It wasn’t as dramatic as last year’s triumph, but the Prince Albert Raiders have once again clinched the East Division title on home ice.
In 2025, the Raiders needed a win over the Saskatoon Blades in their last game of the regular season to clinch top spot in the division. On Saturday, they repeated the feat, albeit with less fanfare, in a 4-1 win over the Swift Current Broncos at the Art Hauser Centre.
“It feels great obviously,” said defenceman Linden Burrett, who arrived for post-game interviews wearing a Prince Albert Raiders East Division Champs t-shirt. “Not every player gets this opportunity.”
“I think it’s something that’s really cool,” added forward Maddix McCagherty. “I’ve never been a part of a team that’s accomplished something like that. We’re such a good team this year and hopefully we just keep continuing to get stuff like that (division title).”
In 2025, the Raiders’ East Division title bid came down to the last period of the last game. That year, the Raiders needed a late goal from Lukas Dragicevic to beat the Saskatoon Blades 4-3 on the final day of the regular season.
On Saturday, the Raiders pumped three first period goals past Swift Current Broncos starter Aiden Eskit—who played brilliantly at times—and cruised to a 4-1 win.
“I think we just played hard, got on the forecheck really well, and that’s what created our offence,” said McCagherty, who opened the scoring 5:41 into the first period. “We just played very hard and created a lot of chances. I think we could have had a couple more, but their goalie played pretty well.”
McCagherty took a pass in the slot from Max Heise, and buried a wrist shot between Eskit’s pads to made it 1-0. It was the second goal in as many games for McCagherty, both coming from shots that went five-hole.
“The first game I didn’t mean to do that,” he said with a laugh. “I fanned on it, but this game Heis (Max Heise) made a nice pass to me in the open slot. I didn’t really see any open net, so I just decided to shoot it five-hole and it went in.”
Brandon Gorzynski and Aiden Oiring rounded out the first period scoring. Gorzynski finished off a slick cross-ice passing play with a wrist shot over Eskit’s glove, while Oiring fired a wrist shot off the cross bar and in on the power play.
The Raiders almost made it four first period goals, but a point shot from defenceman Daxon Rudolph bounced off the post, off the back of Eskit’s legs, and out.
“Our hunt was fantastic,” Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald said when asked about the three-goal first period. “We deposited pucks underneath. We forced their D to turn and then we were first on pucks a lot of the time and had some great contact.
“When we got the puck, our first possession, we were fast off of it and making plays and getting pucks to the net and getting guys to the net and, again, just creating a lot of offence with our pace.”
Burrett made it 4-0 roughly five-and-a-half minutes into the second period. The Raider defenceman found himself all alone against a wall of Bronco defenders, and fired a shot into the top left-hand corner.
“I just got it in the middle from, I think, Gores (Gorzynski) so it was a little bit like a 1v2,” Burrett said. “I thought I’d just get it on net and it went in, so I can’t complain.”
Carter Moen broke Raider goaltender Michal Orsulaks’ shutout bid with a backhander from just outside the crease early in the third period, but that was as close as the visitors got.
There were no repeats of last year’s title clinching game, where the Raiders held off a furious last minute charge for the win. There’s also more time to celebrate, not that they’ll be doing much of that.
The Raiders have 11 games to go before the playoffs start. With first place in the East Division no longer in doubt, they’ve moved on to the next goal on their list: clinching first place in the Eastern Conference.
“Any time you can put a pennant in the rafters we’re excited,” McDonald said. “Again, that’s not where your sights stop. We’ve got our sights set on another few other ones as well too, so we’re just going to continue to keep fine tuning and continue to keep sharpening and continue to keep climbing.”
The Raiders have a seven point lead on the Central Division leading Medicine Hat Tigers, who beat Lethbridge 4-3 in overtime on Saturday. The Tigers have also played one less game than Prince Albert.
“We’re shooting for the conference,” Burrett said. “It’s great (to clinch the division) obviously, but you’ve got to keep the same mindset, just keep pushing, and go one day at a time.
“You’ve just got to play hockey how you played as a kid. Hockey’s fun. Obviously, our conference is tight, so you’ve just got to think about that. Every game’s a big two points.”
“I think it’s a great goal to accomplish something like that (a division title), but we’re not satisfied with what we’ve done so far,” McCagherty added. “We’ve just got to keep going. The next goal is to get the conference done and then go far in playoffs. We’ve just got to take it day-by-day and not look too far ahead.”
The Raiders are off until Friday when they take on the Penticton Vees at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
News and Notes:
• Overage forward Braydon Dube was back in the line-up for the first time since Prince Albert’s 4-3 loss to the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Feb. 13. Dube finished with two shots on goal and two minutes in penalties, and was a -1. With Dube in the line-up, forward Connor Howe was a late healthy scratch.
• The Raiders were also without defenceman Matyas Man, who was serving the final game of a four-game suspension for his actions in a fight with Joby Baumuller of the Brandon Wheat Kings on Feb. 13.
• Orsulak stopped 12 of 13 shots for his 21st win of the season. Eskit stopped 38 of 42 shots for the Broncos.
• The Broncos almost broke Osulak’s shutout bid with 6:43 to play in the second when centreman Trae Johnson batted a puck out of the air and into the Prince Albert net, but the officials immediately waved the goal off due to a high stick.
• The Raiders went 1/2 on the power play, while the Broncos were 0/2.
• Announced attendance was 2,772.
