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.
