Showing posts with label Adam Herold. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adam Herold. Show all posts

Saturday, 3 August 2019

Raiders’ summer highlighted by Ed Chynoweth Cup tour

The Raiders raise the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions on May 13.
    The Ed Chynoweth Cup has seen a lot of places in the summer of 2019.
    On May 13, the Ed Chynoweth Cup, which is presented annually to the championship team of the Western Hockey League, was captured by the Prince Albert Raiders.
    In what will go down as one of the iconic games in the history of the WHL, the Raiders downed the Vancouver Giants 3-2 in overtime in a series deciding Game 7 of the WHL final.
    Overage centre Dante Hannoun tapped home a backdoor feed from overage linemate Noah Gregor with 1:35 remaining in the extra session to deliver the Raiders the title before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. The Hauser became a madhouse as the Raiders fans revelled in the team’s second league championship.
    The win gave the Raiders a berth to the Memorial Cup tournament in Halifax, N.S., but Prince Albert went 0-3 trying to battle for the Canadian Hockey League crowd.
Raiders fans have enjoyed the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
    The disappointment at the Memorial Cup didn’t last long.
    As soon as the Raiders returned to “Hockey Town North” on May 22, they set out to celebrate how special their 2018-19 campaign was. The Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 before embarking on their remarkable championship run in the WHL playoffs.
    They wanted to extend the celebration to as many people as possible who helped support the squad along the way.
    For almost three weeks after arriving back from the Memorial Cup, the Raiders seemed to pop up everywhere in Prince Albert and area with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
    Pictures of the trophy began to appear on social media at stores, inside the big wheel of a tractor, various residences and the Clunie-Cooper Memorial Professional Bull Riders tour stop.
    It seemed like the majority of the Raiders players hung around Prince Albert in the three weeks following the team’s return from the Memorial Cup.
    The players were often the ones accompanying the Ed Chynoweth Cup to various stops. When the players departed for their hometowns, the Ed Chynoweth Cup hit the road.
    The Raiders decided to bring the WHL championship trophy to the homes of as many of the team’s players as possible. Like what happens in the NHL where players from the Stanley Cup winning team get a day with the trophy, the Raiders worked diligently to give each of their players a day with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    Kim Jackson, who is the Raiders manager of team services, has mostly been the one driving the Ed Chynoweth Cup to various stops across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
    Jackson, who is the great utility man in the Raiders organization helping with the team on the ice and staff in the business office, has been accompanied by a rotating crew of volunteers and Raiders staffers on most of these trips.
    The Ed Chynoweth Cup has visited Cross Lake, Man., Camrose, Alta., Estevan, Sask., and all points in between.
    This week, the Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt and Mike Dumelie, who is one of the team’s Saskatchewan scouts, brought the Ed Chynoweth Cup to the family farm of the late Adam Herold near Montmartre, Sask.

    Herold was one of the 16 players who passed away in the tragic Humboldt Broncos bus crash on April 6, 2018. The defenceman was wrapping up his 16-year-old season playing for the junior A squad that was in the semifinal round of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs.
    The Raiders selected Herold in the second round and 35th overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. He skated in four regular season games with the Raiders, and during his time with the club, he made a lot of strong friendships.
    He was slated to be a full-time player with the Raiders as a 17-year-old for this past season had he not passed away. The Raiders made sure Herold was remembered as the club journeyed through a successful and extraordinary 2018-19 campaign.

    The WHL Championship trophy is named after the late Ed Chynoweth, who had a huge hand in building the WHL and major junior hockey to what it is today. Chynoweth, who passed away from cancer in 2008, would have loved to see the Raiders celebrate their WHL championship win in the manner they have done.
    The previous winning teams of the Ed Chynoweth Cup have gotten the trophy out to various events in their respective centres, but it is safe to say the Raiders have outdone all of those previous winners this summer.

    The Raiders have celebrated winning the WHL title in the right way, and they have created a great summer for so many that will never be forgotten.
    The summer of 2019 will go down as “The Summer of the Raiders.”

Guhle, Wiesblatt off to Hlinka Gretzky Cup

Kaiden Guhle is an assistant captain for Canada’s summer under-18 team.
    Two of the Prince Albert Raiders biggest young stars will aim to shine on the international stage wearing the colours of Team Canada.
    Last Tuesday, defenceman Kaiden Guhle and right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt were among the 22 players named to Canada’s national men’s summer under-18 team for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. The Hlinka Gretzky Cup starts this coming Monday and runs through Saturday, Aug. 10, in Breclav in the Czech Republic and Piestany in Slovakia.
    Guhle was also named one of the assistant captains for the Canadian squad.
    Canada has won gold at the last two straight Hlinka Gretzky Cups and captured the tournament title 22 times in the previous 28 editions of the event.
    Guhle and Wiesblatt were part of a trio of outstanding 16-year-old rookies the Raiders had last season along with right-winger Jacob Brook. They helped the Raiders finish first overall in WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions.
    Brook took part in the selection camp for Canada’s under-18 summer team along with Saskatoon Blades left-winger Kyle Crnkovic, but both didn’t make the cut for the final roster.
    Last season, Guhle, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 186 pounds, appeared in 65 regular season games with the Raiders posting three goals, 14 assists and a plus-17 rating in the plus-minus department.
Ozzy Wiesblatt will play for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
    Wiesblatt, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 187 pounds, skated in 64 regular season games with the Raiders posting 15 goals, 24 assists and a plus-30 rating.
    Guhle and Wiesblatt participated in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge held last November in Quispamsis and Saint John, N.B.
    Guhle was captain of Canada Red and posted three assists in six overall games. Wiesblatt was an assistant captain for Canada Black and collected one goal and two assists in five overall games.
    On Saturday, Canada’s under-18 summer team faced Slovakia in an exhibition game at the Easton Arena in Piestany and posted a 4-1 victory.
    Guhle scored Canada’s third marker of the contest to conclude a three-goal surge in the first period. Jeremie Poirier, Jean-Luc Foudy and Seth Jarvis had singles for Canada.
    Oliver Fatul replied with a single for Slovakia.
    Tristan Lennox started the game in goal for Canada and turned away all five shots sent his way. Dylan Garand entered the contest at the 10:31 mark of the second period and turned away eight-of-nine shots fired his way.
    Simon Latkoczy stopped 22 shots going the distance in goal for Slovakia.
    Canada begins play at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this coming Monday against Finland.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
-------
    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, 22 May 2019

Raiders return to Prince Albert to heroes’ welcome

Dante Hannoun meets the Raiders faithful on Wednesday.
    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – If the Prince Albert Raiders had any doubts about how special their season was, those doubts were erased upon arriving home at the Art Hauser Centre.
    The Raiders were eliminated from the Memorial Cup tournament in Halifax, N.S., on Tuesday falling 5-2 to the OHL champion Guelph Storm. Prince Albert finished round robin play winless at 0-3.
    On Wednesday afternoon, the Raiders returned to Prince Albert, and when their team bus arrived at their home rink, they received a heroes’ welcome from about 200 supporters.
Fans started to assemble 50 minutes before the Raiders bus arrived.
    People started gathering at the rink at 1:30 p.m. a good 50 minutes before the team bus arrived around 2:20 p.m.
    When the bus turned on to the street that leads to the Art Hauser Centre, it stopped allowing the Raiders players and staff to get out. They approached the throng of fans, who formed two lines providing a lane for the players to walk through.
    As the players walked down the aisle, they gave the fans on either side high-fives. During the WHL playoffs, this scene became a common sight starting in the second round when the club returned from the road. Twice this scene happened after series wins on the road.
Fans wait at the Art Hauser Centre for the Raiders bus to arrive.
    The Raiders had a memorable post-season winning the WHL title for the first time since 1985. The WHL championship series clinching win came in Prince Albert on May 13, when Dante Hannoun scored the overtime winner to deliver the Raiders to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants in Game 7 of the league final.
    A rally is scheduled for the team on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
    Raiders captain Brayden Pachal said seeing the fans waiting for the team bus to arrive home on Wednesday helped lift the spirits of the players. He said it eased some of the sting of being eliminated from CHL championship tournament.
    “It was pretty cool,” said Pachal. “They supported us all playoffs.
    “We’re looking to celebrate our WHL championship with them tomorrow.”
Fans start lining the roadway to greet the Raiders.
    Hannoun, who has exhausted his junior eligibility, said the homecoming rallies of fans waiting for the team bus throughout the playoffs will always be a cherished memory. The Delta, B.C., proud was proud his club was able to win the WHL title for the fans.
    “Obviously, it is pretty special the community behind us,” said Hannoun. “It is a lot of people.
    “They bring out so much support, and we’re just happy that we pulled this off for them. We fell a little short (at Memorial Cup).”
    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid had a huge smile on his face when he saw the gather of fans at the team’s home rink waiting for the bus.
Joy ensues when the Raiders’ bus arrives.
    “It is nice,” said Habscheid. “They care about the team and care about the kids and that is a good thing.
    “They just wanted to be here on their arrival, so it says a lot about the support that we’ve had.”
    After a 13-year period that saw the team miss the playoffs seven times and be eliminated in the first round of the post-season six times, the Raiders had a dream year in 2018-19.
    They finished first in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. In the playoffs, the Raiders proceeded to win Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions taking out the Red Deer Rebels, Saskatoon Blades, Edmonton Oil Kings and Giants on their playoff march.
Fans cheer the arrival of the Raiders.
    The last time the Raiders achieved both those feats came back in the 1984-85 campaign, when they posted a regular season record of 58 wins, 11 losses and three ties to finish first in the WHL. Prince Albert proceeded to win the Memorial Cup that season, which the club wasn’t able to pull off this season.
    Overall, the WHL champion team has lost its last 13 straight games at the Memorial Cup tournament.
    The last time a WHL champion posted a win at the Memorial Cup came back on May 29, 2015, when the Kelowna Rockets hammered the host Remparts 9-3 in Quebec City, Quebec, in a semifinal contest.
A group of fans cheer the arrival of the Raiders.
    “It is tough,” said Pachal. “Obviously, we didn’t get the results that we wanted in Halifax.
    “I’m proud of the guys. We accomplished something that hasn’t been done in P.A. for a long time. We put small marked P.A. back on the map where it should be.
    “I’m really proud of what we accomplished. We just have to celebrate what we did accomplish.”
    Habscheid, who coached the Kelowna Rockets to a WHL title in 2003 and a Memorial Cup championship as the host squad in 2004, isn’t reading anything extra into fact the WHL champion club has currently lost 13 games in a row at the event that determines the CHL champion.
The Raiders players start giving the fans high-fives.
    “That doesn’t enter into the equation,” said Habscheid. “I look at our tournament the first game against Halifax was almost unfair.
    “The second game we should have won. Last night, were gassed, so that is the way I look at it. Those teams before, we had nothing to do with that.”
    Prince Albert fell 4-1 to the host Halifax Mooseheads in the event’s opening game last Friday. The Raiders were taking the ice in just their second full day in Halifax after traveling there from Prince Albert and four days after winning the WHL final.
    On Monday, the Raiders fell 6-3 to the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. That contest was tied 3-3 late in the third period before Prince Albert fell victim to two bad bounce goals.
Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid meets the fans.
    In the loss to the Storm, the Raiders found themselves often chasing the play winning only 18 of 59 faceoffs.
    Habscheid said the players on the Raiders mean a lot to him, which caused him to be emotional in the post-game press conference on Tuesday.
    In that conference, he talked about how those with the team had to be there for each other to deal with deaths that affected the club.
    On April 6, 2018, Raiders prospect and defenceman Adam Herold passed away in the bus crash involving the junior A Humboldt Broncos.
A couple of Raiders players hug a billet mom.
    Herold played four career regular season games with the WHL club and made strong friendships during his time with the squad.
    Last summer, Habscheid’s father, Nicholas, passed away and the bench boss said his players were big in helping him through that.
    Last December, Ron Gunville, who was the Raiders director of player personnel, passed away as well.
    In March, former Raiders player, head coach and general manager Donn Clark passed away too.
    “It is difficult,” said Habscheid. “I kind of expressed it there in my post-game.
    “It is difficult, because a lot of these guys have seen the worst of it and seen the best of it. To win the league championship in dramatic fashion the way we did was sure nice even though it would be nice finishing the year with your last game being a win.
The fans give the Raiders a big ovation.
    “You take it for what it is, and the league championship is pretty special.”
    Pachal believes everyone on the current Raiders will remain close to each other as the years and decades go by.
    “The bond of champions is something is something you can’t break,” said Pachal. “We’re going to remember this for the rest of our lives.
    “We’re going to be super close for the rest of our lives. Obviously, we are going to celebrate this time together until we go back home.”

Mooseheads fall to Huskies, make Memorial Cup title game

    It was a defeat that felt like victory for the Halifax Mooseheads.
    On Wednesday in the final round robin game of the Memorial Cup tournament, the host Mooseheads fell 4-3 to the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies before 10,004 spectators at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S., but the Mooseheads still advanced to Sunday’s title game.
    Wednesday’s contest was tied 3-3 until left-winger Jakub Lauko netted the winner with 54.5 seconds remaining in the third period for the Huskies.
    The result left the Mooseheads, Huskies and OHL champion Guelph Storm all deadlock in the standings with 2-1 records in the four-team tourney. The WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders were eliminated from the playoff round finishing 0-3 in round robin play.
    A goals for and against mathematical formula involving the three teams tied in the standings placed the Mooseheads and Storm ahead of the Huskies. The Mooseheads were subsequently awarded first place when their head-to-head victory over the Storm was taken into account.
    The Storm placed second ahead of the Huskies, and those two clubs will face each other in Friday’s semifinal game.
    In Wednesday’s clash between the Mooseheads and the Huskies, the Huskies took a 2-0 lead after the first period. The Mooseheads scored the only three goals in the second period to go ahead 3-2.
    The Huskies responded with two goals in the third including Lauko’s winner.
    Felix Bibeau, Joel Teasdale and William Rouleau had singles for the Huskies. Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Arnaud Durandeau and Antoine Morand replied with singles for the Mooseheads.
    Samuel Harvey stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies. Alexis Gravel turned away 36 shots to take the setback in goal for the Mooseheads.
    The Huskies and Mooseheads faced each other in the best-of-seven QMJHL final, where the Huskies captured the series in six games.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
-------
    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)