Darren Steinke
Stanks On Sports
The Prince Albert Raiders encompass the best of “Hockey Town North.”
They are the team of Mike Modano, Dave Manson and as seen by the Raiders faithful, the forever CHL MVP Dan Hodgson. They are the franchise where honour still matters.
The Raiders of today have gotten out to a 9-0-2 start in the current WHL regular season, and they sit in the top four overall in the WHL entering play on Tuesday. They are also rated eighth overall in the CHL’s Top 10 rankings that were released on Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, 17-year-old star defenceman Daxon Rudolph was named to Team CHL for the CHL USA Prospects Challenge, which runs November 25 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary and November 26 at Lethbridge’s VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Actually when you sit back and reflect, it is pretty cool Prince Albert has been home to the Raiders since they came into existence back in 1971.
When Terry Simpson first became the Raiders head coach back on November 9, 1972, he had the simple goal of just creating a hard-working hockey team. When you talk to Simpson, he will modestly say his teams were that – no more and no less.
Over the decades, the Raiders when they are truly at their best stand for being more than a hockey team. In the simplest terms, they above all are known for their honour and ability to do the right things on the ice and off it when in the community. The team has a family dynamic that includes the City of Prince Albert helping it gain the moniker “Hockey Town North” thought up by late long time Raiders business executive and community icon Bruce Vance.
For style of play, they can play the run and gun game, if opponents want to run and gun. If opponents want to get down in the trenches, they can get down in the trenches. If opponents want to have a flat out brawl, the Raiders can do that too.
Those three lines regarding style of play I remember being proudly told to me by Dave Manson about the 1984-85 team that won the WHL title and captured the Memorial Cup as CHL champions. It is a style of play that extends through the history of the Raiders.
The Raiders biggest characteristic that shines out the most is their heart. The most recent example was seen this past Friday at the Art Hauser Centre, when the Raiders honoured their director of ticketing, community relations and accounting as well as team billet mom Kim Page.
Page has been battling breast cancer for a year. Her husband and Raiders billet dad, Roger, still has the uplifting video of Kim ringing the bell to show she had beaten cancer proudly on her Platform X account on April 2.
The Raiders honoured Kim on Friday as part of their Cancer Awareness game. She came to centre ice of the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre to drop the puck for the ceremonial faceoff with daughters Brooklyn and Cailin.
Her current billet sons Oli Chenier and Evan Smith took the ceremonial faceoff. Messages were also shared from former billet sons Carson Latimer, Aliaksei Protas and Max Hildebrand. The Raiders wore special jerseys for that night, and once again long time business manager Michael Scissons knocked it out of the park with those jersey designs.
Behind the scenes, Kim and Roger have carved their niche in being an important part of the Raiders family. A lot of that comes from those two just being themselves.
When you arrive at the Hauser, it feels like it is impossible not to run into one or both of them. They are always happy to see you and seem to enjoy welcoming you to the game. Even if you are having a bad day, you feel welcomed and are happy you decided to go to the Raiders hockey game that night when you run into one or both of them.
From the video tributes from Latimer, Protas and Hildebrand, you get the vibe that Kim and Roger are the cool billet parents. You also got that vibe when Roger talks about Mario Kart games on his Platform X account. The most memorable are likely the ones Roger had with Protas.
Kim also gets beyond full marks for putting up with the noise from those Mario Kart clashes and the movie nights Hildebrand talked about. These types of heartwarming moments and upbeat vibes are a regular occurrence with the Raiders.
Because of everything you see and all the intangibles, the Raiders value system seemingly extends to the other sports teams in Prince Albert, athletes and community as a whole. That is true for those from outside the city looking in. One of the more recent examples came on November 9, 2024 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, when the Carlton Comprehensive High School Crusaders won the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association’s 5A championship game over the host Bishop James Mahoney High School Saints.
With 72 seconds remaining in that contest, Crusaders star quarterback Sullivan Smith-Windsor hit standout receiver Zane Litzenberger on a five-yard slant pass for a touchdown to give the Carlton side a 35-34 victory. Smith-Windsor and Litzenberger had mind blowing outstanding performances in that contest. While Smith-Windsor and Litzerberger are Crusaders, there was a notion they “Raidered” that game with their performance.
Same went with celebrations that occurred on the field with the Crusaders and the massive amount of fans that came from Prince Albert to support them. The celebration felt unbelievably similar to the on ice celebration the Raiders had at the Hauser after they won the WHL title. Looking at the scene, it felt so “Raiders” and so Prince Albert.
If you go and live somewhere else and it becomes known you are from Prince Albert, you kind of get typecast that you have the Raiders mindset and values, even if you were never a part of the hockey team. If a person who used to live in Prince Albert does something exceptional living in another community, that Prince Albert product is dubbed as being such a “Raider” in that moment.
Abby Soyko scores overtime goals in two straight nights on a toe drag snapshot that goes top corner to allow the University of Alberta Pandas Women’s Hockey team to win the Canada West Conference title. While she played for the Prince Albert Northern Bears becoming their leading scorer, it felt like she was a “Raider” in those clutch times with the Pandas. With her overall style of play, she does get mentioned as being a “Raider.”
Brothers Ryan and Scott Adamko, who are both graduates of the Crusaders football team, go out and make big plays on the defensive line for the CJFL’s storied and historic Saskatoon Hilltops. Having come from Prince Albert, it seemed that was expected, because that is where the Raiders are from.
Gage Grassick goes off for a game-high 35 points and collects seven assists and three steals helping the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Basketball Team take the U Sports title game 85-66 over the Carleton University Ravens. She captured honours as the tournament MVP. Being from Prince Albert, it was like she “Raidered” everything in that moment even though she is a basketball player.
Raiders alum and current star of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers Leon Draisaitl is remembered more for his two full seasons in Prince Albert than his short stay with the Kelowna Rockets before staying in the NHL full time. When he has his clutch moments, it comes with a feeling he got it from his days with the Raiders.
Stryker Zablocki, who is a phenom forward with the Northeastern University Howlin Huskies, could end up being the current day Prince Albert product that emulates Modano for making plays that are both skilled and pretty while still being a game. Zablocki has already had numerous big moments where she is considered a “Raider.”
In all of those things, the Raiders have become more than a hockey team. They have become a special all-encompassing thing for the city.
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.
