Learning curve makes Raiders prospects bright for 2023-24

Ryder Ritchie had 55 points in 61 games with the Raiders.

The struggles in 2022-23 will make the Prince Albert Raiders reach bigger goals in 2023-24.

Actually for a reloading campaign, the Raiders did alright this past season. They posted a 28-37-3 record to finish 11^th overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and 10 points behind the Medicine Hat Tigers (30-29-8-1) for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the conference.

The 28 victories was the same win total the Raiders posted in the regular season in 2021-22, where they made the WHL Playoffs. In 2021-22, the Raiders posted a 28-35-4-1 record to finish eighth overall in the Eastern Conference taking the conference’s final playoff berth.

The Raiders in 2022-23 had two fewer standings points than in 2021-22. Of course in 2021-22, WHL teams just played a full 68 game regular season against conference foes, while there was cross-conference play in 2022-23. Ultimately, that shuffled the wins around in a way that the Raiders made the post-season in one campaign and missed out with almost the same standings points total in the next campaign.

The biggest thing the Raiders were able to deliver in the 2022-23 was hope that seasons in the near future have the potential to be bright ones. Their younger players grew by leaps and bounds and the experience they gained will be a big asset in future campaigns.

The two players that really stood out were left-winger Ryder Ritchie, who was a 16-year-old rookie, and centre Aiden Oiring, who was a 17-year-old rookie. Ritchie finished third in team scoring with 55 points coming off 20 goals and 35 assists in 61 games.

It isn’t often 16-year-old rookies almost score a point per game in the WHL and hit the 20-goal plateau. Ritchie, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 157 pounds, has the potential to be one if the circuit’s elite players in future campaigns as he follows in the strides of his father Byron Ritchie, who starred with the Lethbridge Hurricanes from 1993 to 1997.

Aiden Oiring gained lots of opportunities with the Raiders.

Oiring was acquired by the Raiders on December 31, 2022 in a trade with the Winnipeg Ice that saw right-winger Carson Latimer head to the Manitoba capital. Buried on a deep Ice roster, Oiring, who stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 164 pounds, had five goals and three assists in 26 games with Winnipeg. He was given a lot more opportunities with the Raiders including lengthy stretches as the first line centre and recorded seven goals and 16 assists in 31 appearances with Prince Albert.

Young forwards like Cole Peardon and Grady Martin, who were skating through their 16-year-old rookie seasons, showed glimpses that they could have greater potential in future seasons. Various forwards from the Raiders 18-year-old group this past season showed well at different times in Hayden Pakkala, Gabe Ludwig and Carter Anderson.

During the second half of the season, 18-year-old right-winger Niall Crocker, who was the Raiders first round selection in the then 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, started to pick up points on a more frequent basis. He might still find the scoring touch he had growing up in minor hockey as a late bloomer in the WHL.

One of the returnees that is pegged to take a 20-year-old spot next season is left-winger Sloan Stanick. Stanick led the Raiders in scoring this past season posting career highs in goals (31), assists (33) and points (64) in 67 appearances, and he has potential to be a really good 20-year-old.

On defence, the Raiders six potential returnees should give them a good base in Eric Johnston, Seth Tansem, Justice Christensen, Easton Kovacs, Terrell Goldsmith and Owen Boucher. Johnston and Goldsmith could make up a top pairing, and Christensen turned heads with his physical play.

Sloan Stanick put up a career high 64 points in 2022-23.

Netminder Tikhon Chaika will take up both a 20-year-old spot and an import spot, but he will give the Raiders comfort in net. As the Raiders went with a more youthful roster, Chaika’s statistics took a hit from the season before, but they were still respectable as he posted a 17-23 record, a 3.28 goals against average, a .894 save percentage and one shutout in 45 appearances.

Barring trades, he has the potential to continue to form a strong tandem in net with Max Hildebrand, who will be in his 19-year-old season in 2023-24. In 32 appearances in 2022-23, Hildebrand posted an 11-14-3 record, a 3.71 goals against average and a .871 save percentage, but those number don’t show the improvement he made.

The Raiders will miss their 20-year-old class from this past season. Star offensive-defenceman Landon Kosior and captain Evan Herman were regulars at the start of the 2019-20 season and hung in with the Raiders during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdowns.

Centre Keaton Sorensen was acquired in a trade on August 17, 2021 with the Red Deer Rebels, and along with Kosior and Herman, he helped lead the Raiders back into an era of full 68-game regular seasons and once again playing in front of supportive crowds in their storied home rink in the Art Hauser Centre.

Kosior, who was named a second team East Division all-star on Tuesday, finished second in team scoring with 63 points coming off 17 goals and 46 assists to go with a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department in 60 appearances. Sorensen finished fourth in team scoring posting career highs in goals (25), assists (28), points (53) and plus-minus (plus-five) in 64 games. Herman was fifth in team scoring posting 38 points coming off 18 goals and 20 assists in 64 games.

Niall Crocker started to produce more offence for the Raiders.

Next season, players who were apart of the Raiders WHL Prospects Draft class in 2022 will get a chance to make positive impact on the team. 

Forward Luke Moroz was selected in the first round and 15^th overall in that draft by the Raiders, and he put up 16 goals and 31 assists in 40 regular season games with the Regina Pat Canadians under-18 AAA team this past season. There is anticipation to see what Moroz can do sporting a Raiders jersey on a full-time basis.

For future seasons, the Raiders found out on Wednesday in the WHL Prospects Draft Lottery held in Calgary that they will have the first and second overall selections in the WHL Prospects Draft slated to be held online on May 11. 

The first overall selection was acquired in a trade with the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Raiders will also pick in the seventh overall spot having acquired that selection in a trade with the Kelowna Rockets.

In the U.S. Priority Draft Lottery that was held on Wednesday in Calgary, the Raiders found out they will be selecting fifth overall in the U.S. Priority Draft to be held online on May 10. Those selections will likely allow the Raiders to strengthen their depth for the future.

Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt and head coach Jeff Truitt have to feel good about where their team is positioned.

The Raiders celebrate a win on February 11.

Of course when the 2023-24 campaign comes around, the WHL roster deck will see some shuffling. The Raiders are in position to take a decent step upwards.

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’ 20-year-old class kept club on track

Helped team navigate pandemic rough waters

Landon Kosior in action for the Raiders on March 14.

Evan Herman, Landon Kosior and Keaton Sorensen had a special commitment that helped the Prince Albert Raiders navigate unforeseen rough waves that were beyond the team’s control.

Actually, the entire WHL should be thankful for the overage class of 2022-23. This group of players felt the effects that came with the various stops and starts when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic gripped the world in earnest in March of 2020. Thanks to the commitment of this season’s 20-year-old player class, the WHL got to experience its first what can be termed normal season since the 2018-19 campaign.

Last Saturday, the Raiders were officially eliminated from post-season contention with a 4-1 loss to the WHL leading Ice in Winnipeg. While there was disappointment among the Raiders faithful there would be no action in the WHL Playoffs in 2023, a youthful Raiders squad fought hard enough that the team would only experience three games where it would be playing out the string.

After Sunday’s 6-1 loss to the Ice in Winnipeg, the Raiders have two games left on their regular season schedule. On Friday, they will host the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. On Saturday, the Raiders wrap up the 2022-23 season traveling to Regina to take on Connor Bedard and the Pats.

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

Raiders good, not consistent enough for WHL leading Ice

Winnipeg prevails 4-3, deals big blow to P.A. playoff hopes

The Ice celebrate a goal from Graham Sward, centre.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders came out hot, but the skill of the WHL leading Winnipeg Ice ultimately prevailed.

On Tuesday night at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes over the visiting Ice. At that point, Ice star 18-year-old centre Conor Geekie dished out three assists like he was Wayne Gretzky allowing the Winnipeg side to roar back and pull out a 4-3 win in the WHL regular season clash to the disappointment of most the 2,427 spectators in attendance.

“What we did in the first period we didn’t do in the second,” said Raiders head coach Jeff Truitt. “We turned pucks over.

Conor Geekie had three assists for the Ice on Tuesday.

“We tried to get cute through the neutral zone. They turned pucks over and got into their transition game. They’re an explosive team.

“We told them they were going to be better in the second period, and they were.”

When the dust settled on Tuesday, the Ice won their fifth straight improving to 53-9-1 to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds (50-9-1-2) by four points for first overall in the WHL. The Ice have five games remaining on their regular season schedule, while the Thunderbirds have six contests remaining on their regular season slate.

Winnipeg equaled its franchise record for regular season wins in a campaign, which was set last season after the Ice posted a 53-10-3-2 mark to top the WHL standings. Geekie was pleased his Ice, who are rated third in the latest CHL Top 10 Rankings, regrouped to pull out a fifth straight win on Tuesday.

Matthew Savoie had two goals for the Ice on Tuesday.

“I think it was a hard-fought game,” said Geekie. “You can never come into this building and expect to win.

“They came out hard, but I think we pieced together and kind of pulled together for the win.”

The Raiders fell to 26-34-3 and will now scoreboard watch on Wednesday to see where their slim chances at earning a post-season berth sit before they return to action on Friday, when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

The Raiders sit 11^th in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and are five standing points behind the Wheat Kings (26-29-8), the Swift Current Broncos (28-30-1-3) and the Calgary Hitmen (26-27-5-3) who are all tied for eighth and the final playoff berth in the conference with 60 points. The Wheat Kings have five regular season games remaining, the Broncos have six regular season contests left and the Hitmen have seven regular season matches left to play.

The Raiders celebrate a goal from Cole Peardon, centre.

All three of those squads are in action on Wednesday with the Wheat Kings traveling to Regina to take on Connor Bedard and the Pats, the Hitmen host the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Broncos host the Saskatoon Blades. 

A win by either the Wheat Kings, Hitmen or Broncos will push the Raiders, who have five regular season games left to play, that much closer to mathematical elimination from playoff contention.

Raiders 16-year-old rookie centre Cole Peardon said he will be doing some scoreboard watching on Wednesday night, but when the Raiders return to action on Friday, he said his team will focus on the task at hand in attempting to get a win.

Sloan Stanick (#23) celebrates scoring the Raiders second goal.

“I think we just have to keep it simple that is the biggest thing,” said Peardon. “I think we got away from that, and that is what hurt us in the second.

“(If we) just keep it simple we should be good.”

As for Tuesday’s contest between the Raiders and Ice, the Raiders came out flying in the opening 20 minutes holding a 13-9 edge in shots on goal and jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Peardon opened the game’s scoring at the 6:24 mark of the second tipping home a shot by star 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Landon Kosior.

With 55.3 seconds remaining in the first, Raiders star 19-year-old left-winger Sloan Stanick potted his 24^th of the season to put the hosts up 2-0. Kosior picked up his second assist of the contest on that tally.

Landon Kosior had two assists for the Raiders on Tuesday.

“I was really happy about the way that we generated speed,” said Truitt about the opening 20 minutes. “There wasn’t a lot of turnovers through the neutral zone, because we just made simple plays.

“We didn’t over pass the puck. We didn’t over think things. We just got pucks in deep and started to go to work.

“I thought that really kept the flow for us going in the first period.”

Early in the second, the Raiders went on the power play, but it turned out to be the opportune time for the Ice to get back into the contest. While on the penalty kill, Geekie got the puck on the forecheck in the left corner of the Prince Albert zone.

The Raiders and Ice scrum it up late in the second period.

Geekie centred the puck to Ice 20-year-old star right-winger Connor McClennon, who was all alone in from of the Prince Albert net. McClennon put a short-handed goal past Raiders import netminder Tikhon Chaika to cut the Raiders lead to 2-1.

Just 48 seconds later with play back at even strength, Ice star centre Matthew Savoie got in alone on the Prince Albert goal and put home his 36^th goal of the season to even the score at 2-2. Savoie’s opportunity was created by another nice pass by Geekie.

Graham Sward scored with 2.3 seconds remaining in the second.

After a scrum occurred by the Raiders net with 1:23 remaining in the second, the Ice used their skill to take advantage of the four-versus-four situation. Geekie had the puck by the right boards deep in the Prince Albert zone.

He fed a pass to the front of the net to a pinching 19-year-old defenceman Graham Sward. Sward fired home a goal with 2.3 seconds remaining on the clock to put the Ice in front 3-2.

“I think we just started playing a little more simple,” said Geekie. “We really focused on our D-zone, and maybe caught them in transition a few times.

“I think we buried on our chances, and obviously, the scoreboard shows it. Obviously, I think they are all real important goals for us. I think Connor (McClennon’s goal) was kind of a momentum changer.

Raiders C Aiden Oiring, left, battles Ice C Matthew Savoie.

“Obviously, he has some pretty sick hands, so he knows how to put it in the back of the net.”

At the 3:15 mark of the third, Savoie potted his second of the contest where he broke his stick on a backdoor tap at the left side of the Prince Albert net to increase the Ice advantage to 4-2. Savoie converted a beauty pass from Ice star 20-year-old left-winger Owen Pederson.

Any thoughts of a Raiders comeback appeared to be dashed, when centre Hayden Pakkala was given a high sticking minor with 2:01 remaining in the third.

With 69 seconds remaining in the third, Raiders 17-year-old rookie centre Aiden Oiring sprung 20-year-old captain Evan Herman into the Winnipeg zone on a breakaway and Herman buried his 17^th of the season to cut the Ice lead to 4-3.

Owen Pederson set up the Ice’s winning goal.

On the ensuing faceoff, the Ice got control of the puck and pretty much kept possession of the puck for most of the remaining 69 seconds to hold on for the victory.

Chaika turned away 31 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Daniel Hauser stopped 22 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Ice, who improved to 41-0 when leading after two periods.

Injury troubles caused the Ice to play with 17 skaters on Tuesday. The Ice injury list includes highly touted prospect centre Zach Benson (upper body, day-to-day), right-winger Carson Latimer (lower body, month-to-month) and defencemen Wyatt Wilson (lower body, day-to-day) and Carter Prosofsky (upper body, week-to-week). Associate player call up Landon Young, who has been with the Edmonton Junior Oilers under-18 AAA team, played his sixth game of the season for the Ice.

Evan Herman scored the Raiders third goal on Tuesday.

The Ice get back it on Saturday when they host the Raiders (7 p.m. local time, Wayne Fleming Arena). That will be the second of a stretch where the Raiders play three games in three nights. The Raiders and Ice will face each other on Sunday in Winnipeg (5 p.m. local time, Wayne Fleming Arena).

For now, Truitt said the focus is on getting ready for the Wheat Kings on Friday.

“There will be quite a bit of video work tomorrow, and we’ll go through what we did well in the first and what we didn’t do well in the second,” said Truitt. “We’ll talk about consistency in our game.

The Ice celebrate their win on Tuesday.

“We didn’t get it here tonight. We still have to sell 60 minutes here and play the way that we need to play to win to give ourselves the best chance.”

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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Desperation brings out best effort in Raiders

Prince Albert bashes Blades 8-1 at SaskTel Centre

The Raiders celebrate a second goal from Keaton Sorensen (#20).

It was a great afternoon to cheer, if you were a fan of the Prince Albert Raiders, and an afternoon to sit in stunned silence, if you were a booster of the Saskatoon Blades.

On Sunday, the Raiders showed the desperation they needed for 60 minutes to keep their post-season hopes realistic. They bombed their archrivals in the Blades 8-1 before 4,875 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

The win allowed the Raiders to end a four-game losing streak and improve to 26-33-3 to get closer into the WHL’s playoff chase that is in the stretch run. The Blades, who won seven of the 10 head-to-head contests with the Raiders this season, saw their seven game winning streak come to an end.

Keaton Sorensen (#20) celebrates his first goal on Sunday.

Prince Albert still sits 11^th in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, but moves to within five points of the final playoff berth in the conference. The Brandon Wheat Kings (26-29-8), Swift Current Broncos (28-30-1-3) and Calgary Hitmen (26-27-5-3) all sit tied for eighth and the Eastern Conference’s final playoff berth with 60 standings points.

The Hitmen have seven games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Raiders and Broncos have six contests to play on their regular season slates, and the Wheat Kings have five regular season games left.

Raiders 21-year-old centre Keaton Sorensen led the way for a great all-around effort by his club with a pair of goals and an assist. The Red Deer, Alta., product along with captain Evan Herman and offensive-defenceman Landon Kosior, are playing out the final games of their major junior careers.

Keaton Sorensen has career highs in goals (25) and assists (28).

Sorensen said the urgency of trying to keep the campaign going for as long as possible is felt by the trio.

“It is not just something that comes up now,” said Sorensen, who has career highs in goals (25), assists (28) and points (53) this season. “It has kind of been a thought in the back of our mind all year just thinking that it is our last shot.

“It is now or never. There is no next season for us in this league, so it is definitely a big step here. I guess it has been almost the whole season we’ve kind of felt that way.

“It is good to see all the boys pulling in the right direction.”

The Raiders broke through on the scoreboard at the 10:21 mark of the opening frame Sorensen potted his 24^th goal of the season from the front of the Saskatoon net to give the visitors a 1-0 edge. Sorensen converted a sweet pass from Raiders star 16-year-old right-winger Ryder Ritchie from behind the icing line at the right side of the Saskatoon net.

Brandon Lisowsky had the Blades lone goal on Sunday.

Just 46 seconds later, the Blades pulled even at 1-1 as star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky drove down the left wing and fired home his 33^rd tally of the season.

Prince Albert jumped back ahead 2-1 just under three minutes later, when captain Evan Herman blasted home his 16^th of the season from the front of the Saskatoon net. Herman converted a beauty setup pass from 19-year-old star left-winger Sloan Stanick, who was position by the left boards at the edge of the faceoff circle.

Raiders head coach Jeff Truitt said he could see his club was playing with an elevated effort compared to when the Blades dumped the Raiders 6-2 on Friday in Prince Albert.

Evan Herman had the Raiders second goal on Sunday.

“I liked our response from 48 hours ago,” said Truitt. “You didn’t know what the guys were thinking, but when we talked about it, we could just see that a lot of the guys are determined coming into the game.

“It was good that we got off to a good start in the first period. We never looked back. I thought pace, our determination and our compete we played the right way.”

At the 5:37 mark of the second, the Raiders pushed their advantage out to 3-1, when 18-year-old left-winger Carter Anderson banged home a rebound from point blank range in front of the Saskatoon goal. Anderson’s gritty tally was his 11^th of the season.

Things proceeded to get feisty shortly after Anderson’s tally. Blades import rookie 17-year-old defenceman Tomas Zizka nailed Ritchie with a hard hit into the boards in the Prince Albert zone.

Carter Anderson celebrates scoring for the Raiders on Sunday.

Raiders 16-year-old rookie centre Grady Martin proceeded to quickly skate towards Zizka to start a fight. Martin, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 167 pounds, and Zizka, who stands 6-feet and weighs 172 pounds, traded some good punches before falling to the ground, where the officials proceeded to break up the bout.

Martin received a minor for instigating, a major for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct, and Zizka was assessed a major for fighting.

At the 11:02 mark of the second, the Raiders had control of the puck in the Saskatoon zone and scored on a delayed penalty call extend their lead to 4-1 on a goal from centre Hayden Pakkala. Pakkala deflected home a point shot from Herman to account for his eighth tally of the season.

Blades D Tomas Zizka (#45) fights Raiders C Grady Martin (#28).

The Blades pulled starting netminder Ethan Chadwick after Pakkala’s tally. Chadwick turned away 5-of-9 shots sent his way to take the setback in goal for the Saskatoon side. Austin Elliott turned away 12-of-16 shots playing the rest of the way in relief.

The Raiders weren’t done there. With 0.6 seconds remaining in the second, 17-year-old rookie defenceman Justice Christensen fired home a shot from the high slot to give the visitors a 5-1 lead.

Sorensen enjoyed seeing numerous players on the Raiders roster find success on the ice on Sunday.

“It is awesome,” said Sorensen. “I haven’t had many of those games in my career.

The Raiders celebrate a goal from Justice Christensen (#7).

“It is awesome to see everyone clicking. All the bounces, I guess, are going our way too. Everyone is just working.

“It is very contagious out there when one line is going and then the next line is going. It just goes down the whole lineup starting from our goaltender just right up to the forwards.”

Just 89 second into the third, Sorensen netted his second of the contest and 25^th marker of the season and Stanick tallied 68 seconds later to surge the Raiders out to a 7-1 lead. Sophomore left-winger Harrison Lodewyk popped in the Raiders final goal on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the third to round out the games scoring.

With 1:27 remaining in the third, Anderson and Blades centre Jayden Wiens engaged in a short fight, which was quickly broken up by the officials. Both were given fighting majors.

Ryder Ritchie had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

Ritchie and 17-year-old defenceman Terrell Goldsmith each had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

Tikhon Chaika stopped 32 shots to pick up the win in net for the Raiders and many of his stops were quality ones. Truitt said Chaika’s play keeping the Blades at bay proved to be key in the Raiders pulling away on the scoreboard.

“We said even after the first period that he was kind of dialled in,” said Truitt. “It was a situation where he was quick in the net.

“Our defence were there to clear pucks away, but he obviously the difference in this game. It could have went either way. We had some pucks bouncing in the slot that they couldn’t get to.

Terrell Goldsmith had two assists for the Raiders on Sunday.

“He had a couple of saves that he made that you might not think he could. That is what we needed. We needed a big goaltending performance tonight, and we got it.”

The Blades, who are rated 10^th in the latest CHL Top 10 Rankings, fell to 44-14-4-1 with their loss on Sunday to sit fourth overall in the WHL, and they need to earn four standings points in their last five games to finish second overall in the Eastern Conference. Saskatoon sits five points up on the Red Deer Rebels (41-17-3-3), who have locked up first in the Central Division.

In the first round of the WHL Playoffs, the two division winners are given the first and second seeds. From the second round onwards, the teams are reseeded by standings points, which means the Blades at the moment would have home ice advantage for any potential post-season encounters with Red Deer.

Tikhon Chaika made 32 saves in goal for the Raiders.

Saskatoon has five games remaining on its regular season slate, while Red Deer has four regular season outings left to play.

The Raiders get back at it on Tuesday when they return home to host the WHL leading 52-9-1 Winnipeg Ice (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

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

Sorensen said the Raiders have to get ready to have a good focused effort against the Ice.

“It is definitely important just kind of after a game like this to reset,” said Sorensen, who clubs still had to play the Ice three more times this season. “It is a zero-zero hockey game every game we start with.

The Raiders celebrate their win on Sunday.

“We just have to get after them right away and keep to our structure all game and just burying our chances and playing good in the D-zone. I think we’ll have good shots and good games against Winnipeg.”

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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Birthday boy Johnston nails two firsts in Raiders win

Prince Albert downs Moose Jaw 5-2 for third straight victory

Eric Johnston gets pumped up after scoring for the Raiders.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – After getting his first WHL career power play-goal and game-winning tally under his belt, it was cake time for birthday boy Eric Johnston.

Ice cream cake time that is.

On Saturday night playing before 2,389 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, Johnson drove home a power-play goal from the point through a screen to give his Prince Albert Raiders a 3-1 advantage on the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors at the 10:44 mark of the second period. That tally ultimately held up as the winner as the Raiders skated to a 5-2 victory in the WHL regular season clash.

That marked the first time Johnston scored both a power play and winning goal in his WHL career. As a bonus for the sophomore defenceman, it all happened on his 19^th birthday.

The Raiders celebrate Eric Johnston’s power-play goal.

When the game wrapped up as a third straight win for the Raiders, Johnston had his mind set on enjoying some birthday cake time at his billet home.

“I’m doing it tonight,” said Johnston, who is from Regina, Sask. “I’m pretty pumped about that to get some ice cream cake in me.”

Johnston’s power-play goal came off an offensive zone faceoff with 10 seconds remaining in the Raiders third chance with the man advantage. With the draw in the left faceoff circle, Raiders captain Evan Herman drew the puck back to the left point to 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Landon Kosior.

Kosior fed a pass over to the right point that Johnston one-timed past Warriors netminder Jackson Unger.

Jagger Firkus was unable to score on a first period penalty shot.

“I loved it,” said Johnston. “It wouldn’t have happened without (Landon) Kosior.

“He made a great pass. Luckily, it (the puck) went through his (Unger’s) glove. It was good to get that one in.”

After downing Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats 6-5 on Friday before the first sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators of the season at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders got off to a sluggish start on Saturday. The Warriors recorded the first four shots on goal in the game including a penalty shot at the 2:30 mark of the opening frame.

Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus was awarded the penalty shot after he got a couple of strides ahead of Kosior on the break towards the goal and took a slash from the Raiders rearguard. On the penalty shot attempt, Firkus tried to put on a series of deke moves, but he was run out of room by Raiders import netminder Tikhon Chaika, who turned away the scoring opportunity.

Niall Crocker scored a pair of goals for the Raiders.

The Raider didn’t register a shot on goal until they got their first power-play chance at the 9:12 mark of the first. Just 39 seconds later, the Warriors took another minor infraction, and while the Raiders were unable to score on those power plays, the host side did build momentum.

Playing at even strength, Raiders right-winger Niall Crocker opened the game’s scoring at the 14:19 mark of the first period firing home a short range shot from the front of the Moose Jaw goal. Raiders captain Evan Herman poked the puck off the stick of a Warriors player to Crocker, who was able to shoot it by a startled Unger.

Just under two minutes later, Warriors star centre Brayden Yager, who turned 18-years-old in early January, potted his 24^th of the season to send the teams into the first intermission locked in a 1-1 tie. Yager jetted into the Prince Albert zone down the right wing on a two-on-one break and roofed home a shot to the top right corner of the Raiders goal over Chaika’s shoulder on the short side.

Brayden Yager scored the Warriors first goal on Saturday.

The tally allowed Yager to increase his consecutive games goal scoring streak to four contests and consecutive games point scoring streak to five contests. Over his last five games, Yager has four goals and four assists.

“I didn’t like our first period at all,” said Raiders head coach Jeff Truitt. “I thought there was an emotional letdown (after beating the Pats 6-5 on Friday night).

“I thought that we were slow. I don’t what they were thinking, but we weren’t at the top of our game. It was a grind it out type of game from there on in.

“It certainly wasn’t pretty. There were lots of turnovers and misplays and missed coverages. Sometimes, that does happen with a group that comes off an emotional win like that.”

Aiden Oiring had a goal for the Raiders on Saturday.

Even with the auspicious start, the Raiders were able to jump ahead 3-1 in the second period. Just 1:41 into the second, the Raiders took a 2-1 lead on a goal from 17-year-old rookie centre Aiden Oiring, who blasted home a mid-range shot from the front of the Moose Jaw goal. Raiders standout 16-year-old rookie Ryder Ritchie went in on the forecheck in right corner of the Moose Jaw zone, and a pass by a Warriors player deflected off Ritchie to Oiring.

Oiring made no mistake firing a shot past a once again startled Unger. The young forward came to the Raiders in a trade with the Winnipeg Ice on December 31, 2022.

In 18 games with the Raiders, Oiring’s 10 points coming off five goals and five assists has surpassed the eight points he put up in 32 career games with the Ice. With the Ice having a stacked roster that has allowed them to post a WHL leading 43-7-1 record, Oiring wasn’t seeing that much Ice time with the Winnipeg side.

Ryder Ritchie had three assists for the Raiders on Saturday.

He is getting more opportunities with the Raiders including playing first line minutes with left-winger Sloan Stanick and Ritchie.

“It is amazing developing a bit more with all the ice time,” said Oiring. “Just the players, I feel I got more chemistry, especially with this top line with Stanick and Ritchie.

“We know where we are going, and we’re passing the puck well and putting it in the net.”

After Johnston’s tally put the Raiders up 3-1 heading into the second intermission, the host side appeared to be set to cruise to victory.

The Warriors came out with a push back effort in the third, and with 8:15 remaining in the frame, Warriors 19-year-old centre Josh Hoekstra potted an off-speed shot from the point to cut the Raiders lead to 3-2.

Josh Hoekstra had the Warriors second goal on Saturday.

The Raiders sealed the game with goals from Kosior and Crocker to close out the frame. With 2:59 remaining in the third, Kosior scored with a backhander from close in to give the Raiders a 4-2 advantage.

Just 31 seconds later, Crocker scored a power-play goal shooting the puck home from the red line to account for his second tally of the contest. When Crocker scored that second marker, Unger was trying to skate to the Warriors bench for an extra attacker and tried to skate back to make a diving attempt to unsuccessfully get to the veteran winger’s shot.

Chaika stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders (22-28-3). Jackson Unger turned away 18 shots to take the setback in net for the Warriors (33-18-0-3).

Landon Kosior (#12) had a goal and an assist for the Raiders.

Ritchie finished the contest collecting three assists for the Raiders.

The Raiders return to action on Monday when they travel to Brandon to play the 22-24-7 Wheat Kings (2:30 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

The Warriors get back at it on Tuesday when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7 p.m., Moose Jaw Events Centre).

Following the completion of Saturday’s games in the WHL, the Raiders sat 11^th in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and six points back of a playoff position. The Pats (25-24-2-1), the Swift Current Broncos (25-24-1-2) and the Medicine Hat Tigers (22-22-8-1) sit tied for seventh to ninth in the Eastern Conference standings with 53 points.

Sloan Stanick jets up ice for the Raiders on Saturday.

The conference’s top eight teams qualify for the WHL Playoffs.

The Wheat Kings sit 10^th in the Eastern Conference four points ahead of the Raiders and two points back of the Pats, Broncos and Tigers. 

While the Raiders pulled out a win on Saturday, Truitt is looking for a better effort from his club against the Wheat Kings on Monday.

“We’ll obviously take a look at the video here tomorrow morning before we go to Brandon,” said Truitt. “We’ll put in their heads the corrections that we have to make.

The Raiders salute their fans after their win on Saturday.

“That is a team we are chasing, and that is a game we have to have. We have to be able to win on the road, so if you can’t get up for that one, there is something wrong with you.”

NOTES – The Raiders wore old school retro reverse jerseys for their clash with the Warriors on Saturday. The jerseys were designed by team photographer Mark Peterson and were reverse retro uniforms from the ones the club work in the late 1970s and early 1980s while playing in the junior A ranks. The Raiders raised over $10,000 in an online jersey auction of those jerseys with the proceeds going to President’s Choice Children’s Charity.

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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Sidorov delivers OT victory to beat up Blades

Egor Sidorov scored the OT winner for the Blades on Saturday.

Egor Sidorov played the role of savour for a Saskatoon Blades side that seems to be getting more physically beat up by the game.

On Saturday, the Blades found themselves in overtime locked in a 2-2 draw taking on the host Calgary Hitmen at the Tsuut’ina Seven Chiefs Sportsplex in a WHL regular season contest. During the three-versus-three session, Sidorov collected the puck in his own zone, blew coast-to-coast down the left wing and roofed home a shot top corner to the short side of Hitmen netminder Ethan Buenaventura.

Sidorov’s tally delivered the visitors to a 3-2 victory before 1,232 spectators. That marker came at the 2:30 mark of the extra session.

The goal completed a two-point night for Sidorov, who picked up an assist on the Blades first goal of the contest. The 18-year-old Belarusian import right-winger, who is living in Canada full time, is continuing a strong sophomore season having posted 27 goals, 21 assists and a plus-17 rating in the plus-minus department in 33 games.

Last year as a 17-year-old rookie, Sidorov appeared in 58 regular season games for the Blades collecting 23 goals, 12 assists and a minus-two rating.

This season, Sidorov tops the Blades with six game-winning goals and two overtime tallies. The Saskatoon side needed the skilled winger to deliver in the clutch on Saturday.

The Blades entered play on Friday without centre Jayden Wiens and overage star right-winger Josh Pillar with lower body injuries. Both are listed as being out week to week. Saskatoon also entered play on Friday without the services of centre Tyler Parr, who is out indefinitely with an upper body injury.

During a 5-1 loss to the Rebels in Red Deer on Friday, the Blades lost centre Mikhail Volotovski and left-winger Justin Lies due to upper body injuries. Lies taken off the ice on a stretcher at the 5:29 mark of the second period after being on the receiving end of a hit from Rebels left-winger Carson Birnie. Birnie received an interference major and a game misconduct on the play.

The penalty triggered an automatic review by the WHL office for a possible suspension, but no suspension was issued to Birnie. During that same contest, Rebels 19-year-old centre Craig Armstrong was given a double minor for slew-footing near the end of the second period, and the WHL office gave him a one-game suspension in the automatic review for that infraction.

Austin Elliott stopped 24 shots in net for the Blades.

Against the Hitmen on Saturday, Blades overage captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere and star left-winger Conner Roulette both were unable to finish that contest due to undisclosed injuries.

The Hitmen got on the board first against the short-staffed Blades with 17-year-old defenceman Carter Yakemchuk scoring with 2:34 remaining in the opening frame.

Just 14 seconds into the second period, the Blades pulled even at 1-1 on a goal by star right-winger Brandon Lisowsky, who collected his 24^th tally of the season. Lisowsky deflected home a point shot taken by star 17-year-old defenceman Tanner Molendyk to pull the Blades even on the scoreboard.

With 5:13 remaining in the third, Blades standout right-winger Jake Chiasson jetted across the front of the Calgary net and put home a backhand shot to give the Blades a 2-1 advantage. The tally was Chiasson’s first goal as a member of the Blades after being acquired in a trade with the Brandon Wheat Kings made before the WHL’s trade deadline on January 10.

The Blades looked like they were going to make Chiasson’s tally stand up as the winner. With 68 seconds remaining in the third, Yakemchuk netted his second goal of the contest to pull the Hitmen even with the visitors at 2-2. Yakemchuk’s equalizer came with the Hitmen having pulled Buenaventura to play with five skaters versus the Blades four skaters due to some staggered minor penalties that were called.

That set the stage for Sidorov to net the winner in overtime.

Austin Elliott made 24 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (29-11-3-1). Buenaventura turned away 42 shots to take the extra time setback in net for the Hitmen (23-17-4-1).

Saskatoon is 5-6-3-1 since returning to action after the WHL’s Christmas break.

The Blades return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Brandon to face the 19-21-5 Wheat Kings (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

The Hitmen return to action on Sunday when they host the WHL leading 34-6-1 Winnipeg Ice (4 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).

Herman, Pakkala push Raiders past Cougars

Evan Herman scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.

Captain Evan Herman and birthday boy Hayden Pakkala ensured that Saturday night was alright for the Prince Albert Raiders on the road in Prince George.

Herman scored twice and Pakkala had a goal and an assist to push the Raiders past the host Cougars 4-1 in a WHL regular season game played Saturday before 5,101 spectators at the CN Centre. The win marked the beginning of a stretch of six straight road games for the Raiders that will see them take on all five clubs that make up the B.C. Division.

Just 61 seconds into the contest, the Cougars jumped ahead 1-0 as 18-year-old rookie Czech import right-winger Ondrej Becher put a backhander past Raiders netminder Max Hildebrand.

The Raiders evened the score at 1-1 working on the power play with 1:36 remaining in the first period when Pakkala, who turned 19-years-old on Saturday, put home a backhand shot through at crowd into the Prince George net.

Prince Albert jumped ahead 2-1 with 4:44 remaining in the second period thanks to a goal coming from 18-year-old left-winger Carter Anderson. After getting the puck from Pakkala, Anderson jetted down the left wing and wired home his eighth goal of the season to the top right corner of the Prince George goal.

With 2:29 remaining in the second Herman, who is an overager, netted his first to two goals on the night to increase the Raiders advantage to 3-1. Herman added his second of the contest on the power play at the 3:43 mark of the third to ultimately round out the 4-1 final in favour of the Raiders.

Max Hildebrand stopped 28 shots in goal for the Raiders.

Hildebrand stopped 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders (17-25-3). Ty Young turned away 26 shots to take the setback in net for the Cougars (19-21-4). 

The two sides, who only play once a season, also engaged in three different fights. In the first period, Raiders centre Cole Peardon took on Cougars centre Carlin Dezainde.

The second frame saw Raiders defenceman Easton Kovacs take on Cougars rearguard Ross Stanley, and the third period featured bout between Raiders defenceman Seth Tansem taking on Cougars left-winger Fischer O’Brien.

The Raiders now travel to Victoria to take on the 14-28-4-1 Royals (7 p.m. local time, Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena).

The Cougars are off until Friday when they host the Royals (7 p.m. local time, CN Centre).

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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Captain’s role fine fit for Raiders’ Herman

Evan Herman sets to fire a shot on goal for the Raiders.

Becoming the captain of the Prince Albert Raiders has brought out the best version of Evan Herman.

The 20-year-old centre was named the 47^th captain in the club’s history on November 18. Herman was tabbed with the captain’s role just two days after the Raiders dealt their former captain in Nolan Allan to the Seattle Thunderbirds in a blockbuster trade.

In the Raiders first four games with Herman as captain, they’ve posted a 3-1 record. Over that stretch, Herman, who is from The Pas, Man., has collected four goals, four assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department.

With their burst over the past four games, the Raiders improved to 10-13-2 and sit tied with the Swift Current Broncos (11-11) with 22 points for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

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

Raiders take big step playing full campaign in 2021-22

The Raiders get pumped up before their playoff game last Wednesday.

The Prince Albert Raiders’ biggest victory in the 2021-22 campaign might have been the fact everything felt normal by season’s end.

When the Raiders began the 2021-22 campaign, they were still traveling down an unknown highway that had some images of familiarity. After playing through a four-game pre-season schedule in September of 2021, the Raiders hosted the Regina Pats on October 1, 2021 at the Art Hauser Centre in the regular opener for both sides.

For the Raiders, they would be hosting their first regular season game since March 6, 2020, when they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic would proceed to get its grips on North America to go along with the rest of the world. The 2019-20 WHL campaign was officially brought to an end on March 12, 2020.

No WHL playoffs were held in 2020 or 2021, and the Memorial Cup tournament to crown a CHL champion was nixed in both of those years too.

Reece Vitelli led the Raiders with 51 points.

Teams in the WHL had an abbreviated 2020-21 campaign. The Raiders took part in 24 regular season games in 2020-21 playing in a bubble environment in Regina against the league’s other four teams located in Saskatchewan and two clubs from Manitoba.

When the Raiders stepped on the ice to play the Pats on October 1, 2021, no one was certain the 2021-22 campaign would be played to a conclusion. The Raiders raised a banner for finishing first in the WHL’s East Division before falling 3-1 to the Pats in that contest played before 2,578 spectators at the Raiders storied 2,580-seat home rink.

As far as first impressions went, fans in “Hockey Town North” had to note this wasn’t the same Raiders team they last saw in person hit the ice in 2019-20 that topped the East Division with a 36-18-6-4 record. This was definitely not the same Raiders that finished first in the WHL’s regular season standings in 2018-19 with a dominant 54-10-2-2 record and went on to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions in the post-season.

It was obvious the Raiders roster was in a transition type reload state. With that said, fans were just happy to have the chance to watch Raiders hockey at the Art Hauser Centre that night during the loss to the Pats.

There were no guarantees the Raiders would get in all their regular season games.

Ozzy Wiesblatt was a holdover from the 2018-19 WHL title winner.

Since March 12, 2020, it has been hard to almost impossible in some cases to grade how any team in the WHL has performed due to all the twists and turns and adjustments that had to be made due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For a two-week period at the start of this past January, positive COVID-19 tests caused major disruptions causing rescheduling that saw games go on for two weeks after the original April 3 end date of the regular season. The Winnipeg Ice and Brandon Wheat Kings also postponed a number of home games originally schedule in January and the first half of February due to capacity restrictions that were brought into Manitoba to combat COVID-19.

Still, the Raiders and the WHL were able to navigate all those hurdles to date. The Raiders played a completed 68 game regular season posting a 28-35-4-1 regular season record to finish eighth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and capture the conference’s final playoff berth.

Prince Albert proceeded to fall 4-1 in a best-of-seven first round series to the Winnipeg Ice, who finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 53-10-3-2 mark and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. The Raiders campaign ended with an 8-2 loss to the Ice in Game 5 of their series on Friday in Winnipeg.

Nolan Allan anchored the Raiders back end.

Credit goes to general manager Curtis Hunt and head coach Marc Habscheid and his coaching staff for their efforts ensured the Raiders remained a team that could make the post-season. In the process, Habscheid moved into fifth place on the WHL’s career head coaching regular season wins list current sitting with 582 victories.

Credit goes to business manager Michael Scissons and the office staff for fact the Raiders averaged 2,334 spectators over their 34 home regular season games and 2,605 spectators for the team’s two home playoff dates.

During the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Raiders office staffers took on unforeseen roles at various times to ensure there was a product on the ice and game days did happen.

At lot of good things happened on the ice for the team as well. The Raiders closed the regular season winning two straight must win games in order to qualify for the WHL Playoffs.

After star defenceman Kaiden Guhle was traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings on December 1, 2021, Nolan Allan, who was selected in the first round and 32^nd overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, assumed the role as the main force in the back end for the Raiders.

Landon Kosior, who is a 19-year-old veteran, broke out as an offensive defenceman collecting 45 points on 18 goals and 27 assists appearing in all the Raiders 68 regular season games.

Tikhon Chaika emerged as a legit solid starter.

Overage centre Reece Vitelli, who became the Raiders captain after Guhle was traded, had his most memorable season in the WHL. Vitelli topped the Raiders in scoring with 51 points coming off 25 goals and 26 assists, and all those statistical totals were career highs.

Overage defenceman Remy Aquilon provided a steady presence on the back end and posted career highs in goals (three), assists (24) and points (27).

Left-winger Evan Herman, who was playing through his 19-year-old campaign, showed he had a nose for the net leading the Raiders with 28 goals to go along with 19 assists appearing in all the Raiders 68 regular season games.

Rookie 18-year-old import netminder Tikhon Chaika, who is from Minsk, Belarus, emerged as a solid legit WHL starter. In 51 regular season appearances, Chaika posted a 22-21-4 record, a 2.79 goals against average, a .904 save percentage and three shutouts.

The Raiders do have a number of younger players that have the potential to take big steps in the future.

Do they have the roster that can win a WHL Championship or a Memorial Cup at the moment?

That answer to that is “no” for now. At the moment, those titles were still last awarded in 2019, and since March 12, 2020, no one could realistically determine when they would be awarded again.

The Raiders salute their fans at the Art Hauser Centre.

The immediate goal was to get on the ice and plan a complete campaign like the Raiders did.

Assuming world events don’t throw in any more curveballs, the steps to building a team capable of capturing the WHL and CHL titles can now start in a more honest fashion.

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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