Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
On any other night a Prince Albert Raiders’ 4-1 win over the visiting Red Deer Rebels that snapped a three-game Western Hockey League losing streak would be the headline grabber, but that wasn’t the case on Wednesday.
Prior to the tilt between the Eastern Conference rivals a stirring ceremony was held to celebrate the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation with a drum group performing in advance of the introduction of several Indigenous dignitaries and residential school survivors.
“This is a real important day whether it is hockey or life in general,” said Raiders’ head coach Ryan McDonald in an interview prior to the game.
Dressed in specially-designed orange uniforms to commemorate the special day, two Raiders – Athens Shingoose and Hubert Clarke – then took part in an opening face-off. Shingoose, who hails from Waywayseecappo, Man., and Clarke, who calls Norway House, Man., home were proud and honoured to represent their Indigenous culture in the ceremony.
“I’m very proud to wear the jersey and represent my people,” noted Clarke in a post-game interview from the Ches Leach Lounge.
Another storyline that trumped what was taking place on the ice was the return of McDonald to the club. McDonald, who is in his second full season as head coach, was away for nearly a week to deal with a family medical emergency.
“My wife is doing well and is on the way to recovery,” said McDonald in his post-game interview. “I’m thankful things worked out the way they did.”
When the attention switched to the game itself, it didn’t take long for the Raiders to realize they had their hands full with the Rebels as Cameron Kuzma staked Red Deer to a 1-0 advantage just two minutes into the contest.
“You have to give them credit,” said McDonald. “Red Deer is a team that makes you play honest.”
The Raiders managed just five shots on net in the opening period and when they emerged from the dressing room for the middle session it was a different mentality for the club.
“I told them to shoot more,” said McDonald. “In the first period I thought we generated the opportunities, but didn’t get the shots on goal.”
And shoot they did as the Raiders peppered Rebels’ netminder Matthew Kondro with 23 shots in the second period with Ben Harvey getting two past him to put the Raiders in front. For Harvey, the two goals gives him five on the season, to lead the team, and also pushed him to the top of the club’s individual points list with eight.
Brandon Gorzynski added an insurance marker midway through the final frame with Alisher Sarkenov putting the game out of reach with an empty-net tally in the final three minutes of the game.
Kondro would finish the contest with 34 saves while Michal Orsulak turned aside 25 of 26 he faced in the Prince Albert goal.
The Raiders will look to continue their winning ways when they head to Alberta this weekend for games in Lethbridge and Medicine on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Next home game is not until Oct. 16 when the Moose Jaw Warriors will be the visitors.
GAME NOTES – Jordan Murray, the recently acquired overage defenceman, collected an assist on Gorzynski’s marker giving him one point – all assists – in each of the three games he has dressed for the Raiders…A former teammate of Murray’s with the Okotoks Oilers, Eli Molde, made his debut with Prince Albert on Wednesday registering one shot on net and picking up a minor penalty for hooking in the third period…A new, but familiar face was behind the Red Deer bench on Wednesday as Brent Kisio is back in the WHL after spending the last three years with the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League. Prior to joining the Las Vegas farm team Kisio had been head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes for eight years and was an assistant coach with the Calgary Hitmen for eight seasons before that.
