Raiders’ Habscheid sits alone in sixth for WHL coaching wins

Prince Albert downs Swift Current 4-2 for victory 549

Marc Habscheid mans the Raiders bench in September of 2019.

During his coaching career, Marc Habscheid is often showered with praise from his players that might be greater than any championships he’s won or the victories he’s piled up.

After being guided by Habscheid, it is common for players to refer to him as the best coach they’ve ever had. Players will also say they couldn’t imagine playing for another coach after being coached by Habscheid or it was hard at first to play for another coach after playing under Habscheid.

When players start playing for another coach, they will at times have a habit of comparing what that coach was doing to what Habscheid would do in various circumstances often concluding Habscheid would handle things better.

On Saturday in a bubble environment without fans in attendance at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Habscheid hit another milestone in his coaching career. When his Prince Albert Raiders doubled the Swift Current Broncos 4-2, Habscheid picked up his 549th head coaching win of his WHL regular season career.

The victory allowed Habscheid to move one win ahead of Ernie “Punch” McLean to sit alone in sixth spot on the WHL’s all-time career regular season wins list. McLean is best remembered for being the head coach of the rough and tumble New Westminster Bruins teams that won the Memorial Cup as CHL champions in 1977 and 1978.

Habscheid took up coaching in the 1996-97 season when he became the head coach and general manager of the Melfort Mustangs in the junior A Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The Swift Current, Sask., product’s coaching career came right after a lengthy playing career.

Marc Habscheid sits sixth on the WHL’s career wins list.

From 1979 to 1982, Habscheid played one partial season and two full seasons as a star centre for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades piling up 107 goals and 169 assists for 276 points in 148 career regular season games. He was a member of the Canada’s first ever gold medal winning team at world juniors in the 1981-82 season.

In the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, he was selected in the sixth round and 113^th overall by the Edmonton Oilers, who had stars like Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.

Habscheid played seven games with the Oilers in 1981-82 and would earn a full-time spot in the professional ranks the next season. His NHL stops included spending time with the Oilers, Minnesota North Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Calgary Flames.

Habscheid played his final professional season with the Augsberger Panther in 1995-96 before joining the Mustangs as head coach and general manager.

After one season with the Mustangs, Habscheid moved up to the WHL ranks as head coach and general manager of the Kamloops Blazers in 1997-98. During his career in the WHL, Habscheid would also serve stints as the head coach and general manager of the Kelowna Rockets and the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals franchise.

In Kelowna, Habscheid led the Rockets to a WHL title in the 2002-03 campaign and a Memorial Cup title as the tournament hosts in 2003-04. 

Marc Habscheid has coached with four different WHL franchises.

In the 2004 WHL playoffs, the Rockets advanced to the Western Conference Championship series before falling in a series deciding Game 7 to the Everett Silvertips, who were skating through a Cinderella expansion season.

Habscheid was hired as the Raiders head coach on November 1, 2014 as a midseason replacement for Cory Clouston.

When Curtis Hunt became the Raiders general manager before the start of the 2015-16 campaign, Hunt and Habscheid became a hockey power couple. They restored the luster of the Raiders franchise to a level that hadn’t been seen in some time.

Under their watch, the Raiders would finish first overall in 2018-19 WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record. The Raiders advanced on to win their second WHL title in team history on Dante Hannoun’s epic Game 7 overtime winner in the WHL Championship series at the Art Hauser Centre.

Hannoun’s winner in May of 2019 gave the Raiders a 3-2 victory in Game 7 over the Vancouver Giants that will live forever in the hearts of the Raiders faithful.

In all of Habscheid’s coaching stops, the players he coach always turned out to be first class citizens. His teams won with class and lost with class, and it should be noted that winning was often the norm.

Curtis Hunt, left, and Marc Habscheid have made the Raiders go.

On the ice, the biggest thing he did was allow his players the play the roles they were suited for. Skilled players who scored were skilled players who scored and were encouraged to execute creative plays.

Defensive players played defence. In goal, Habscheid’s netminders usually had the confidence to shine in big moments.

Overall, Habscheid instilled confidence in his player that they could accomplish big things as long as they focused on getting better every day. He also makes coming to the rink enjoyable.

In Saturday’s win over the Broncos, the Raiders received an inspired performance from overage power forward Justin Nachbaur, who had a goal, two assists and engaged in a first period fight with Broncos overager defenceman Kaleb Bulych.

The goal, assist and the fight allowed Nachbaur to pick up the “Gordie Howe hat trick” for the night.

Dallyn Peekeekoot, who is a 16-year-old rookie centre from the Ahtahkakoop First Nation in Saskatchewan, scored his first career WHL goal tallying 67 seconds into the first period to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

After Broncos defenceman Sam McGinley evened things up at 1-1 at the 15:46 mark of the opening frame, Nachbaur scored with 2:50 remaining in the first to put the Raiders up 2-1.

Justin Nachbbaur had a “Gordie Howe hat trick” on Saturday.

Overage centre Spencer Moe scored early in the second to increase the Raiders advantage to 3-1.

Broncos rookie right-winger Josh Filmon, who turned 17-years-old in March, scored on a breakaway early in the third to cut the Raiders lead to 3-2.

Raiders veteran centre Eric Pearce sealed the 4-2 win scoring into an empty net with 47.5 seconds remaining in the third.

Overage netminder Max Paddock made 19 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders (4-6-2). Veteran 19-year-old netminder Isaac Poulter turned away 22-of-25 shots to take the setback in goal for the Broncos (3-8-1).

Star centre Ozzy Wiesblatt picked up three assists for the Raiders, while 19-year-old veteran centre Reece Vitelli had a pair of helpers.

The Raiders return to action on Monday in the Regina bubble against the Brandon Wheat Kings (8 p.m., 900 CKBI).

The bubble environment is being utilized due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

So far during the shortened 24-game developmental 2020-21 campaign, the Raiders have dealt with a rash of injuries. They also weren’t able to bring in bring veteran Belarusian forward Aliaksei Protas and Belarusian forward newcomer Vladislav Shyla to Canada due to how the COVID-19 pandemic has played out.

Marc Habscheid raises the Ed Chynoweth Cup in May 2019.

With all that noted, Habscheid has the patience to allow newcomers to learn and grow playing in the WHL. While he will be challenging and providing road maps for ways that players can improve and be better, Habscheid knows there will bumps in the road and won’t panic.

When the developmental season comes to an end, you can bet the Raiders players will depart for their respective homes believing they had never played for a better coach.

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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Rockets, penalties do in Raiders

Habscheid disappointed with soft infraction calls

Nolan Foote reacts to scoring the winning goal for the Rockets.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Marc Habscheid cut right to the chase.
    During his post-game media scrum, the Prince Albert Raiders head coach said he didn’t like the series of penalty calls given to his team after his squad forced a 1-1 tie in the third period of a WHL regular season clash with the Kelowna Rockets.

    The Raiders, who are the defending WHL champions, evened Friday’s game at the Art Hauser Centre on a power-play goal from 17-year-old centre Ozzy Wiesblatt at the 6:19 mark of the third.

    Over the final 8:07 of the third, the Raiders received four straight penalties. The first two calls resulted in the Raiders being down two men for 1:20.

    On that two-man advantage, Rockets centre Matthew Wedman, who was playing his first game with Kelowna after being acquired in a trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds on Thursday, set up Rockets captain Nolan Foote with a backdoor chance.

    Foote drilled the opportunity into the Raiders goal. 

Nolan Foote scored the winning goal for the Rockets on Friday.

    That tally held up as the different in a Rockets 2-1 victory before a standing room crowd of 2,825 spectators at the Raiders 2,580 seat home facility.

    “I don’t blame referees or anything, but there were three soft calls and they talked to him (Rockets head coach Adam Foote) all night,” said Habscheid. “I don’t know if they wanted to get his autograph, because he was a Stanley Cup champion or what, but it didn’t look good.

    “They talked to him all night, (and Foote) ran line changes. He did whatever he wanted, and he slowed the game down, and they just let him do it. I don’t know if they wanted his autograph or what the deal was.

Ozzy Wiesblatt scored a highlight reel power-play goal for the Raiders.

    “That wasn’t good, because there were three soft calls there. You know our guys are accountable. Yeah, we lost, but that was not good.”

    Habscheid proceeded to add he was happy Kevin Muench, who is the WHL’s senior director of officiating, was in attendance for Friday’s contest.

    The first of the four straight penalties called against the Raiders in the final 8:07 of the third was a high-sticking infraction against rugged left-winger Justin Nachbaur. The Raiders went down two men 40 seconds later, when overage defenceman Jeremy Masella was given a cross-checking minor in a scrum along the boards.

    Foote, who won two Stanley Cup rings starring as a defenceman for the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and 2001, hinted his team might have been fortunate on the call on Masella’s infraction. The bench boss added it was important his son, Nolan Foote, netted the winner on that opportunity.

Dallon Wilton scored the Rockets first goal on Friday.

    “I didn’t see the penalty,” said Adam Foote, whose team improved to 15-8-1-2 with a second straight win. “I guess it was from behind.

    “The refs were pretty good all night, so I can’t even tell you what it was, because I didn’t see it. We have to score there for sure. If it is not, it is a huge momentum swing for them.”

    The Raiders came out with good jump in Friday’s contest outshooting the Rockets 10-3 over the opening 20 minutes.

    The Rockets got on the board at the 3:31 mark of the second via an unintended move by Raiders netminder Boston Bilous. Bilous stopped a shot from the right boards from Rockets centre Alex Swetlikoff.

    The rebound landed to the side of the Prince Albert puck stopper. Bilous tried to clear the puck but put it on the stick of Rockets left-winger Dallon Wilton.

    Wilton promptly buried the puck in the back of the Prince Albert net to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

It looked like the Prince Albert side was going persevere past that misstep after evening the score at 1-1 on Wiesblatt’s highlight reel power-play goal in the third.

Spencer Moe jets into the offensive zone for the Raiders.

    During the four-on-three chance with the man advantage, Wiesblatt got the puck on the right wing, came in on Rockets netminder Roman Basran and deked the puck around the goalie into the Kelowna net.
    That set the stage for the drama in the final 8:07 of the third resulting in the Rockets going up 2-1. The Raiders pressed with the Bilous pulled with under two minutes to play, but they couldn’t final the equalizer.

    Habscheid liked how Wiesblatt played, but the veteran bench boss said he was hoping some of his older veterans would come through with a couple of clutch plays.

    “He (Wiesblatt) is a good skilled guy,” said Habscheid, whose team fell to 18-6-4-2. “He makes good plays, and the same with (Spencer) Moe.

Roman Basran deflects a shot out wide of the goal for the Rockets.

    “We need everybody contributing. He (Wiesblatt) is 17. We have guys that are 19-years-old that need to step up too.”

    Habscheid thought his side played fairly solid defensively.

    “We just played a good team game,” said Habscheid. “We played hard, and our structure was good defensively.

    “I thought our game was good. We had some lulls at key points. A couple of our older guys made a couple of mistakes.

    “That can’t happen.”

    The Raiders converted on 1-of-3 power-play chances on Friday, while the Rockets were 1-for-8 with the man advantage.

    Bilous made 13 stops to take the setback in goal for the Raiders. Basran turned away 26 shots to earn the win in net for the Rockets.

    Basran has won five out of his last six starts, and Foote has appreciated how the 18-year-old veteran goalie has come on.

The Rockets celebrate their win on Friday night.

    “He (Basran) has really picked it up lately,” said Foote, whose team will host the CHL championship tournament - the Memorial Cup - this coming May. “He is focusing on his game.

    “He is maturing. He gave us a chance tonight, especially early. We were trying to get our feet under us, get used to playing against that type of speed.”

    The Raiders return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Moose Jaw to take on the 9-15-1 Warriors (7 p.m., Mosaic Place). The Rockets travel to Saskatoon on Saturday to face the 14-13-1-1 Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel 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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Oil Kings grow from clashes with top-seeded Raiders

Oil Kings LW Jake Neighbours, left, drives on Raiders D Sergie Sapego.

    Brad Lauer remembers when his Edmonton Oil Kings were in awe of the Prince Albert Raiders.

    The Oil Kings head coach recalls the time when the Oil Kings first met the Raiders this season last Nov. 28, and the results weren’t particularly good for his side. The Raiders skated away with a 6-3 victory at Rogers Place in Edmonton to improve to 25-1 at the time.

    “When we played them at the beginning of the year, they were on their roll,” said Lauer. “At that time, we were a very young and immature team.

    “We probably wanted to get their autographs more than wanted to play against them. We just sat back and watched, and they pretty much took it to us. As you play teams like this, you learn an awful lot.

    “Not only do you learn, it makes your team better, when you play good teams. There was a lot that we took away every time we played these guys all year. There was something that we were able to take from them what they did as a team and kind of bring it into our group.”

    Having missed the playoffs the previous two seasons, the Oil Kings continued to improve as a team from that first meeting with the Raiders. Last Dec. 12, they dropped a 6-5 decision in overtime to the Raiders in Prince Albert.

Raiders D Brayden Pachal, right, closes on Oil Kings LW Quinn Benjafield.

    On Feb. 1, Edmonton posted a 6-3 victory in Prince Albert. On Feb. 4, the Raiders came into Edmonton and dropped the Oil Kings 5-1.

    The two squads are now battling in the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship series. The best-of-seven set is tied at 1-1.

    Games 3 and 4 are set for Rogers Place in Edmonton on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively with a 7 p.m. local start times on both nights.

    Prince Albert finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season posting a 54-10-2-2 record and was rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. As a result, the Raiders are pegged as favourites in the Eastern Conference final against Edmonton.

    The Oil Kings topped the Central Division and finished fifth overall in the WHL standings with a 42-18-4-4 mark, and they were an honourable mention in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. They are proving to be a formidable foe.

    Lauer has seen the improvement in his club each time they’ve played the Raiders.

    “The next time we played them we were better against them,” said Lauer. “When we play good teams, the good comes from our team.”

    As for Prince Albert, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid is looking for his side to hit the reset button for the upcoming clash.

    “We’ve won two there, so we feel comfortable playing on the road,” said Habscheid. “It is the way it is.

    “We didn’t want to lose a home game for sure, but they are a good team.”

Trey Fix-Wolansky scored on Saturday for the Oil Kings.

    The series has been a physical one so far. That is an aspect Oil Kings rookie left-winger Jake Neighbours, who turned 17-years-old in late March, has enjoyed.

    “Game 1 was kind of a feel out game,” said Neighbours, who has four goals and seven assists in the Oil Kings 12 playoff games. “Both teams are kind of seeing what is coming.

    “(Game 2) was probably what this whole series is going to be like, lots of physicality. I don’t mind the physical game. I’m out there throwing my body around and obviously taking a couple of hits too.”

    Another plotline from the series revolves around the Oil Kings top line of right-winger Quinn Benjafield, centre Vince Loschiavo and left-winger and captain Trey Fix-Wolansky going against the Raiders top defensive pair of captain Brayden Pachal and Zack Hayes.

    The unit of Benjafield, Loschiavo and Fix-Wolansky has been held to one goal so far in the series. That tally was a big one as Fix-Wolansky netted the equalizer in the third period of Game 2 on Saturday in Prince Albert to force a 3-3 tie and ultimately overtime.

    Neighbours score the overtime winner to give Edmonton a 4-3 victory.

    Pachal said he was all set to continue to team with Hayes to go against Edmonton’s top line.

    “We’re used to it now,” said Pachal. “We’ve been doing it all year.

    “Every team has top players, and it is our job to shut them down. Obviously, those guys are good players, and we just have to do our job.”

    Over the course of the campaign, the Raiders have received praise for the work done by their starting six on defence including Pachal, Hayes, Jeremy Masella, Max Martin, Sergei Sapego and Kaiden Guhle.

    The back end is a veteran one as Pachal, Hayes, Masella, Martin and Sapego are all in their 19-year-old seasons, while Guhle is in his 16-year-old rookie campaign.

Zack Hayes has been tough on defence for the Raiders.

    The Oil Kings defensive unit, which is a little more on the youthful side, has taken shape too. Conner McDonald, Will Warm and Parker Gavlas are in their 19-year-old years on the back end.
    Gavlas is playing through his first full season in the WHL and is a plus-11 in the plus-minus department in the post-season.

    Wyatt McLeod and Ethan Cap are in their 18-year-old campaigns, while Matthew Robertson is a 17-year-old sophomore.

    “We’re really in sync,” said Robertson. “We rolling the lines pretty much most of the time.

    “I think we are doing a really good job.”

    As for the Raiders, they will be looking to recapture home ice advantage in the series aiming to get a win in Edmonton. Physical left-winger Justin Nachbaur said his Raiders just have to avoid dwelling on the 4-3 overtime loss in Game 2 on Saturday in Prince Albert.

    “It was a tough one,” said Nachbaur. “We have to bounce back as a team.

    “That is the way it goes right now. It is playoffs. They are a good team.

    “You have to do what we have to do. We have to play hard.”

Extra attention likely to be paid on play in the crease

Andrew Fyten celebrates his goal for the Oil Kings on Saturday.

    When the Prince Albert Raiders and Edmonton Oil Kings resume play in the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series, there will likely be more attention to what happens during play in the goal crease.

    The best-of-seven series between the teams is tied 1-1. Game 3 is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

    Following the Oil Kings 4-3 overtime victory in Game 2 in Prince Albert on Saturday, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said he didn’t like the fact the officials allowed his star starting goaltender Ian Scott to be knocked around quite a bit.

    “The one thing that concerned me a little bit is it was kind of open season on our goaltender,” said Habscheid. “We depend on the officials to defend our goaltender, because we have no recourse anymore these days.

    “He (Scott) was getting bumped and stuck and ran all game. We expect them (the officials) to take care of that, and they didn’t. That is a little bit disappointing.”

    The main sticking point for Habscheid occurred when Oil Kings overage centre Andrew Fyten scored a power-play goal with 28.4 seconds remaining in the first period to force a 2-2 tie in the contest.

    A point shot from Oil Kings defenceman Matthew Robertson deflected in off Fyten’s leg and off of Scott’s skate into the Prince Albert net.

    Habscheid believed there should have been goaltender interference on the play, which would have nullified the goal. The bench boss said Scott is doing his best to track the puck and fight through people to stop the puck.

Raiders goalie Ian Scott battled through traffic on Saturday.

    “He (Scott) has to battle through that, but that is where you depend on your officials to make those calls,” said Habscheid. “It can’t be open season on goaltenders.

    “If it is, just let us know, but that can’t happen.”

    Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer said his club is emphasizing driving to the net, and plan to keep going hard to the Raiders net as the series continues.

    “Their D do a really good job of getting into you,” said Lauer. “They box you out.

    “We found it really tough in Game 1 to get to the front of the net. Obviously as you make change and do adjustments during  the series as it goes along here. We had to find ways to get to him (Scott) and make things difficult for him.

    “We did it a couple of times. Did we do it enough? I don’t think so. We need to do more of that. We need to create that second and third opportunity. If we do that, we will be OK.”

    Looking at available video replays online of Fyten’s goal, it appears the veteran centre could have contacted Scott, but the video wasn’t conclusive.

    Raiders supporters could argue that wasn’t a goal and have a good case. Oil Kings supporters could say that was a goal and could be correct.

    In that type of situation, the call on the ice would stand.

    Jeff D’Andrea of paNOW.com appeared to get the most definitive look with a still photo from his press box location. From his still picture, it looks more conclusive Fyten bumped Scott helping the goal to be scored.

    Of course, no official in the building would have seen that picture, and D’Andrea himself might not have noticed that photo until after all the media interviews were completed that night.

    From my gut perspective from what I have seen with video and still photos after the fact, I believe that was a case of incidental contact and the goal should have been disallowed. I believe it was a missed call, and I understand how it can be missed.

    During the flow and the moment of the game itself, it felt like a goal.

    Still, Habscheid’s post-game comments will make all eyes pay extra attention towards what happens in the goal crease for the rest of the series that could potentially play out to another three to five games.

    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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OT winner by Oil Kings' Neighbours stuns Raiders

Quinn Benjafield waves to the Oil Kings fans after an OT win in P.A.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Jake Neighbours got rewarded for following the old adage there is never a bad shot on goal in overtime.

    With his Edmonton Oil Kings locked in a 3-3 tie with the host Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday, Neighbours entered the Prince Albert zone down the left wing on a routine rush.

    The rookie left-winger, who turned 17-years-old in late March, got in deep on a bad angle, but elected to get a shot on goal.    
    Neighbours put a floater over the right shoulder of Raiders netminder Ian Scott at the 14:49 mark of the extra session to give the Oil Kings 4-3 victory in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern Conference championship series between the two sides.

Oil Kings supporters celebrate their team's OT win on Saturday.

    With the win that came before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser, the Oil Kings even the best-of-seven series at 1-1. The result stunned about 95 per cent of the crowd that came to support the host side.

    “Overtime, there is no bad shot,” said Neighbours. “The puck was kind of rolling.

    “I had no other play, so I just kind of ripped it on net. It was in a good spot.

    “It is pretty amazing. It feels a bit better in an away barn I have to say.”

    Game 3 of the series is set for Tuesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton at 7 p.m. local time.

Dylan Myskiw makes one of his 26 saves in goal for the Oil Kings.

    Raiders rookie right-winger Jakob Brook had a pair of assists in the setback, and he noted it was hard to feel good about his individual performance after the setback.

    “In the end, we want to win,” said Brook. “We didn’t do that, and I feel the points are nothing, when you don’t get the win.”

    Brook said he was already getting refocused for Game 3.

    “They played hard against us,” said Brook. “We just have to rebound off that.

    “There are little things we just need to clean up, and I feel like we can do that coming into Game 3.”

Jakob Brook had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

    The Raiders stormed out of the games getting the first eight shots on goal and taking a 2-0 lead on tallies from overage centre Noah Gregor and physical left-winger Justin Nachbaur by the 6:55 mark of the opening frame.

    A power-play goal from Oil Kings sophomore defenceman Matthew Robertson through a screen with 6:02 remaining in the first period cut the Raiders lead to 2-1.

    With 28.4 seconds remaining in the first, Oil Kings overage centre Andrew Fyten scored on another power play to tie things up at 2-2.

    “We had the game by the throat there at the start,” said Raiders captain Brayden Pachal. “It is early, so we have to keep pressing and find a way to not take penalties.”

    The Raiders jumped back in front 3-2 at the 2:47 mark of the third on a goal from import left-winger Aliaksei Protas.

    Just under three minutes later, the Oil Kings pulled even at 3-3, when star captain Trey Fix-Wolansky netted his fourth goal of the post-season.

Noah Gregor had the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

    That set the stage for Neighbours to pot the winner.

    Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer was pleased with the game his side played.

    “Our start wasn’t as bad as it showed,” said Lauer. “I like how we were playing at the beginning of the game.

    “We should have shot the puck a couple of more times. We made two mistakes, and they put it in the back of our net. That kind of put us on our heels a little bit.

    “After the first (media) timeout in the first period, we went on a 13-0 run with shots, and I thought our power play got us going. It carried us through. I just like how we stuck to our details and played the team game.”

The Raiders faithful enjoyed the fact their team got out to a 2-0 lead.

    Ian Scott made 30 stops to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

    Dylan Myskiw turned away 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings.

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid like the scoring opportunities his side created in overtime, but admitted to being worried when those chances didn’t find the back of the net.

    “I thought we carried the play in overtime,” said Habscheid. “We had multiple chances.

    “I’ve been around long enough that usually when that happens it is going the other way, and it did. It is unfortunate, but that is hockey. They threw it at the net, and it went in.

Ian Scott makes one of his 30 saves for the Raiders on Saturday.

    “That is the way it goes in the game. We just have to feel sorry for yourself for a few hours here and tomorrow is another day.”

    Habscheid thought the Oil Kings were allowed to take some liberties on Scott during the game. The veteran bench boss believed Edmonton’s second goal shouldn’t have counted, because he felt Scott was contacted on that play.

    The officials only gave the Oil Kings one minor penalty on Saturday, which happened to be a goaltender interference infraction on Fix-Wolansky in the second period.

    The Raiders were called for four separate minor penalties in the game.

    “The one thing that concerned me a little bit is it was kind of open season on our goaltender,” said Habscheid. “We depend on the officials to defend our goaltender, because we have no recourse anymore these days.

The Oil Kings celebrate their overtime victory.

    “He (Scott) was getting bumped and stuck and ran all game. We expect them (the officials) to take care of that, and they didn’t. That is a little bit disappointing.”

    Prince Albert finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season posting a 54-10-2-2 record and was rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. As a result, the Raiders are pegged as favourites in the Eastern Conference final against Edmonton.

    The Oil Kings topped the Central Division and finished fifth overall in the WHL standings with a 42-18-4-4 mark, and they were an honourable mention in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. They are proving to be a formidable foe.

Jake Neighbours comes out to accept first star honours on Saturday.

    With Games 3 and 4 of the series to be playing in Edmonton, Neighbours said his side had guarded optimism. The Raiders won both regular season encounters between the two sides in Edmonton.
    “It is a good feeling,” said Neighbours, who was the first star of Saturday’s game. “They’ve been good in our barn.

    “We’re ready for it. We’ve been good in our barn this playoffs. We’re ready to come home to our fans and keep the series rolling.”

    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.

Crazy bounce goal gives Raiders conference final opener

Ozzy Wiesblatt (#19) received some good luck for the Raiders.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - It was the classic story of the positive bounce goal delivering elation for one team and dejection for the other side.

    In Game 1 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre, the host Prince Albert Raiders were the beneficiary of the positive bounce. 
    The visiting Edmonton Oil Kings were on the other end of the coin that ultimately felt dejection.

    At the 1:48 mark of the second period, Raiders rookie right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt swooped down the left wing of the Edmonton zone on rush.

    He ripped a backhanded centring pass to the front of the Edmonton net. The pass bounced off the stick of Oil Kings defenceman Wyatt McLeod and found a home in the open right side of the Edmonton goal.

Wyatt McLeod, right, was victim of bad luck for the Oil Kings.

    That tally by Wiesblatt was the only marker in the Raiders 1-0 victory over the Oil Kings before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat building.

    Wiesblatt, who had been held pointless in his five previous post-season outings, gladly took any luck that came his way.

    “It is a big confidence boost for sure, especially after last series not playing my best,” said Wiesblatt referring to his team’s six game victory over the Saskatoon Blades in a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. “I think good teams find a way, so it was nice to get that bounce.

The Raiders celebrate Ozzy Wiesblatt’s goal.

    “We’ve been working on that in practice just getting as many pucks on net as we can. Luckily, it went in.”

    McLeod was dumbfounded by what occurred in that part of the contest noting he wasn’t trying to shoot or pass the puck in that moment.

    “It was a two-on-two,” said McLeod. “(Oil Kings defenceman) Conner (McDonald) did a good job playing his guy.

    “The puck came to the centre, and I just lost track of it and in off my stick so a tough bounce on that one.”

    While Wiesblatt’s goal gave his side a victory in Game 1, the Calgary, Alta., product said his team wasn’t overly happy with their performance coming off an emotional series win over their archrivals in the Blades. He was already looking forward to Game 2 of the series set for Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

    “I think it wasn’t our best performance for sure,” said Wiesblatt. “I think we’re just going to come back tomorrow and do a lot better.”

Ian Scott made 26 saves to pick up the shutout win for the Raiders.

    McLeod thought his side played better as the night went on. The Oil Kings were playing their first game after eight off days following their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series sweep of the Calgary Hitmen.

    “I think we did a fairly good job of weathering their (the Raiders) push early,” said McLeod. “I think about after the 10-minute mark of the first we finally got really skating to what we think is capable.

    “In saying that, I think we still have another gear to give. We’ll bring it tomorrow.”

    Ian Scott turned away 26 shots to pick up his second shutout of the post-season in goal for the Raiders.

    The only time he looked shaky was on the Oil Kings first shot of the game, which went to a video review to ensure the puck didn’t go across the goal-line of the Prince Albert net. The review showed Scott kept the puck out.

Dylan Myskiw turned away 23 shots in goal for the Oil Kings.

    From that point onward, Scott was solid. He had to be particularly sharp in the third period, when the Oil Kings carried an 11-3 edge in shots on goal.

    Inside of the final 30 seconds of the third, Scott kept the puck out of his net during a couple of fire drill scrambles. One scramble came after Scott denied Oil Kings captain Trey Fix-Wolansky on a drive from the left side wall.

    The rebound from Fix-Wolansky’s shot went in front of the Prince Albert net, and Scott stopped two more chances before covering the puck.

    Overall, Scott felt his defensive unit had a solid game in front of him.

    “I thought they were pretty good,” said Scott. “(There were) lots of key (shot) blocks at really important times.

    “When you get that it is a big thing in playoffs.”

The Art Hauser Centre faithful cheer on the Raiders.

    In order to stay focused in goal, Scott tried to stay feeling a little loose as opposed to be uptight.

    “You just have to keep having fun,” said Scott. “It is playoffs.

    “It is not hard to get up for those games. As long as you keep it even keel it will be good.”

    At the other end of the rink, Dylan Myskiw stopped 23 shots to take the setback in net for the Oil Kings.

    Overall, Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer liked how his team played on Friday. He felt good about how his team responded to the raucous atmosphere in the Raiders home rink.

    Lauer said the Edmonton coaches tell their players to throw the puck on net, because you never know what can happen. He added the Raiders also followed that philosophy on Wiesblatt’s goal.

    “It was one of those things where we just couldn’t find that one shot,” said Lauer. “I think we learned an awful lot.

Cole Fonstad gets set to fire a shot on goal for the Raiders.

    “We will be better tomorrow.”

    Prince Albert finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season posting a 54-10-2-2 record and was rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    The Oil Kings topped the Central Division and finished fifth overall in the WHL standings with a 42-18-4-4 mark, and they were an honourable mention in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said he expects the Eastern Conference final to be a competitive series. When the dust settled on Friday, the veteran bench boss said the big thing was his side picked up the positive result.

    “It is a win,” said Habscheid. “That is what matters in playoffs.

    “They are a good team. We knew that, but they proved it tonight they are a good team. I think we can be much better.

    “We didn’t really have what seemed like our legs tonight, but they played well. Our guys did what they had to do.”

    NOTES – The Raiders had star left-winger Cole Fonstad back in their lineup after he missed two games with an undisclosed injury.

Ian Scott, left, and Zack Hayes celebrate the Raiders win.

    Raiders physical forward Justin Nachbaur sat out the second of a two-game league imposed suspension for receiving an interference major penalty and a game misconduct in his club’s Game 5 win over the Blades. Nachbaur is expected to dress for the Raiders in Game 2 of their series with the Oil Kings on Saturday.

    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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Blades buzz hitting peak, big crowd expected for Game 6 of playoff series with Raiders

More fans have come to cheer the Blades at the SaskTel Centre in playoffs.

    For the first time in what seems like forever, it feels like the Saskatoon Blades are a must see team in “The Bridge City.”

    When the Blades host the Prince Albert Raiders for Game 6 of their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series, the Saskatoon club is expected to draw its biggest crowd of the season to the SaskTel Centre. The two teams faceoff at 4 p.m. on Sunday for the latest installment of their heated rivalry.

    The highest attendance the Blades posted for a home game this season was 9,188 back on March 15, when they downed the Raiders 3-2 in the second last regular season game for both sides. It is expected over 10,000 spectators could show up for the Game 6 playoff battle between the Blades and Raiders.

The Blades faithful have turned out in large numbers for the Raiders series.

    Of course, the Raiders will be bringing more than a healthy contingent of supporters with them down Highway #11 from Prince Albert.

    The Raiders have been backed solidly by “Hockey Town North” pretty much all season as they finished first overall in the WHL with a 54-10-2-2 record in the regular season and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Prince Albert leads the best-of-seven series with Saskatoon 3-2 and will try to close things out with a win on Sunday, which would put the Raiders in the Eastern Conference Championship series for the first time since 2005.

You can expect to see a mixed crowd at the SaskTel Centre on Sunday.

    The Blades will be trying to keep their breakout season alive that saw them finish fourth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 45-15-8 record and earn honourable mention status in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Their breakout campaign has finally started to capture the imaginations of the citizens of Saskatoon over the last month and a half. The surge upwards in attendance on Sunday will mainly be from people in Saskatoon who are curious to see what this season’s Blades are all about.

    Sunday’s crowd will be a mixed one. The crowd will contain the ultra passionate fan that knows everything about the team they cheer for and their opponent.

Raiders fans will be out in droves on Sunday too.

    You will also get the ticket buyer who is going to see the game and just knows that both teams have been good this season. Those ticket buyers will have scant knowledge about who will hit the ice for each side.

    You will see the ticket buyer from Saskatoon who hasn’t seen a WHL game in a lengthy span of time that figures the moment has arrived to take a chance to see the Blades again.

    During the regular season, the Blades averaged 3,911 spectators for each of their 34 home games.

    That average jumped to 6,654 spectators per game for each of the Blades four home playoff games to date.

Kirby Dach, left, is a player to watch for the Blades.

    The Blades bandwagon has been filling noticeably since the start of the post-season. Their first home date on March 22 against the Moose Jaw Warriors drew 5,193 spectators.

    On March 23 against the Warriors, the Blades attracted 6,022 spectators.

    In Game 3 of the series against the Raiders last Tuesday, the Blades pulled in 7,641 spectators. For Game 4 against the Raiders last Wednesday, the Blades saw 7,761 spectators enter the building.

    There is buzz around Saskatoon for the Blades which is helping city match the “#BladeCity” moniker the team coined this season.

Brett Leason is a player to watch for the Raiders.

    Of course, the war of attrition is starting to show its effects on the competing teams in this series.

    The Blades could potentially be without star offensive defenceman Dawson Davidson.

    Late in the third period of the Raiders 6-1 romp in Game 5 in Prince Albert on Friday, Davidson left the contest after being drilled by Raiders physical forward Justin Nachbaur.

    Nachbaur was given a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct on the play. On Saturday, the WHL announced Nachbaur has been suspended for two games for that hit.

    Blades star centre Kirby Dach missed about the last 10 minutes of the second period of Game 5 after he came together with Raiders star right-winger Brett Leason. Dach returned for the third period, but it is still uncertain how effective he will be for Game 6.

The Blades faithful cheers on one of their team’s goals.

    On the Raiders side, star left-winger Cole Fonstad missed Game 5 with an undisclosed injury.

Still, the incoming casual fans will get to see a number of good players on Sunday.

    The goalie battle between Blades star sophomore Nolan Maier and Raiders star veteran Ian Scott is a compelling one.

    Blades veteran blue-liners Brandon Schuldhaus and Nolan Kneen are solid and forwards in captain Chase Wouters, Max Gerlach, “Uncle” Gary Haden, Ryan Hughes, Riley McKay, Eric Florchuk and Kyle Crnkovic will create their share of excitement.

A crowd of over 10,000 is expected at the SaskTel Centre on Sunday.

    The Raiders have arguably the best starting six on defence in the entire CHL let alone the WHL in captain Brayden Pachal, Zack Hayes, Jeremy Masella, Max Martin, Sergei Sapego and Kaiden Guhle.

    Prince Albert can hit the ice with four solid forward lines. Some of their most exciting players up front include Leason, Noah Gregor, Parker Kelly, Sean Montgomery, Dante Hannoun and Ozzy Wiesblatt.

    The incoming fans both new ones and returning ones will have lots to see along with the regulars.

    Hopefully, they like what they see and return for more games in the future including next season.

Good far outweighs bad when Raiders and Blades fans interact

In what has been a TREMENDOUS series so far, the great thing to see is the continuation of fans enjoying this rivalry again cheering on their teams together! #PAvsSAS pic.twitter.com/py9BkMYvAn

— Michael Scissons (@mrscizz) April 13, 2019

    So far in the WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades, the fans on both sides have been frenemies more often than showing actual dislike for each other.

    For the most part, it seems like the fans on either side have treated each other well and with respect as the series has gone on. It has been something you can easily notice in both the Art Hauser Centre and the SaskTel Centre.

    Of course, there are the hiccups. All one has to do is check the Twitter social media line after an encounter between the Raiders and Blades wraps up, and you will usually find fans on either side trading fairly toxic posts with each other.

Raiders and Blades fans visit outside the Art Hauser Centre.

    Following Game 4 in Saskatoon, paNOW.com reported Raiders fans in Section N of the SaskTel Centre had drinks spilled on them and macaroni thrown on them from fans sitting in the upper deck above them.

    Still, the number of good interactions between opposing fans have greatly outnumber the bad interactions. While you would like to eliminate all the bad interactions, it is realistically almost impossible to do dealing with people.

    Here is hoping the positive interacts continue in Game 6 on Sunday, and during a potential Game 7 on Tuesday in Prince Albert.

    If fans want to share frenemies pictures on social media, they should feel free to do so to increase positivity.

    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.