Raiders win, everyone pitches in

Man nets first WHL goal, Heise picks up winner

The Raidcrs celebrate a first career WHL goal from Matyas Man (#5).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Matyas Man was pumped to finally slam the first goal monkey off of his back.

On Friday playing in front of a standing room crowd of 2,942 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the Prince Albert Raiders import rookie 19-year-old defenceman was in search of his first career WHL goal playing in his 19^th regular season game. Just 4:50 into a clash with the Brandon Wheat Kings, Man received a pass at the top of the left faceoff circle from Raiders rookie 16-year-old right-winger Ben Harvey.

Man drove a shot past Wheat Kings netminder Jayden Kraus to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. From that point, the Raiders would skate on to post a solid 4-1 victory to improve their WHL East Division leading record to 16-1-4.

Matyas Man scored the Raiders first goal on Friday.

“The first thing that goes in my head was like, finally, after 19 games I finally scored my first goal,” said Man, who also has three assists and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department on the campaign. “I was happy, and I don’t know what to do like how to celebrate and what I should do.

“I just turn around and wait for the boys. That is probably the first feeling after the goal that I scored.”

While it took a little time for him to get his first goal, Man said he has enjoyed his first season with the Raiders after coming over from the Czechia. He said his teammates on the Raiders are great in ensuring his spirits stay high.

“I think the boys are supportive,” said Man. “They always support me.

Max Heise tipped home a power-play goal for the Raiders.

“They cheer me, when I’m not going great. They cheer me up. I’m happy to be here.”

Man’s goal allowed the Raiders to hit high gear in Friday’s contest. Just 43 seconds after his tally, the Raiders struck on the power play to go ahead 2-0. Raiders sophomore 17-year-old right-winger Riley Boychuk took a shot from above the right faceoff circle that was tipped home by rookie 19-year-old centre Max Heise to give the hosts their two-goal edge.

The tally was the 10^th goal of the campaign for Heise, who wasn’t sure at first if he actually got the power-play marker.

“They kind of left me alone in front of the net, and I saw Chuck (Boychuk) rolling down high,” said Heise. “He made a good play to me.

Jayden Kraus stopped 28-of-31 shots for the Wheat Kings.

“I thought he kind of scored it. I felt it off my stick, but I wasn’t sure if it went in. Then, I just heard the crowd and saw him (Boychuk) celebrating and pointing at me.

“It was nice to get one.”

The Raiders proceeded to keep peppering the Brandon net with shots only to be kept at bay by Wheat Kings netminder and 19-year-old Prince Albert product Jayden Kraus, who was acquired in a trade with the Victoria Royals in the off-season. Kraus, who was stellar last season with the Royals, continued to keep the Raiders at bay in the second.

With 8:17 remaining in the second, the Raiders got a break off a positive bounce play. After pinning the Wheat Kings in their own zone, Raiders star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring had the puck behind the Brandon net.

Brock Cripps netted the Raiders third goal on Friday.

Oiring centred a pass that deflected off the skate of Wheat Kings defenceman Max Lavoie right to Raiders 16-year-old rookie defenceman Brock Cripps, who pinched down from the point to the front of the Brandon net. Cripps wired home a shot for his second goal of the season to push the Raiders advantage out to 3-0.

Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald liked the persistence his team showed on that third tally.

“I think you look at the goal, and you look how it was scored,” said McDonald. “The shift was sustained by just some tremendous work underneath the tops of the circles.

“I think we reset it two or three times underneath and just continued to keep grinding. We were able to suck them away from the net front, and then Cripsy comes down off that backside and gets rewarded.”

Luke Mistelbacher gave the Wheat Kings life with a power-play goal.

The Wheat Kings were able to create some suspense for a short moment in the third. While working on a two-man advantage, Wheat Kings star centre Luke Mistelbacher wired home a mid range shot from the front of the Prince Albert net to trim the Raiders lead to 3-1.

The host side stayed composed, and with 60 seconds remaining in the third, Boychuk fired home a long-distance empty-net goal to seal the 4-1 victory.

Heise said he has enjoyed the fact that everyone on the Raiders roster is contributing to the team’s success in the first third of the regular season, and that characteristic showed through again on Friday.

Michal Orsulak stopped 18 shots in goal for the Raiders.

“I think that defence wins championships, and we have four really balanced lines,” said Heise. “You need deep teams to win.

“That is what we have, and it is a great group.”

The rivalry between the Raiders and Wheat Kings did show itself with some various chippy moments. That included a big scrum at the end of the first period that saw Heise and Wheat Kings rearguard Nigel Boehm draw fighting majors.

Wheat Kings star centre Jaxon Jacobson left the game after the first period and did not return with an undisclosed ailment.

At the 11:04 mark of the second, Raiders centre Ethan Bibeau took on Wheat Kings centre Carter Klippenstein in a short bout, where Klippenstein was able to tackle Bibeau down to the ground.

Riley Boychuk had an empty-net goal for the Raiders.

“They’re a team that plays hard,” said McDonald. “They play heavy.

“They play straight lines. That is a playoff style game where you’re fighting for inches out there. Again for us, we have to be making sure you’re checking with your feet, not with your sticks and making sure that they’ve got to turn and get pucks every time that we have it.”

Michal Orsulak stopped 18 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Kraus turned away 28-of-31 shots to take the setback in net for the Wheat Kings (10-10-1).

The Wheat Kings return to action on Saturday when they travel to Saskatoon to take on the Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Raiders salute their faithful at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders are off until Friday, November 28, when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings (7 p.m. local time, Assiniboine Credit Union Place). McDonald admitted it was a bit different to have a Saturday and Sunday off before playing again this coming Friday.

“It is an opportunity for us to continue to make sure that rest and recovery is top of mind,” said McDonald. “We came off a real extensive grind on that U.S. road trip in four (games) in five (days) to finish it off.

“You operate on the bus after playing a couple games back-to-back, and the lactic acid is built up in your legs for an 18-hour bus ride home. I am real proud of our effort out here tonight, and our game in total. It just gives us another opportunity to make sure that we’re ready for our peak performance level come (this coming) Friday.”

Mesenchuk, Twyver join Raiders Wall of Honour

Bob Twyver, centre left, and Wayne Mesenchuk, centre right, are honoured.

Wayne Mesenchuk and Bob Twyver were named as the two latest additions to the Prince Albert Raiders Wall of Honour.

The two builders were officially inducted to the Raiders Wall of Honour in a pre-game ceremony on Friday at the Art Hauser Centre before the Raiders downed the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 4-1 in a WHL regular season clash. Both Mesenchuk and Twyver have long links with the Raiders and have played key roles in ensuring the franchise could continue to exist over the long term in “Hockey Town North.”

Mesenchuk became part of the Raiders general membership in 1985. He served as the team’s president for two years, vice-president for three years and governor for three years.

During the 1993-94 campaign while serving as president, Mesenchuk initiated a task force that had a mandate to study the long term viability of the Raiders as a non-profit community owned organization in a small market. The final report was completed in the spring of 1994 and many of the report’s recommendations were implemented in the years following that have resulted in the Raiders being a thriving franchise in the current day and a valued partner in the WHL.

Bob Twyver and Wayne Mesenchuk displays on the Raiders Wall of Honour.

Twyver has been a season ticket supporter for over 50 years, and he became the club’s director of business operations in the 2001-02 campaign. He was elected to the Raiders board of directors from 2002 to 2007 and was a founding member of the “Bring Back the Magic” campaign during 2003 to 2006.

That project saw the expansion and modernization of the Art Hauser Centre to meet WHL standards.

Twyver served as the Raiders education advisor from 2003 to 2010. During that time, the Raiders were awarded the WHL Scholastic Team of the Year Award in 2009.

Hockey Canada chose Twyver as the U-18 Team Canada education advisor for the 2006 world championships in Sweden, where Canada finished fourth. He served as the education advisor for the U-18 Team Canada squad in 2008, where Canada won gold at the world championships in Russia.

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