Hay, Oil Kings shutout Raiders

Nathan Reiter
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Hay, Oil Kings shutout Raiders

The Prince Albert Raiders took their first home loss of the season, falling to the Edmonton Oil Kings 3-0 at the Art Hauser Centre on Tuesday night.

Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says he liked the way the Raiders started the game, but couldn’t 

“I thought our first three or four minutes were really good. We weren’t able to put two or three passes together. There were times when we just turned the puck over. We have to have that skill element to our game, we have to make sure we are moving pucks quickly. It all starts off our half wall and being able to move pucks more efficiently.”

Edmonton would open the scoring as Czech import Adam Jecho would roof a rebound past Raider netminder Chase Coward for his third goal of the season at the 9:25 mark of the first period. Nathan Pilling and Aiden Litke assisted on the play.

Jecho was selected with the 3rd overall pick in the 2023 CHL Import Draft by Edmonton.

John Szabo would double the lead for the Oil Kings at the 13:57 mark. The Lethbridge, Alberta product would go bar down with a wrist shot off of an odd man rush for his 2nd goal of the season. Marshall Finnie would provide the only assist on the play.

For the first time this season, there would be extracurricular activities at the Art Hauser as Terrell Goldsmith would drop the mitts with Oil Kings forward Riley Kovacevic providing some energy for the Raider faithful in attendance. 

Edmonton outshot the Raiders 12-7 in the opening twenty minutes.

Anaheim Ducks prospect Vojtech Port would fire a one timer on the power play past Coward to make the Edmonton lead 3-0 at the 16:43 mark of the second period. Jecho and Litke picked up their second points of the night with assists on the play.

Kolby Hay earned his first shutout of the season, stopping all 33 shots he faced. Chase Coward made 29 saves for Prince Albert

The Raiders return to action on Friday night when they travel to Red Deer to take on old friend Carson Latimer and the Red Deer Rebels. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

sports@paherald.sk.ca

Marauders fall to North Battleford

Nathan Reiter
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Marauders fall to North Battleford

It was a step in the right direction for the St. Mary Marauders, even if the result on the scoreboard wasn’t what they wanted in a 21-13 loss to the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Vikings last Thursday in North Battleford.

Marauder head coach Curt Hundeby says he saw improvement in several areas for St. Mary.

“I feel like we played a lot better than we did the previous week. We cleaned up a lot of mistakes have made, especially offensively and defensively. Special teams, we didn’t we weren’t quite as sharp as we were the previous week, but we certainly made some major strides in the other two areas.”

North Battleford would score the lone touchdown in the first quarter as Isaac Neufeld would find Kade Lehman for a 17-yard touchdown pass to put the Vikings up early.

That would be all the scoring in the first half for either team. St. Mary would even the score in the third quarter with a five-yard run from Cameron Neudorf.

The Vikings would retake the lead later in the third quarter as Neufeld would find Lehman for a second passing touchdown, this time from seven yards out. They would fail to add an extra point or two point conversion.

Levi Koenig would find paydirt for the Vikings to start out the fourth quarter from three yards out to extend the lead to 21-7 after a successful two-point conversion.

St. Mary would add another score from Neudorf, with a three-yard rushing touchdown, but that would be as close as the Marauders would get.

With the Marauders being within a single score for a majority of the evening, Hundeby says it provided a great test for the Marauders playing in a close game.

“We’ve experienced kind of what it’s like to play a full game of football in that sense where every play really does matter coming right down to the wire. We’ve got to turn those full games into victories now. The big thing is to turn the corner and not make some of those silly mistakes or silly penalties that keeps drives alive for them.”

The Marauder defense would hold the Vikings to a total of 302 yards of net offense, with 154 on the ground and 148 in the air.

“Our defense did a really good job. I thought our linebackers played downhill. I thought our DBs for the most part, did a pretty good job of covering. They threw a couple of deep balls that we had guys in the right spot. Their offensive line is a big strong grip guys and we held our own pretty well in the run game. Our guys played a lot a lot better, a lot sharper, a lot more aggressive this week than in the previous. So I’m very happy with the growth.”

The Marauders will travel this coming Thursday to take on the Martensville Royals with a 4 p.m. kickoff.

Hundeby says he thinks the Marauders stack up well with Martensville on paper.

“A big thing is going to be matchups. They’ve got a couple of really strong receivers we’ve got to make sure we take care of. I think we match up pretty well with them on the line of scrimmage, especially our defensive line versus their offensive line.”

sports@paherald.sk.ca

PA’s Tanner Howe named captain of the Regina Pats

Nathan Reiter
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PA’s Tanner Howe named captain of the Regina Pats

A local Prince Albert product will look to fill a role left behind by one of the highest profile junior hockey players in history.

The Regina Pats named Tanner Howe as the 82nd captain in franchise history late last month. Howe takes over the “C” from Connor Bedard, who was selected first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and is expected to make the team as an 18-year-old.

Howe says he is excited to be the captain of the Pats for this upcoming season.

“I was super honored (and) so grateful to be wearing the C this year. If you look at the organization and all the guys that have already this year for this team, I mean, last year (was) Connor Bedard. For me to get (it) this year, I was so grateful for it.”

Last season, Bedard posted 143 points in 57 games for Regina and generated a buzz around the Pats, selling out buildings across the league wherever the team played from B.C. to Prince Albert.

Howe says he does feel some pressure replacing a player of Bedard’s caliber but will not try to match him.

“I think there’s pressure. You’re obviously not going to be Connor Bedard. There’s pressure in different situations and just controlling that.”

Howe, who does not turn 18 until Nov. 28, becomes the third player to ever be named the captain of the Pats at age 17, joining the previously mentioned Bedard and Barret Jackman.

“With Tanner, he is a fierce competitor, a workhorse, and off-season “rink rat”.” Regina Pats Head Coach Brad Herauf said in a press release. “Tanner will lead by example, always giving his teammates, coaches and the organization, his best effort and utmost respect. We feel that what Tanner does on and off the ice, is a ‘Pats standard’ and one that we want all current and future Regina Pats players to model themselves after. This will be a strong leadership group with Parker (Berge) and Braxton (Whitehead) supporting Tanner, along with our veteran core.”

So far this season, Howe and the Pats have gotten out to a 2-2-1-0 start in five games. Regina has lost three of their top four scorers from last year’s team with Bedard, Alexander Suzdalev and Stanislav Svozil all heading off to the professional hockey ranks.

Howe finished third on the Pats in scoring last season with 85 points in 67 games. He says Regina will still be a competitive team this year despite losing those three key players.

“I think this year we are a hard-working team. We’ll go to war every night, doesn’t matter the opponent. I think this year we just got to grind a little more to score more goals. We don’t have those guys like (Alexander) Suzdalev, (Stanislav) Svozil and Connor Bedard to score the goals for us. I think we just got to work as one unit and I think we’ll be good after that.”

Because of how late his birthday falls, Howe was not eligible for the NHL Entry Draft last season. Some early projections have Howe tabbed to be a late first round selection in the upcoming 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

Howe says he isn’t changing the way he plays in his first season of draft eligibility.

“I don’t think it changes that much. There’s a little more pressure on me to meet those expectations of myself and meet my goals. I don’t look at it too much, I just focus on myself and focus on the team and how we do.”

sports@paherald.sk.ca

Bigger than hockey: Northern Bears raise more then $23,000 with ‘Team Bruce’ jerseys during home opener

Nathan Reiter
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Bigger than hockey: Northern Bears raise more then $23,000 with ‘Team Bruce’ jerseys during home opener

The Prince Albert Northern Bears kicked off their 2023-24 season on Saturday night, but there was a movement bigger than hockey in the Art Hauser Centre.

The Bears were wearing special “Team Bruce” jerseys in honor of former Bears manager Bruce Vance that were auctioned off to raise funds for the Victoria Hospital Foundation and the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan. Combined with other fundraising avenues such as proceeds from the game’s 50/50 draw, online donations and some donations being matched by the Broda Group and Signature Developments a grand total of $23,279.38 was raised.

Vance and his family were in attendance with Bruce performing the ceremonial face-off prior to the start of the game between the Bears and Weyburn.

Vance says the evening was extremely touching for himself and his family.

(I’m) certainly very proud of the team Bruce effort.  It’s amazing the support that the community has showed and the parents of the Bears who stepped up and bought their daughters jerseys and the overall camaraderie of the game Saturday night. It was a very special moment for me and my family and certainly something that we’ll never forget.”

This is not the first time that the Northern Bears organization has recognized Vance. During his tenure as a manager with the team, Vance was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2013. Members of the Bears organization made Team Bruce t-shirts to raise awareness and show support for Bruce during his battle with the disease.

During the game on Saturday, Vance says he ran into two Northern Bear alumni (Caitlyn Welder and Aleece Anderson) who were both wearing their original Team Bruce t-shirts.

“It’s very special. A couple of girls were at the game on Saturday with those t shirts on. So, the respect I have for the organization is immense. They do a great job in the community and the girls are all top-notch athletes and really good kids on top of that. We’ve got fond memories of our time with the Northern Bears when my wife, Liane and I were co-managers. We just enhanced those memories on Saturday.”

It’s been a lengthy battle for Vance with the disease over the past decade. At one point in time, Vance was declared to be free of the disease. Vance says he has undergone 53 rounds of chemotherapy and 20 radiation treatments.

“It’s been two parts. Back in late 2013 is when I was diagnosed and had emergency surgery, I had radiation and chemotherapy. In the summer of 2014, I was declared no evidence of disease. I was good right up until 2020 when the cancer came back, and it came back as stage four and terminal.”

“I underwent again a number of chemotherapy and radiation treatments and in June of this year, I made the decision that was very difficult on my body. I chose to discontinue the chemo at that time. We’re just trying some other methods of ways to slow down the cancer right now, and I just take it day-by-day.”

The Team Bruce jerseys worn by the Northern Bears were donated by the Saskatchewan Government Employees Union (SGEU).

sports@paherald.sk.ca

Bears fall to Gold Wings to end weekend series

Nathan Reiter
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0
Bears fall to Gold Wings to end weekend series

For the second consecutive day, the Prince Albert Northern Bears fell in a one goal decision on home ice, taking a 3-2 loss to the Weyburn Gold Wings on Sunday afternoon at the Art Hauser Centre.

Bears head coach Steve Young said there were plenty of positives for the team throughout the weekend, but sees room for improvement.

“I thought we started off very strong and got pucks to the net and had some momentum. They went down and scored a goal and I thought our girls got a bit disheartened by that. When I look at the weekend as a whole, we had a lot of good things but at the same time, there are things that we will be able to improve to make our team stronger for the next two games.”

The Bears would fall behind early, surrendering two first period goals to Weyburn. The first came short handed off the tape of Kiah Shields at the 14:40 mark to give the visitors a 1-0 led. Nola Exner assisted on the play. 

Just over two minutes later, Abigail Manz would double the lead for Weyburn. Brooklyn Siemens and Rori Dickie assisted on the play.

A short handed tally would give the Gold Wings a 3-0 advantage at the 6:07 mark of the second period off the tape of Julia Durr, unassisted.

Prince Albert would break the seal on the same power play as Addison Davidge recorded her first goal at the U18 AAA level just over thirty seconds later. Bree Purcell provided the only assist.

“It means a lot to get the season started off strong.” Davidsge said post-game. “In the second game to get my first point and start the season off right.”

Young said Davidge impressed as a 15 year-old in her first taste at the U18 AAA level.

“I thought both of her games were good. She’s a first year player in the league, she plays with confidence. The type of style she plays, she is going to be a good player in this league.”

The Bears would pull within one in the dying seconds as Marly Dumanski would find twine for the first time this season with just 7.5 seconds left to go. Tristyn Endicott and Addison Davidge provided assists on the play.

The Bears will return to action on Oct. 21 when they travel to Regina to take on the defending league champion Regina Rebels for a weekend series. Puck drops at 2:30 p.m.

Bears fall in home opener to Weyburn

Nathan Reiter
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0
Bears fall in home opener to Weyburn

The Prince Albert Northern Bears couldn’t find their way in the win column in their home opener falling 5-4 to the Weyburn Gold Wings in overtime.

Head coach Steve Young says he thought the Bears improved throughout the game.

“I thought as the game went on, we got stronger in the way we want to play. I thought we had a lot of chances as the game went on and couldn’t capitalize on them. A lot of good things tonight but you want to make sure you are better for tomorrow’s game.”

There was a movement bigger than hockey in the building on Saturday night as the Bears wore special “Team Bruce” uniforms in honor of former team manager Bruce Vance who is fighting a terminal stage four colon cancer diagnosis.

Money raised from a jersey auction, donations, a jersey raffle and the 50/50 draw were donated to both the Victoria Hospital Foundation and the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan. An exact amount of the money raised was not available as of press time.

Young says it was very special for the Bears to honor Vance, who had previously served as a manager for the team from 2011-2015.

“It was very special. I’ve been fortunate to know Bruce (Vance) for a long time and he is a very special man in the community and in hockey. To honor someone like him is very special and I’m glad there was a good turnout to do so.”

Ayla Klus would open the scoring for the Gold Wings at the 10:17 mark of the first period. Julia Durr and Nola Exner provided helpers on the play.

Captain Julia Cey and the Northern Bear power play would get the team on the board with her first goal of the season at the 9:24 mark. Marly Dumanski and Mikiya Anderson assisted on the goal.

Jade Olszewski would score a pair of goals in the second period for Weyburn to give the Gold Wings a 3-1 lead, one at even strength at 13:37 and the other on the power play at the 5:00 mark. 

Prince Albert would respond in the final minute of the second period as Elizabeth Udell would strike on the power play to cut the deficit to one after forty minutes. Tristyn Endicott and Emery Rogers assisted on the play. 

The Bears would erase the deficit less than two minutes into the third period as Bree Purcell would score her first goal at the U18 AAA level to knot the score at 3-3. Emery Rogers picked up her second helper of the game on the play.

A power play goal from Rori Dickie would give Weyburn a 4-3 at the 10:03 mark. Abigail Manz had the lone assist on the play.

Julia Cey would provide her second power play goal of the night at the 6:51 mark to draw the Bears even at 4-4. Anderson and Rogers assisted on the goal.

After a four-on-four overtime solved nothing, the Bears and Gold Wings would play a five minute three-on-three frame to decide a winner

A Prince Albert turnover at their own blue line would give 17-year-old Hadley Ravenko a breakaway opportunity and she would make no mistake, icing the winner for the Gold Wings.

Nikita Krayetski made 27 saves in the net for the Bears in her U18 AAA debut.

“I thought she was okay.” Young said about Krayetski’s debut.  “A situation arose this week where Annika (Neufeldt) couldn’t go so she knew she was going to be our starter. I think in her game tonight, she probably wanted one back but she made a couple saves that counteracts that. We’re happy for her and she has got to be ready tomorrow.””

 Hailey Sibbald stopped 43 of 47 shots in net for Weyburn

The two teams return to action on Sunday afternoon at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drops at 1:30 p.m.

sports@paherald.sk.ca

Raiders survive late Pat surge to capture second victory of season

Nathan Reiter
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Raiders survive late Pat surge to capture second victory of season

It wasn’t the prettiest game that the Prince Albert Raiders or Regina Pats will play this season, but the Raiders took home two points with a 4-3 on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre.

Regina would run into penalty trouble early in the first period as Ty Plaisier would be sent off for high sticking just 3:03 in. A mere two seconds after the Pats killed off the minor, the Raiders would go back to the power play as Brayden Barnett would be sent off for boarding.

Prince Albert was able to convert on their second man advantage as Ryder Ritchie would strike for his second of the season at the 5:41 mark. Aiden Oiring and Niall Crocker provided the helpers on the play.

“We needed it.” Truitt said about the Raider special teams during his post-game media availability. “They got to be the difference. Our power play got going which gave us the edge early on. Our penalty kill, we got some big saves, Coward on the back door shot by Howe on their power play. That was huge. To get two (goals) here, thank goodness since we only won by one.”

Regina would even up the score courtesy of Corbin Vaughan’s first WHL goal coming on a wraparound at the 12:55 mark. The goal was unassisted.

The Raiders would get a 4-on-3 opportunity later in the frame and Niall Crocker would be struck in the body by a Justice Christensen shot, but the the puck would fall near his feet and the six-foot-four power forward would collect the puck and put it past Ewan Huet to give the Raiders the lead at the 18:41 mark of the first period. Sloan Stanick also picked up a helper on the play.

Shots favored the Raiders 13-7 after twenty minutes 

The lone goal in the second period would double the lead for the Prince Albert Raiders. Brayden Dube would find twine with a wrist shot through traffic for his first goal of the season at the 12:09 mark. The tally was unassisted.

An early trend with the Prince Albert Raiders so far this season has been strong third periods. That would continue Friday as the Raiders would pepper Ewan Huet and outshot Regina 

Sloan Stanick would provide his first goal of the season at the 11:04 of the third period after being fed by Ryder Ritchie on a 2-on-1 break. Justice Christensen would provide the other assist on the play.

Cole Temple would bring the Pats within two with his second goal of the campaign at the 17:11 mark of the third period.. Sam Oremba and Jaxsin Vaughan would assist on the play. 

Just a minute later, Prince Albert’s Tanner Howe would bring the Pats within single goal with his second of the year. Tye Spencer and Layton Feist would draw assists on the play.

The game would come down to the wire as Brayden Barnett would be sprung on a breakaway in the dying seconds, but he could not solve Chase Coward to maintain the slim one goal lead and game for Prince Albert. 

Coward said he didn’t have too much time to think on the Barnett breakaway.

“When I play, I just play. I don’t really think too much. It’s part of the game, you got to come up with key saves at key times. I feel like I did that tonight.”

Truitt said Coward stepped up in big spots for the Raiders throughout the night.

“Coward comes up with a big save in a situation that should’ve never happened off of an offensive zone faceoff and they split us for a breakaway. We got to take another step up and not give up those types of situations but Coward saved the day for us in the end.”

It was the first win for Coward in a Raider uniform after being acquired in an offseason trade with the Red Deer Rebels. 

“It’s amazing, to do it in front of a pretty full Art Hauser is pretty special.” Coward said. “I got to give credit to the boys coming up with some huge blocks and huge kills for me. It’s not just my win, but it’s the teams win.”

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday night when they welcome the Edmonton Oil Kings to the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

Around The WHL

Connor Hvidston scored twice as the Swift Current Broncos picked up their first win of the season over the Calgary Hitmen 3-0.

Cayden Lindstrom scored twice as the Medicine Hat Tigers stayed perfect with a 4-2 win over the Red Deer Rebels.

Terik Parascak recorded a hat trick as the Prince George Cougars took down the Victoria Royals 11-2. Prince Albert’s Jayden Kraus had 15 saves in relief of Braden Holt.

sports@paherald.sk.ca

Crusaders fall to BJM

Nathan Reiter
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0
Crusaders fall to BJM

The Carlton Crusaders football team couldn’t keep up with the BJM Saints in the second half as they fell 38-19 in an exhibition game at Max Clunie Field on Thursday night.

Crusader head coach Lindsay Strachan says Carlton played a strong opponent in BJM.

“We had a good challenge tonight. That’s a polished, physical team. We knew we were going to get a good run tonight and had some good flashes and we just need to be a little bit more consistent at times. Credit to them, that’s a good football team on both sides of the ball.”

BJM would open the scoring thanks to a 20-yard rushing touchdown from Brody Komarnicki to take an early 7-0 lead.

The Crusaders would respond just three minutes later as quarterback Sullivan Smith-Windsor would find Elias Lambie for a 35-yard touchdown to even the score at 7-7 after the first quarter.

BJM would take the lead with a 23-yard field goal to start the second quarter. The Saints would expand their lead to 10 less than a minute later as Christopher Coleman would intercept Smith-Windsor and take it back 45 yards to the end zone for a pick six.

Carlton would get back within one score with a field goal before halftime.

The Crusaders would tie the game at 17 on their first drive of the second half as Smith-Windsor would find Zane Litzenberger for an 11-yard score.

BJM would retake the lead thanks to a 32-yard rushing touchdown from Kyren Houmphanh.

BJM would pull away in the fourth quarter scoring a pair of touchdowns, while Carlton could only muster a safety in the dying seconds.

The turnover battle was not kind to Carlton as the Crusaders turned the ball over four times in the contest. Strachan says the Crusaders needed to gain more yardage on first down to open up their playbook.

“We got behind the chains a little bit too much and you’re forcing at times in certain situations. When that’s the case, it’s never a good position to be as an offense. Being in better position after first down, that sets us up as an offense and opens the playbook up. When it’s second and long all day, the defense can pin their ears back and come after you and options are a little more limited. We just need to be in a better space after first down.”

Although the game was only an exhibition contest, Strachan says the Crusaders had plenty of learning opportunities throughout the night.

“Number one is the level of physicality. We got banged up a little bit tonight and that really hasn’t been the case all season long. Just the understanding of that and the speed that the better teams are playing at. At times, I thought we were taking it to them, and we just got to do it more consistently.”

The Crusaders return to action Friday, October 6 when they take on Lloydminster Comprehensive at Max Clunie Field. Kick off is at 6:30 p.m.

sports@paherald.sk.ca

Stryker Zablocki commits to Northeastern University, named to Team Sask U18 team

Nathan Reiter
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Stryker Zablocki commits to Northeastern University, named to Team Sask U18 team

It’s another step in the journey for Prince Albert’s Stryker Zablocki as she announced her commitment to Northeastern University, an NCAA Division 1 program in Boston, Massachusetts. She was also named to team Saskatchewan for the Female U18 National Championships in Dawson Creek, BC this coming November.

Zablocki says Northeastern felt like a natural fit to her and she is excited about the commitment.

“First, the great coaches were a big attraction for me and the school in itself. Everything was great about it. I think that’s just why I made that decision, because everything felt so right about it.”

Zablocki was recruited heavily and had been contacted by over a dozen schools since she was allowed to be contacted by NCAA programs on June 15 earlier this year.

Looking back on the recruiting process, Zablocki says she enjoyed the opportunity to speak with many different programs but said the process wasn’t without any stress.

“It was super busy, but it was also really fun. Getting to know different schools and coaches was super fun. I think that for me, the best part of it was just experiencing a different thing that I hadn’t experienced before, and that’s just talking to everybody. Then at the end of the process, when it came down to the decision, there were some super hard decisions that I had to make that were super stressful. Once I got through it, it was relieving and now it’s just excitement.”

Zablocki isn’t the first hockey player from Prince Albert to commit to the Northeastern Huskies program. Brooke Hobson played parts of five seasons for the program and was drafted by New York in the PWHL draft.

Now that the recruiting program has come to a close, Zablocki says she is excited to have a plan to play hockey following her graduation from high school.

“It’s super relieving and to know that I have a plan after high school hockey to go right to Northeastern is super nice for me and I really like that.”

Her commitment to Northeastern is not the only major news for Zablocki. She was also named to Team Saskatchewan for the upcoming U18 Women’s National Championship in Dawson Creek, BC from Nov. 5-11.

Zablocki says she is looking forward to representing her province on the national stage and to play alongside girls she normally plays against during the regular season.

“It’s another team that I’m super grateful and lucky to play on and I love all the girls on the team and it’s going to be a fun experience because we get to play with each other. I get to play with girls I don’t get to play with on my club team and I have super good friends that I don’t get to see very often, that I get to spend a whole week with in Dawson Creek.”

“It’s cool being able to play on each other’s lines and get chemistry going with other girls that you don’t normally play with. It’s also really fun, the experience is super amazing.”

Zablocki has only suited up in one regular season game with the Regina Rebels in the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League (SFU18AAAHL) so far, but she posted five goals in the Rebels 6-1 victory over the Swift Current Wildcats on Wednesday night.

sports@paherald.sk.ca

Raider comeback falls short in loss to Wheat Kings

Nathan Reiter
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0
Raider comeback falls short in loss to Wheat Kings

The Prince Albert Raiders couldn’t complete a comeback on the road as they fell 4-3 to the Brandon Wheat Kings at Westoba Place on Wednesday night.

Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says he thought Prince Albert had several opportunities to score more than they did.

“I thought we had enough chances to win the game. In the first period, I thought we had plenty and we could’ve had the lead. In the third period, we generated enough but we couldn’t find the back of the net. In the six-on-five, we had some troubles entering the zone and couldn’t get pucks through enough. From my standpoint, we had enough chances to win but we gave up some chances they capitalized on.”

It would be a back and forth first period with both teams trading goals.

Nolan Flamand would open the scoring for the Wheat Kings with his third goal of the campaign coming just 3:30 into the contest. Caleb Hadland picked up a helper.

Grady Martin would respond for Prince Albert just over two minutes later with his first goal of the season. Krzysztof Macias and Owen Boucher would pick up helpers on the play.

Roger McQueen would restore the Brandon lead with his third goal of the season at the 13:44 mark of the first period. Rylen Roersma and Dominik Petr assisted on the play.

Carter Klippenstein would extend the Wheat King lead to two at the 5:28 mark of the second period.  Brett Hyland and Anthony Wilson assisted on the play.

Less than two minutes later, McQueen would add his second of the night at the 7:04 mark. Roersma and Petr assisted on the play. 

Truitt says the Raiders didn’t play strong defensively to start the second period.

“We didn’t score on a power play and that could’ve been a momentum builder. There were some breakdowns where guys were caught puck watching, I thought that we got beat wide a few times. In our own zone, we didn’t defend very well. We gave them too many quality looks and they capitalized on it. We were all hungry for the offense, but we got to make sure we don’t have those big breakdowns.”

The Raiders would respond at the 16:30 mark as Kryzysztof Macias and Ryder Ritchie would connect on a nifty passing play for Macias’ second goal of the campaign to cut the Wheat King lead to 4-3.

In the third period, Oli Chenier would bring the Raiders within one at the 8:08 mark of the third period with his first career WHL goal. Easton Kovacs and Grady Martin assisted on the play.

“(It’s) pretty cool for him.” Truitt said about Chenier’s first WHL goal in his home province. “The kids have played well. Moroz, Kubiesa and Chenier have done a real good job for us. They’ve provided some energy and some simplicity to the game which is exactly what they need to in their first year in the league. They’re not playing an overcomplicated game and they’re getting opportunities because of that.”

The Raiders return to action on Friday night when they welcome PA product Tanner Howe and the Regina Pats to the Art Hauser. Truitt says the Raiders need to keep the game simple to find their way back into the win column.

“Regina’s a tough, smothering team. They don’t give you a lot, they’re structured and they work hard and can pounce on you. They play a very good team game. We got to break that by making simple plays and not creating turnovers and headaches for ourselves. For us to do that, we need the energy. We need to get back to the win column right away and feel good about our game right now.”

Puck drops at 7 p.m. 

Around The WHL

In the only other game in the WHL on Wednesday night, the Moose Jaw Warriors picked up their first win of the campaign, downing the Regina Pats 4-2 at the Brandt Centre. Tanner Howe had a goal and an assist in the game for the Pats.

sports@paherald.sk.ca

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