Less than 24 hours after the Prince Albert Raiders secured the East Division title, there was more celebration and awards to be given out at the team’s awards banquet at the Ches Leach Lounge on Sunday night.
The Raiders handed out 13 different awards throughout the evening with the masters of ceremonies being play-by-play broadcaster Nick Neilsen.
Raider general manager Curtis Hunt delivered a 15 minute long speech towards the end of the program. During his speech, Hunt thanked members of the Raider coaching staff, front office players
“Nothing in a little community team or a small community works without community.” Hunt said. “We are blessed with over 100 volunteers within our organization. We are so grateful for their time, their energy, and passion for our team. They are led by our outstanding game day staff, but it includes box office staff, ticket scanners, 50-50 sellers, bartenders, the NHL scout room hosts, merchandise volunteers, off-ice officials, statisticians, and ushers. Thank you. We wouldn’t be able to put on a show without all that support.”
Prince Albert began the season with a 2-7-2-0 record through their first 11 games and had a quiet bus ride home after a 10-1 loss to the Vancouver Giants on October 19.
Hunt looked back at the start of the season and gave credit to the players for never giving in.
“As it’s been said, it’s been quite a memorable season. It’s funny for me, the calls I got in October, other teams wanted to poach our players, raid our cupboards. We believed, but it was important that you guys believed. You turned this thing around, we had changes at the top, but here we are. Healthy, poised, committed.”
The Raiders ended the season on a five game winning streak to close out the regular season. It all came down to the final game of the regular season, where Prince Albert downed Saskatoon 4-3 in front of a standing room only crowd at the Art Hauser Centre.
“We play this game to win. We play to compete, we play to succeed, to accomplish the fulfilled dreams and goals.” Hunt said. “Of course it’s fun to play, compete and these are the moments of the game, the winning, the scoring, the competing, that’s what makes it special. I’m going to tell you this, the most important thing is the process. The journey, the friendships, the memories, the experiences around the game, on the bus, the rink, the events we go to, the billet home, picking ourselves up after failure. It’s all part of it, picking each other up after failure, an important part of being on a team. This is the process that will bond us together. Guys enjoy the process, it is the most important part, be present in the moment, love the battle, embrace the adversity, overcome the pain, the obstacles, love it and live it together. All in, everybody all in.”
Full list of Raider Awards
Scholastic Player of the Year: Daxon Rudolph
Best Conditioned Raider: Harrison Lodewyk
Hardest Working Player: Dayce Derkatch
Best Defensive Forward: Aiden Oiring
Most Improved Player: Brayden Dube
Most Valuable Defenceman: Lukas Dragicevic & Justice Christensen
Three Stars Award: Lukas Dragicevic, Tomas Mrsic and Max Hildebrand
Players Choice Award: Justice Christensen
Rookie of the Year: Daxon Rudolph
Humanitarian of the Year: Justice Christensen and Max Hildebrand
Leading Scorer: Tomas Mrsic
Fan’s Choice Award: Aiden Oiring
Most Valuable Player: Max Hildebrand
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