The Prince Albert Raiders are set to host a pair of home games this weekend against the Regina Pats and the Moose Jaw Warriors, and there will be something for fans to be looking forward to on both nights.
Michael Scissons, the business manager of the Prince Albert Raiders, says the weekend should provide two exciting games for fans to attend.
“Regina is coming in Friday night, and they bring with them a lot of excitement both with Connor and with local talent in Tanner Howe. Saturday, we got an equally as entertaining contest against the Moose Jaw Warriors who are one of the top teams in the division and a night will be wearing special edition jerseys which is kind of our first retro type of look.”
Friday night will see a sold-out crowd as the Raiders welcome the Regina Pats to the Art Hauser Centre for the third time this season. The projected first overall pick in the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft, Connor Bedard, will make his first and only regular season appearance at the Art Hauser Centre. Bedard was away with the Team Canada in Halifax at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship both times the Pats visited Prince Albert back in December.
Scissons says he is looking forward to the atmosphere the Art Hauser will provide for fans on Friday night.
“The seats have been gone for over a month. Standing room tickets are all gone as well. It’s going to be good to see the exciting atmosphere. Anybody that was here during the 2019 championship run would have seen the building when it was a full building. We haven’t seen it since those days, but we’ve seen it a lot in the past. It’s one of those one of those situations where we like to see it at that level. We’re expecting that kind of level. And we look forward to having the fans back in the building, busting the rafters of the Hauser.”
With the demand for tickets being high, several tickets have appeared on the resale market. Scissons encourages fans to do their due diligence if they turn to buying a ticket from a third party.
“Our tickets are sold from one site, sasktix.ca, if you don’t buy them from the Raiders off our website or from sasktix.ca, there’s a great chance you’re buying something from a third party. So be wary because our tickets are only ever $25.50 at the very highest amount ever. If you’re paying more than that, then there’s a chance that you’re being taken. So just be wary of what you’re doing. That’s all I would caution.”
Regina currently sits 6th in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 25-22-2-1 on the season.
Rockin’ the Retro look
Fans will notice the Raiders wearing a different look on Saturday night against Moose Jaw. The Raiders will be wearing a yellow Reverse Retro style jersey with a block text “Raiders” across the chest.
The jerseys are a part of Real Canadian Superstore’s Your Team, Your Jersey contest. Earlier this season, fans voted on three finalist designs to choose which jersey the Raiders would wear. The jerseys will be auctioned off online after the game with proceeds benefitting the President’s Choice Children’s Charity.
The design that won the contest was created by Mark Peterson, who can be found with a camera at every Raiders home game at the Art Hauser Centre as he serves as the team’s photographer.
Peterson says he wanted to create a design that was different from what he has seen the Raiders wear in the past.
“I didn’t want to do something that had been done before. I went back and found some pictures from the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, started there to get some ideas. The couple jerseys that they did last year like that retro jersey from the 2000s and then that futuristic one. I like to make something that was different from those, not something that you have seen all the time. I think the reverse retros are kind of cool that the NHL does, so that’s where I took that idea from. I can’t remember the pictures that I got the inspiration from. I think it was around the year they were winning there in the 80s. So I tried to take that retro vibe. I think they turned out pretty good.”
The online auction for the yellow reverse retro style jersey is already open and will close at 9pm on Saturday night.
Scissons says it means a lot for the Raider organization to be able to raise money for charity.
“I think it’s everything. We’re a community owned team. And to be able to give back to the community, whether it be in financial funds, whether it be in our time and energy or anything we can to do. It’s one of the pillars of who we are. We exist because of the support of the community and anything we can do to give back to the community is something that we will always strive to do. So it’s awesome just to be able to do something like that this Saturday it’s going to be pretty special.”
The Moose Jaw Warriors currently sit in 4th place in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 33-17-0-3 on the season.
Puck drops on both Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
