on his goal total.

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.

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