Tigers remain kings of the tiebreaking shootout

Raiders fall in fast-paced heartbreaker

The Tigers mob Brett Kemp (#21) after his shootout winning goal.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – It was a game where both sides deserved to win.
    On Saturday night, 2,577 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre saw the WHL at its best as the defending WHL champion and host Raiders went toe-to-toe with the Medicine Hat Tigers in a high paced back-and-fourth affair, where both teams transitioned quickly up and down the ice.

    The two sides exited regulation and a five minute three-versus-three overtime session locked in a 3-3 tie, which forced them to go to a tiebreaking shootout.

    In the shootout, captain James Hamblin and star right-winger Brett Kemp scored for the Tigers to give them a 2-1 victory in the tiebreaking session and a 4-3 overall victory in the game.

Brett Kemp scored the shootout winning goal for the Tigers.

    Raiders star centre Ozzy Wiesblatt, who had two assists in regulation, scored the Raiders goal in the shootout.

    The Tigers improved to a WHL best 5-1 in shootouts this season and upped their regular season record to 30-14-1-1. The Raiders fell to 1-4 in shootouts and saw their regular season record move to 24-14-5-4.

    Kemp was the final player to take shot in the shootout, and Tigers offensive defenceman Daniel Baker said his club was thankful Kemp’s shot found the back of the net.

    “It was just relief,” said Baker. “You don’t like it to come down to one shot.

    “Mads (Sogaard) has made some big saves for us and Jimmy (James Hamblin) and Kemper netted some big goals, so it was good.”

Ozzy Wiesblatt had a pair of assists for the Raiders on Saturday.

    With Prince Albert having downed the WHL Eastern Conference leading Edmonton Oil Kings 3-2 at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday night, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid was fine with how things played out for his club.

    “It was a good weekend,” said Habscheid. “We accomplished a lot of things.

    “We got our identity back. We got our foundation in place. They beat us in the skills contest tonight, so it is all good.”

    The Tigers opened the scoring 52 seconds into Saturday’s tilt as right-winger Corson Hopwo zipped down the right side of the Raiders zone and slipped in a close in shot past Raiders netminder Max Paddock. Hopwo scored on the Tigers first shot of the game.

Daniel Baker had a goal and an assist for the Tigers on Saturday.

    Just over two minutes later, the Raiders returned the favour scoring on their first shot of the game with left-winger Matthew Culling netting his sixth of the season.

    Culling had an assist to go along with his goal in a real spirited effort on Saturday.

    “He does a lot of the hard work,” said Habscheid. “He goes to the net.

    “He forechecks. He can kill penalties and play power play. He just plays the right way.”

    Before the opening frame ended, the Raiders jumped ahead 2-1 when defenceman Landon Kosior fired home a point shot through a screen on the power play.

    Kosior scored on the second part of a power play that was created when Kemp was given a double minor penalty for high sticking. 

Matthew Culling had a goal and an assist for the Raiders on Saturday.

    Kemp’s penalty will automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

    The two clubs continued to blitz up and down the ice in the second, but the only goal came when Baker fired home a point shot through a screen to even the score at 2-2 with 2:37 remaining in the frame.

    Baker, who had an assist to go with his goal on Saturday, is having a breakout season as an 18-year-old sophomore. In 45 regular season games with the Tigers, the Edmonton, Alta., product has 11 goals, 22 assists and a plus-32 rating in the plus-minus department.

    As a rookie last season, Baker had two goals and 15 assists appearing in all of the Tigers 68 regular season games.

    “He (Baker) has been big,” said Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins. “He has certainly put up bigger numbers than last year.

Kyle McNabb had two assists for the Tigers on Saturday.

    “I think he is a guy that he always seems to find his spot to jump in the rush or do whatever. Our whole defence is good. I thought all the guys played hard.”

    Baker said he has found a higher comfort level on the ice playing through his second full season in the major junior ranks.

    “It has been really good so far,” said Baker. “The puck is going in the back of the net.

    “Our forwards do a good job of getting to the net, so it has been good.”

    Just 1:58 into the third, the Tigers jumped back out in front 3-2. Entering the Raiders zone with speed on a rush, Tigers right-winger Kyle McNabb fed a pass across the front of the Prince Albert goal to linemate Nick McCarry, who knocked home his eighth goal of the season to give the visitors the lead.
    The assist was McNabb’s second helper of the contest.

Kaiden Guhle scored the third period equalizer for the Raiders.

    The Raiders didn’t goal away. With 7:34 remaining in the third period, Raiders offensive defenceman Kaiden Guhle wired home his eighth goal of the season to force a 3-3 tie and overtime.

    Guhle potted the equalizer about four minutes after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Tigers right-winger Lukas Svejkovsky. Svejkovsky received a minor penalty for that hit.

    Habscheid thought Svejkovsky’s hit could have resulted in a stiffer penalty but noted the officials only get to see a play once in making a judgment call.

    “That was a dirty hit,” said Habscheid. “I hope the league looks at that.

    “That was just a bad hit. We don’t want that type of hit in this game. I think that if they looked at it on replay they might have called it differently.

    “They don’t get that opportunity.”

    Guhle’s equalizer ultimately set the stage for the Tigers to take the contest in the tiebreaking shootout.

Mads Sogaard makes a third period stop in goal for the Tigers.

    Mads Sogaard made 19 saves over 65 minutes in goal for the Tigers and turned away two of three shooters in the shootout. Paddock turned away 30 shots over 65 minutes in goal for the Raiders and one of three shooters in the shootout.

    Desjardins said Saturday’s contest was a tossup, where his side just happened to come out on the better end of the scoreboard.

    “I thought it was a good game,” said Desjardins. “I thought it was a playoff type game.

    “I thought both teams played hard. Obviously if you go into a shootout, the game could have gone either way.”

    While the Tigers are known for their fast-paced style of going up and down the ice, Desjardins said the Raiders are strong at playing that way too.

The Tigers celebrate their win on Saturday night.

    “They are a good team,” said Desjardins. “They can play that way as well.

    “They have some high end guys that like to skate and like to play a transition game. I think whenever you look at their game you think of them as a transition team, a speed team. I think it was probably equally suited for both teams.”

    The Tigers are back in action on Tuesday when they host the Swift Current Broncos (7 p.m. Alberta time, Canalta Centre).

    The Raiders return to play on Wednesday when they host the Victoria Royals (7 p.m., Art Hauser 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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Blades’ Maier, McKay up villain status in Prince Albert

Saskatoon gets fourth win in five tries versus Raiders

Riley McKay (#39) celebrates his game-winning goal for the Blades.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Like treatment reserved for WWE villains, boos rained down for Nolan Maier and Riley McKay from the fans in Prince Albert.
    On Friday, Maier made 32 saves and McKay scored two goals including the winner to deliver the Saskatoon Blades to a 3-2 victory in a regular season contest over the defending WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders. The result came to the dismay of a standing room crowd of 2,900 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre.
    The encounter was the first game for both sides since returning from their respective Christmas breaks.

    The win marked the fourth win the Blades have recorded in five head-to-head meetings with the Raiders this season. Saskatoon has won all three head-to-head to games in Prince Albert.

Riley McKay (#39) had two goals for the Blades on Friday.

    Following the Blades latest win on Friday night, Maier and McKay were roundly booed by the faithful in “Hockey Town North” when they were named the respective first and second stars in the building. McKay, who has a huge reputation of being an agitator, received the overwhelming loudest boos, and he just smiled and gave applause to the crowd.

    “I find it is a fun barn to play in,” said McKay, who was also a plus-two in the plus-minus department in Friday’s win. “I love how loud it is in this barn, and I love when fans are giving it to me.

Aliaksei Protas had a goal and an assist for the Raiders.

    “It fuels me to play harder, so it is fun.”

    Maier has really haunted the Raiders this season. He has played in all five head-to-head meetings between the two sides turning away 135-of-142 shots sent his way in those contests.

    The Yorkton, Sask., admits he enjoys seeing how the fans in Prince Albert get into games.

    “I think they are a really passionate fanbase,” said Maier. “Obviously, it is really special to kind of be a part of this kind of rivalry.

    “I like it, especially with playoffs last year. I’m kind of used to it. It hasn’t been as much as I am kind of used to from last year.

    “It is always fun kind of playing in really high intensity games like tonight.”

    Maier played a key role in allowing the Blades to exit the opening frame locked in a 0-0 tie as his club was outshot 13-3. 

Colton Dach had a goal for the Blades on Friday.

    He came up with a big glove stop on Raiders star left-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt and robbed right-winger Spencer Moe on a backdoor chance.

    At the 7:51 mark of the second, the Raiders pressure finally resulted in a goal, when Moe deflected home a shot from import centre Aliaksei Protas to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

    The Blades evened the score just 14 seconds later at 1-1, when captain Chase Wouters won a draw to McKay, who wired home the equalizer on a set play.

    Just 44 seconds after that tally, the Raiders jumped ahead 2-1, when Protas tapped home the rebound of his own shot.

    The Raiders weren’t able to cash on a number of chances to extend their advantage from that point for the rest of the second frame.

    With 8.6 seconds remaining in the second, Blades 16-year-old rookie left-winger Colton Dach wired home an accurate bad angle shot to even things up at 2-2.

Spencer Moe had a goal for the Raiders on Friday.

    “I think that goal was huge,” said Maier, whose team improved to 16-15-1-2. “It kind of set us up for a really nice third.

    “I think we got more confidence as the game went on, especially in the third.”

    The Blades did a better job of limiting the Raiders chances in the third, as the host side held an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal for the frame.

    With 5:13 remaining in the third, McKay took a set up from Wouters and lifted home the winning goal to the top left corner of the Prince Albert net to put the Blades up for good 3-2.

    Boston Bilous turned away 12 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

    “We were better team,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, whose club fell to 20-10-3-1. “We just didn’t win the game.

Chase Wouters, left, had a pair of assists for the Blades on Friday.

    “Sometimes that happens. I thought their goaltender played well. I didn’t like any of our three goals (against) to be quite honest.

    “That’s what happens sometimes, and so it is.”

    Habscheid gave credit to Maier for coming up big for the Blades.

    “He (Maier) played well,” said Habscheid. “He was the difference for sure.

    “He made the saves when he had to, and he was key.”

    McKay, who is in his overage season, now has a career high 13 goals on the campaign breaking his previous high of 12 tallies set last season. The Swan River, Man., product likes the fact his Blades have won four out of five encounters with the Raiders.

Tristen Robins circles in the offensive zone for the Blades.

    “We know we can beat any team, and it is even nicer to beat our division rivals, especially P.A.,” said McKay. “It is always usually a rough, fun game to play, so it is nice that we are beating them.”

    Blades associate coach Ryan Marsh was pleased his side found a way to grind out a victory.

    “It wasn’t pretty early,” said Marsh. “I thought we were a step behind kind of early on in the game.

    “We stayed with it, and our third period was by far and away our best period. We’re fortunate we had some key saves and some key plays earlier on to allow us to have a chance to win the game in the third period.”

    Friday’s game included one scary moment with 2:19 remaining in the third after a scoring chance from Wiesblatt. Wiesblatt toe dragged around a Raiders defenceman and wired a shot on goal that was stopped by Maier.

The Blades celebrate their win on Friday.

    After shooting the puck, Wiesblatt was drilled with a high hit from Blades right-winger Zach Huber. Huber received a checking to the head minor penalty, but the Raiders weren’t able to net the equalizer with Wiesblatt playing on the power play.
    While Wiesblatt wasn’t injured, Habscheid didn’t like the hit his young 17-year-old forward took.

    “We’ll let the league deal with that, but that was a dangerous hit,” said Habscheid. “We’re trying to protect the players.

    “The head was targeted, and we will see what the league says about it.”

    The two sides go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. Marsh hopes Friday’s win will help spark an inspired performance on Saturday.

    “Tomorrow, we need to generate more shots at the net,” said Marsh. “In order to do that, you have to play good without the puck to get it, and obviously, get your opportunities when you have it.

    “We’ll take a look at some things. Hopefully, we can knock off that rust, and we carry forward the traction that we got in the third period (on Friday night) into tomorrow’s game.”

Raiders, Broncos swap 18-year-old forwards

Cole Nagy in action for the Raiders last April.

    The Prince Albert Raiders and Swift Current Broncos exchanged 18-year-old depth forwards on Friday.

    The Raiders sent Cole Nagy, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 199 pounds, to the Broncos in exchange for Matthew Culling, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 170 pounds.

Nagy, who is from Saskatoon, is in his first full season in the WHL and had two goals and two assists in 25 games this season for the Raiders.

    Culling, who is from Regina, is in his second full season in the WHL. This season, he appeared in 31 games with the Broncos collecting three goals and one assist.

    During WHL career, Culling appeared in 104 regular season games netting 14 goals and 11 assists.      He played five games as a 16-year-old in the 2017-18 campaign with the Edmonton Oil Kings before being dealt to the Broncos.

    Both players were proficient scorers coming up through minor hockey, and a change of scenery might help ignite each player.

    Culling was a member of the Regina Pat Canadians club that won the prestigious Mac’s Midget AAA Tournament in the 2017-18 campaign.

    “We know Matthew (Culling) very well,” said Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt in a release. “He provides speed and tenacity in our lineup and can support our secondary scoring.”

    The WHL trade deadline is set for Jan. 10 in the new year at 4 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

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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Hughes at home with Blades

Standout winger scores twice in 6-1 win over Broncos

Ryan Hughes scored twice for the Blades on Saturday night.

    Ryan Hughes is delivering as the big acquisition the Saskatoon Blades were hoping for.

    Back on Jan. 10, the Blades traded centre Josh Paterson, who is in his 19-year-old season, a second round selection in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft and a fourth round pick in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft to the Portland Winterhawks to get Hughes.

    Since arriving in Saskatoon, Hughes hasn’t disappointed playing right wing on a line centred by the ultra-talented Kirby Dach and strengthened with the presences of feisty Riley McKay on left-wing.

    On Saturday, Hughes was at his best again scoring twice as the Blades downed the visiting Swift Current Broncos 6-1 before 4,555 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

    “It has been good,” said Hughes. “I’ve settled in nicely now.

Riley McKay set up Hughes’ first goal for the Blades on Saturday.

    “The team is playing great hockey, so I can’t complain.”

    Settling nicely might be an understatement. Hughes has 12 goals, 14 assists and is a plus-11 in the plus-minus department in 22 games with the Blades.

    The 19-year-old Edmonton, Alta., product has totalled 29 goals and 37 assists and a plus-16 rating in 58 games played between the Winterhawks and Blades.

    Saskatoon has also been taking off as a team.

    Saturday’s win allowed the Blades to increase their winning streak to six games improving to 43-14-8.

Kirby Dach scored for the Blades on Saturday night.

    Saskatoon is guaranteed to finish in the top four of the overall WHL standings and is locked in to play a first round best-of-seven playoff series with home ice advantage against the Moose Jaw Warriors.

    The Blades have won 13 out of their last 14 games and are 27-5-3 since last Dec. 1.

    Blades head coach Mitch Love said Hughes has been a key contributor to the Blades good fortunes since arriving in Saskatoon.

    “He has been great,” said Love. “He’s done his job.

    “He has come here and provided skill and offence to our group. He is learning to round out his game and play a little bit more of a 200-foot game. He is an exciting athlete to watch.

Blades D Dawson Davidson (#4) battles Broncos RW Tyler Lees for the puck.

    “He is great in our locker room, and that is exactly what we knew we were getting when we acquired him in January.”

    Hughes’ two goals on Saturday proved to be killers in help end the competitive phase of the game in the win over the Broncos.

    With 44.2 seconds remaining in the second, Hughes converted a beauty setup pass from McKay on a two-on-one break to give the Blades a 3-0 lead.

    “That was a great play by Porksy (Riley McKay),” said Hughes. “I didn’t know if he could get it over there, and then he made it.

    “I just kind of hammered it home.”

    Just seven seconds into the third, Hughes zipped down the left wing and snapped home an accurate bad angled shot to the top right corner of the Broncos goal to give Saskatoon a 4-0 advantage. 

Defenceman Reece Harsch mans the point for the Blades.

    Hughes wasn’t certain if that was the fastest goal he had ever scored to start a period.

    “It probably ranks up there,” said Hughes. “I’m not sure.

    “It did happen so fast. We got on to the bench after there, and “Porks” (McKay) and I were kind of chuckling. We were like, ‘I don’t know how that really happened.’

    “I guess it has to rank up there for fastest. I will look to shoot when I have it. I was lucky that one went high glove.”

    Love said Hughes’ early third period goal help provide a good teaching and reinforcement point to his team.

    “It is amazing what happens when you are ready to go off a faceoff, and you shoot a puck,” said Love. “That was exactly what Ryan Hughes did there.

Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen scored for the Blades.

    “We talk about how important faceoffs are. Faceoffs are a time in a hockey game where you have the ability to turn your brain on from an offensive end and a defensive side of things. When those things happens, it means you’re ready to play.

    “The first period we weren’t ready to play. Faceoffs don’t happen, and we took two penalties. The rest of the game our guys figured that out.”

    The Blades came out a bit sluggish at the start of Saturday’s game skating through a scoreless first period with the Broncos holding an 8-3 edge in shots on goal.

    After the opening frame, the Blades broke through on the scoreboard with a power-play goal at the 6:43 mark of the second. During a net scramble, Blades centre Tristen Robins shoveled home the puck to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

    Just 51 seconds later, the Blades increased their edge to 2-0, when import right-winger Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen tipped home a point shot from defenceman Reece Harsch.

Dorrin Luding made 16 saves in goal for the Blades.

    Following Hughes’ two goals, offensive defenceman Dawson Davidson snipped home a mid-range shot at the 6:59 mark of the third to put the Blades up 5-0 with both sides playing four-on-four due to offsetting penalties.

    Matthew Culling netted the Broncos lone reply at the 12:41 mark of the third.

    Dach potted the game’s final tally with 2:20 remaining in the third.

    Dorrin Luding made 16 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Riley Lamb stopped 41 shots to take the setback in goal for the Broncos.

    The majorly rebuilding Broncos became further cemented in the basement of the WHL falling to 10-48-4-2.

    The Blades return to action on Sunday, when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors (37-19-6-2) at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

The Blades celebrate their victory over the Broncos on Saturday night.

    The Broncos return to Swift Current to host the league leading Prince Albert Raiders (52-9-2-2) at 4 p.m., at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex.

    Hughes expects Sunday’s encounter with the Warriors to be a preview of what to expect in the post-season.

    “It will be an intense game,” said Hughes. “It will be playoff like.

    “That game, I am sure they are going to come out, and they are going to want to beat us and have the upper hand going into playoffs, so we have to have the same mentality.”
    NOTES - Saturday’s contest was the Blades’ “WHL Suits Up” with Don Cherry to promote organ donation game. Saskatoon wore Don Cherry inspired suit jerseys, and the jerseys were silent auctioned during the game with the proceeds going to the Saskatoon branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada.

    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.