“Hockey Town North” faithful on fire for Raiders in series against Blades

A Raiders fan holds up a sign for Blades netminder Evan Gardner.

When the fans of the Prince Albert Raiders are at their best, they truly do give the Raiders hockey team a boost on the ice.

Way back in the summer of 2001, I met Reg Martsinkiw who was the founder of the Raiders. When you talk to Martsinkiw, he will tell you there were a lot of folks that played a part in getting the Raiders rolling way back in 1971 that created the base for the team to grow into what it is today. With that noted, Martsinkiw was the man that got everything rolling from the start, so I’ll always believe it is proper to recognize him as the founder of the community owned team.

One of the first lessons I learned from Martsinkiw was that the fans were a part of the journey the Raiders are on. The fans are part of the Raiders family. When the fans rally around the team, it helps make all the success the Raiders have had possible.

The work Martsinkiw and the first Raiders board of directors did was seen in that first season in 1971-72 in the junior A ranks of the SJHL resulting in the atmosphere at the new built Comuniplex that is still seen to this day in the same building now famously known by its current name in the Art Hauser Centre. When the Raiders hosted their first game at their storied and historic home rink on December 12, 1971, 3,000 people turned out and sat on cement slabs where the first “Smarty box” seats were installed about midway in that first decade for the club.

When the Raiders fell in Game 6 of a second round series in the 1972 SJHL playoffs at home against the Melville Millionaires, over 3,600 fans came out to that contest cheering on the Raiders sitting on those cement slabs.

Fast forward to the current day with the Raiders having played in the major junior ranks since 1982, Prince Albert claimed the first two games of a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades by scores of 6-1 and 3-0 on Friday and Saturday respectively. The sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the Hauser, which has 2,580 seats, was raucous for both games.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Raiders concluded junior A history with last lap title win

The team photo of the 1981-82 Raiders.

The 1981-82 season provided the perfect ending to the junior A history of the Prince Albert Raiders with a championship final bow.

In the regular season, the Raiders posted an impressive 57-3 record to top the SJHL standings outscoring their opposition 429-192. They won all 30 of their home games and had an overall winning streak that reached 30 games. Prince Albert continued to roll in the post-season going 20-3.

The post-season run concluded with the Raiders sweeping away the Guelph Platers from Ontario 4-0 in a best-of-seven Centennial Cup Championship Series where every game was played at the Art Hauser Centre, which was then known as the Comuniplex. In 1982, the Centennial Cup was awarded to the national junior A championship team in a best-of-seven series played between an Eastern and Western Canadian champion.

During the regular season, the Raiders had 10 players who recorded 20 or more goals and 11 players who recorded 50 or more points. They also received solid play in goal from the netminding duo of Tiger Pierce and Gil Hudon.

The Raiders were guided by their iconic head coach and general manager in Terry Simpson, whose disdain for losing has created many stories his players love to share to this very day. Still when Simpson looks back to that last junior A season in 1981-82 before the Raiders joined the major junior ranks in the WHL, the 57-3 regular season and the 20-3 post-season records jump out at him.

This flashback feature of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.