Raiders romp into Christmas break with 8-3 win

Gorzynski collects five points in P.A. home debut

If first impressions are anything, Brandon Gorzynski is going to be a fan favourite in “Hockey Town North” in the not too distance future.

On Friday night, the 18-year-old left-winger played his first home game as a member of the Prince Albert Raiders before a standing room crowd of 2,584 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. Back on Monday, the Raiders acquired Gorzynski in a trade with the Calgary Hitmen that saw 17-year-old left-winger Ty Meunier, a second round selection in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft and a conditional fourth round pick in the 2027 Prospects Draft head the other way.

Gorzynski had an assist in his Raiders debut on Wednesday, when they traveled to Regina and fell to the host Pats 5-4 in a WHL regular season contest.

Skating at the Art Hauser Centre as a member of the Prince Albert side for the first time in regular season play on Friday, Gorzynski had a sensational night recording his first career WHL hat trick and two assists as the Raiders romped over the visiting Kelowna Rockets 8-3. Gorzynski scored twice on a hot night for the power play and once at even strength. The Raiders were 5-for-9 with the man advantage and successfully killed off both of the Rockets chances on the power play.

The victory allowed the Raiders to head into their Christmas break in impressive fashion. They improved to 23-5-4 to move one standings point ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers (22-6-3-2) for first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Raiders have a game in hand on the Tigers.

Prince Albert leads the East Division, while the Tigers top the Central Division. The Raiders also sit second in the overall WHL standings and third in the latest CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday.

The Rockets fell to 16-12-3-1 as they head into their Christmas break to sit inside the top five of the Western Conference. Kelowna will host the upcoming CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – from May 22 to 31, 2026, and the Rockets will be searching to play with a little better consistency when they return to action after Christmas.

The Raiders stormed out of the gates on Friday night scoring three times on their first six shots of the contest to hold a 3-0 lead at the 9:54 mark of the opening frame. Linden Burrett, who is a 19-year-old defenceman, scored just 78 seconds into the game on a backhander off an offensive rush, and Raiders captain Justice Christensen hammered home the club’s first power-play goal of the night to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

Gorzynski completed the surge with his first power-play goal of the contest and the Raiders second tally with the man advantage. Holding the puck at a bad angle to the right side of the Kelowna net, the Scottsdale, Arizona, product put a shot to the top right corner of the net over the shoulder of Rockets breakout star rookie netminder Harrison Boettiger.

Before the first period ended, the Rockets made a push back that saw captain Carson Wetsch fire home his 13^th of the season just 35 seconds after Gorzynski’s first tally to trim the Raiders lead to 3-1.

Just 84 seconds into the second period, Raiders 17-year-old right-winger Jonah Sivertson potted his 10^th goal of the season to push the home side’s lead out to 4-1. At the 3:02 mark of the second, Gorzynski slipped home a backhand shot from the front of the Kelowna net for an even strength tally to give the Raiders a 5-1 advantage.

That tally knocked Boettiger out of the game as he was pulled by the Rockets coaching staff after stopping 8-of-13 shots sent his way to take the loss in net for the visitors. Josh Banini turned away 23-of-26 shots playing the rest of the way in relief.

The Rockets didn’t go away. Jaxon Kehrig, who is an 18-year-old centre, scored for the Rockets at the 11:47 mark of the second to cut the Raiders lead to 5-2.

Gorzynski picked up his first of two assists by setting up 17-year-old right-winger Riley Boychuk for a power-play goal at the 13:04 mark of the second to push the Raiders advantage out to 6-2.

Rockets 19-year-old right-winger Dawson Gerwing netted his sixth goal of the campaign at the 16:30 mark of the second to trim the Prince Albert lead to 6-3. Kelowna’s offence proceeded to dry up at that point.

Just 2:33 into the third, Raiders star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring scored on the power play by potting the rebound from a shot taken by Gorzynski to make the score sit at 7-3 in favour of the hosts.

With 5:12 remaining in the third, Gorzynski completed his hat trick by firing home a power-play goal from the right faceoff dot in the Calgary zone to round out the 8-3 final score in favour of Prince Albert.

Dimitri Fortin made 34 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders.

Oiring had three assists to go with his goal. He also surpassed 200 career points in regular season play with his big night. In 231 career regular season contests played between the Winnipeg Ice and the Raiders, Oiring has collected 76 goals and 126 assists for 202 points.

Maddix McCagherty, Brayden Dube, Brock Cripps and Daxon Rudolph each had two helpers for the Raiders.

The Rockets return to action on Saturday, December 27 when they host the 15-18-1-1 Vancouver Giants (6 p.m. local time, Prospera Place).

The Raiders also return to action on that same day traveling to Swift Current to take on the 8-23-1 Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex).

Heading into the Christmas break, Prince Albert has enjoyed a memorable campaign to this point. With the performance the Raiders put on in the win over the Rockets on Friday, the faithful in “Hockey Town North” will be jumping to pack the Raiders storied home rink and enjoy a few road trips to support their team when game action resumes after the holiday hiatus.

Silvertips rally for 3-2 OT win over Cougars, other notes

Landon DuPont put on his superhero cape to cap a miracle comeback for the WHL leading Everett Silvertips.

Playing before a raucous crowd of 6,073 spectators at the Angel of the Winds Arena in a regular season clash on Friday night, the host Silvertips found themselves trailing the B.C. Division leading Prince George Cougars 2-0 heading into the final two minutes of the third period. It appeared Cougars 19-year-old rookie import netminder Alexander Levshyn was going to steal a victory for the visitors as the Silvertips threw seemingly everything including the kitchen sink at him without getting a goal.

When all hope looked lost for the Silvertips, their offence proceeded to break through.

With 71 seconds remaining in the third and star netminder Raiden LeGall pulled for an extra attacker, Silvertips 20-year-old centre Zackary Shantz potted his 15^th goal of the campaign to cut the Cougars lead to 2-1. He pulled a toe-drag move and fired home a shot between Levshyn’s legs.

With 41.9 second remaining in the third, DuPont, who is the Silvertips star 16-year-old sophomore defenceman, potted the equalizer during a scramble in front of the Prince George net that forced a 2-2 tie and overtime. The rearguard ultimately potted the equalizer off a rebound from a shot taken by Silvertips star right-winger Jesse Heslop.

At the 2:47 mark of the three-versus-three overtime period, DuPont drove down the right wing with the puck, zipped past the Cougars defence, cut across the front of the Prince George net and fired home the winner after making a toe drag move. The spectacular tally that gave the Silvertips the 3-2 victory was DuPont’s sixth tally and third winner of the campaign.

The comeback helped the Silvertips push their winning streak to seven games heading into their Christmas break as they improved their WHL leading record to 27-3-2-1. The Silvertips topped the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday.

The Cougars continued to lead the B.C. Division as their record moved to 22-9-1 with the extra time setback as they set off on their Christmas break.

Prince George went ahead 1-0 in Friday’s clash with the Silvertips on a second period goal from 19-year-old defenceman Corbin Vaughan. The Cougars appeared to have locked down a victory after going ahead 2-0 with 2:50 remaining in the third when 18-year-old import rookie centre Dmitri Yakutsenak netted his 14^th goal of the campaign.

That set the stage for the epic Silvertips rally for the win.

LeGall made 14 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips. Levshyn turned away 51 shots to take the extra time setback in net for the Cougars.

The Silvertips return to action on Saturday, December 27 when they travel to Kent, Washington, to face the 13-14-2-1 Seattle Thunderbirds (6 p.m. local time, Accesso ShoWare Centre).

The Cougars also get back at it on that same day when they host the 13-11-4-3 Victoria Royals (6 p.m. local time, CN Centre).

• In Calgary, 18-year-old breakout star right-winger Joby Baumuller scored in overtime to deliver the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings to a 3-2 victory over the host Hitmen. The Wheat Kings jumped out to a 2-0 in the first period and the Hitmen rallied with single goals in the second and third frames to even the score at 2-2 and force overtime.
• In Kent, Washington, Antonio Martorana and Brock England scored in a tiebreaking shootout to give the host Seattle Thunderbirds a 2-0 win in the tiebreaking session and a 1-0 overall game victory over the visiting Kamloops Blazers. Logan Edmonstone turned away 40 shots over 65 minutes and one shooter in the shootout for the Blazers. Marek Sklenicka stopped 36 shots and both shooters he faced in the shootout for the Thunderbirds.
• In Langley, B.C., 16-year-old rookie left-winger Ludovic Perreault scored the first three goals of the game to power the visiting Victoria Royals to a 5-1 victory over the host Vancouver Giants. Royals 17-year-old left-winger Nolan Stewart had one goal and three assists in the win, while 18-year-old right-winger Caleb Matthews had one goal and two assists for the visitors. Of course, Perreault, Stewart and Matthews play on the same line.

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Raiders’ Meunier finding early hot stride in second season

Prince Albert sinks Rebels 4-1 to improve to 4-0-1

Ty Meunier had one goal and one assist for the Raiders on Saturday.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Things just seem to be that much more comfortable for Ty Meunier the second time around.

Last season as a 16-year-old rookie in the WHL, Meunier, who was selected by the Raiders in the first round and seventh overall in the 2023 WHL Prospect Draft, had a fairly solid campaign as a first-year player. The speedy left-winger suited up for all of the Raiders 68 regular season games posting 14 goals and 15 assists to go with a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

After five games as a 17-year-old sophomore, Menuier has recorded three goals, one assist and a plus-one rating. Those offensive numbers included the St. Albert, Alta., product providing the Raiders with one goal, one assist and a plus-two performance in a 4-1 regular season victory over the visiting Red Deer Rebels before 2,843 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre on Saturday.

Ty Meunier has four points in five games this season.

Meunier said he feels the flow of things on the ice comes with a lot more familiarity than it did a year ago as a rookie.

“You feel more comfortable,” said Meunier. “That is the biggest thing.

“You feel like you can be a big asset out there and make plays and be confident. That is how I feel right now, so I’ll continue to do that.

“It has been awesome.”

Meunier got things going early in the first period. Breaking into the centre ice zone on a two-on-two rush, Meunier passed the puck to 17-year-old rookie right-winger Jonah Sivertson right before crossing the Red Deer blue line.

Ty Meunier had 29 points in 68 games as a WHL rookie last season.

Upon entering the Red Deer end, Sivertson slipped a lead pass past the Rebels defence to spring Meunier in alone on the Red Deer goal. Meunier roofed a shot to the top right corner of the Red Deer net to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

“It was just a great play by (Jonah) Sivertson,” said Meunier, who stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 162 pounds. “We kind of got going up ice.

“I gave it to him. He made a great play getting it back, and I got lucky enough I picked a corner and it went in.”

With 6:10 remaining in the first, Meunier had the puck low to the left side of the Red Deer net below the icing line. He put a pass across the front of the goal to the right side boards to veteran 19-year-old defenceman Linden Burrett.

Jonah Sivertson (#28) celebrates his first career WHL goal.

Burrett proceeded to quickly put a backdoor pass across the front of the Red Deer net to Sivertson at the left side of the goal. Sivertson promptly buried a shot into an empty cage for his first career WHL regular season goal to push the Raiders lead out to 2-0.

Meunier said in the early going of the current campaign he really feels he can size up plays a lot better than he did a year ago. Visually, he believes the game is starting to slow down for him.

“There are obviously new players in the league, but there are still guys that are from last year,” said Meunier. “It definitely feels a little slower.

“You feel like you can kind of be more dominant out there in different areas.”

Matthew Gard had the Rebels lone goal on Saturday.

Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald believed that Meunier had an outstanding outing for the entirety of Saturday’s contest.

“I thought Ty’s play away from the puck was phenomenal,” said McDonald. “Inside the dots, he made some great, great defensive reads that led to some great offensive chances for him.

“When Ty has the ability to get the puck and roll through the dots offensively and get his looks, Ty doesn’t need too many of those to make them count.”

The performance of Meunier, Sivertson and Burrett, who picked up assists on both first period goals for the Raiders, helped cap a dominant opening frame for the Prince Albert side. That included holding a 13-3 edge in shots on goal. The Raiders could have had a bigger advantage if it wasn’t for the performance of Rebels star 19-year-old netminder Chase Wutzke making a number of big saves.

Chase Wutzke makes one of his 24 saves in goal for the Rebels.

The Rebels proceeded to grab some momentum early in the second period on a stretch of four-versus-four play. Just 29 second into the stanza, Rebels 18-year-old centre Matthew Gard ripped home a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle in the Prince Albert zone to cut the Raiders lead to 2-1.

Prince Albert proceeded to change the complexion of the contest scoring twice late in the second period to push their advantage out to 4-1. With 2:18 remaining in the frame, Raiders 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube broke into the Red Deer zone with rookie 16-year-old right-winger Ben Harvey on two-on-the-goalie break with Rebels 17-year-old defenceman Luke Vlooswyk in hot pursuit on the backcheck.

Ben Harvey had the Raiders third goal on Saturday.

Dube went to the left side of the Red Deer net and put a backhand pass across the face of the goal that deflected off Vlooswyk’s stick to Harvey by the right post. Harvey potted the puck into an empty cage to give the Raiders a 3-1 edge.

With 63 seconds remaining in the second and the Raiders working on the power play, Raiders 17-year-old right-winger Riley Boychuk had the puck at the right side of the Red Deer net and fired a pass across the front of the goal backdoor to Dube. Dube received the puck just beside the left faceoff circle and wired home his fourth of the campaign to give the Raiders their 4-1 lead.

“Dupes (Dube) possesses tremendous speed,” said McDonald. “Again, we have to make sure that we can utilize his pace.

Dimitri Fortin made 18 saves in goal for the Raiders.

“He has got a great shot. You saw it on the power play where he gets the one through the seam there and makes a great shot with it. Again, we have to make sure we can find that open ice for him to utilize his speed.”

The Rebels came with a push in the third period holding a 12-7 edge in shots on goal in the frame. Raiders 19-year-old netminder Dimitri Fortin slammed the door shut in front of the Prince Albert net to ensure the 4-1 lead in favour of the Raiders held up as the game’s final outcome.

During the third period, McDonald and the Raiders coaching staff showed great faith in all their players by rolling all four of the team’s forward lines and the three defensive pairings in finishing off the game defensively.

Brayden Dube had one goal and one assist for the Raiders.

“That was the game plan,” said Meunier. “We said in the second intermission let’s finish this game off good.

“That is what the coach wanted to do is roll all four lines, and we did that. Props to our team for doing that, and I think the coaches are happy with it.”

Fortin stopped 18 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders (4-0-1). Wutzke turned away 24 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels (1-4).

Saturday’s contest marked the first time Rebels head coach Marc Habscheid coached a game in Prince Albert since the 2021-22 campaign, which was his final season as head coach of the Raiders. Habscheid became the Raiders head coach on November 1, 2014 and held that post to the end of the 2021-22 campaign. He guided the Raiders to their second WHL championship win during a magical 2018-19 season.

Marc Habscheid works the Rebels bench as head coach.

For the current Raiders and their current head coach, McDonald said the focus will be on continually working to get better.

“For us, we just continue to take things day by day (and) continue to build our game,” said McDonald. “We had a fantastic week of practice this week, and we had a lot of learning.

“As a coach, what you’re looking for is guys applying the stuff that we’re learning in practice out on the ice and in games. For us, we saw a lot of that stuff come to the forefront today. For us, it is just continue to keep building our game and keep taking it one game at a time.”

The Rebels return to action on Tuesday when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7 p.m., Marchant Crane Centrium)

The Raiders get back at it on Wednesday when they host the Vancouver Giants (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Raiders salute their fans at the Art Hauser Centre.

Meunier said he is really looking forward to the rest of his 17-year-old sophomore campaign.

“It is a great start for our team, and we just have to keep building,” said Meunier. “I’m super proud of the guys, and we’ll just keep moving on from here.”

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

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Doing it for Harry – Tigers rallying around netminder

Medicine Hat takes commanding 3-0 series lead on Raiders

Harrison Meneghin makes one of his 21 saves on Wednesday.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – On a night when the Medicine Hat Tigers had the offensive fireworks going at full force, their thoughts were still with their main man in the net.

On Wednesday, the Tigers had a great night rolling to a 6-1 win over the host Prince Albert Raiders in Game 3 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series at the Art Hauser Centre. The win allows the Tigers to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven set. They will try to close the series out in Game 4, which is slated for Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Hauser.

Just 58 seconds into the opening frame, Tigers star 19-year-old left-winger Hunter St. Martin roofed home the first shot of the contest from the right faceoff circle to the top right corner of the Prince Albert goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. St. Martin’s tally brought the raucous atmosphere created by the standing room crowd of 3,185 spectators at the 2,591 seat storied and historic home rink of the Raiders to a hush.

Harrison Meneghin plays the puck behind his own net.

St. Martin would finish with one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. He had helpers on the Tigers second and fourth tallies of the night.

Tigers superstar 17-year-old left-winger Gavin McKenna would steal the show with his own three-point night coming off one goal and two assists to go with a plus-one rating. He tallied his marker on a “Michigan” lacrosse-type goal play 76 seconds into the third period during four-versus-four action to give the Tigers a 5-1 lead. That tally is making all the major sports networks in Canada and has gone viral on various social media platforms.

While seemingly all the Tigers had big nights, it is safe to say they are all happy for their 20-year-old star netminder Harrison Meneghin, who was making his first start after attending the funeral for his father, Derek, last Thursday in South Surrey, B.C.

Harrison Meneghin tracks play in his own zone.

Meneghin made 21 saves to pick up the win in goal. He dressed as the Tigers backup for their wins over the Raiders in Games 1 and 2 this past Saturday and Sunday respectively at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat.

Tigers legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins, who is wearing a button with Meneghin’s #35 and the word dad on it, was beaming with pride for his veteran puck stopper.

“It is a pretty difficult circumstance for sure,” said Desjardins. “Nobody knows what to do with that.

“It is a really tough one. You know, his family is unbelievable. When I was at the funeral, I was pretty impressed, pretty amazed by them.

Harrison Meneghin (#35) is embraced by two teammates.

“With Harrison (Meneghin), he has been good for us all year. He has battled lots of things. There is nothing really to say except he has got outstanding character.”

Desjardins then paused before continuing.

“I know he is playing for his dad,” said Desjardins. “I know that.

“For him, it is great to have a good night.”

Meneghin’s efforts were not lost on arguably his most famous teammate in McKenna, who seems to make nightly highlight reels recording points in his last 48 games played between the regular season and post-season. McKenna admitted he has been amazed by what Meneghin has been able to do.

“It has been huge for him to even be in between the pipes playing,” said McKenna. “It is very special.

Harrison Meneghin gives a stick tap thank you to a group of Tigers fans.

“We know he has gone through a lot, and we want to be there for him whenever we can. Obviously, I think the rink for him we want it to be a getaway to kind of feel normal again. We want to just comfort him when he needs it.

“He has been doing a heck of a job playing.”

After St. Martin put the Tigers up 1-0, the opening frame was fairly evenly played with the visitors holding a 9-8 edge in shots on goal. The game’s complexion changed greatly in the second.

Just 82 seconds into the second, Tigers overage centre Mathew Ward came down the left wing on a one-on-one rush and wired a shot to the top left corner of the Prince Albert net to push the visitor’s lead out to 2-0. St. Martin, who picked his first assist of the night on Ward’s tally, said it was big for his squad to score early at the beginning of periods.

Hunter St. Martin had one goal and two assists for the Tigers.

“The start and end of periods are huge for momentum and the overall game feel,” said St. Martin. “It was huge.

“Wardo (Mathew Ward) got us started in the second. I got us started in the first. It is just huge getting that momentum at the start of the period, so that you kind of take the energy out of the building.”

Shortly after Ward’s goal, the Raiders had a big chance to break on to the scoreboard when rookie centre Ethan Bibeau received a backdoor feed at the right side of the Medicine Hat net. Bibeau put a shot on goal only to be robbed by a sprawling left pad save by Meneghin.

At the 14:04 mark of the second, Tigers rookie import defenceman Veeti Vaisanen roofed home a power-play goal close in from the left side of the Prince Albert net to the top left corner of the goal. Vaisanen’s tally put the Tigers up 3-0.

Gavin McKenna had one goal and two assists for the Tigers.

Just 75 seconds later, Tigers right-winger Marcus Pacheco entered the Raiders zone on a two-on-one rush jetting down the left wing. Pacheco put a pass across the front of the Prince Albert net to star defenceman Tanner Molendyk, who quickly popped home his first of the post-season to push Medicine Hat’s advantage out to 4-0.

With 20.8 seconds remaining in the third, Raiders star defenceman Lukas Dragicevic deflected a puck home in front of the Medicine Hat that came via a point shot by standout rookie rearguard Daxon Rudolph to trim the Tigers lead to 4-1. For a moment, that looked to potentially set the stage for the Raiders to rally.

McKenna’s goal off the “Michigan” ended those hopes early in the third. Following his goal, McKenna had the puck on the left side boards of the Prince Albert zone and fed a pass to Tigers star right-winger Ryder Ritchie. Ritchie, who is a former member of the Raiders, jetted in alone and sniped a mid-height shot to the left side of the Prince Albert net to round out the 6-1 final score in favour of the visitors at the 5:12 mark of the frame.

Mathew Ward (#10) scored 82 seconds into the second period.

The Raiders elected to pull star 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand after Ritchie’s tally. Hildebrand turned away 16-of-22 shots fired his way. Dimitri Fortin stopped all seven shots he faced in a relief effort.

“We had our chances early,” said Raiders interim head coach Ryan McDonald. “We created some chances.

“We just weren’t able to capitalize. They are a team that doesn’t need too many chances to put pucks in the back of the net. They capitalized on our mistakes and took advantage.”

The Raiders were without star left-winger Tomas Mrsic for a fifth straight contest having suffered a skate cut late in the first period of the Raiders victory in Game 5 in their first round series over the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Tigers were without star forwards Andrew Basha and Cayden Lindstrom.

Veeti Vaisanen had a big power-play goal for the Tigers.

Basha last played in the Tigers 4-0 home ice victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on December 28, 2024 and has been out with a lower body injury since that time. Lindstrom has been battling a back injury since December 16, 2023 and last suited up on April 5, 2024, when the Tigers fell 5-2 at home to be eliminated from the WHL Playoffs in Game 5 of a first round series against the Red Deer Rebels.

The Tigers topped the Eastern Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 47-17-3-1 mark. They took out the Swift Current Broncos in five games in a best-of-seven first round series. In their last 42 games between the regular season and playoffs, the Tigers are an impressive 35-4-2-1.

The Raiders won the WHL’s East Division title with a 39-23-5-1 mark. They overcame a 3-1 series deficit to down the Oil Kings 4-3 in the first round of the playoffs. McDonald said his Raiders will do their best to regroup to try and win a fourth straight elimination game on Thursday.

Lukas Dragicevic (#3) had the Raiders lone goal on Wednesday.

“It is sticking to the process and sticking to the game plan,” said McDonald. “The sun is going to come up tomorrow.

“We’ve been in this position before, and we will lean on the experience we just had. It is simplifying and sticking to our process.”

Since the WHL started in 1966-67, only three teams have rallied back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series to claim the set.

The Spokane Chiefs, who were guided by Mike Babcock as head coach, trailed the Portland Winterhawks 3-0 before rallying to take a first round series 4-3 in 1996. The Kelowna Rockets fell behind the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-0 in 2013 before rallying back to claim that first round series 4-3. The Saskatoon Blades fell behind the Red Deer Rebels 3-0 in an Eastern Conference semifinal series in 2023 and stormed back to take that series 4-3.

Ryder Ritchie had the Tigers sixth goal on Wednesday night.

The Raiders have rallied once from a 3-0 series deficit in their team’s history back in their junior A days. In the 1979 SJHL Playoffs, the Raiders trailed the junior A version of the Swift Current Broncos that existed at that time 3-0 in a best-of-seven second round series. The Raiders stormed back to take that series 4-3 and moved on to win the Centennial Cup as national junior A champions.

Desjardins is more concerned that this season’s Raiders squad rallied back to down the Oil Kings in round one. The Tigers bench boss said his squad has to focus even more to close out their series with the Raiders.

“There is no reason to look ahead,” said Desjardins. “That team came back from 3-1.

“They think they’re going to come back from 3-0. That is their plan. They are going to come hard.

The Tigers celebrate their victory on Wednesday night.

“They will give everything they’ve got to get it. Tomorrow is a tough one. We’ve got to be good.”

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All over the map – Tigers best Raiders 6-4 in series opener

The Tigers celebrate a goal from captain Oasiz Wiesblatt.

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Boring – Game 1 between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Prince Albert Raiders definitely was not.

The opening contest of a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal between the two sides was all over the map on Saturday night. The host Tigers built a 5-1 lead after 40 minutes and held on to a 6-4 victory before 5,863 spectators at Co-op Place.

The two sides combined to go 4-for-6 on the power play, with the Tigers scoring on all three of their chances with the man advantage and the Raiders cashing in on 1-of-3 opportunities. Even with all the goals, there were some big saves. There were also a handful off good hits and there was even a classic positive boards-bounce goal that was common in the Tigers old home rink – The Arena.

Fans at Co-op Place cheer on the Tigers.

Overall, the coaches on both side had a lot of video to go over before the two squads reconvene for Game 2, which is set for Sunday at 6 p.m. local time at Co-op Place.

Game 1 began with Raiders 20-year-old star netminder Max Hildebrand putting on a show. The Tigers had the first seven shots on goal in the contest only to have Hildebrand slam the door on all those opportunities.

The stops saw Hildebrand stone Tigers veteran right-winger Marcus Pacheco from the right slot, make a glove stop on rookie left-winger Marcus Ruck and deny superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna on a backhander close in.

At the 10:06 mark of the opening frame, the Raiders took advantage of a break. A Tigers pass in the Medicine Hat zone got caught in the skates of an official and was recovered by Raiders rookie right-winger Riley Boychuk in the left corner of the zone.

Evan Smith had the first goal of Saturday’s game.

Boychuk centred a pass to 18-year-old centre Evan Smith, who sniped home a shot to put the visitors up 1-0.

After the Prince Albert goal, the Tigers continued to press. With 3:35 remaining in the first, Tigers rookie-right-winger Liam Ruck put home a shot from close in that just eluded Hildebrand’s glove to even the score at 1-1.

The second period was all Tigers as they outscored the Raiders 4-0 while holding a 20-4 edge in shots on goal. The hosts got rolling when captain Oasiz Wiesblatt tipped home a point shot from star defenceman Tanner Molendyk to put the Tigers up 2-1 while working on the power play.

Liam Ruck (#12) celebrates scoring the Tigers first goal.

The Tabbies pushed their advantage out to 3-1 just 2:27 later on a board bounce tally. Offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford took a shot the right point that missed the net, but the puck deflected out to the left side of the Prince Albert net to Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna. McKenna capitalized on the positive bounce to give the hosts their two-goal edge.

That tally would allow McKenna to have points in his last 46 consecutive outings including action in the regular season and post-season.

Gavin McKenna scored on a positive board bounce goal.

With 5:10 remaining in the second, Tigers 19-year-old defenceman Josh Van Mulligen put a shot on goal that Hildebrand got a piece of, and it looked like initially he gloved it off the goal line. The officials went to a video review that determined the puck did indeed trickle over the goal line, which pushed Medicine Hat’s edge out to 4-1.

With 3:19 remaining in the second, Tigers star right-winger Ryder Ritchie roofed home a power-play goal from near the right faceoff dot to the top left corner of the Prince Albert net to allow Medicine Hat’s advantage to sit at 5-1.

After the second period ended, the Raiders elected to pull Hildebrand to rest him for Game 2. Hildebrand turned away 27-of-32 shots sent his way to take the setback in net. Dimitri Fortin played the third period in relief stopping 3-of-4 shots fired in his direction.

Daxon Rudolph (#10) had a power-play goal for the Raiders.

The Raiders proceeded to come with a big push back after the goaltending change. At the 5:15 mark of the third, breakout rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph slipped home a power-play goal from the point to trim the Tigers edge to 5-2.

Prince Albert proceeded to score again to cut the Medicine Hat advantage to 5-3, when 17-year-old rookie left-winger Dayce Derkatch shoveled home a loose puck in the crease of the Tigers goal. 

At that moment, the Raiders were all of a sudden back in the game.

The Tigers appeared to get a dagger tally with 4:33 remaining in the third, when 19-year-old checking centre Misha Volotovskii tipped home a point shot from 18-year-old offensive-defenceman Jonas Woo. That marker pushed Medicine Hat’s edge out to 6-3.

Ryder Ritchie had a power-play goal for the Tigers.

The Raiders didn’t go away. Just 25 seconds later, Raiders breakout 19-year-old star right-winger Brayden Dube got on a partial breakaway and put a shot home to cut the Tigers lead to 6-4. Dube missed the Raiders last game with a lower body issue, but he appeared to be moving real well on Saturday night against the Tigers.

Prince Albert wasn’t able to get any closer from there.

Rookie netminder Jordan Switzer, who turned 18-years-old in January, stopped 16 shots to pick up his first career post-season win in net for the Tigers.

The Raiders were without star left-winger Tomas Mrsic for a third straight contest having suffered a skate cut late in the first period of the Raiders victory in Game 5 in their first round series over the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Tigers were without star forwards Andrew Basha and Cayden Lindstrom.

Brayden Dube scored the Raiders final goal on Saturday.

Basha last played in the Tigers 4-0 home ice victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on December 28, 2024 and has been out with a lower body injury since that time. Lindstrom has been battling a back injury since December 16, 2023 and last suited up on April 5, 2024, when the Tigers fell 5-2 at home to be eliminated from the WHL Playoffs in Game 5 of a first round series against the Red Deer Rebels.

The Tigers topped the Eastern Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 47-17-3-1 mark. They took out the Swift Current Broncos in five games in a best-of-seven first round series.

The Raiders won the WHL’s East Division title with a 39-23-5-1 mark. They overcame a 3-1 series deficit to down the Oil Kings 4-3 in the first round of the playoffs.

The Tigers salute their faithful at Co-op Place.

If Game 1 of this series is any indication, the series between the Tigers and Raiders will be an entertaining one. Now, we get to see what type of story gets written in Game 2.

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Feisty affair – Oil Kings slip past Raider 5-4 in penalty filled clash

The Raiders and Oil Kings tangle in a second period scrum.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Jeff Truitt wanted to see his team getting going a touch quicker to counter a feisty foe.

On Friday, Truitt’s Prince Albert Raiders faced the Edmonton Oil Kings in a feisty WHL regular season contest that saw the two sides combine for 71 minute in penalties. The Oil Kings took 12 infractions for 35 minutes in penalties, and the Raiders had 14 infractions for 36 minutes in penalties.

When the dust settled, the Oil Kings edged the host Raiders 5-4 before a standing room crowd of 2,691 mostly unhappy spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. The Oil Kings converted on 3-of-7 power-play chances in the contest, while the Raiders were 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

The Oil Kings celebrate a third period goal from Adam Jecho (#43).

The Edmonton side played an agitating brand of hockey that at times got under the skin of the Prince Albert players. Truitt, who is the Raiders head coach, said his squad just needs to navigate that aspect just a slight bit better.

“They’ve got speed, they’ve got size, and they’ve got grit,” said Truitt. “We’ve got to be smarter in that department as well.

“We can’t take the slashing penalties and the 10-minute misconducts. We just can’t take ourselves out of the game line that. This is where you’ve got to bite the bullet here a little bit.

“You know what? There is another game between these two teams, and we just have to show up earlier.”

Adam Jecho had the winning goal for the Oil Kings.

The Raiders and Oil Kings have split their four head-to-head encounters this season with each side collecting two regulation victories. They will meet for the fifth and final time in the regular season on Saturday, March 15 in Edmonton at Rogers Place at 7 p.m. local time.

Raiders star defenceman Lukas Dragicevic thought his squad played harder after the Oil Kings took the game to them in the opening 20 minutes. He said the biggest thing for his Raiders in the short term was to regroup for their next game.

The Raiders return to action on Saturday when they travel to Swift Current to take on the Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex).

Lukas Dragicevic had a pair of goals for the Raiders.

Dragicevic said his club wants to play the Oil Kings again to improve upon what happened in Friday’s setback to the Edmonton side.

“We’re back in Edmonton’s building,” said Dragicevic noting the upcoming March 15 encounter. “We’re just going to continue to work hard, and we’re going to owe them one when we’re back there.”

Edmonton dominated the first period of Friday’s contest, but they weren’t able to crack on to the scoreboard due to the play of Raiders netminder Dimitri Fortin. Fortin was spectacular making 16 saves in the opening 20 minutes to keep the Oil Kings off the scoreboard.

The Raiders had just four shots on goal in the first 20 minutes, but one of those shots found its way into the Edmonton net. At the 5:14 mark of the stanza,

Tomas Mrsic had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

Dragicevic got the puck inside the left faceoff circle on a rush and wired home his 15^th tally of the season on the Raiders first shot on goal in the contest. That marker allowed the Raiders head into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.

Prince Albert jumped into the second period with more intensity holding an 18-10 edge in shots on goal in what turned out to be a back and forth frame.

The Oil Kings evened the score at 1-1 just 1:45 into the second on a power-play goal from Gracyn Sawchyn. Sawchyn fired home a shot from the left side of the Prince Albert goal for the equalizer.

Import centre Miroslav Holinka added the Oil Kings second power-play goal at the 12:44 mark of the second to put the visitor up 2-1.

Rylen Roersma had three assists for the Oil Kings.

Raiders captain Justice Christensen put the host side back on even terms firing home his 21^st of the season at the 14:13 mark of the second to force a 2-2 tie. With 54.5 seconds to play in the second, Raiders star centre Aiden Oiring tallied on the power play slipping home a bad angle shot from the right side of the Edmonton goal to give Prince Albert a 3-2 lead.

Just when it seemed the Raiders would take that lead into the second intermission, Oil Kings agitating overage centre Marshall Finnie scored with 18.4 seconds remaining in the third to force a 3-3 tie.

“You have to play a complete 60 (minutes),” said Truitt. “In the second period, we started getting power plays.

Gracyn Sawchyn had the Oil Kings first goal on Friday.

“We picked up our pace a little bit and picked up our battle. Now the game gets going. We pushed back.

“I thought there was lots of intensity in the second and the third.”

With 5:56 remaining in the third, Oil Kings veteran right-winger Cole Miller scored off a set faceoff play to give the visitors a 4-3 lead. The visitors added a key insurance marker with 2:38 remaining in the third with a power-play goal coming off the stick of import right-winger Adam Jecho to give Edmonton a 5-3 advantage.

The Raiders didn’t go away. With Fortin pulled for an extra attacker, Dragicevic added his second of the contest and 16^th tally of the campaign with 86 seconds remaining in the third to cut the Oil Kings lead to 5-4. Prince Albert pressed hard in the final 86 second but was unable to come up with another equalizer.

Miroslav Holinka had the Oil Kings second goal on Friday.

“Obivously, the first period wasn’t too great,” said Dragicevic. “The second and third were.

“We got a goal on the power play that was huge. Obviously, they got a couple. Third period, I thought we battled hard, and they just ended up getting the last one.”

Dimitri Fortin turned away 36 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Ethan Simcoe stopped 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings.

Star left-winger Tomas Mrsic had a pair of assists for the Raiders. The Raiders were without star 20-year-old right-winger Rilen Kovacevic, who was serving a one-game suspension for being accessed a kneeing major and a game misconduct in 2-1 home ice overtime loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday.

Justice Christensen had the Raiders second goal on Friday.

Rylen Roersma, who is a 20-year-old left-winger, recorded three assists and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department for Edmonton. Holinka had a pair of assists to go with his goal. 

The Oil Kings, who improved to 33-22-2-2 get back at it on Sunday when they travel to Saskatoon to face the Blades (4 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Raiders fell to 33-20-4-1 with the setback and now have the same amount of standings point as the Brandon Wheat Kings (32-18-4-3) at 71 for first in the East Division. Prince Albert holds the standings tiebreaker due to having more wins, but the Wheat Kings have one game in hand on the Raiders.

Josh Mori controls the puck for the Oil Kings.

The Saskatoon Blades (30-19-3-4) sit four points back of both the Raiders and Wheat Kings. Saskatoon has two games in hand on Prince Albert and one game in hand on Brandon.

Dragicevic said his squad is excited to be battling late in the regular season for first place in the East Division. During the stretch run, he expects his Raiders will face some more feisty battles from opponents like what they experienced against the Oil Kings on Friday.

“It is hockey, right,” said Dragicevic. “Everything is going to always be tough, and we like it that way.

The Oil Kings celebrate their win on Friday.

“That is how we want to play, and they obviously just beat is tonight, which sucks. We’ll never complain about things getting greasy like that. That is how we want to play, and we’re just going to continue to get on with our season.”

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Raiders grit and perseverance delivers 4-3 victory

Fortin’s 39 saves holds off Hitmen

Niall Crocker, left, enjoys his winning goal with Aiden Oiring.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Head coach Jeff Truitt appreciated the battle of his Prince Albert Raiders.

On Friday night playing before 2,432 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders built a 3-0 lead on the visiting Calgary Hitmen and carried a 3-1 advantage into the third period. The Hitmen evened the score at 3-3 in the third, but the Raiders ensured the Calgary comeback was not to be.

With 4:08 remaining in the third period, Raiders 20-year-old standout right-winger Niall Crocker came up with one is his specialties. He banged home a gritty power-play goal from the front of the Calgary net on a four-on-three advantage to ultimately deliver the Raiders to a 4-3 victory.

“I really liked our compete,” said Truitt. “I thought that we skated real well.

Justice Christensen had the Raiders first goal on Friday.

“I thought that we were on pucks. I thought that we carried the speed quite a bit. I like a lot about our game and our physicality from time to time.

“We’re not going to get pushed around, and we showed that here tonight. It was kind of a team effort that way. We had to grind her out under some weird conditions in the third period and got her done.”

Raiders captain Justice Christensen opened the game’s scoring firing home a shot from the left point at the 9:56 mark of the opening frame. With Friday’s contest being the Raiders Toque and Teddy Bear Toss night, stuffed animals and mitts rained down on to the Art Hauser Centre’s ice surface after Christensen’s tally.

The players and off-ice staffers along with the game’s linesmen made sure the clean up was completed in rapid order.

The Raiders celebrate a Teddy Bear goal from Justice Christensen.

The Hitmen got into penalty trouble inside the final 92 seconds of the opening frame. First, they got unsettled after 19-year-old star offensive-defenceman Carter Yakemchuk was hit by Raiders 19-year-old centre Harrison Lodewyk in the right corner of the Calgary zone.

The Hitmen coaching staff argued loudly from the bench with the officials for a penalty for hitting from behind, and no infraction was called. Just 18 seconds later, Hitmen 20-year-old import left-winger Max Muranov forearm hit Raiders 16-year-old rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph in the Calgary zone starting a big scrum. The Raiders came away with a power play with Muranov being given an interference minor making the difference in how the penalties were sorted out.

The Raiders show off some of the stuffed animals that were collected.

With 23.2 seconds remaining in the first, Hitmen star 20-year-old defenceman Kalem Parker was given a roughing minor to give the Raiders a two-man advantage for 69 seconds.

Just 33 seconds into second working that two-man advantage, Raiders star offensive-defenceman Lukas Dragicevic wired home a power-play goal from the left point to push the host side’s edge out to 2-0. For Dragicevic, that was his first goal since he tallied once in a 6-4 loss to the Royals in Victoria back on October 18.

His tally on Friday came on a Raiders power play that entered the day’s action leading the WHL with a 28.3 per cent success rate.

The Raiders and Hitmen engage in a first period scrum.

“It feels good,” said Dragicevic, who has two goals and 26 assists in 22 games with the Raiders this season. “Obviously, the power play has been really good this year.

“It just fits that I got it on the power play. I play with good players on that line. They set me up pretty good, and I just had to do the rest.”

At the 4:07 mark of the second, the Hitmen gave the puck away to Raiders 20-year-old right-winger Niall Crocker. Crocker got the puck to import left-winger Krzysztof Macias, who wired home a mid-range shot to give Prince Albert a 3-0 advantage.

Lukas Dragicevic scored the Raiders second goal on Friday.

The Hitmen stopped the bleeding at the 7:20 mark of the second when 19-year-old centre David Adaszynski sent home a mid-range off-speed shot through a screen for a goal to cut the Raiders lead to 3-1.

With 10:02 remaining in the second working on a power play, Hitmen star 19-year-old left-winger Tanner Howe thought he scored a goal during a mad scramble. The officials first called the play a goal, proceeded to have a conference over the call and waved the tally off on the ice.

The Hitmen thought they had another goal with 3:53 remaining in the second with a shot coming off the stick of captain Carson Wetsch. That goal was waved off as Hitmen 17-year-old centre Ben Kindel was given a minor penalty for goaltender interference.

Krzysztof Macias, left, enjoys scoring the Raiders third goal.

Just 62 seconds into the third, Hitmen 20-year-old star centre Connor Hvidston snuck a turnaround shot past Raiders 18-year-old netminder Dimitri Fortin to further trim the host side’s edge to 3-2.

The Hitmen evened the score a 3-3 with 5:21 remaining in third on a power-play goal from star 19-year-old right-winger Oliver Tulk. 

Tulk tipped home a puck from the front of the Prince Albert net that came from a pass by Wetsch.

That set the scene for Crocker to come through with the winning tally.

Dimitri Fortin made 39 saves in goal for the Raiders.

“We don’t give up,” said Dragicevic. “Maybe at the start of the year that is something that would have done, but we’ve grown as a team.

“We’ve grown as individuals. We knew we were going to get one on that power play. Our power play is too good to get stopped there.

“Crocks (Crocker) obviously banged that one home. It was a couple of passes before that one that led to that, and it was a nice goal.”

Fortin stopped 39 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders (12-9-3). Anders Miller turned away 27 shots to take the setback in net for the Hitmen (13-9-3-1).

Tomas Mrsic had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

Star 18-year-old left-winger Tomas Mrsic had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

Truitt has been pleased with how solid Fortin has been for the Raiders after joining the club in a trade with the Moose Jaw Warriors on November 27.

“Since he has come in, he has been calm and cool,” said Truitt. “He has just done his job.

“He has made some key saves, but he hasn’t had to make many circus saves here. He has been pretty good. The guys in front of him have been good as well, but he has been solid.”

The Hitmen return to action on Saturday when they travel to Saskatoon to take on the 17-6-1-2 Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Raiders salute their faithful after Friday’s win.

The Raiders get back at it on Saturday when they travel to Brandon to battle the 13-8-3-1 Wheat Kings (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

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

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