Calvert ensures Blades are still standing after round one

20-year-old’s Game 7 OT winner sinks Oil Kings

It was a Game 7 win that had the perfect story book ending for the Saskatoon Blades.

Locked in a 2-2 with the host Edmonton Oil Kings at Rogers Place in overtime on Monday, the Blades went to the power play when Oil Kings sophomore right-winger Kanjyu Gojsic collided with Saskatoon star netminder Evan Gardner at the 6:59 mark of the extra session and was penalized for goaltender interference. The collision came after Gardner made a sprawling left pad stop on a backhand shot from Oil Kings rookie centre Andrew O’Neill, who turned 19-years-old in February.

On the ensuing power play, Blades star import left-winger David Lewandowski fired a point shot that was deflected home by Blades heart and soul 20-year-old left-winger Rowan Calvert just 24 seconds later. Calvert’s tally allowed the Blades to prevail 3-2 in the series-deciding Game 7 to the disappointment of most of the 4,857 spectators at Rogers Place.

The Blades also take the best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs against the Oil Kings 4-3. In the 2020s, the Blades have played more Game 7s than any other team in the WHL going 3-1 during that time in those series-deciding contests, which have all happened since 2023. Monday’s game also marked the first time the Blades have won a Game 7 on the road in their team history dating back to their inception in 1964.

Monday’s win also meant the Blades can lay claim to having the only series upset in the first round of the WHL’s post-season. The Oil Kings finished third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and fifth in the circuit’s overall regular season standings with a 45-18-3-2 mark. They were pegged as having a serious chance to go all the way to the WHL Championship Series.

The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark. There weren’t a lot of expectations outside of those linked to their club that they would even make it out of the first round of the post-season.

During the regular season, Saskatoon was a club that was consistently inconsistent. The Blades were able to go out and pick up victories against the top teams in the league and would turn around and lose to squads that missed the post-season and were at the bottom of the overall standings.

They have played their best hockey of the campaign in the 2026 WHL Playoffs in their seven game series win against Edmonton. The Blades were legit good even in the games they lost to the Oil Kings. As a result, they were the only team in the first round of the WHL Playoffs that eliminated an opponent that had a superior regular season record.

The best part about Monday’s win was the fact Calvert got the winner. The Moose Jaw, Sask., product first skated for the Blades for 13 regular season contests in the 2021-22 campaign. He proceeded to join the Blades on a full-time basis the next season.

During his career with the Blades, Calvert has done everything the team has asked of him in a quiet and businesslike manner. He will kill penalties, play the power play and play the defensive shutdown role protecting a lead in the last two minutes of a contest.

For the past two seasons, Calvert has taken on more of an offensive role. In the 2024-25 campaign, he had 24 goals and 29 assists in 64 regular season appearances. This past regular season as an overager, he had 31 goals and 22 assists in 67 regular season contests.

When he scores, there are no exuberant celebrations. Calvert usually displays a big smile.

It was fun to see him let loose by celebrating his overtime winner against the Oil Kings taking a dive to centre ice and being mobbed by his teammates. The Blades also showed him leading the “our house” chants on their social media channels in the dressing room after the contest.

Actually, Calvert had two huge moments in Game 7. The first huge moment came in the third period.

When the two sides were locked in a 1-1 tie, Oil Kings captain Gavin Hodnett fired home his first goal of the 2026 post-season from the right faceoff dot in the Saskatoon zone to give the hosts a 2-1 lead with 5:41 remaining in the third.

Just 33 seconds later when the announcement for Hodnett’s tally was still being made, Calvert had the puck along the right side boards in the Edmonton zone. He put a backhand pass out to Blades star centre Cooper Williams, who was alone in front of the Edmonton net. Williams fired home the equalizer that forced a 2-2 tie and ultimately overtime.

Calvert’s family has strong links to the WHL. His father, Jeff, was a goaltender for five seasons on the circuit from 1989 to 1994 with the Moose Jaw Warriors and the then Tacoma Rockets. Older brother, Atley, cemented himself as one of the Warriors all-time greats playing forward from 2019 to 2024 helping Moose Jaw win a WHL championship in his final campaign with the club in 2023-24.

Rowan Calvert has built his own legacy as a career member of the Blades. He will go down as one of the all-time fan favourites in Saskatoon for his will to do anything for the team.

The Blades started out Monday’s contest taking the game to the Oil Kings holding a 9-1 edge in shots on goal just eight minutes into the opening frame. As has been the case in what was the most compelling series in the first round of the WHL Playoffs, the Oil Kings pushed back resulting in the first period ending in a scoreless tie with the Blades holding an 11-8 edge in shots on goal.

The visitors caught a big break at the 6:11 mark of the second period. They would go on a two-man advantage for two minutes after Oil Kings right-winger Landon Hanson took a minor for high sticking and centre Andrew O’Neill took a minor for tripping.

Just 35 seconds into the power play, Lewandowski one-timed home a shot from the right faceoff dot to put the visitors up 1-0. He converted a beauty cross ice pass from Williams.

The Oil Kings authored a quick response. Working on the power play just two minutes later, Oil Kings standout centre Aaron Obobaifo took up position in front of the Saskatoon net and deflected home a point shot from star defenceman Carter Sotheran to even the score at 1-1.

That set up the dramatics for the third period and overtime.

Gardner stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for Saskatoon. Parker Snell turned away 29 shots to take the setback in net for the Oil Kings.

Lewandowski and Williams each finished with one goal and one assist for the Blades. Star 19-year-old right-winger Hunter Laing had a pair of helpers for Saskatoon.

Obobaifo had an assist to go with his goal for the Oil Kings. Sotheran finished his final career WHL outing with a pair of helpers for Edmonton.

The Blade converted on 2-of-5 power play chance on Monday, while the Oil Kings were 1-for-4 with the man advantage. During the seven games of this series, the road team pulled out five victories.

The Blades held Oil Kings star centre Miroslav Holinka and star right-winger Lukas Sawchyn off the scoresheet. Both players had minus-one ratings in the plus-minus department.

Along with Sotheran, Holinka and defenceman Austin Zemlak all exhausted their WHL eligibility with Edmonton’s Game 7 loss. The Oil Kings also fell in Game 7 in a first round series in the 2025 WHL Playoffs to the Prince Albert Raiders.

Speaking of the Raiders, the Blades now advance to face their archrivals in the Raiders in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Raiders topped the Eastern Conference with a 52-10-5-1 mark and placed second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Game 1 is slated for Friday at 7 p.m. at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

When this series gets going, both teams will likely show the Highway 11 Rivalry is the most intense right now not just in the WHL but the entire CHL.

Before even looking forward to that set, the Blades can soak in the fact they concluded their series with the Oil Kings with an all-time memorable moment for the franchise. Even Raiders fans have to give a nod of respect to the fact that Calvert was the one to deliver it.

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Blades, their fans, bitter over double OT penalty call

Oil Kings force deciding Game 7 in series with Saskatoon

The Oil Kings mob Miroslav Holinka (#92) after his double OT winner.

It was a classic controversial finish that made you rageaholic mad, if you are a fan of the Saskatoon Blades.

The Blades themselves were bitter about how Game 6 of their best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs ended with the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Sunday at the SaskTel Centre. The two sides were locked in a 2-2 tie in double overtime, and with 7:07 remaining in the second overtime frame, Blades star import left-winger David Lewandowski tripped Oil Kings 20-year-old star defenceman Carter Sotheran down to the ice, when Sotheran was trying to skate out of his zone with the puck.

Miroslav Holinka reacts to scoring the double overtime winner.

The officials gave Lewandowski a minor penalty for hooking.

On the ensuing power play, Sotheran had the puck in the right corner of the Saskatoon zone and he passed the puck up to the left point to Oil Kings 20-year-old star import centre Miroslav Holinka. Holinka one-timed home his seventh goal of the post-season to deliver the Oil Kings to a 3-2 victory.

Just 98 seconds before Lewandowski went off for his obstruction infraction, Oil Kings overage defenceman Austin Zemlak cross checked Blades overage captain Tyler Parr from the side into the boards by the Saskatoon blue line well away from where the puck was. The officials didn’t call a penalty in that instance even after having a conference with Parr and Sotheran after the play was blown dead.

Blades captain Tyler Parr (#20) discusses an illegal hit he received. 

Thanks to the no call on Zemlak regarding an extra-curricular hit and nailing Lewandowski with an obstruction infraction that resulted in the winning goal, the Blades faithful was irate. After Holinka scored his winner, arguably the loudest boos of the season in the building rained down from the 5,104 spectators in attendance. A handful of spectators threw debris on the ice including a couple of full plastic pop bottles.

The Blades entered the contest needing a win to take the series with the Oil Kings. The Oil Kings victory forces a 3-3 tie in the set, and the two clubs will face each other in a series-deciding Game 7 on Monday at Rogers Place in Edmonton at 7 p.m. local time.

Evan Gardner makes one of his 41 stops in goal for the Blades.

Following Game 6, Blades head coach Dan DaSilva was not happy with how the end of Sunday’s game went. He wasn’t pleased he did get any explanations from referees Corey Koop or Mark Pearce regarding the call on Lewandowski.

“They didn’t tell me anything,” said DaSilva. “They just made their call, and they wouldn’t come over and have a conversation about it at all.

“Obviously, it is extremely frustrating, and there are probably, I don’t know, eight penalties in overtime that could have been called. One was just minutes before on our captain along the boards he gets hit from behind without touching the puck, without the puck ever really ever coming near him. They don’t call that a pretty egregious hit from behind, board, whatever you want to call it.

Oil Kings goalie Parker Snell turns away a scoring chance.

“Then, they decide to step in and call a trip that is 190 feet away from our end without being a scoring chance or having really anything to do with the play. Anyways, it is what it is. Maybe they had Easter dinner plans.”

DaSilva then switched to refocusing on Monday’s winner take all Game 7 with the Oil Kings.

“We’re going to keep fighting and go down to Edmonton,” said DaSilva. “We’ve played some really good hockey down there this series, and I expect it to be the same tomorrow.”

Aaron Obobaifo had the Oil Kings first goal on Sunday.

Blades star sophomore centre Cooper Williams thought the Blades vans stood up for the team by voicing their displeasure, which also gives the players motivation heading into Game 7.

“I mean the crowd let them (the officials) hear it,” said Williams. “Just having their support behind us and just putting this game past us and focusing on tomorrow, I think that is the biggest factor.”

The Oil Kings understandably pumped to have won the contest and to have forced a series-deciding Game 7 in their home rink. Oil Kings head coach Jason Smith said there was a lot of joy amongst everyone on his squad after Holinka scored the double overtime winner in Game 6.

“It was obviously a great feeling for our bench – for our guys,” said Smith. “We had some guys get back in the lineup tonight that had been out.

The Oil Kings celebrate a goal from Dylan Dean (#14).

“The excitement and winning in overtime is one of the greatest things you can do in hockey. It is exciting. We need to refocus, recover.

“The guys need to make sure they get their rest, their food and be ready to go tomorrow.”

The Oil Kings would get an early contribution from one of their returnees. They broke on to the scoreboard first thanks to a positive bounce at the 7:28 mark of the opening frame.

A puck came off the stick of Oil Kings captain Gavin Hodnett and took a positive bounce to Edmonton centre Aaron Obobaifo in front of the Saskatoon net. Obobaifo, who missed the three previous games of the series due to an undisclosed ailment, wired the puck past Blades star netminder Evan Gardner to put the visitors up 1-0.

Brayden Klimpke scored the Blades first goal on Sunday.

“It is really tough just kind of being in and out of the lineup,” said Obobaifo. “I just keep trying to play my game.

“I’m lucky enough a bounce came my way, and I capitalized.”

The visitors pushed their edge to 2-0 with a bank shot power-play goal with 3:26 remaining in the first. Oil Kings 17-year-old rookie right-winger Dylan Dean had the puck at the left side of the Saskatoon net, and he banked a shot off Blades defenceman Kaden Allan into the Saskatoon goal to give the visitors their two-goal edge.

Just 18 seconds later, the Blades got a positive bounce tally to cut the Oil Kings lead to 2-1. Standout 18-year-old offensive-defenceman Brayden Klimpke took a shot from the point that deflected off the arm of Sotheran into the Edmonton net to cut the visitor’s lead down to one goal.

The Blades enjoy an equalizer from Cooper Williams (#16).

Regulation time didn’t have any drama over any penalty calls. For the majority of that part of the contest, the Oil Kings were playing the perfect road game.

Starting in the second period, they took more territorial control of the contest holding an 11-7 edge in shots on goal for that frame. The visitors were more territorially dominant in the third period keeping the Blades pinned in their own zone for extended stretches while holding a 10-3 edge in shots on goal for the frame.

After controlling the entire third period, the Oil Kings gave up a gift icing with 10.1 seconds remaining in the third. Off the draw in the left faceoff circle of the Edmonton zone, a scramble ensued in front the Oil Kings net. Williams ended up with the puck in front of the Edmonton net, and he fired home the equalizer to force a 2-2 tie with exactly seven seconds remaining in the third. That tally also forced overtime.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Blades.

The Blades faithful had been fairly silent through the second and third periods, but they came to life after Williams scored the equalizer to force overtime.

“The crowd to hear that it was pretty cool,” said Williams. “It felt so good to see that one go in for sure.”

The crowd was into the contest in a big way through the two overtime frames. The Blades controlled play in the first overtime period holding a 15-7 edge in shots on goal for the frame.

The Blades best chance to score in the first overtime came on a drive by centre Hayden Harsanyi from the left faceoff circle in the Edmonton zone. His shot got through Oil Kings breakout rookie netminder Parker Snell, and the puck was inching across the crease towards the open net. It was swept off the crease by Oil Kings right-winger Adam Jecho to preserve the tie score at that point in the frame.

Cooper Williams was denied on a prime scoring chance in overtime two.

The hosts had a couple of huge chances to get the winner in the second overtime. Williams found himself at one point alone in front of the Edmonton net with the puck. He tried to put a deke move on to fake out Snell, but the netminder would push the puck off Williams stick and away from the net to end that threat.

A short time later, Parr wired a shot off the post of the Edmonton net. That set the stage for the dramatics at the end of the contest that resulted in Holinka’s winner.

Gardner turned away 41 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. Snell stopped 37 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings.

Carter Sotheran set up the Oil Kings winning goal.

The Oil Kings finished third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and fifth in the circuit’s overall regular season standings with a 45-18-3-2 mark. The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark.

During the regular season, Saskatoon was a club that was consistently inconsistent. The Blades were able to go out and pick up victories against the top teams in the league and would turn around and lose to squads that missed the post-season and were at the bottom of the overall standings.

They have played their best hockey in the post-season. If they are able to beat Edmonton in Game 7, the Blades would be the only team to post a series upset in the first round of the WHL’s post-season.

Blades RW Gavin Clark encounters traffic in the Edmonton zone.

Over the first six games between the Blades and Oil Kings, the road team has pulled out victory four times, with the two squads collecting two road wins each. DaSilva believes that Game 7 is up for grabs for both teams going into it.

“I almost think that the home ice advantage is nothing in this series, honestly,” said DaSilva. “It is so close that is why.

“It is just the games are so close. The margin for error is really thin. I think both teams are leaving it all out there, whether they’re at home or on the road it doesn’t really matter.

The Oil Kings depart to their dressing room after Sunday’s win.

“Game 7, anything can happen. It doesn’t matter if we’re at home or on the road. We’re just going to show up and compete like we always do.”

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Oil Kings’ Holinka hammers Blades with hat trick

Edmonton evens series with Saskatoon 2-2

The Oil Kings celebrate a hat trick goal from Miroslav Holinka (#92).

Miroslav Holinka is becoming the Edmonton Oil Kings version of Connor McDavid.

On Wednesday, the 20-year-old import centre showed why he has become one of the WHL’s superstars. In Game 4 of a best-of-seven first round playoff series against the host Saskatoon Blades, Holinka fired home a hat trick and was a plus-two in the plus- minus department to power the Oil Kings to a 5-2 victory to disappoint most of the 4,834 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

With the win, the Oil Kings even the series at 2-2. Game 5 is set for Friday at 6 p.m. local time for Rogers Place in Edmonton. Game 6 is slated for Sunday at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Miroslav Holinka was on fire for the Oil Kings on Wednesday night.

Holinka, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, came into Wednesday’s contest having posted two goals, two assists and an even rating in the previous three games of the set. He nearly doubled his offensive output for the post-season in one contest.

Oil Kings head coach Jason Smith said Holinka gave his squad the boost they needed to even the series with the Blades.

“He is an experienced player in this league,” said Smith. “He is a 20-year-old guy, and he has expectations to play well and lead our team.

“His game tonight was outstanding, and it was a 200-foot game. He played well on both ends. He was out on the penalty kill and did a real good job.

Lukas Sawchyn had one goal and two assists for the Oil Kings.

“That is what you need from good players is good effort.”

Thanks to his hat trick performance, Holinka’s line had a great night. On Wednesday, Holinka for most of the contest centred a forward unit that contained rookie left-winger Kayden Stroeder, who turned 17-years-old in early March, and star veteran right-winger Lukas Sawchyn.

Stroeder finished with two assists and a plus-one rating, while Sawchyn posted one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating.

“They’re really skilled players,” said Blades head coach Dan DaSilva. “They are some of the best players in the league.

Kayden Stroeder had a pair of assists for the Oil Kings.

“They can make you look silly, if you’re not playing the body on them. I thought tonight we made it too easy on them and kind of let them off the hook a little bit. We’ve been doing a really good job on those guys.

“They are high-end players. They are going to have their nights, (and) they are going to get their looks. We’ve got to try and do a better job of limiting those looks and being more physical on them.”

At the 7:34 mark of the first period, Holinka opened the game’s scoring firing home a shot from the left slot to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

With 5:39 remaining in the first, Blades 18-year-old centre Kazden Mathies had a loose puck deflect off his skate from a rebound in front of the Edmonton net to even the score at 1-1.

Before the first came to an end, the Oil Kings would go back in front by scoring on the power play with 1:16 remaining in the stanza on a highlight reel effort by Holinka. Holinka skated through the Blades defence up through the centre of the Saskatoon zone and put home a close in backhand shot for his second of the contest to give the visitors a 2-1 edge.

Kazden Mathies had the Blades first goal on Wednesday.

Sawchyn said it is a blast to play on the same line as Holinka, especially when the Czech product makes plays like he does like on his second tally on Wednesday.

“He (Holinka) is a great player and super smart,” said Sawchyn. “He can pretty much throw from anywhere on the ice, so it is fun giving him the puck.”

At the 4:29 mark of the second, the Oil Kings top line rushed into the Saskatoon zone, and Stroeder dropped a smart pass to veteran star right-winger Lukas Sawchyn. Sawchyn fired a perfect snipe to the top right corner of the Saskatoon net to push the Oil Kings lead to 3-1.

The Blades would answer back with 4:27 remaining in the second with a goal from star right-winger Hunter Laing. Laing tapped home a puck at the left side of the Edmonton net after receiving a cross crease feed from veteran defenceman Tristen Doyle to cut the Oil Kings lead to 3-2.

Hunter Laing had the Blades second goal on Wednesday.

Just when the Blades seemed to have the momentum, Holinka would complete his hat trick at an absolute dagger of a time. After catching the Blades on a bad line change, Oil Kings captain Gavin Hodnett received a cross ice pass at the left side of the Saskatoon net from Sawchyn.

Blades star netminder Evan Gardner made a sprawling save but the puck rebounded out to Holinka at the right side of the Saskatoon net. Holinka popped home his hat trick tally with 21.5 seconds remaining in the frame to make the Oil Kings advantage sit at 4-2.

Mathies said his squad has to do a better job at playing against Holinka’s line.

“I think we have to be hard on them and not allow them to make just like the cute plays,” said Mathies. “We have to play physical and close the gap on them as quick as you can, so they can’t make those plays.”

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Blades.

The Blades made a big push in the third outshooting the Oil Kings 14-7 in the frame, but they weren’t able to put any pucks past Oil Kings veteran netminder Ethan Simcoe. Saskatoon even got to work on a four-minute power play as Oil Kings centre Andrew O’Neill picked up a double-minor for slew-footing. That infraction will be automatically reviewed by the WHL Office for a possible suspension.

Oil Kings import right-winger Adam Jecho scored into an empty net with 2.2 seconds remaining in the third to round out the 5-2 final score in favour of the visitors.

Tristen Doyle had a slick assist for the Blades.

Gardner turned away 23-of-27 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. Ethan Simcoe stopped 31 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings. 

The Oil Kings are without 17-year-old rookie netminder Parker Snell with an undisclosed ailment. Associate player call up Elias Mitrikas, who is a 15-year-old who played for the North Shore Warriors Under-18 Prep Club, dressed as Edmonton’s backup netminder.

The Oil Kings finished third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and fifth in the circuit’s overall regular season standings with a 45-18-3-2 mark. The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark.

During the regular season, Saskatoon was a club that was consistently inconsistent. The Blades were able to go out and pick up victories against the top teams in the league and would turn around and lose to squads that missed the post-season and were at the bottom of the overall standings.

Landon Hanson sets to shoot in the offensive zone for the Oil Kings.

At the moment, the Blades have shown they can compete at the same level as the Oil Kings. DaSilva is confident in his group going into Game 5, and he believes his players will be better than they were in Game 4.

“I think that we lacked a little bit of bite in our game,” said DaSilva. “It was not the game that you’ve seen from our group through three games in the series.

“They are a good team, (and) we knew they were going to push back. They were going to have their best effort here tonight. They didn’t want to be going home down 3-1.

“It is a best of three series. Anything can happen. We feel comfortable playing in Roger’s Place.”

Smith said his Oil Kings didn’t expect the series against the Blades would be a short one. As the two clubs head into the deep waters of the series, Smith said his squad will just focus on the next game.

The Oil Kings celebrate their Game 4 win on Wednesday.

“I think we kind of talked about it from the start of the playoffs that it is a game by game reset,” said Smith. “You’ve got to be prepared to play hard games.

“It is going to be very competitive, and you’ve got to be emotionally and physically involved in it to wear through it.”

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Blades split with Oil Kings in Edmonton to start post-season

Saskatoon hosts Games 3 and 4 of first round series

Ethan MacKenzie ensured his Edmonton Oil Kings avoided being in an unenviable position after their second game of the WHL Playoffs.

On Sunday afternoon, the Oil Kings and the Blades were locked in a 3-3 tie in overtime in Game 2 of a best-of-seven first round series at the Rogers Place. The Blades claimed Game 1 of the series on Friday at Rogers Place 3-2, where they also had a 30-29 edge in shots on goal.

In the later stages of overtime on Sunday, the Oil Kings were working on a power play that was nearing an edge. At that point, MacKenzie, who is the Oil Kings star 19-year-old defenceman, one-timed home a shot low in the right faceoff circle of the Saskatoon zone past Blades star netminder Evan Gardner to give the host Oil Kings a 4-3 victory.

MacKenzie’s goal came with 3:06 remaining in overtime and three seconds remaining on the power-play his club was working on. He converted a beauty setup pass from 20-year-old star import centre Miroslav Holinka. The tally sent the Oil Kings home crowd of 5,173 spectators into an ecstatic frenzy.

With the win, the Oil Kings even the series at 1-1. They are still facing challenging waters as the series shifts to Saskatoon for Game 3 and 4 to be held Tuesday and Wednesday respectively at the SaskTel Centre for a 7 p.m. start time on both nights.

The Oil Kings finished third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and fifth in the circuit’s overall regular season standings with a 45-18-3-2 mark. The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark.

During the regular season, Saskatoon was a club that was consistently inconsistent. The Blades were able to go out and pick up victories against the top teams in the league and would turn around and lose to squads that missed the post-season and were at the bottom of the overall standings.

In their first two contests of the 2026 post-season, it can be argued the Blades had a couple of their best outings in the overall 2025-26 campaign.

In Game 2 on Sunday, the Blades took a 1-0 lead on a goal from veteran centre Hayden Harsanyi with 2:32 remaining in the first period. The Oil Kings would even the score at 1-1 with a power-play goal coming from standout left-winger Aaron Obobaifo with 4:02 remaining in the second period.

Starting with 6:37 remaining in the third, the Oil Kings scored goals 83 seconds apart from each other to go ahead 3-1. Holinka tallied on the power play, while 17-year-old centre Dylan Dean scored at even strength.

The Blades didn’t go away. With 3:04 remaining in the third, the two clubs were playing four skaters versus four skaters due to off-setting minor penalties, and Blades pulled Gardner for an extra attacker. Harsanyi potted his second goal of the contest at that point to trim the Oil Kings lead to 3-2.

With Gardner back tending the Saskatoon net and both sides playing at full strength, Blades star import left-winger David Lewandowski fired home the equalizer with two minutes remaining in the third to force a 3-3 tie and overtime.

That set the stage for MacKenzie to score the winner in the extra session.

Gardner turned away 38 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. Oil Kings 17-year-old rookie Parker Snell stopped 41 shots to pick up the win in goal for Edmonton.

Lewandowski had a pair of assists to go with his goal and finished with a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. Blades rearguard Tristen Doyle posted a pair of assists and a plus-one rating.

Holinka had a pair of assists to go with his goal, while MacKenzie had a helper to go with his overtime winner. Oil Kings star 20-year-old defenceman Carter Sotheran finished with a pair of assists.

The Blades were 0-for-5 on the power play, while the Oil Kings converted 3-of-6 chances with the man advantage.

If the Blades can now find success on home ice in Games 3 and 4 of this set, they can bring the upset watch up to another level.

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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Raiders, Tigers in final sprint for top spot in Eastern Conference

The Raiders are in a final sprint for first in the Eastern Conference.

For the WHL regular season, the final sprint is here and has just taken off from the starting line.

The Prince Albert Raiders sit in an exciting place having locked up first in the East Division with a 45-8-5-1 mark entering play Tuesday. They lead the Medicine Hat Tigers (42-9-5-3) by four points for top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Tigers lead the Edmonton Oil Kings (39-16-3-2) by nine points for first in the Central Division. Medicine Hat should take the Central Division title. The Tigers would need to lose seven of their last nine games in regulation to give the Oil Kings a chance at first in the Central Division.

Edmonton is pretty much out of the loop as far as the race goes for first in the Eastern Conference. The Raiders just need to win two more games to eliminate Edmonton from having a shot at first in the conference.

That means the Raiders and the Tigers will engage in a nine game sprint to see who takes top spot in the conference. Prince Albert with a four point lead in the standings and could go out and win just five of nine games to put Medicine Hat in a bind for getting top spot. In that scenario, the Tigers would need to win seven of their last nine games and get a point from an extra time loss to overtake the Raiders.

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

Raiders vault to first in WHL’s Eastern Conference

Prince Albert downs Warriors in Moose Jaw after shootout

The Prince Albert Raiders will sit in first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference for at least one night.

On Thursday night before an announced crowd of 3,546 spectators at Temple Gardens Centre in Moose Jaw, the visiting Raiders slipped past the host Warriors 3-2 in a WHL regular season clash following a tiebreaking shootout. Prince Albert took the shootout 1-0 with star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring netting the goal in the tiebreaking session.

The win was a fifth straight for the Raiders, who improved to 33-6-4 to vault into first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Raiders sit one point ahead of the Central Division leading Medicine Hat Tigers (32-7-3-2) and five points in front of the Edmonton Oil Kings (30-9-3-2). Prince Albert still has one game in hand on both of those clubs.

The Raiders also sit one point back of the Everett Silvertips (34-6-2-1) for first overall in the entire WHL.

In the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were release on Tuesday, the Raiders were rated second, the Silvertips were fourth, the Tigers were fifth and the Oil Kings came in at sixth.

The Warriors get an important standings point with the shootout setback to see their record move to 17-22-3-2. They sit three points up on the Red Deer Rebels (16-22-2-2) and the Regina Pats (15-21-5-1) for seventh overall in the Eastern Conference. The Rebels and Pats each have two games in hand on the Warriors.

Red Deer and Regina are tied for the eighth and ninth positions in the Eastern Conference. If the regular season stopped today, they would play a tiebreaking game to see who gets eighth place and the conference’s final playoff berth.

As for Thursday’s clash between Prince Albert and Moose Jaw, the Raiders came out flying taking a 2-0 lead in the first period while holding a 17-4 edge in shots on goal.

Prince Albert opened the scoring at the 2:36 mark of the opening frame scoring on an offensive zone rush while working on the power play. On the rush, Raiders star 19-year-old centre Max Heise fed a pass to star 18-year-old left-winger Brandon Gorzynski, who was skating towards the right post of the Moose Jaw goal.

Gorzynski fed a backhanded pass across the face of the Warriors net backdoor to star 18-year-old centre Braeden Cootes. Cootes popped home his 13^th goal of the campaign to give the Raiders their one-goal edge.

Shortly after the midway point of the first period, the Raiders pushed their lead out to 2-0. On an offensive zone rush, Oiring jetted down the right wing, swooped around behind the Moose Jaw net and put a pass across the crease of the Warriors goal to Gorzynski parked by the right post. Gorzynski popped his 20^th goal of the campaign to give the visitors their two-goal edge.

Just over four minutes after going ahead 2-0, Raiders rookie 19-year-old import defenceman Matyas Man faced Warriors 18-year-old right-winger Gage Nagel in a spirited fight that pleased the crowd. Man got the take down in the bout.

In the second, the Raiders carried play holding a 9-6 edge in shots on goal, but the stanza was a rough one for the visitors. With 8:12 remaining the period, Raiders standout defenceman Linden Burrett went into the boards awkwardly while engaged with a Warriors player. Burrett grabbed his left knee and exited the game at that point.

With 7:53 remaining in the second, the Warriors scored on the power play with 20-year-old centre Ethan Semeniuk potting a backhander from the left side of the Prince Albert net. The tally cut the Raiders lead to 2-1.

The host side evened the score at 2-2 with 2:05 remaining in the second when 16-year-old rookie defenceman Colt Carter drove home a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle in the Prince Albert zone.

The two sides played evenly through a scoreless third period where the shots on goal for the frame were tied at 11-11. The Warriors held a 4-1 edge in shots on goal during the three-versus-three overtime period, where they were denied on two glorious scoring chances.

Warriors 18-year-old centre Riley Thorpe had a breakaway opportunity only to be denied by Raiders rookie star import netminder Michal Orsulak. The second big scoring chance was a close-in opportunity by Warriors star 20-year-old left-winger Pavel McKenzie, but he was turned away by a left pad stop by Orsulak.

That set the stage for the tiebreaking shootout. Oiring scored on the Raiders first shooting opportunity in the tiebreaking session. Orsulak ended the session with a sweet glove stop on Warriors 18-year-old left-winger Steven Steranka.

Orsulak made 23 saves over 65 minutes and turned away all three shooters he faced in the shootout to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Chase Wutzke turned away 36 shots and one of two shooters in the shootout to take the extra time setback in net for the Warriors.

The Warriors get back at it on Friday when they host the 18-17-5-3 Victoria Royals (7 p.m., Temple Gardens Centre).

The Raiders continue a stretch where they are playing three games in three nights. On Friday, they travel to Swift Current to take on the 10-30-3 Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex). The Raiders return home on Saturday when they host the Tigers (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Prince Albert was without star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube on Thursday, who is day-to-day with a minor injury. Dube was injured in the Raiders 12-2 home ice romp over the Royals on Tuesday.

Oil Kings’ Holinka is prime time player, other notes

Miroslav Holinka has 62 points in 41 games this season.

The second-year import bump has seen Miroslav Holinka jump up to being one the WHL’s best.

Last season, the skilled centre from Zlin, Czechia had a solid debut campaign for the Edmonton Oil Kings. He skated in 47 regular season games recording 19 goals, 26 assists and a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department. He helped the Oil Kings post a 37-27-2-2 mark to make the WHL Playoffs for the first time since Edmonton last won the league title in the 2021-22 campaign.

Holinka, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 185 pounds, had been selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fifth round and 151^st overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The Leafs were pleased enough by Holinka’s first WHL campaign that they signed him to a three-year NHL entry-level contract on July 15, 2025.

The Leafs assigned Holinka to play a 20-year-old season with the Oil Kings for the current season. Skating in his second campaign in North America, Holinka has taken off.

In 41 games with the Oil Kings this season, Holinka has piled up 28 goals and 34 assists to go with a plus-26 rating in the plus-minus department. Holinka’s goal total includes seven game winners, which is one behind Medicine Hat Tigers captain Bryce Pickford for the league lead.

Along with his game-winning goal total, Holinka sits seven points behind Seattle Thunderbirds right-winger Cameron Schmidt for the WHL scoring lead at 69 points. Schmidt has put up his point total on 32 goals and 37 assists.

When import players like Holinka first come over to North American, they go through growing pains both on and off the ice. On top of adjusting to the North American style of play, import players have to work through learning a new language and culture. It is common for import players to show great improvement when they come back for a second major junior campaign.

Holinka has been on another level this season with the Oil Kings. Centering a line with Lukas Sawchyn on right-wing and captain Gavin Hodnett on left-wing, Holinka has hit the ice with a confidence that is through the roof this season.

He has become a difference maker for the Oil Kings, who sit fourth overall in the WHL with a 30-9-3-2 mark and are rated sixth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday. Holinka has become a player who is worth the price of admission by his presence alone and is a player to watch.

If folks in the Alberta capital city can pull themselves away from watching superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl skate for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, they will find themselves very much entertained watching the heroics of Holinka with the city’s major junior squad.

On that note, the Oil Kings are leading the WHL in attendance averaging 6,521 spectators per game at Rogers Place, which is a great accomplishment when you are a junior squad existing in the same city as the Oilers.

When opposing teams lose track of Holinka on the ice, they usually create an invitation to have the puck end up in the back of their own net.

Holinka’s skill shows up even when the Oil Kings lose. When they dropped a 4-3 decision at home on Wednesday to the Regina Pats, Holinka potted a short-handed goal where he scored on a backhander on a breakaway.

If you live in Edmonton or you see the Oil Kings are coming to your centre as the road team for the rest of the current campaign, you’d be wise to get out and see Holinka play out his final days before graduating from the major junior ranks at the end of the season. It won’t be long before you have to pay big NHL ticket prices to see show off his skills live.

• Kamloops Blazers 17-year-old right-winger JP Hurlbert still has the afterburners on in what has been an amazing rookie campaign. Hurlbert, who is from Allen, Texas, has recorded 29 goals and 38 assists to go with a plus-11 rating playing in all of the team’s 42 regular season games to date. He leads all rookies in scoring with his 67 points and sits second in the overall WHL scoring race.
• Medicine Hat Tigers 17-year-old sophomore centre Markus Ruck leads the WHL with 51 assists this season. Ruck also had 11 goals and a plus-20 rating appearing in all of his squad’s 44 games to date.
• Medicine Hat Tigers 19-year-old veteran defenceman Jonas Woo leads the WHL in the plus-minus department with a plus-48 rating in 37 games this season. Woo has also piled up 61 points coming off 24 goals and 37 assists.
• Medicine Hat Tigers 18-year-old sophomore netminder Jordan Switzer leads the WHL with 21 goaltending victories. In 30 appearances this season, Switzer has recorded a 21-4-3 record, a 2.70 goals against average, a .896 save percentage and one shutout.

• On January 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on 16-year-old Shaurya Patel, who is one of Cricket Saskatoon’s elite junior players. In the piece, Patel talked about his journey in the sport of cricket and went through the process to try to make Cricket Canada’s Canadian under-19 World Cup team in 2025. The piece on Patel can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by images from the John Sands Classic Long Track Meet hosted by the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club. That post can be found by clicking right 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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Hoping hockey executive Anholt avoids being cancelled

Politics of extreme right and left cast shadow on sports

Peter Anholt, left, watches the Hurricanes play in December 2015.

Being genuine and who you are might be the easiest way to get yourself cancelled in today’s world.

Actually, I saw an interview from veteran country singer Gretchen Wilson that was posted to YouTube on August 1, 2024 where she said it is difficult to be anything in the current day. We live in the age of Donald Trump holding the role of President of the United States of America for the second time, and in this age, society is more filled with division and hatred than ever before casting a shadow over all parts of life.

The extreme right and left wings in politics are locked in a cultural war, and in my mind, both of those extreme sides believe total victory will be achieved when the other side gets obliterated.

Unfortunately, the influence of the political world does cast a shadow on the sports world. In this backdrop, people in the sports world are going to take a fall, when they shouldn’t take a fall. There are problems in the sports world like any walk of life that are always in the process of being worked out, but when a bazooka is being used to take out a mosquito, people that should be in the sports world will ultimately no longer be in the sports world.

That brings us to this past January 9 in the WHL when the Lethbridge Hurricanes announced Peter Anholt, who is 65-years-old, had resigned as the club’s general manager effective immediately. Hurricanes senior advisor Barclay Parneta assumed the duties as Hurricanes general manager on that same day on an interim basis for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign.

Last season, the Hurricanes finished sixth overall in the WHL with a 42-21-3-2 mark. Lethbridge loaded up to make a deep run in the post-season. The Hurricanes advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series where they were swept away by the eventual WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers 4-0 in a best-of-seven set.

This season, the Hurricanes found themselves at the start of a rebuild and were 12-27-0-1 at the time Anholt resigned. Lethbridge is currently second last in the 23-team circuit with a 12-32-0-1 record.

A WHL release from January 9 regarding Anholt’s resignation stated his departure follows the investigation of a historical personal conduct matter. The alleged matter, dating to 2015, involved a verbal interaction with a player that, as described, falls outside of the WHL’s Standards of Conduct with respect to threatening and intimidating language.

This follows WHL disciplinary action levied against Anholt and the Hurricanes this past November. On November 14, 2025, the WHL announced Anholt had been suspended for five games and the Hurricanes were fined $10,000.

The sanctions came following a WHL investigation that found Anholt breached the WHL Standards of Conduct through the use of intimidating behavior and language during a post-game address to players in the dressing room following the team’s 8-6 home ice loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings on October 29, 2025.

In a release on November 14, 2025, Anholt said, “My behavior and language in addressing our team did not meet expectations. The Lethbridge Hurricanes have always believed in providing a positive environment for our players. I accept the discipline issued by the WHL and will be committed to a higher standard moving forward.”

At that time, the WHL had imposed remedial measures that included supplementary education and support, enhanced monitoring and preventative steps to ensure there is no recurrence of similar conduct.

This past January 9, the WHL said in a release that the circuit was not aware of the historical allegation at the time the matter from November 2025 was handled. Both claims were filed via the league’s anonymous 1-800 WHL Respect hotline, which provides players, staff and others associated with the WHL with a confidential avenue to report concerns or incidents that may violate WHL standards.

The historical claim was investigated by the WHL Security Department.

The WHL also announced that along with his departure, Anholt has agreed to participate in counselling in the spirit of personal betterment. Anholt’s counselling will be sponsored by the Hurricanes and the WHL.

Before I go on, I just want to say that “Peter Anholt is a good man.”

Let me repeat myself.

Before I go on, I just want to say that “Peter Anholt is a good man.”

I have known Anholt since late 2002, and I consider him a good friend. I will always consider him one of my guys. We met when he came back to Prince Albert to once again become the head coach of the Raiders, and I was working full time as the sports reporter for the Prince Albert Daily Herald.

Anholt built a reputation as a Raiders hero as a defenceman from 1978 to 1981 when the team was still in the junior A ranks. He played on national championship winners in 1979 and 1981. When the club moved to the WHL before the start of the 1982-83 campaign, Anholt worked on the Raiders coaching staff as an assistant coach from 1986 to 1988 and was the head coach and director of hockey operations for the 1988-89 season.

I have always and still see Anholt as someone who is respected, accountable and personable. One of my best memories of Anholt for myself came when the Raiders were eliminated from the first round of the 2004 WHL Playoffs in Game 6 against the Brandon Wheat Kings in a contest played at the Winnipeg Arena in Winnipeg. The Wheat Kings were forced out of their rink due to the annual Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Brandon.

I was riding the bus with the Raiders at that time, and I had an important blood family issue to look after when we arrived in Winnipeg. Everyone on the team knew about the issue, and Anholt was a big pillar of support for myself.

When the bus arrived in Winnipeg the day before the game, I left to address the issue, and I didn’t see everyone again until Game 6 versus the Wheat Kings was played the next day.

After dropping a 4-1 decision to the Wheat Kings in Game 6, I interviewed Anholt after that contest. When the interview was done, he asked how things went on the blood family front. I said they went well.

Anholt smiled and said, “That’s good. Family is important.”

Before the start of the 2014-15 campaign, Anholt joined the Hurricanes as an assistant general manager. In case anyone forgot, it seemed like there was a death watch surrounding the Hurricanes when Anholt joined the team.

At the completion of the 2013-14 campaign, the Hurricanes posted a 12-55-2-3 record and missed the WHL Playoffs for a fifth straight season. Things were so bad at times during the playoff drought that the Hurricanes were having trouble securing a radio broadcast deal at one point, which is highly unusual for a WHL franchise. There were also times the Hurricanes existence in Lethbridge was also called into question.

In December of 2014, the Hurricanes named Anholt the team’s head coach and general manager as he worked to get the team turned around. Before the start of the 2015-16 campaign, Anholt hired Brent Kisio to be the Hurricanes head coach, while Anholt focused on the role as general manager.

The Hurricanes turned around on and off the ice and made the Eastern Conference Championship Series in 2017 and 2018. Lethbridge fell in six games to the Regina Pats in 2017 and the eventual WHL champion Swift Current Broncos in six games in 2018.

While the Hurricanes are in a rebuild in the current campaign, they are still a respected franchise, and they are expected to be part of the Lethbridge community long into the foreseeable future. Anholt played a major role in getting that franchise to that point.

Since 2022, hockey in Canada has been under a microscope since the legal issues came up regarding Canada’s entry that won gold at world juniors during the 2017-18 campaign. That saw five players be charged with sexual assault and then be acquitted. All sorts of fallout and all sorts of other issues came to the surface as a spinoff of the legal issues that came to the surface for those five members of Canada’s world junior team from the 2017-18 campaign.

To me, there has been more of a heightened pressure from the Government of Canada on sports bodies and organizations to create codes of conduct and make sure they are followed. There is also a push for sports organizations to have 1-800 hotlines where people can make anonymous tips about misconduct that are investigated by an objective third party, but I would say about 80 per cent of sports organizations in Canada don’t have the funding for an oversight body like that.

For a lot of sports organizations including national sports bodies, funding for an oversight body would take up their entire budget.

As for Anholt, he is personable, but he also wears his heart on his sleeve. He is genuine and honest, and if he thinks someone isn’t a good person or a team isn’t giving a good effort, he calls it as he sees it. Most of the time, his observations are correct.

I did worry that something like the post-game address on October 29, 2025 after the Hurricanes loss to the Oil Kings and the fallout afterwards could happen. I also should note that isn’t an everyday thing with Anholt, and it didn’t surprise me he owned that situation.

The historical matter from 2015 concerns me from the aspect of how skeletons in the closet from the past get treated. Of course, some skeletons are worse than others and is a bazooka going to be used to take out all skeletons.

Reflecting back to when Anholt came on board with the Hurricanes and his first couple of seasons on the job, there were players on that team that could be deemed as cancers and having attitudes. Anholt was trying to weed those types off the team. I also know if you are a cancer that Anholt will bluntly tell you that to your face.

Because Anholt is genuine, I know lots of people who have worked under him as a manager in hockey and manager in the working world outside of hockey who say he was the best boss they ever worked for.

I know countless players who say he is the best coach they have played for and the best general manager they have played for. Whenever Anholt’s travels take him, it is common for him to have former players come visit him. I know of players who after they have gotten married would visit Anholt after games and brought their baby children to meet him.

I will say for sure that everyone who played for the Raiders from 2003 to 2005 loved playing for Anholt as a coach.

When Anholt goes to Prince Albert, he knows he has to leave his work behind. If he is at a WHL game at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre, he knows he will barely see the game with all the people who want to come and visit him.

I could go on and on saying good things about Anholt and there are a lot more to share. I also know with the way things are politically with the extreme left and the extreme right in the current day that those who have their mind made up that Anholt is bad won’t be persuaded otherwise.

I’ve already seen some of that chatter on social media. It feels like those aren’t people who follow hockey normally, and are in this case extreme left wingers who want to jump in with rage to put on a show and like to talk down to others.

Folks in Prince Albert have seen lots of those when the Raiders have faced criticism when they have used their traditional Arab on skates logo for throwback usage. The online criticism and criticism overall comes from people who do not reside in Prince Albert and seem to reside in Toronto or Vancouver. Those people want to talk down and tell the folks in Prince Albert how they should live their lives.

In the current world, I believe Anholt’s biggest challenge is that he is too genuine, and he isn’t the ultimate example in being politically correct. For myself, I have found those that focus on being the ultimate example of being politically correct are often people I find I distrust, are not credible and are not genuine.

I just hope Anholt avoids getting cancelled and does return to hockey one day. With the Hurricanes and WHL sponsoring his counselling, I think that is a path he is heading towards.

If Anholt does get cancelled, I fear there are a lot of other good people in the sports world that could end up in that same predicament as well.

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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Opportunistic Oil Kings give Raiders slip in 5-3 win

Miroslav Holinka (#92) soaks in scoring the winner for the Oil Kings.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Edmonton Oil Kings proved that if you give them an inch they can take a mile.

On Saturday playing before a standing room crowd of 2,817 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the Oil Kings, who were rated sixth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings release on Tuesday, took on the host Prince Albert Raiders, who were rated third in the CHL Top 10. The clash was viewed as a heavyweight showdown coming just past the midway point of the WHL regular season.

The Raiders outshot the Oil Kings 37-21 in the contest, but the visitors skated away with a 5-3 victory for their eighth win in a row, which brought an end to Prince Albert’s six game winning streak. 

Miroslav Holinka has points in 11 straight games.

With the victory, the Oil Kings improved to 29-7-3-1 to sit two points up on the Raiders, who fell to 28-6-4, for second overall in the Eastern Conference. The Raiders, who have two games in hand on the Oil Kings, still sit comfortably in first place in the East Division.

The Oil Kings trail the Eastern Conference leading Medicine Hat Tigers by one point for first overall in the conference. The Tigers downed the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 7-4 in Medicine Hat on Saturday night improving to 29-6-3-2 with their 17^th win in a row. Medicine Hat’s winning streak equals a team record set back in the 2006-07 campaign, when the Tigers won their fifth of their six total WHL titles.

“You’re always continuing to build throughout the season,” said Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald. “We’re just after Christmas.

Braeden Cootes had one goal and one assist for the Raiders.

“Every game is important. I really liked our effort. I thought we were very relentless.

“In the second period, they had their push. They had some areas that they took advantage of. Again, we answered right back, and that third period, I thought we continued to put our foot on the gas.”

The two sides entered the third period locked in a 3-3 tie.

At the 7:34 mark of the third, Oil Kings 20-year-old star import centre Miroslav Holinka roofed a shot to the top left corner of the Prince Albert goal with a chance alone in front of the net to put the visitors up 4-3. Holinka converted a beauty setup pass from Oil Kings captain Gavin Hodnett that came from behind the Raiders goal.

Ethan Simcoe made 34 saves in goal for the Oil Kings.

With an assist earlier in the game and the goal, Holinka improved his consecutive game points streak to 11 contests netting 12 goals and 11 assists over that time.

The Raiders pressed to get the equalizer outshooting the Oil Kings 15-5 in the frame. Prince Albert’s arguably best chance to even the score came with 1:50 remaining in the third when breakout star right-winger Max Heise fired a drive from the right faceoff dot that was swallowed up by Oil Kings star netminder Ethan Simcoe.

With 12.9 seconds remaining in the third, Oil Kings star 19-year-old import right-winger Max Curran sealed the victory for the visitors with an empty-net goal.

Owen Corkish does the fly by after scoring the Raiders first goal.

“I think we just didn’t get the bounces, and it goes that way,” said Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes. “They’re a really good team over there.

“That is a playoff-type game and a potential playoff series. It stings, but we’ll learn from it. We’ll just get better.”

Saturday’s clash was the first time the Raiders and Oil Kings went at it since the passing of the WHL trade deadline on Thursday and since the world juniors wrapped up on Monday. Cootes was playing his second game for the Raiders since being acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday. Star defenceman Carter Sotheran was skating in his third game for the Oil Kings since being acquired in a trade with the Portland Winterhawks earlier that same day.

Raiders mascot PIMS makes his rounds at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders came out on fire outshooting the Oil Kings 12-4 in the opening frame. The hosts finally broke through on the scoreboard with 1:49 remaining in the first when rookie 18-year-old left-winger Owen Corkish potted home a shot from the front of the Edmonton net.

At the 5:39 mark of the second, the Raiders pushed their edge up to 2-0. Cootes tipped home a shot in front of the Edmonton net that came in from the point off the stick of 19-year-old defenceman Linden Burrett to give the hosts their two goal edge. That tally was Cootes first goal as a member of the Raiders.

“It is always nice to score, obviously, and get more comfortable,” said Cootes, who made his Raiders debut on Friday in a 6-1 win over the Swift Current Broncos at the Hauser. “I thought it was a lot better today.

Lukas Sawchyn (#95) does the fly by after scoring for the Oil Kings.

“Yesterday was kind of a pretty crazy day getting here and just trying to get going. Today kind of felt more normal, just a normal game day. I got to have a normal sleep and a nap, so it felt better out there.

“It was nice to get the first one.”

The Oil Kings proceeded to go on a tear scoring the next three goals in the frame to go ahead 3-2. Lukas Sawchyn, Blake Fiddler and Noa Ta’amu all had singles for Edmonton in the surge. Sawchyn scored from the left side boards, Fiddler with an on ice shot from the point and Ta’amu with a screen shot from midrange.

Blake Fiddler scored the Oil Kings second goal on Saturday.

With 73 seconds remaining in the second, Heise potted a laser from close in at the right side of the Edmonton net to even the score at 3-3. That set the stage for the dramatics in the third period.

Michal Orsulak turned away 16 of 20 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Simcoe stopped 34 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings.

The two sides went at it twice earlier in the season with each contest being decided in overtime. On October 18, 2025, the Oil Kings slipped past the Raiders 3-2 in extra time at the Art Hauser Centre. On December 7, 2025, the Raiders edged the Oil Kings 4-2 in overtime at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Going forward Cootes is looking to build more chemistry with his new team.

“You get better each day, and we want to peak at the right time,” said Cootes, who had an assist to go along with his goal on Saturday. “That is obviously the playoffs.

Max Heise scored the Raiders third goal on Saturday.

“I just have to come in here and do my part and try to be the best player I can be and be a good leader. I just try to keep getting better and get more chemistry with them. Once we get a few weeks and a month as just a team, I think we’ll do a lot of damage.”

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Oil Kings get back it on Wednesday when they return home and host the Medicine Hat Tigers (7 p.m. local time, Rogers Place).

The Raiders and Oil Kings will go at it once more in the regular season. That last encounter will take place on Sunday, March 8 at 4 p.m. local time at Rogers Place.

Ethan MacKenzie (#47) chases Maddix McCagherty (#17).

Looking back and noting the two sides met in the first round of the 2025 WHL Playoffs where the Raiders took the set with a 5-0 win in a series deciding Game 7, McDonald said there is not a lot separating the two clubs.

“I think these two teams have played each other a lot over the last four or five or six months,” said McDonald. “We’re very familiar with the group over there.

The Oil Kings celebrate their win on Saturday night.

“Again, these are two really good teams slugging it out. The margins are very thin as you continue to go through the game. It is all about just continuing to strive for that 60 minutes.”

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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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.