WHL’s East Division is the “Group of Death” in 2017-18

Warriors C Justin Almeida (#8) rushes against Raiders D Zack Hayes.

    You might heap criticism on the WHL’s playoff format, but you can’t deny spectators have witnessed some outstanding hockey when the six members of the WHL’s East Division have gone head-to-head in 2017-18.

    In World Cup soccer terms, the East Division comprised of the Brandon Wheat Kings, Moose Jaw Warriors, Prince Albert Raiders, Regina Pats, Saskatoon Blades and Swift Current Broncos became the circuit’s “Group of Death.” When the regular season concluded, all six of these clubs finished in the top seven of the 12 team Eastern Conference based on standings points.

Kale Clague had four assists for the Warriors in their Game 7 win.

    If any of these clubs were in any of the circuit’s other three divisions, they would likely have an easier path when it came to advancing and attempting to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. Instead, these clubs have been forced to battle tooth and nail against each other to make the post-season and advance.

    While it is unfortunate, the WHL’s playoff structure isn’t set up in a way that allows the potential for more East Division teams to be alive in later rounds. As a result, the drama that has been created among their clashes has been intriguing.

    The first club to be unduly shoved to the off-season in the “Group of Death” was the Blades, who posted a 35-33-3-1 record to finish with the seventh most points in the 12-team Eastern Conference.

Curtis Miske had a big playoffs for the Raiders.

    Due to their sixth place finish in the East Division, the Blades weren’t able to earn one of the two wildcard berths in the conference.

    They watched two clubs that finished with fewer standings points from the Eastern Conference’s Central Division in the Red Deer Rebels (27-32-10-3) and Lethbridge Hurricanes (33-33-6) go head-to-head for a berth in the second round, which was claimed by the Hurricanes in five games.

    Under the league’s hybrid format where you basically play through your division in playoffs, four clubs from the East Division were forced to go head-to-head in best-of-seven first round series. The Moose Jaw Warriors, who finished first overall in the WHL with a 52-15-2-3 record, took on the Prince Albert Raiders (32-27-9-4). The Swift Current Broncos, who finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-17-5-2 mark, faced the Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats (40-25-6-1).

    Both of those series were ultimately decided in Game 7. The Warriors took out the Raiders 5-4 in a Game 7 on Tuesday in Moose Jaw. The Broncos downed the Pats 3-2 in a Game 7 on Monday in Swift Current.

    Those Game 7s will go down as all-time WHL playoff classics.

Brayden Burke netted the series winner for the Warriors.

    The series between the Warriors and Raiders was definitely the WHL at its best. Out of those seven games, four of them were decided by a single goal including two contests in overtime. The Raiders showed tremendous battle even when they fell behind in the series 3-1 before they managed to even the series up at 3-3.

    Overagers in captain Curtis Miske and Jordy Stallard had outstanding series. Miske topped the Raiders in playoff scoring with three goals and seven assists, while Stallard was second in team playoff scoring with three goals and five assists.

    Sophomore winger Cole Fonstad was the Raiders most noticeable forward collecting four goals, an assist and a plus-two rating in the set.

    The series had many turning points including a missed penalty shot by Miske in the third period of Game 7. With the teams tied 4-4 late in the third period of Game 7, a power-play snipe by winger Brayden Burke with 3:50 to play in the frame before 4,702 spectators at Mosaic Place delivered the Warriors to a 5-4 victory.

    Burke had a pair of assists to go with his goal in the deciding game and played arguably the best hockey of his WHL career in the series. The overager piled up six goals, eight assists and a plus-six rating over the seven games.

Glenn Gawdin scored the series winner for the Broncos.

    Star defenceman Kale Clague, who had been quiet on the offensive front, came through big for the Warriors in Games 7 with four assists to finish with a goal and six assists for the series.

    In Prince Albert, the Raiders battle helped renew enthusiasm for the team. With Curtis Hunt as general manager, Marc Habscheid as head coach, Dave Manson as associate coach and a good crop of potential returnees, the Raiders have a bright future.

    For the Warriors under head coach Tim Hunter, they became that much more battle tough as they move forward in the post-season. Throughout the campaign, the Moose Jaw side has shown a great maturity in staying even emotionally and professional. Those characteristics will aid the Warriors going forward.

Cameron Hebig had a strong series for the Pats against the Broncos.

    The Broncos and Pats also played through an intense series. The fans on both sides still had last year’s second round playoff encounter on their minds, where the Pats rallied from a 3-1 series deficit for the first time in team history to pull out a 4-3 series win.

    After Game 2, this year’s series between the two clubs provided some big swings as far as the scoreboard was concerned. The Broncos claimed Game 3 by a 4-1 margin, and the Pats rebounded with a 6-3 victory in Game 4.

    In Game 5, the Broncos bounced back with a 5-2 victory only to see the Pats claim Game 6 by a 7-2 score to force the series to a Game 7.

    Before a sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators at the Credit Union i-Plex, the two sides played through an intense barnburner. Overage winger Cameron Hebig scored first for the Pats to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at the 6:07 mark of the first period.

Stuart Skinner made 36 saves in the Broncos win in Game 7.

    The Broncos responded with three straight goals to go up 3-1, and their big line of captain Glenn Gawdin, Tyler Steenbergen and Aleksi Heponiemi combined to net two of those tallies. Steenbergen tied the game at 1-1 at the 11:14 mark of the first, while Gawdin put the Broncos up 3-1 at the 13:37 mark of the second. Gawdin completed a beauty passing play for his tally.

    Max Patterson tallied at the 7:45 mark of the second to round out Swift Current’s surge.

    Just when the Pats seemed to be in trouble, energetic forward Robbie Holmes scored with 4:08 to play in the second period to cut the Broncos lead to 3-2. The Pats came hard trying to find the equalizer in the third outshooting the Broncos 14-4 in the frame.

    Netminder Stuart Skinner made 36 saves to allow the Broncos to hold off the Pats and preserve the win.

Ty Lewis and the Wheat Kings eliminated the Medicine Hat Tigers.

    Now, the Warriors and Broncos will go at it in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series, which begins with Game 1 on Friday at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw. While the playoffs should have been structured to have these clubs meet in a conference championship series, you can expect them to put on another must watch series that will be intriguing.

    The Wheat Kings did their part to hold up the East Division’s tough reputation taking out the Central Division champion Medicine Hat Tigers, who were 36-28-8 in the regular season, in a best-of-seven first round series 4-2. Brandon travels to Lethbridge to begin the other best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series at 7 p.m. local time at the Enmax Centre.

The Blades were the team out of the playoff picture in the “Group of Death.”

    While some observers will take shots at the Wheat Kings, who were 40-27-3-2 in the regular season, for settling into the Eastern Conference’s first wildcard spot to get an easier road to the conference championship series, they still had to win their series against the Tigers to add further proof of just how tough the East Division is this season.

    The “Group of Death” has delivered big value for the entertainment dollar in this WHL post-season and another interesting chapter is on tap when the Warriors and Broncos collide.

    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.

Sweet, sweet victory – Raiders enter seventh heaven

Goaltender Ian Scott and captain Curtis Miske enjoy the Raiders Game 6 win.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - Wow!

    In an all-time WHL playoff classic, the Prince Albert Raiders have forced a series deciding Game 7 in their best-of-seven first round set with the Moose Jaw Warriors, who topped the league’s regular season standings with a 52-15-2-3 record.

    The two clubs played through an intense back-and-fourth Game 6 on Sunday before 2,835 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre. Locked in a 4-4 tie, Raiders winger Cole Fonstad lifted a shot over the shoulder of Warriors netminder Brody Willms to give the hosts a 5-4 lead with 8:24 to play in the third period.

    The Raiders ensured that 5-4 scored held up as the final outcome on Sunday to tie their series up with the Warriors 3-3. 

Cole Fonstad scored twice for the Raiders on Sunday.

    Game 7 is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw.

    Fonstad scored twice on Sunday including the game’s opening tally on a rebound from a shot taken by overage linemate Jordy Stallard at the 7:34 mark of the first period. The Raiders dropped Games 3 and 4 of the series in Prince Albert including a 2-0 heartbreaker in Game 4 on Wednesday to fall behind 3-1 in the series.

    In Game 4, Fonstad had a goal called back just past the midway point of the third period due to incidental contact on Willms by Raiders defenceman Max Martin that would have tied that contest 1-1. The Warriors added an empty-net tally to seal that win.

    Fonstad was pumped to deliver for the Prince Albert fans on Sunday.

    “We kind of let ourselves and the fans down there in Games 3 and 4 there,” said Fonstad. “The fans tonight were amazing.

    “It is unbelievable the atmosphere in this building. We are really lucky to have them.

Brayden Burke had two goals and two assists for the Warriors on Sunday.

    “Obviously, you want to come back after stuff doesn’t go your way. I think we put it behind us real quick and just focused on what we can control.”

    During Sunday’s game, the Raiders were trading hard-working goals against skilled tallies by the Warriors. The two sides found themselves tied up at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4 as Game 6 progressed.

    Captain Curtis Miske had a goal and three assists for the Raiders, who received singles from Sean Montgomery and Regan Nagy.

    Overage winger Brayden Burke led the Warriors attack scoring his team’s first two goals on sweet snipes and drawing assists on stellar tallies by Jayden Halbgewachs and Moose Jaw captain Brett Howden. Halbgewachs, who had 70 goals during the regular season, actually scored for the first time in the series when he gave his team a short-lived 3-2 lead late in the second period.

Raiders goalie Ian Scott works to keep the Warriors at bay.

    Montgomery scored with 59 seconds to play in the second to send the two teams into the third period locked in a 3-3 tie.

    Burke said he wasn’t surprised that his team’s series with the Raiders, who posted a solid 32-27-9-4 record in the regular season, is going to a Game 7 noting the strength of the East Division, which both teams are in.
    The other first round series between two East Division rivals featuring the Swift Current Broncos, who were 48-17-5-2 in the regular season, and the Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats, who were 40-25-6-1 in the regular season, is going to a Game 7 to be played in Swift Current on Monday.

Jayden Halbgewachs scored for the Warriors on Sunday.

    The Brandon Wheat Kings, who posted a 40-27-3-2 regular season record playing out of the East Division, eliminated the Central Division champion Medicine Hat Tigers in Game 6 of their series in Dauphin, Man., on Sunday 4-3 in overtime.

    “It is a testament to the division,” said Burke. “I think it is the best division in the league this year.

    “Obviously with both series (featuring East Division teams) going to Game 7, it shows that every team is pretty equal. Even if we get through this round, we are going to have another tough test in the second round.

The Art Hauser Centre crowd cheers a Raiders goal on Sunday.

    “It just shows that a lot of teams are good, and you know you can’t take anything for granted.”

    Warriors head coach Tim Hunter echoed Burke’s statement regarding how tough the East Division was and the challenge his team faced in taking on the Raiders.

    “We didn’t think we were going to sweep this team or beat this team four games to one or whatever,” said Hunter. “We knew we were in a series from the get go.

    “They beat us at home in the first game. We knew they were a good hockey team.”

Curtis Miske celebrates a goal and he had three assists for the Raiders.

    Ian Scott turned away 16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. While he didn’t make many saves, he made a number of quality stops, which included sliding across the crease of his net to rob Warriors centre Justin Almeida with a pad stop early in the second period.

    Miske said Scott’s performance has been key to the success the Raiders have had.

    “He (Scott) only had 20 shots, but he made a couple of saves that probably could have been goals,” said Miske. “He played really well.

    “He has been keeping us in every single game. We’re scoring goals, but he has been stopping them (the Warriors). He has been a huge part of our success so far.”

Raiders RW Brett Leason (#20) breaks into the offensive zone on a rush.

    Willms turned away 27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Warriors.

    Going into a series deciding Game 7, the Raiders will be trying to rally back successfully from a 3-1 series deficit for the first time since a second round series in 1996, when they trailed the Pats 3-1 before winning three straight to take the set 4-3.

    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said he was confident in his players going into Game 7.

    “Our guys are a great group,” said Habscheid. “They are a together group. They play structured. They don’t cheat the game.

    “They play hard, and when you do that, you are going to give yourself a chance. That is the second ranked team (in the final CHL Top 10 rankings) in the country, and we are one game away.

The Raiders salute their faithful at the Art Hauser Centre on Sunday.

    “We are going to go in there and lay it all on the line and see what happens.”

    Hunter also showed belief in his group noting his Warriors rebounded after falling 5-1 to the Raiders in Game 5 in Moose Jaw on Saturday.

    “We played a lot better tonight than we did last night,” said Hunter. “If we play like we did tonight on home ice on Tuesday, we will win the hockey game.”

    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.

No goal by Raiders’ Fonstad a tough hockey call

A bump by Max Martin (#10) into goalie Brody Willms created debate.

    It was one of those plays that could create great debate in a referees teaching seminar let alone among fans.

    With the dust settled, referees Jeff Ingram and Colin Watt along with linesmen Tarrington Wyonzek and Ethan Cronkhite should receive high marks for how they handled the no goal situation involving a disallowed tally by Prince Albert Raiders right-winger Cole Fonstad on Wednesday night.

    For a quick review, the Raiders were hosting the Moose Jaw Warriors in Game 4 of a best-of-seven WHL first round series before 2,827 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. With the Warriors holding a 1-0 lead, Raiders captain Curtis Miske broke down the right wing and fired a shot on Warriors netminder Brody Willms.

    The shot rebounded long off Willms to the left side of the Moose Jaw goal. Fonstad pounced on the loose puck and fired home what appeared to be the equalizer to tie things up a 1-1 at the 10:24 mark of the frame. The official behind the net immediately waved the goal off.

Cole Fonstad saw his Game 4 be disallowed.

    After a long conference at the penalty box area, Fonstad’s goal was disallowed as it was ruled Raiders defenceman Max Martin made incidental contact with Willms.

    The Warriors later scored into an empty net with 15.6 seconds remaining in the third to seal a 2-0 victory and take a 3-1 lead in the series. They will try to close out the set tonight at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw.

    In the aftermath of Game 4, the big controversy surrounded the fact that Fonstad’s third period goal was disallowed.

    The officials handled the situation properly. The referee behind the net emphatically made a signal that the goal was no good.

    With the play brought to a stop, the officials had a conference to go over what happened. As the call to take away the goal was an incidental contact call on Martin, the officials by rule weren’t able to use the assistance of replay in that situation, so unless another official on the ice can definitively say the call should be overturned, the original call has to stand.

    In viewing the replay, Martin’s contact with Willms happened outside the crease, but Willms still had his right foot just barely in the blue paint of the crease. In WHL games I have seen this season, the trend has been for officials to call no goal due to incidental contact in those situations, so the officials stayed consistent with how that situation had been called all season.

    On the replays, it looked like Warriors Russian import defenceman Dmitri Zaitsev was trying to force Martin away from the Moose Jaw goal and ended up guided the Raiders rearguard into Willms. Under that situation, Fonstad’s goal should count.

Goalie Brody Willms was bumped in Game 4.

    In seeing the play develop once at full speed, it is uncertain how much of Zaitsev’s actions the officials saw, and if they did see them, it is possible they could rule there was enough time for Martin to recover and avoid the goalie.

    It should be noted Martin tapped into Willms, so the contact wasn’t malicious by any means.

    Having seen the play live and checked out available replays, that call could have gone either way by being ruled no goal or a goal. I am fine with whatever way the officials called it.

    It was a tough hockey call.

    Unfortunately for the Raiders and their supporters, the tough call went against their team.

    To the Raiders credit, they didn’t allow that call to deflate them. Over the final 9:36 of the third, they played hard and created good scoring chances but couldn’t find the equalizer.

    The hard pill to swallow on the Raiders side was that they likely deserved a better result in that game and likely deserve better than to be down 3-1 in that series.

    The Raiders handled the post-game scrums well. Head coach Marc Habscheid and Martin said they disagreed with the officials’ judgment on the no goal. Habscheid express concerns about critical breaks with calls that didn’t go his club’s way in each of the previous two games.

    The comments were made in a respectable fashion and were honest.

Defenceman Max Martin was on the unfortunate wrong end of a tough call.

    The Warriors had to be credited with how well they handled the post-game media scrums as well. Moose Jaw head coach Tim Hunter said it was a disallowed goal, and with how fast the officials made their initial call, that was all Hunter really needed to say.

    Willms said the contact impeded him from getting across the crease, and he gave an honest answer.

    Overall, Moose Jaw has to be credited with finding a way to get a 3-1 edge in the series.

    The media present at that contest handled the whole situation surrounding Fonstad’s disallowed goal well.

    The Raiders fans that disagreed with the call showed their disagreement in a respectable fashion on social media after the game. They unleashed loud boos when the call was made in the third period, but no one did anything over the line crazy. The Raiders fans handled things well.

The Warriors are in position to win their playoff series with the Raiders.

    At the NHL level, there has been talk of dissatisfaction with how the whole concept of goalie interference has been dealt with this season.

    It is highly likely the whole rule will be revisited and debated at various league meetings in the NHL and WHL in the off-season.

    For now, the call to disallow Fonstad’s goal was just a tough call.

    It was nice to see all parties including the officials, the Raiders, the Warriors, the media and the fans treat that situation respectfully.

    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.

Gerlach ensures fond farewell for Blades overagers

Max Gerlach (#9) hugs Blades captain Evan Fiala (#47).

    Max Gerlach made sure the overage players for the Saskatoon Blades had a great send off. 

    The 19-year-old right-winger from Flower Mound, Texas, potted his second career WHL hat trick on Saturday night to lift the Blades to a 5-4 regular season victory over the Prince Albert Raiders before 9,624 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. With the Blades eliminated from WHL playoff contention, Saturday’s outing marked the final game for Saskatoon’s overage players in captain Evan Fiala, left-winger Braylon Shmyr and netminder Tyler Brown.

    “You have to take it all in,” said Fiala, who resides just outside of Saskatoon in Clavet. “I’m sure it is going to hit me a lot harder a little later.

    “As of right now, I am just trying to enjoy it all. During a game, you never look in the crowd. You just stay focused, and you kind of do your own thing.

    “I was just taking that second to kind of look around and take it all in.”

Evan Fiala scored the winning goal for the Blades on Saturday.

    The Blades built leads of 4-1 and 5-2 before Raiders import defenceman Sergei Sapego, who comes from Belarus, scored twice in the final two minutes of the third period to round out the final outcome.

    An empty-net goal by Fiala with 2:51 to play in the third period turned out to be the winning goal. The Raiders pulled netminder Curtis Meger with 4:10 to play in the third period for an extra attacker.

    “It is a lot of emotions out there for sure,” said Fiala, who plans to play in the East Coast Hockey League with the South Carolina Stingrays based in North Charleston, South Carolina, next season. “At the time, I didn’t think it was the game winner.

    “I was just enjoying it. I wanted it so bad. Thankfully, it took a couple of bounces and went in.

    “That was awesome. It was a blast.”

    Russian import defenceman Mark Rubinchik had the Blades other tally.

    Spencer Moe and captain Curtis Miske each netted singles for the Raiders. The Raiders were without standout power forward Parker Kelly on Saturday. He was serving a one-game league imposed suspension for taking a spearing major penalty in his team’s 2-1 loss in Prince Albert on Friday to the visiting Blades.

Braylon Shmyr led the Blades in scoring this season.

    When Saturday’s game finished, Shmyr finished the season as the Blades leading scorer appearing in all of the club’s 72 regular season games collecting career highs in goals (37) and assists (51). During a WHL career that included five complete regular seasons split between the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Blades, Shmyr appeared in 300 regular season games piling up 111 goals and 129 assists.

    The Calgary, Alta, product was happy his 300^th career and final WHL regular season game was a win.

    “It felt amazing to get my 300^th game tonight at home,” said Shmyr. “To get the win, you can’t say anything better. To go out like that, it means a lot to me knowing I had a great five years in this league.

    “I didn’t have any expectations or milestones at all. I just wanted to go out here every game to play my best hockey.”

    Before Fiala scored his empty-net goal, Shmyr, who was held pointless on Saturday, had a couple of chances to score into the empty cage but ultimately couldn’t muscle the puck home.

Tyler Brown won his last three starts in goal for the Blades.

    “Definitely, you want to score a goal in your last hockey game,” said Shmyr, who is still weighing his hockey options for next season. “I almost had it.

    “It was kind of funny when I had a couple of chances and couldn’t bury it. It is alright.”

    Brown turned away 31 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. The Winnipeg, Man., product started each of the Blades last three games and won them all.

    He was acquired by the Blades in a trade with the Regina Pats before the WHL trade deadline passed on Jan. 10. Brown spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Pats and backstopped them to Game 6 of the WHL championship series last year.

Max Gerlach had a hat trick for the Blades on Saturday.

    In the fall, Brown plans to join the U Sports men’s hockey ranks and suit up with his hometown University of Manitoba Bisons. When Saturday’s game ended, he was still processing the end of his major junior career.

    “That was bittersweet,” said Brown. “I had a lot of fun playing junior hockey, and I am excited to see what is next.

    “I really wanted to go out hot and just feel good about ending my career that way.”

    Meger turned away 27-of-31 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

    The Blades finished the regular season with a 35-33-3-1 record to actually sit seventh overall in the 12 team WHL Eastern Conference. Due to the WHL’s playoff format where the top three teams in each division and the two best records after that in each conference make the playoffs, the Blades missed the post-season finishing sixth in the East Division.

The Blades celebrate Evan Fiala’s empty-net goal.

    They finished three points behind the Raiders (32-27-9-4) for the second wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference.

    The Raiders will face the Moose Jaw Warriors, who finished first overall in the league with a 52-15-2-3 record, in a best-of-seven first round series. Game 1 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw.

    Going into next season, Gerlach, who was acquired in a deal just before the WHL trade deadline on Jan. 10 from the Medicine Hat Tigers, said he likes the depth the Blades have. He was looking forward to seeing what standout rookie netminder Nolan Maier was going to look like next season as a 17-year-old sophomore.

    “I think it is a lot of good feeling in the room right now,” said Gerlach. “Obviously, we wish we could be stepping into the playoffs right now.

The Blades overage players pose for a picture with their teammates.

    “It feels really good right now to have so much confidence kind of going into the summer. I think we built a lot of chemistry throughout the lineup and a lot of confidence back there in our net with Nole (Nolan Maier). I think that there are going to be lots of hopes and a big opportunity next year to go far.”

    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.

Raiders deliver big send off

“Hockey Town North” faithful treated to 5-1 season ending win

Captain Tim Vanstone salutes the Prince Albert fans.

    PRINCE ALBERT - “Runnin’ Back to Saskatoon” was ringing through the rafters of the Art Hauser Centre with over a minute to play in Saturday’s WHL game.

    It was that good of a night for the host Raiders, who downed their arch rivals the Saskatoon Blades 5-1 before a crammed crowd of 2,953 spectators. The Blades got out to a 1-0 lead in the first period, before the Raiders roared back with five straight goals through the final 40 minutes.

    Fitting a traditional clash between the Raiders and Blades, the night also contained a couple of fights and a few scrums. The win allowed the Raiders to finish the regular season with a 21-44-5-2 record, which included posting a 13-13-4 record after the WHL’s trade deadline passed on Jan. 10.

    While the Raiders had been long eliminated from playoff contention, overage captain Tim Vanstone said that Saturday’s win was still a good way for him to go out along with his overage teammates Kolten Olynek and Cavin Leth.

    “I didn’t script it like this for sure,” said Vanstone. “It just shows how much everyone cared.

    “We pulled for each other. It wasn’t just for me, Cavin (Leth) and Olyny (Olynek). It was for everybody.

    “This crest means way more than gold to a lot of those guys in that room. I think the foundation has been set, and they are just going to roll with it next year.”

Captain Tim Vanstone jets up ice for the Raiders.

    Vanstone played all five seasons of his major junior career with the Raiders having been selected in the third round and 52^nd overall by the club in the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft. The Swift Current product appeared in 299 career regular season games collecting 36 goals, 58 assists and 318 penalty minutes. He couldn’t imagine spending his career anywhere else.

    “I think you just look back and put it in perspective I guess the hard times, the good times and the long bus trips,” said Vanstone. “It is all worth it at the end of the day.

    “I think the biggest thing for me is I spent it in the same place. I went to the same places to eat. I saw the people at the same places.

    “No matter how good your game was or how bad your game was, they love you no matter what.”

    During the first 20 minutes of Saturday’s games, the Blades were doing their best to spoil the Raiders home finale. At the 5:39 mark of the opening frame, Blades winger Mason McCarty potted the rebound from a point shot to put the visitors ahead 1-0.

Simon Stransky controls the puck on the power play for the Raiders.

    Momentum changed in the second period, when Czech winger Simon Stransky went to work for the Raiders. He popped home a pair of goals to put the Raiders ahead 2-1.

    He then combined with Leth to set up winger Curtis Miske to score off a backdoor play while working on a power play to extend the host’s edge to 3-1. Miske’s tally was his 20^th goal of the season.

    The Raiders kept rolling in the third, when centre Adam Kadlec and defenceman Cody Paivarinta tallied singles one minute and 34 seconds apart from each other.

    Ian Scott made 24 stops to pick up the win goal for the Raiders. Brock Hamm stopped 26 shots to take the loss in goal for the Blades.

    Vanstone ended up engaged with Blades defenceman Evan Fiala in a second period fight and finished his final WHL outing with a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department and 19 minutes in penalties.

    When the Raiders overage players were called out as the game’s three stars, Vanstone took a decent sized lap to salute the fans.

Mason McCarty gave the Blades an early 1-0 lead.

    He said he loved how the fans in Prince Albert always came up to talk to him, ask how he was, ask how the team was doing and offer encouragement. He admitted he was going to miss those interactions saying the community is very close knit being in one of the league’s smaller markets.

    “Everyone in P.A. made P.A. everything to me,” said Vanstone. “I think that is how I can sum it up is absolutely that.

    “I am so grateful for the experience. I am going to be a Raider until I die that is for sure.”

    The Blades fell to 28-35-7-2 with the loss and missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year. The Calgary Hitmen (30-32-8-2) finished five points ahead of the Blades for eight overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and the conference’s second wildcard berth.

    After Saskatoon won what turned out to be an emotional final home game on Friday where they beat the Raiders 5-3 and were officially eliminated from playoffs, Blades head coach Dean Brockman said his side had a bit of an expected letdown on Saturday. He said the reality of the fact the season was over hadn’t totally hit him yet.

    “It will hit me when we go to work Monday, and we don’t have to practice,” said Brockman. “There are a lot of things to digest where we went right and where we went wrong.

Adam Kadlec sets to fire a shot on goal for the Raiders.

    “There will be evaluations with our guys, with our management group. Obviously, it is very disappointing we are not continuing our season. Through all the adversity I thought we made some strides this year.”

    Going forward, Brockman believes the Blades have a lot of bright lights in players like forward Michael Farren and Chase Wouters, who concluded their 16-year-old season, and centre Kirby Dach, who will officially enter his 16-year-old season in the upcoming campaign.
    Dach, who was selected by the Blades second overall in last year’s WHL Bantam Draft, finished out this season in Saskatoon as a call up from the midget AAA ranks until getting hurt in the team’s fifth last game of the season.

    “For not knowing a lot about Michael Farren, he did really well,” said Brockman. “I think maybe if there was anything he ran out of gas later in the year.

Parker Kelly celebrates the Raiders win.

    “(Chase Wouters) is just a character kid that works and works and works. Those guys are going to be big cornerstones.

    “Kirby is going to be a good player. You don’t want to put too much pressure on the young guy, but he has got a bright future that is for sure.”

    As for the present on Saturday, the night belonged to the Raiders, and Vanstone was pleased to relish one last memory with the fans from “Hockey Town North.”

    “You can’t teach loyalty, and this city is all about it,” he said.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.