Leason, Scott put Raiders a win away from a party like 1985

Brett Leason scored the only goal of Game 4 of the WHL final.

    Brett Leason and Ian Scott took a big step towards cementing their respective statuses as Prince Albert Raiders legends.

    On Wednesday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C., Leason scored the only goal in Game 4 of the WHL Championship series against the Vancouver Giants and Ian Scott made 36 saves to give the Raiders a 1-0 victory before 4,626 spectators.

    With the win, Raiders took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Raiders will try to close things out and win their first WHL title since 1985 in Game 5 on Friday at the Langley Events Centre with a 7:30 p.m. start local time.

    After winning the WHL crown in 1985, the Raiders moved on to capture the Memorial Cup.

    If the Raiders win on Friday, they will be flying home to Prince Albert with the Ed Chynoweth Cup in hand as WHL champions on Saturday.

    The Raiders and Giants entered the third period of Wednesday’s game locked in a 0-0 tie.

    The Raiders broke through on the scoreboard at the 4:21 mark of the third, when defensive defenceman Jeremy Masella and import left-winger Aliaksei Protas combined to spring Leason into the Vancouver zone on a breakaway.

    Leason snapped a shot on net that Giants standout netminder David Tendeck got a piece of but couldn’t prevent from entering the Vancouver goal.  That tally stood up as the winner in a 1-0 Raiders victory.
    During the regular season, Leason broke out to achieve star status leading the Raiders in scoring with 36 goals and 53 assists for 89 points appearing in 55 games. The Calgary, Alta., product, who played for Canada at the last world juniors, posted a plus-55 rating in the plus-minus department.

Ian Scott made 36 saves to pick up a shutout in Game 4 of the WHL final.

    With his goal on Wednesday, Leason has recorded points in his last seven straight games posting seven goals and four assists over that time. In his 19 appearances with the Raiders in this post-season, Leason leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points, while posting a plus-nine rating.

    Scott stoned the Giants, when they played what was their best game of the WHL Championship series.

    The shutout was Scott’s second of the WHL final and fifth of the current post-season. The Calgary, Alta., product, who also played for Canada at the last world juniors, became just the fifth goalie in the history of the WHL to record five or more shutouts in one post-season.

    Scott, who has an NHL entry-level contract signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, has had a sensational regular season with the Raiders posting a 38-8-3 record, a 1.83 goals against average, a .932 save percentage and eight shutouts.

    His goals against average, save percentage and shutout totals were all regular season club records.
    Scott has appeared in all of the Raiders 20 playoff games to date posting a 15-5 record, a 1.83 goals against average and a .931 save percentage to go with his five shutouts.

    With Wednesday’s win, the Raiders match their team record for most wins in one WHL post-season at 15 first set back in 1986. The Raiders played through a 10-game round robin under the format that was used in the 1986 WHL post-season.

    After the Raiders posted a convincing 8-2 victory in Game 3 on Tuesday night at the Langley Events Centre, the Giants came out with a lot of fire in the first period of Wednesday’s contest holding a 15-9 edge in shots on goal. The hosts’ biggest chance to go ahead came on a short-handed breakaway by star overage centre Davis Koch late in the frame.

Brett Leason has had a stellar season for the Raiders.

    Kock tried to pick a corner of the Prince Albert net, but he was turned away due to a shoulder save by Scott.

    The second period was fairly evenly played with the Raiders holding a 12-10 edge in shots on goal.

    Vancouver’s best chance to score in the frame came from import centre Milos Roman, who fired a shot just over top of the Prince Albert net on a breakaway opportunity.

    Raiders import defenceman Sergei Sapego had a breakaway late in the second, but his shot was smothered up by Tendeck.

    Early in the third, Scott made a sprawling pad save on Giants winger Jadon Joseph to keep the game scoreless.

    That set the stage for Leason to score the game’s only goal.

    Scott continued to shut the door after the Raiders took the lead. He lunged across the crease of the Prince Albert goal to rob Giants defenceman Alex Kannok Leipert with a glove save.

    The Giants held an 11-5 edge in shots on goal in the third period.

    Tendeck turned away 25 shots to take the setback in goal for the Giants in a valiant effort.

    The Raiders won Wednesday’s game without the services of offensive defenceman Max Martin, who sat out with an undisclosed injury for a second straight contest. Martin was injured in the second period of the Raiders 4-0 win in Game 2 last Saturday, when he took an awkward fall into the boards.

    Leason and Scott are a couple of the big cogs who have helped the Raiders have a magical campaign. The Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Entering the current post-season, the Raiders hadn’t won a playoff series since 2005.

Ian Scott is going to go down as an all-time great in Raiders history.

    Vancouver finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-15-3-2 mark and was rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. Coming into the current post-season, the Giants hadn’t won a playoff series since 2010.

    With the Raiders having won three straight games in the WHL final, the Giants are facing elimination for the first time in this year’s post-season. They face the daunting task of needing to win three straight games to win the WHL title.

    If needed, Games 6 and 7 of the WHL final will be held Sunday and Monday respectively back at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    The Giants aren’t finished, but they face a major challenge just to win on Friday to extend the series to a Game 6.

    The Raiders and their faithful back in Prince Albert can almost taste and already envision their biggest victory celebration since 1985.

Storm holds off 67’s, evens OHL final 2-2

    The Guelph Storm built a big lead and then held off a furious comeback attempt by the Ottawa 67’s to even the Ontario Hockey League Championship series.

    On Wednesday at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph, the Storm and 67’s kept 4,983 spectators on the edge of their seats. After defenceman Hudson Wilson gave the 67’s a 1-0 lead at the 4:48 mark of the first period, the Storm responded with four straight goals to take a 4-1 advantage at the 13:34 mark of the second period.

    The 67’s tried to mount a rally, but the Storm ultimately held on for a 5-4 victory. With the win, the Storm evens the best-of-seven OHL final 2-2.

Game 5 is set for Friday in Ottawa.

    After Wilson gave the 67’s the early lead, Nate Schnarr and Alexey Toropchenko replied for Guelph to give the host side a 2-1 advantage heading into the first intermission.

    Toropchenko potted his second of the contest at the 6:46 mark of the second period, and Nick Suzuki netted his 15^th goal of the post-season at the 13:34 mark of the second to put the Storm up 4-1.

    Lucas Chiodo scored for the 67’s with 1:38 remaining in the second to cut the Storm lead to 4-2.

    At the 2:28 mark of the third, Liam Hawel tallied for the Storm on the power play to increase the host side’s edge to 5-2.

    Tye Felhaber scored a power-play goal for the 67’s with 3:55 remaining in the third to trim Guelph’s lead to 5-3. With less than five seconds to play in the third, Kyle Maksimovich scored for the 67’s when they had their netminder pulled to round out the 5-4 final in favour of the Storm.

    Anthony Popovich stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Storm. Cedrick Andree turned away 19 shots to take the setback in the 67’s goal.

    The 67’s were without star goaltender Michael DiPietro, who was injured in Ottawa’s 4-3 victory on home ice in Game 2. DiPietro is reported to have a high ankle sprain.

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

-------

    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.

Raiders’ Hannoun, Scott too hot for Giants to handle

Prince Albert wins 4-0, evens WHL title series 1-1

The Raiders celebrate a second period goal from Noah Gregor (#18).

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – When given a little nudge, Dante Hannoun admitted he does have some extra motivation when he plays the Vancouver Giants.
    “Maybe a little, because this is my hometown team,” said Hannoun, who is a standout overage centre with the Prince Albert Raiders. “Obviously, I have to step up a bit, and a lot of my family and friends are watching.”

    Hannoun is from Delta, B.C., which is part of a network of smaller centres that make up the Vancouver area.

    On Saturday before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, Hannoun had a goal and two assists to power the Raiders to a 4-0 victory over the Giants in Game 2 of the WHL Championship series.

Dante Hannoun had a goal and two assists for the Raiders on Saturday.

    With the win, the Raiders evened up the best-of-seven set 1-1. Game 3 is set for Tuesday at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C., at 7 p.m. local time.

    In the two games played so far in the WHL final, Hannoun has two goals and three assists.

    He got things started for the Raiders just past the halfway point of the first period. Working on the forecheck in the Vancouver zone, Raiders power forward Parker Kelly got the puck on a Giants turnover.

    Kelly made a tight pass across the face of the Giants goal to Hannoun, and Hannoun tapped the puck into an open right side of the net to give the Raiders a 1-0 edge.

    Hannoun said he has enjoyed centring a line with Kelly at right wing and gritty Justin Nachbaur on left wing, which has allowed him to have some personal success.

    “I don’t think it is myself,” said Hannoun. “Everyone I’ve been playing with, we’ve been working off each other and reading off each other.

Parker Kelly (#27) drives hard to the Giants net.

    “I think that was the biggest part. Kels (Kelly) and Nacho (Nachbaur), they battle hard every night. They are battling down low.

    “Kels passed it out front, and it was just a little tap in.”

    Near the end of the opening frame, the Giants had a huge chance to pull even. Rookie right-winger Justin Sourdif, who turned 17-years-old in March, came down the right wing and got in alone on Raiders netminder Ian Scott.

    Sourdif cut across the front of the Prince Albert goal and tried to put a backhand shot past Scott. Scott turned away the chance to preserve the Raiders one-goal edge.

    He made 15 saves to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Raiders. The blank was Scott’s fourth of the post-season.

Giants goal David Tendeck plays the puck behind his own net.

    Scott’s sound effort came after he was a bit shaking making 21 saves in the Raiders 5-4 setback in Game 1 of the WHL final to the Giants on Friday.

    “It was definitely a good bounce back game,” said Scott. “The guys didn’t lose faith in me.

    “The sun came up this morning. Playoffs are going to be a roller-coaster, and you just have to find that even level.”

    At the 7:43 mark of the second, the Raiders extended their lead to 2-0, when Hannoun and Kelly combined to set up import defenceman Sergei Sapego for a goal.

    Hannoun and Kelly got the puck to Sapego at the top of the left faceoff circle, and the Belarusian blue-liner snipped home his third of the post-season.

    At the 10:39 mark of the second with the Raiders working on the power play, Hannoun got the puck to star overage centre Noah Gregor in the right slot, and Gregor quickly unloaded a shot into the Vancouver goal to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead.

The Raiders faithful cheers one of their team’s goals.

    “We were on our heels at the start of the hockey game,” said Giants head coach Michael Dyck. “We came back in spurts, but nothing sustained.

    “We knew they were going to respond. We knew they were going to come out hard, and they did. We needed a bigger push.”

    At the 2:16 mark of the third, the Giants thought they got on the scoreboard when Gregor hooked Vancouver star centre Davis Koch into Scott, and the puck crossed the goal-line of the Prince Albert net.

    No goal was awarded on the play as a quick whistle blew, but Gregor was sent to the penalty box for a hooking minor.

Ian Scott makes one of his 15 saves to pick up a shutout win on Saturday.

    Star right-winger Brett Leason rounded out the scoring for the Raiders with an empty-net goal with 1:21 remaining in the third.

    Giants veteran defenceman Alex Kannok Leipert said his squad can’t dwell too much on Saturday’s loss and remember Game 3 on Tuesday provides a fresh start.

    “We’ve been pretty resilient all year,” said Kannok Leipert. “We just have to press the reset button and comeback at it Tuesday with the right attitude and ready to respond.”

    David Tendeck turned away 30-of-33 shots to take the setback in goal for the Giants. Dyck said his squad needs to support their puck stopper better.

Giants RW Justin Sourdif was stoned on a big first period chance.

    “He (Tendeck) played well,” said Dyck. “He was solid, and we have to do a better job of insulating him.

    “We left him hung out to dry a few times.”

    The WHL title series between the Raiders and Giants was expected to be hotly contested.

    The Raiders finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings at 54-10-2-2 and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    The Giants placed second overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 48-15-3-2 record and are rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Between action in the regular season and playoffs, Saturday’s contest marked the first time the Raiders beat the Giants in three tries.

    Giants physical forward Owen Hardy has thrown a number of big hits in the first two games of the series, and he said he wanted to keep dishing out the hits in the series.

The Raiders fans cheer another one of their team’s goals.

    “I feel that is how I make the most impact on the game,” said Hardy. “I think that is one of the biggest parts of my game, so that is what I like to keep doing.”

    The only down part for the Raiders on Saturday came in the second period, when offensive defenceman Max Martin blew a tire and fell awkwardly on his own into the boards. He left the game, and Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said Martin will be re-evaluated on Sunday.

    Habscheid was pleased with his club’s play on Saturday and believed his squad could have won Friday’s encounter too.

Sergei Sapego (#12) had a goal for the Raiders on Saturday.

    “(Friday) night, we thought we deserved a better fate,” said Habscheid. “It was just one of those games.

    “We just didn’t change too much. We thought there was still a little bit more in the gas tank that we thought we could give. They brought it tonight.

    “You saw what it was. It was a real good effort.”

    With the next three games of the series to be played in Langley, Habscheid said his Raiders could enjoy their win on Saturday night, but the squad would be focusing on getting back to work on Sunday.

    “Tomorrow is a new day, and the series is far from over,” said Habscheid. “They are a good team.

The Raiders celebrate pulling even in the WHL title series at 1-1.

    “We’re going into their building now. We feel good about our game but we are not going to get ahead of ourselves.”

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

-------

    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.

Dach, Maier have Blades back in business against Raiders

Kirby Dach had one of his best games Tuesday as a member of the Blades.

    It is “series on” thanks to Kirby Dach and Nolan Maier.

    The Saskatoon Blades draft eligible stars were their team’s two best players on Tuesday night, and they got their club back into their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series with their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders. The Raiders topped the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Playing before a crowd of 7,641 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, Dach scored the game’s lone goal and Maier made 26 saves in goal to deliver the Blades to a 1-0 victory in Game 3 of the series.

    With the win, the Blades cut the Raiders lead in the best-of-seven set to 2-1. Game 4 is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Nolan Maier made 26 saves to pick up the shutout Tuesday for the Blades.

    Last August, Dach and Maier were members of Canada’s under-18 men’s team that capture gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which was held in Edmonton and Red Deer.

    Blades head coach Mitch Love was part of that Canadian team as an assistant coach.

    Winning gold gave Dach and Maier great experience on a big stage and set them both up to have great campaigns in 2018-19. They played key parts in helping the Blades finish fourth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 45-15-8 record and earn an honourable mention status in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    In Tuesday’s win over the Raiders, Dach set the tone early for the night.

    At the 4:21 mark of the first period, Blades defenceman Nolan Kneen fired a point shot on the Raiders net and the puck rebounded to sit loose by the left side of the Prince Albert goal.

The Blades celebrate Kirby Dach’s goal on Tuesday.

    Dach fought his way past Raiders captain Brayden Pachal and backhanded home the loose puck to put the Blades up 1-0, which would turn out to be the final result of the contest.

    Dach, who is projected to be a first round selection in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, was the best skater at both ends of the ice playing a strong two-way game.

    Of course, the Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., product drew obvious attention for his brilliant play at the offensive end of the ice that could have resulted in even more goals for Saskatoon.

    In the second period, Dach fed a beauty pass across the face of the Prince Albert goal that feisty linemate Riley McKay just missed trying to tap into the net.

    Later Dach cut through the Raiders top defensive pair in Pachal and Zack Hayes only to have a backhander turned away by Raiders star netminder Ian Scott.

The SaskTel Centre faithful cheer Kirby Dach’s goal.

    To add to how impressive that rush was, Pachal topped all players in plus-minus during the WHL regular season with a plus-76 rating, while Hayes was second with a plus-71 rating.

    Near the end of the second period, Dach had another huge chance to score on a short-handed rush. He cut wide on Raiders import defenseman Sergei Sapego and rang a forehand shot off the post of the Prince Albert goal.

    In the third, Dach was in perfect position for another scoring chance. He gathered the rebound of a shot taken by McKay in front of the Prince Albert net, but the point-blank chance was denied by Scott.

Kirby Dach was solid at both ends of the ice for the Blades.

    “I love playing in these big games in the big moments,” said Dach in a media scrum after the game. “Any player that can find that extra gear and keep pushing forward is going to be a difference maker in the series, and that is what I want to be.”

    After recording 25 goals, 48 assists and a plus-15 rating in 62 regular season games for the Blades, Dach is finding another gear in the post-season. He has five goals and two assists in the Blades seven playoff games to date including a highlight reel tally in the Blades 3-2 setback in Game 2 to the Raiders in Prince Albert on Sunday.

    While Dach loves playing in front of the home faithful, he enjoys being the villain on the road in Prince Albert and hopes he continues to be the target of taunts in the Raiders home rink, the Art Hauser Centre.

Ian Scott makes one of his 26 saves in goal for the Raiders.

    “I love that stuff,” said Dach. “If I am not getting booed, I am not doing something right, so I enjoy all of that.”

    Maier earned his first career shutout in the WHL post-season on Tuesday and blanked the Blades for a second time in the 2018-19 campaign including action in the regular season and playoffs.

    Last Dec. 9, Maier had a sensational 32-save performance in a 1-0 victory over the Raiders at the SaskTel Centre.

    On Tuesday, Maier made a key pad save on Raiders star overage centre Dante Hannoun in the opening 20 minutes.

    Later in the first, Maier turned away Sapago on a chance after the rearguard received a sweet drop setup pass from Raiders star right-winger Brett Leason.

A frenemies moment between a Blades fan and a Raiders fan.

    In the second period, Maier robbed Raiders star overage centre Noah Gregor on a wraparound with a pad save.

    In the third, Maier made eight key stops to keep the Raiders off the scoreboard and deliver victory to the Blades.

    “I think it is really big,” said Maier. “I think for our crowd and our team it gets everyone pumped up.

    “It is a big momentum change. Maybe we can turn that to our advantage and kind of go shove it in their face. It will be huge.”

    Maier had an outstanding regular season for the Blades appearing in 53 games posting a 36-10-6 record, a 2.64 goals against average, a .910 save percentage and four shutouts.

Kirby Dach controls the puck at the point for the Blades on the power play.

    The Yorkton, Sask., product has upped his game in the post-season posting a 5-2 record, a 2.32 goals against average, a .915 save percentage and one shutout.

    He overshadowed a great game from Scott, who stopped 26 shots to take the setback in the Raiders net.

    The Raiders came to the SaskTel Centre with a sizable contingent of supporters, but they were drowned out by the Blades faithful, who saw their club win their first game in the second round of the playoffs since 2010.

    Maier said the support of the home faithful was something his team noticed.

    “The fan support we’ve been getting in this city is huge, and I think it has helped us all the way,” said Maier. “We can’t thank them enough for everything they have done.”

The Blades celebrate their win on Tuesday.

    Thanks to everything Dach and Maier did on Tuesday, they have put the Blades back in their series with the Raiders and guaranteed Prince Albert isn’t going to be an automatic winner.

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

-------

    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.

Belarusian duo lifts Raiders past Rebels in Game 2

Sergei Sapego celebrates his first goal Saturday with Dante Hannoun (#17).

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders Belarusian duo proved to be too much for the Red Deer Rebels to handle.

    On Saturday before a standing room crowd of 3,152 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, winger Aliaksei Protas and defenceman Sergei Sapego, who are both from Belarus, each had two goals and an assist to lift the host Raiders past the Red Deer Rebels 6-4 in Game 2 of their first round WHL playoff series.

    With the win, the Raiders lead the best-of-seven set 2-0. Game 3 is set for Tuesday at the Enmax Centrium in Red Deer with a 7 p.m. local time start.

    Protas, who is a rookie who turned 18-years-old in early January, was pumped to experience two wins in his first two post-season games in the WHL.

Aliaksei Protas scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.

    “I am so excited about that,” said Protas, who was a plus-three in the plus-minus department on Saturday. “You just play fast, play physical like how we can.

    “We just win for fans and for us.”

    The Raiders looked dominant in the first period jumping out to a 3-1 lead. Sapego, who is in his second WHL campaign, netted both of his goals in the opening frame, while Protas had his first tally.

    Chris Douglas had the lone reply for the Rebels.

    “We play very well,” said Sapego, who was a plus-four on Saturday. “We just make sure just minimum penalties and just keep working.

    “We just try and play hard shift by shift.”

    Overage centre Dante Hannoun picked up assists on all three Raiders goals in the first period finishing the contest with the three helpers and a plus-three rating.

Sergei Sapego drives home his first of two goals on Saturday.

    “Obviously, it was a good one,” said Hannoun. “We just put the first game behind us.

    “It is a new day and a new game. We came in and prepared ourselves the right way.”

    The game’s momentum changed at the 3:50 mark of the second, when Raiders star right-winger Brett Leason received a major penalty for checking from behind and a game misconduct for a hit on Rebels winger Cameron Hausinger. Leason’s hit will automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

    Rebels overage winger Brandon Hagel scored near the end of the five-minute power play to cut the Raiders lead to 3-2. Hagel evened things up at 3-3 at the nine-minute mark of the second shortly after Leason’s infraction expired.

Brandon Hagel had a hat trick for the Rebels on Saturday.

    With the scored tied up at 3-3, Raiders captain Brayden Pachal blew home a point shot through a screen from the point to give the Raiders a 4-3 edge.

    Before the second period ended, the Raiders could have increased the lead, when defensive defenceman Jeremy Masella was hauled down on a breakaway by Rebels centre Josh Tarzwell. Masella wasn’t able to score on his penalty shot.

    At the 2:08 mark of the third, Protas tapped home a loose puck in the crease of the Rebels goal to put the Raiders up 5-3 and give the host side a push to close out the game.

    Protas said his third period goal was important, because it helped counter the momentum the Rebels gained from scoring on the power-play. Red Deer went 3-for-5 with the man advantage in the contest.

    “It was big a goal,” said Protas of his second tally of the night. “We just tried to bring it back and just score and just keep playing our way.”

Dante Hannoun (#17) had three assists for the Raiders on Saturday.

    Rookie right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt put the Raiders up 6-3 in the third before Hagel netted his third goal of the night to round out the scoring in the contest.

    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid was pleased with how his side dealt with the changes in momentum on Saturday.

    “A win is a win,” said Habscheid. “We faced some adversity.

    “We got up early, which was good. They got that power play to make it 2-1. I thought a key point again was Sapego’s goal, that bank shot in the first to make it 3-1.

    “We got into a little penalty trouble in the second. We had to overplay some guys. I thought in the third they dug in and obviously did real well in the third.”

Raiders D Jeremy Masella (#3) jets off on a second period breakaway.

    Ian Scott made 19 saves in goal for the Raiders, who topped WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record. Ethan Anders turned away 25 shots in goal for the Rebels, who finished eighth overall in the Eastern Conference in the regular season at 33-29-4-2.

    Habscheid liked the effort his squad received from Sapego at both ends of the ice.

    “He is a multidimensional player,” said Habscheid. “He plays good offence, but he is gritty.

    “He is tough to play against. He has been important for us.”

    Habscheid thought Protas’s level of play has risen in the post-season.

The Art Hauser Centre faithful cheers one of the Raiders goals.

    “He is a big guy,” said Habscheid. “He is smart.

    “He has done real well. In the playoffs, it is a whole different game, and he has really embraced the playoffs.”

    Habscheid said he didn’t think the second period infraction to Leason should have been called a major penalty noting Hausinger was out for the ensuing power play. The bench boss thought Hausinger embellished the hit he received.

    Habscheid added that Hagel came by and taunted the Raiders bench after one of his goals, which helped get the host side fired up along with the team’s fans. 

The Raiders and Rebels scrum it up in the third period.

    Hausinger was booed almost every time he touched the puck after Leason was kicked out of the contest, while Hagel received heckles as well.

    The veteran coach said the response from the crowd gave his side some extra jump.

    “They are smart hockey fans,” said Habscheid. “They are hardcore fans.

    “They know the game. They saw Hausinger came right out and then they saw that Hagel was taunting our bench. They (the fans) pick up on those things, and it makes a difference for us.”

The Raiders celebrate their Game 2 win on Saturday night.

    As the series shifts to Red Deer, Hannoun said his club has to enter Game 3 looking to play their best game of the series.

    “We’re just focused one game at a time,” said Hannoun. “Every game in front of us, we just have to focus on what we need to do, and we have to bring our A-game.”

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

-------

    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.

Blades buck Broncos 5-2 to start new year

Kirby Dach scored for the Blades on Tuesday.

    Saskatoon Blades gave the SaskTel Centre faithful sweet treat on New Year’s Day.

    In an afternoon game played before 3,818 spectators, the Blades received goals from five different players to down the Swift Current Broncos 5-2. The WHL regular season tilt was a competitive one as the Blades held a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period and a 2-1 advantage at the end of the second frame.

    The Blades opened the game’s scoring at the 13:33 mark of the first period on a power-play goal from overage right-winger Max Gerlach, who knocked home the puck from the left side of the Swift Current goal.

    Saskatoon extended its edge to 2-0 at the 2:31 mark of the second, when right-winger Josh Paterson knocked home the rebound of a shot taken from linemate Kyle Crnkovic.

    The Broncos didn’t go away. Inside of the final 20 seconds of the second, Broncos 16-year-old rookie defenceman Billy Sowa potted his second goal of the season to cut the Blades lead to 2-1.

    In the third, the Blades jumped ahead 3-1, when captain Chase Wouters converted a tick-tack-toe passing play from Gerlach and left-winger Gary Haden.

    Saskatoon’s lead grew to 4-1, when 17-year-old centre Kirby Dach scored on a breakaway with a backhand shot.

    With 4:55 remaining in the third, Alec Zawatsky scored for the Broncos to cut Saskatoon’s lead to 4-2.

Captain Chase Wouters scored for the Blades on Tuesday.

    The comeback hopes for the visitors were short lived.

    With 62 seconds remaining in the third, Blades left-winger Riley McKay cut across the front of the Swift Current goal and scored on a backhander.

    Nolan Maier made 17 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades, who improved to 23-11-5. Joel Hofer turned away 41 shots to take the setback in goal for the rebuilding Broncos, who fell to 7-27-2-1.

    Tuesday’s game had its feisty moments too.

    Near the end of the first period, McKay and Broncos right-winger Tanner Nagel engaged in a fight.

    There was also a skirmish at the 11:48 mark of the second period that saw fighting majors assessed to Broncos defenceman Matthew Stanley, Blades right-winger Zach Huber and Blades centre Randen Schmidt.

    The Blades return to action on Friday, when they host the Regina Pats at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. The Broncos return home to host the Portland Winterhawks on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex.

Raiders put Pats winning streak on ice

Sergei Sapego scored the winning goal for the Raiders on Tuesday.

    The Prince Albert Raiders had to put the pedal to the metal to put away a very game Regina Pats side on New Year’s Day.

    On Tuesday afternoon before 5,877 spectators at the Brandt Centre in Regina, the Pats, who are in a major rebuild, took a 3-2 lead over the Raiders in the third period. The Raiders rallied scoring the final three goals of the contest to pull out a 5-3 victory and bring an end to the Pats three game winning streak.

    The Pats downed the Raiders 2-1 when the two sides met on Sunday in Prince Albert.

    With the Pats holding a 3-2 lead in Tuesday’s WHL regular season clash, Raiders overage centre Sean Montgomery netted the equalizer from the left slot on a beauty backhand set up pass from linemate Parker Kelly to force a 3-3 tie with 8:56 remaining in the third period.

    Raiders import defenceman Sergei Sapego scored the winning goal with a point blast through a screen on the power play with 4:21 remaining in the third. Kelly cemented the win with an empty-net goal with one second remaining in the third.

    Kelly also opened the game’s scoring with a short-handed goal 19 seconds into the second period.

Veteran left-winger Robbie Holmes responded for the Pats to send the two sides into the second intermission locked in a 1-1 tie.

Noah Gregor had three assists for the Raiders on Tuesday.

    Early in the third, star left-winger Cole Fonstad scored to put the Raiders up 2-1. Just 14 seconds after Fonstad’s goal, overage defenceman Liam Schioler netted the equalizer for the Pats to tie things up at 2-2.

    Just 82 seconds after Schioler’s goal, the Pats jumped ahead 3-2 on a goal from left-winger Riley Krane. That set the stage for the Raiders final surge to win the game.

    Brett Balas made 20 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders, who improve their WHL leading record to 34-3-0-1. The Raiders are the top rated team in the CHL’s Top 10 rankings.
    Max Paddock turned away 51-of-55 shots to take the setback in goal for the Pats, who fell to 12-25-0-1.
    Raiders star overage centre Noah Gregor had three assists in the win and has recorded points in his last seven consecutive games. During that stretch, Gregor has recorded 10 goals and seven assists.

    The Raiders return to action on Friday, when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. The Pats are also off until Friday when they travel to Saskatoon to face the Blades at 7 p.m. at the 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.

-------

    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.

Dream 31-2-0-1 start beyond imagination of WHL’s Raiders

P.A. aims to keep building great memories in second half

Sean Montgomery, left, and the Raiders enjoyed a spectacular first half.

    There are lots of times the Prince Albert Raiders don’t believe their 31-2-0-1 regular season record is real.

    After going 32-27-9-4 last season and falling in 5-4 in Game 7 of a hard-fought playoff series with the Moose Jaw Warriors, the Raiders felt they would be good in 2018-19 returning a veteran roster.

    They did not expect to be leading the entire WHL with a 31-2-0-1 regular season record along with being rated first in the CHL Top 10 rankings for most of the first half of the 2018-19 campaign.

    At the moment, the Raiders are the only team in the entire CHL to have won 30 or more games to this point in the season. The Everett Silvertips, who are second overall in the WHL at 27-7-1-1, are the next closest team in the CHL to hitting the 30-win plateau.

Raiders scoring leader Brett Leason is on Canada’s world junior team. 

    Raiders overage right-winger Noah Gregor, who is second in team scoring with 19 goals and 24 assists, admits it is crazy to think about the record his team has.

    “Over the break, you can have a little time to actually think about it and how great of a start it is for us and how great of a first half it is,” said Gregor. “These guys have been playing unbelievable, and we have a lot of guys that you know are having really good seasons and are getting a lot of spotlight on them and that is awesome.

    “I think we are going to continue that into the second half.”

    The players that have enjoyed the biggest spotlights so far have been 19-year-old right-winger Brett Leason and 19-year-old goaltender Ian Scott, who are both playing for Canada at the world junior championship tournament that started today in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C.

Netminder Ian Scott is playing for Canada at world juniors.

    Leason is enjoying an incredible breakout season leading the Raiders in scoring with 28 goals and 36 assists for 64 points.

    Even with having missed time due to being at the training camp for Canada’s world junior team, Leason is still second in WHL league scoring holding an edge over Edmonton Oil Kings star Trey Fix-Wolansky, who has 21 goals and 43 assists for 64 points, due to having more goals.

     All of Leason’s offensive numbers are career highs, and he is a plus-44 in the plus-minus department.

    Scott is enjoying a spectacular season with the Raiders posting a 23-2-1 record, a 1.61 goals against average, a .943 save percentage and four shutouts. He leads the WHL in save percentage and shutouts and has the lowest goals against average on the circuit.

    As a team, the Raiders have scored the most goals in the WHL (165) and have allowed the fewest (70). On the power play, the Raiders have scored on 32-of-135 chances for a 23.7 per cent success rate to sit ninth in the league.

Overage C Sean Montgomery is third in Raiders team scoring.

    They have the top penalty killing unit in the WHL allowing 17 goals on 162 power-play chances for an 89.5 per cent kill rate.

    “We probably weren’t expecting it to be this good at the start of the year,” said career Raider and overage centre Sean Montgomery, who is third in team scoring with 16 goals and 19 assists. “We knew we were a good team.

    “It has been great. We are having tonne of fun, and we just want to keep it going after the break here.”

    While the Raiders won’t have Leason or Scott to start the second half of the season, they will get back rookie 17-year-old import centre Aliaksei Protas and 19-year-old import defenceman Sergei Sapego, who were both representing Belarus at the world junior division 1, group A tournament that wrapped up Dec. 15 in Fussen, Germany.

Overage RW Noah Gregor is second in Raiders team scoring.

    Currently, the Raiders have nine players who have recorded 23 or more points this season. Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said one of the keys to success for his team is the fact everyone factors in at different times to help the community-owned franchise win.

    “We’re a team,” said Habscheid. “I think that is our biggest strength is we are a team, and different guys step up on different nights.

    “We don’t want to be a one-dimensional team. We want to be able to play physical or fast or however they want to play it. We also want other guys throughout the lineup to help.

    “Whether it one guy one night or another guy another night, it makes it difficult to defend. Every player on our team is important.”

    Fans in Prince Albert and area have also jumped on board to enjoy the run. Over 16 home dates so far this season, the Raiders are averaging 2,514 spectators at the 2,580 seats Art Hauser Centre.

Mascot Riley the Raider has fun with a young fan at the Art Hauser Centre.

    Attendance pushes into standing room often, and supporters have seen the Raiders win all 16 of their home games so far.

    “It has been incredible this year,” said Montgomery. “The fans have been great.

    “That obviously gives us a big energy boost. It has been lots of fun at home this year.”

    Habscheid said it has been big for the Raiders players to play in front of big groups. The long time veteran bench boss said the team gets a boost every time from that sight and especially when the club returns after a long road trips, which have been successful this season. The Raiders are 15-2-0-1 on the road.

Sergei Sapego is part of a solid Raiders defensive unit.

    Habscheid said he knows people have lots of other options when it comes to where they spend their free time or their entertainment dollars, so the Raiders take it to heart when fans spend their evenings at the rink with them.

    “It is nice that the people come out and support us,” said Habscheid. “Our guys have played hard.

    “We think they are pretty good citizens, and we’re playing pretty well. It is fun to come out, and it helps them with a full building for sure.”

    The Raiders return to action from their Christmas break on Thursday, when they travel to Saskatoon to face their archrivals the Blades (21-10-4) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. 

Max Martin and the Raiders salute the Art Hauser Centre faithful.

    The Raiders host the Blades on Friday at 7 p.m. at the 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.

-------

    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.