The Prince Albert Raiders opened a six-game homestand with a 4-1 win over the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
Raiders coach Ryan McDonald said the team’s effort paid off.
“I thought our pace was superb,” McDonald said. “We were fast and quick between both blue lines, and, our forecheck was relentless. We had great sticks and we killed lots of exits for them.”
Forward Ty Meunier had a goal and an assist in the first period to help the Raiders get off to a quick start.
“I thought Ty’s play away from the puck was phenomenal,” McDonald said. “Inside the dots, he made some great defensive reads that led to some great offensive chances for him.”
He said players are building their game individually and as a group at this point in the season.
“For us, it’s continuing to put emphasis on your play away from the puck, because the puck isn’t always on your stick for the majority of the game,” McDonald said.
The Raiders coach added that it was nice to open with a win but the attitude of the team remains the same.
“We want to take it one game at a time,” he said. “This was the first one on the slate and now again we’ve got a couple days to get some rest and recovery in and get back to the grindstone.”
The Raiders opened the scoring just under four minutes into the first period when Meunier scored with assists from Silverton and Linden Burrett.
Silverton scored his first WHL goal 13:50 into the first from Meunier and Burnett. McDonald said that Silverton continues to grow as a player.
“Jonah’s just continuing to build his game. His play away from the puck and his details and his stick was great tonight. I thought he tracked really well. He broke pucks out, he won those hard battle areas and tracked hard with a big stick,” McDonald said.
“He’s so gifted and he’s so smart. You see on his goal where he slides off the backside and finds (open) ice and the pass comes down from the point from Burrzy and you know she’s a pretty much a no-doubter from there for Silverton.
“It’s just the thought to find that ice and create that ice when they’re all that chaos going on.”
The Rebels scored their lone goal of the night when Matthew Gard scored 31 seconds into the second from Keith McInnis and Jaxon Fuder.
The Raiders got one back later in the period when Ben Harvey scored at 17:42 of the second from Brayden Dube and Oli Chenier.
Dube sealed the game for the Raiders when he scored from the point on the power play at 18:57 of the second period. Riley Boychuk and Daxon Rudolph picked up the assists.
McDonald said Dube possesses speed and they want to make sure he utilizes that speed.
“He’s got a great shot,” McDonald said. “You saw it on the power play where he gets the one through the seam there and makes a great shot with it. Again, just making sure we can find that open ice for him to utilize his speed.”
Alisher Sarkenov, the first Raiders player from Kazakhstan, made his debut on Saturday. Sarkenov registered one shot on net in his debut. McDonald said that there has been a discovery period for Sarkenov.
“I think it was a 12-hour time difference from where he’s coming from,” McDonald said. “It’s a big adjustment period to just get your body adjusted to the clock, but I thought Alisher did a great job. He skates with pace, he plays hard, he plays heavy.”
He said that Sarkenov will need some time to adjuct to the size of the ice and pace of play.
“I thought his positioning for the most part was pretty sound for a guy who just got here,” McDonald said.
The game had an edge to it with several fights and scrums around the net.
At the 2:50 mark of the second period Derek Thurston and Nolan Schmidt of the Rebels and the Raiders Burrett received five for fighting. The Raiders Matyas Man also received five-minute major for fighting and a two minute unsportsmanlike penalty.
He said that the Rebels are a team that plays hard and honest and in straight lines so the Raiders had to make sure they were efficient with pucks.
“We want to make sure that we get our hits in when we get our opportunities on the forecheck and make their D turn and go back for pucks We thought from our standpoint, from a whole totality of the game, our guys did a great job of playing fast and playing behind,” McDonald said.
Dmitri Fortin made 18 saves for the Raiders.
Debden’s Chase Wutzke, who had a large contingent of fans in the stands made 24 saves for Red Deer.
The Raiders also saw the return of defenseman Justice Christensen from Detroit Red Wings camp. Earlier in the week Christensen was named Captain of the Raiders with Alternate Captains Daxon Rudolph, Aidne Oiring and Max Heise.
“He’s our leader, he’s our captain. He’s our voice, he’s our rock back there,” McDonald said of Christensen. “He plays hard. He plays heavy, he drives to compete and, you know, possesses A tremendous shot from the point. And just that calming voice, when you need someone to amp you up or you need someone to calm you down, he’s that guy.”
The Raiders return to the Art Hauser Centre on Wednesday to face the Vancouver Giants. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
Game notes
During the week, the Raiders traded forward Harrison Lowendyk to the Calgary Hitmen for a third round pick in 2027 and a fifth round pick in 2028. Lowendyk, from Red Deer, was a second round pick in the 2020 draft and registered 68 points in 233 games for the Raiders. Lodewyk currently has four points (1g, 3a) in four games played this season.
“We are excited to add Harrison to our group to fill our last overage position. Harrison is a versatile player that can play any position and has a competitive edge.” Hitmen General Manager Garry Davidson said in a release. “Not only is Harrison a quality player, but he brings experience and leadership to our promising young group of players.”
The Raiders also sent two players down to the SJHL. They re-assigned 2008-born goaltender Steele Bass to the Battlefords North Stars and 2006-born defenseman Tyrone Sobry to the Humboldt Broncos. Sobry registered one point in two games played for the Broncos in his debut weekend with Humboldt. Bass has still not played a game for the North Stars.
