Raiders versus Tigers – a collision of legacy franchises

Storied clubs to battle for WHL Eastern Conference title

Mike Modano and Trevor Linden hockey cards.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - So who is the better player – Mike Modano or Trevor Linden?

If you remember this question or debate and you live in Prince Albert or Medicine Hat, you are – like me I hate to say it – old or getting older. The question does show that the paths of the Prince Albert Raiders and the Medicine Hat Tigers have been intertwined in the past.

The Raiders and Tigers - they are two of Canada’s legacy junior hockey franchises.

The Raiders were born in 1971 as a junior A team. They won the Centennial Cup as national junior A champions in 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1982. After the second Centennial Cup win, Raiders legendary head coach and general manager Terry Simpson foresaw the day was coming soon that he thought the community owned franchise in “Hockey Town North” needed a bigger challenge.

While Simpson will downplay and say he had a small role in the Raiders moving from junior A to the major junior ranks, you will admit when sitting and talking to him about those times he envisioned the great things that came for the Raiders at that time in history. The Raiders jumped to the WHL, which is one of the CHL’s three major junior circuits, for the start of the 1982-83 campaign.

They won the WHL title and the Memorial Cup as CHL champions at the end of their third season in major junior in 1984-85. Those championships happened because Simpson believed that Dan Hodgson, Dave Pasin, Emanuel Viveiros, Dale McFee, Ken Morrison and netminder Ward Komonosky would be the guys that would win those titles for the Raiders when the team was getting hammered in that first major junior campaign in 1982-83.

The Raiders would add another WHL title in 2019 with Curtis Hunt as general manager and Marc Habscheid as head coach. Dante Hannoun scored the overtime winner in Game 7 of the WHL Championship Series against the Vancouver Giants at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre. Throughout their history, the Raiders have delivered numerous memorable moments for their fans.

The Tigers were born one year before the Raiders, and the Medicine Hat franchise joined the WHL in 1970 founded by the trio of George Maser, Joe Fisher and Rod Carry. Hockey in the 1970s was colourful to say the least, and Maser, Fisher and Carry had their share of colour. It was safe to say there were times they were kings of “The Gas City.”

In just their third season in 1972-73, the Tigers won their first WHL championship with stars Tom Lysiak, Lanny McDonald and Boyd Anderson. They played at the Memorial Cup championship tournament held that year at the fabled Montreal Forum. Going 1-1 in round robin play, the Tigers didn’t have the edge in standings tiebreakers and didn’t qualify for the tournament final.

Maser took sole ownership of the team in 1979. Before the start of the 1982-83 campaign, Maser brought in Russ Farwell to be the team’s general manager, and it would be Farwell who got the Tigers on the road to the elusive Memorial Cup.

Farwell’s Tigers collided with Simpson’s Raiders in 1985 in what is now the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series. The Raiders claimed victory in five games in the best-of-seven series on their way to winning the WHL title and Memorial Cup.

Farwells’ Tigers met Simpson’s Raiders again in the 1986 Eastern Conference final. It was the heaviest of heavyweight showdowns with the Tigers topping the WHL at 54-17-1 and the Raiders were right on their tail at 52-17-3. The series went to a deciding Game 7 where the Tigers prevailed 4-1 in their storied and historic first home rink in The Arena.

After beating the Raiders, the Tigers at that time felt they had won the Memorial Cup. They had a hangover after that series win and fell to the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL final in five games. Linden was a young associate player call-up centre in his 15-year-old season and was with the Tigers when they fell to the Blazers.

He was born and raised in Medicine Hat and grew up idolizing the Tigers and listening to their iconic play-by-play voice in Bob Ridley on radio. Linden, whose home became a frequent team hang out, was determined that ending wouldn’t happen again.

The returnees and core players from that Tigers team showed they learned their lessons well. The Tigers won WHL and Memorial Cup titles in both 1987 and again in 1988. The first Memorial Cup title came under the guidance of colourful head coach Bryan Maxwell and the second under equally colourful head coach Barry Melrose, who had a unique new school style way of thinking.

George Maser passed away on November 29, 1990 due to a heart attack, which brought some uncertainty to the Tigers franchise in Medicine Hat. Sons Darrell and Brent Maser took over the team.

Unlike their father, Darrell and Brent developed a style where they like to stay behind the scenes and let good hockey guys run the team. They don’t get enough credit for this, but they are good community guys too.

It is common for donations to show up quietly for a charity, cause or sport organization, but they try to avoid taking any credit for that. Actually, Darrell and Brent do more nice things for people behind the scenes than most know, but they are good with staying anonymous.

They also like to win, and there was frustration when the Tigers missed the playoffs for five straight seasons from 1998 to 2002. After bringing in a string of old school head coaches, the Masers allowed then general manager Rick Carriere to make an outside the box hire for that position.

In came the classy Willie Desjardins, who was as new school as they get. Desjardins was the ultimate players’ coach with a master’s in social work. Players realized Desjardins cared and understood them, and they took off. The Tigers won their fourth WHL title in Desjardins second season with the team in 2003-04.

He took on the role of general manager to go along with head coach before the 2005-06 campaign started. The Tigers won their fifth WHL title in 2007 with Brennan Bosch scoring the double overtime winner in Game 7 of the WHL Championship Series against the Giants at The Arena.

After going off to coach in the professional ranks following the 2009-10 campaign, Desjardins was brought back to the team as head coach and general manager before the 2019-20 campaign started. Another WHL title followed in the 2024-25 campaign with star 20-year-old captain and career Tigers member Oasiz Wiesblatt and superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna supplying the heroics.

The Tigers were powered by lots of emotion playing for star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin, whose father, Derek, passed attending the team’s final regular season contest of the 2024-25 campaign.

Meneghin was playing for his father, and the Tigers were playing for him. They rode that to the team’s sixth WHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup tournament’s title game, where they fell 4-1 in the CHL championship contest to the London Knights on June 1, 2025 in Rimouski, Que.

Desjardins is the best coach in the WHL when it comes to handling something totally unexpected like a player’s parent passing away right before the post-season. While those extremely rare situations are the toughest thing a junior hockey player can encounter in a career, players find out in those times how much Desjardins cares and how special of a person he is.

Now at age 69, Desjardins is still as good as ever.

The Tigers finished third overall in the WHL regular season, second overall in the Eastern Conference and first in the Central Division at 50-10-5-3. Medicine Hat put together a team record 19-game winning streak that was stopped on January 17 due to an 8-5 setback against the visiting Raiders at Co-op Place.

The Raiders, who are still overseen by Hunt as general manager, had their own special season in 2025-26 after having been swept 4-0 in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in the 2025 WHL Playoffs at the hands of the Tigers. In the 2025-26 season, the Raiders finished second overall in the WHL, first in the Eastern Conference and first in the East Division at 52-10-5-1.

The Raiders are guided by a youthful 38-year-old head coach in Ryan McDonald, who was born and raised in “Hockey Town North,” and played centre for his hometown WHL team.

The Raiders were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings, while the Tigers are rated fifth in those rankings.

The two sides are set to collide in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time since 1986. Game 1 of that series is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

Depth is the name of the game in this series.

The Raiders had nine players who scored 20-or-more goals in the regular season. They include Max Heise (29), Daxon Rudolph (28), Aiden Oiring (28), Brandon Gorzynski (27), Braeden Cootes (24), Jonah Sivertson (24), Brayden Dube (24), Alisher Sarkenov (21) and Maddix McCagherty (20).

Raiders captain Justice Christensen just missed out on being the 10^th player to score 20 goals finishing at 18 markers for the campaign. Christensen also missed the Raiders first four games this season after attending the training camp of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.

The Tigers had eight players who scored 20-or-more goals in the regular season. They included Liam Ruck (45), Bryce Pickford (45), Noah Davidson (30), Jonas Woo (29), Luke Cozens (25), Kade Stengrim (25), Markus Ruck (21) and Kadon McCann (21).

Tigers star 20-year-old left-winger Andrew Basha just missed hitting the 20-goal mark finishing with 18 tallies. He also spent the first half of the 2025-26 campaign with the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL, before their parent club in the NHL’s Calgary Flames reassigned Basha to the Tigers. Basha proceeded to put up 18 goals and 50 points in 32 regular season games with the Tigers since his return.

There is also another interesting side plot to the series.

The players on both respective teams really and truly believe they have the best fans in the WHL. Both fan bases are passionate, and in a players’ poll earlier this season, the Hauser was voted as the toughest road rink in the WHL to play in. This could be a series where the club that loses at home first is in trouble.

Oh, back to the Modano versus Linden debate. That was huge leading up to the 1988 NHL Entry Draft when Modano starred for the Raiders and Linden became one of the Tigers best local products ever. Modano did have the better NHL career putting up more than 500 points than Linden did to go with a Stanley Cup title win.

In junior, Modano had more than double the regular season points than Linden did, but Linden has two WHL and Memorial Cup titles to his credit. Modano went first overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft to the then Minnesota North Stars, and Linden was picked second overall in that same draft to the Vancouver Canucks.

If they met up today, maybe they could have a Maverick and Iceman moment from the movie “Top Gun: Maverick.” For those that remember and lived through those old days, you can smile, because they happened and hold on to fond memories.

It is time for the Raiders and Tigers teams of the current day to let their stories play out.

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.

“Hockey Town North” faithful on fire for Raiders in series against Blades

A Raiders fan holds up a sign for Blades netminder Evan Gardner.

When the fans of the Prince Albert Raiders are at their best, they truly do give the Raiders hockey team a boost on the ice.

Way back in the summer of 2001, I met Reg Martsinkiw who was the founder of the Raiders. When you talk to Martsinkiw, he will tell you there were a lot of folks that played a part in getting the Raiders rolling way back in 1971 that created the base for the team to grow into what it is today. With that noted, Martsinkiw was the man that got everything rolling from the start, so I’ll always believe it is proper to recognize him as the founder of the community owned team.

One of the first lessons I learned from Martsinkiw was that the fans were a part of the journey the Raiders are on. The fans are part of the Raiders family. When the fans rally around the team, it helps make all the success the Raiders have had possible.

The work Martsinkiw and the first Raiders board of directors did was seen in that first season in 1971-72 in the junior A ranks of the SJHL resulting in the atmosphere at the new built Comuniplex that is still seen to this day in the same building now famously known by its current name in the Art Hauser Centre. When the Raiders hosted their first game at their storied and historic home rink on December 12, 1971, 3,000 people turned out and sat on cement slabs where the first “Smarty box” seats were installed about midway in that first decade for the club.

When the Raiders fell in Game 6 of a second round series in the 1972 SJHL playoffs at home against the Melville Millionaires, over 3,600 fans came out to that contest cheering on the Raiders sitting on those cement slabs.

Fast forward to the current day with the Raiders having played in the major junior ranks since 1982, Prince Albert claimed the first two games of a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades by scores of 6-1 and 3-0 on Friday and Saturday respectively. The sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the Hauser, which has 2,580 seats, was raucous for both games.

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

Hoping hockey executive Anholt avoids being cancelled

Politics of extreme right and left cast shadow on sports

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The historical claim was investigated by the WHL Security Department.

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

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

Let me repeat myself.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-------

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 concluded junior A history with last lap title win

The team photo of the 1981-82 Raiders.

The 1981-82 season provided the perfect ending to the junior A history of the Prince Albert Raiders with a championship final bow.

In the regular season, the Raiders posted an impressive 57-3 record to top the SJHL standings outscoring their opposition 429-192. They won all 30 of their home games and had an overall winning streak that reached 30 games. Prince Albert continued to roll in the post-season going 20-3.

The post-season run concluded with the Raiders sweeping away the Guelph Platers from Ontario 4-0 in a best-of-seven Centennial Cup Championship Series where every game was played at the Art Hauser Centre, which was then known as the Comuniplex. In 1982, the Centennial Cup was awarded to the national junior A championship team in a best-of-seven series played between an Eastern and Western Canadian champion.

During the regular season, the Raiders had 10 players who recorded 20 or more goals and 11 players who recorded 50 or more points. They also received solid play in goal from the netminding duo of Tiger Pierce and Gil Hudon.

The Raiders were guided by their iconic head coach and general manager in Terry Simpson, whose disdain for losing has created many stories his players love to share to this very day. Still when Simpson looks back to that last junior A season in 1981-82 before the Raiders joined the major junior ranks in the WHL, the 57-3 regular season and the 20-3 post-season records jump out at him.

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

Noise on hockey major junior transfers misplaced

Jake Neighbours in action for the Oil Kings in 2019.

When it comes to people being upset over the transfer of major junior hockey players, the noise of the bark might be the most minor annoying thing.

In Western Canada, the idea of major junior transfers really came to light publicly on Oct. 23, when the WHL announced it had granted temporary transfers to WHL roster players to continue their development playing competitive hockey in junior A, junior B or the under-18 levels.

These loans are slated to expire on Dec. 20.

At the moment, the WHL is still planning to start its upcoming regular season on January 8, 2021. WHL clubs are planning to open training camps after the Christmas break.

Of course, the sport of hockey is trying to deal with the fact the world is in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Those in hockey are trying to do the best they can to keep the sport motoring along like those in all other aspects in life are trying to adjust to the pandemic the best they can.

Due to the pandemic, revenues that usually run to the sports world, including hockey, have been cut dramatically. As a result, many junior A hockey teams have moved more to a pay to play type of format.

Those transferring down from the WHL will have their hockey related expenses covered by their major junior club. If WHL players that transfer down have signed NHL contracts, they likely are already benefitting from getting some extra resources from their NHL team.

Cole Fonstad in action for the Raiders in 2018-19.

There have been some in the worlds of junior A, junior B and the under-18 levels who have cried foul, because a WHL veteran is taking the spot of a player that paid to play.

I think what people are forgetting is the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic. At the moment, the best way for athletes to get games in at any level is to play in leagues that are as regionally based as possible.

Leagues that have to frequently cross borders provincially or with the United States are going to have the toughest time to get going.

At the moment, Everett Silvertips overage left-winger Cole Fonstad, who helped the Prince Albert Raiders win a WHL title in 2019, is playing for his hometown Estevan Bruins in junior A’s Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

Fonstad is connected with his community and odds are high he had connections with the Bruins. If he wants to play for his hometown junior A team during these crazy pandemic times, he should be allowed to do that, and that is exactly what happened in his case.

As a bonus, he gets a rare chance to play at home. The Bruins are slated to open their SJHL regular season schedule by traveling to Melville on Friday to face the Millionaires. The Bruins are scheduled to host the Millionaires on Saturday in Estevan.

Ozzy Wiesblatt in action for the Raiders last season.

Some of those raising their arms up against these major junior transfers say it will spoil the chemistry on teams in the junior A, junior B and under-18 ranks. These arguments are made with the belief that everything in the sports world will play out as scheduled without any speed bumps.

Newsflash – the world is in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic. A positive COVID-19 test on any of these hockey teams could throw a schedule in flux. Just look at the headaches the CHL’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has dealt with for at least the past four weeks with multiple positive COVID-19 tests on some teams.

A number of clubs had to stop activities for being located in areas of the province of Quebec that are designated red zones.

Starting this past Monday, all hockey activities in the Manitoba capital city of Winnipeg have ceased for a period of 14 days at the moment as that centre works to halt the increase of new COVID-19 cases.

All it takes is one public health order from stopping any of these teams and leagues in their tracks.

There are no guarantees the junior A Centennial Cup national championship tournament for the 2020-21 campaign will go ahead. The Keystone Cup tournament to crown a junior B champion for Western Canada might not be played.

The Telus Cup tournament to determine an under-18 AAA male national championship hockey team and the Esso Cup tournament to determine an under-18 AAA female national championship hockey club are still at the risk of not going forward.

Rhett Rhinehart in action for the Blades last season.

It is still entirely possible the WHL season won’t get off the ground and the same goes for the OHL season.

Nothing is operating as it normally should in these COVID-19 pandemic times, and people have to remember that.

Raiders right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt and Edmonton Oil Kings left-winger Jake Neighbours have been loaned to the junior A Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Wiesblatt went in the first round and 31^st overall in October’s NHL Entry Draft to the San Jose Sharks and has since signed with the Sharks.

Neighbours was picked in the first round and 26^th overall in that same NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues. He has since signed with the Blues.

Let them play and keep getting competitive games with the Bandits.

The Saskatoon Blades loaned veteran defenceman Rhett Rhinehart, who will turn 19-years-old near the end of the month, to Flin Flon Bombers, who are a junior A team in Manitoba that plays in the SJHL.

Let Rhinehart skate with the Bombers.

It is possible these transfers could remain with their respective junior A through the end of the 2020-21 campaign and still not play for a national title.

Alex Bernauer in action for the Contacts last season.

At the under-18 AAA level, forward Alex Bernauer of the Saskatoon Contacts might have been a 17-year-old rookie with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades had times been normal.

The Contacts roster contains dynamic 15-year-old forwards Riley Heidt and Brayden Yager, who are pegged to be in the WHL as 16-year-olds in 2021-22. In April’s WHL Bantam Draft, Heidt was picked in the first round and second overall by the Prince George Cougars and Yager went in the first round and third overall to the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Let all three of those talented forwards be teammates on the Contacts.

The major junior transfers are something that is reasonable and should be applauded for being done to make the best out of these COVID-19 pandemic times.

ACAC cancels winter season, other notes

Megan Nagy (#1) makes a block for the Rattlers in 2012.

The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference will not be having a 2020-21 campaign

On Wednesday, the ACAC announced it was cancelling its extended 2021 winter semester season due to the fact most of its member institutions were extending on-line program delivery into the winter semester due to a surge of COVID-19 cases in the province of Alberta.

In June, the ACAC had cancelled its fall season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Combined with Wednesday’s announcement, the ACAC will not be hosting any athletic competitions for the 2020-21 campaign.

In a statement on Wednesday, the ACAC announced it supports its member institutions’ efforts in protecting the health and safety of students and the broader community.

The released added that no status for the 2021-22 campaign has been determined at this time.

On Tuesday, the Medicine Hat College Rattlers said they had made the decision to forgo competing in the ACAC winter season in basketball, volleyball and futsal.

The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association, which is the national umbrella the ACAC plays under, had officially cancelled all of its national championship tournaments in June.

• On Wednesday, the Alberta Junior Hockey League announced a member of the Whitecourt Wolverines had tested positive for COVID-19. The junior A exhibition encounters between the Wolverines and Drayton Valley Thunder have been cancelled. The two sides were set to play Friday night in Drayton Valley and Saturday night in Whitecourt.
• On Wednesday, the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers shut down their facility after receiver Kendrick Bourne tested positive for COVID-19. He immediately went into self-quarantine and is on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list. Later on Wednesday, receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel and offensive tackle Trent Williams were added to the 49ers reserve/COVID-19 list for being in close contact with Bourne. All four of those players are out of the 49ers lineup for their upcoming game. The 49ers (4-4) are as still slated to host the Green Bay Packers (5-2) on Thursday night.
• Gregg Drinnan put together another round up on how the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc on the sports world in his Taking Note blog on Tuesday. His Tuesday post can be found by clicking right here.

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

-------                                     

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.