Thursday, 1 January 2026

Last dance underway for Grassick with Huskies

Gage Grassick sets to make a pass for the Huskies in a game last Nov. 
The last time is now Gage Grassick, when it comes to her career with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Basketball Team.

Entering the current 2025-26 campaign, the 23-year-old fifth-year point guard has cemented herself as one of the all-time greats in the history of the Huskies program. The Prince Albert product is playing her final U Sports season and is living up to the lofty heights she established in the past.

In helping the Huskies get out to a 10-0 start in regular season play, Grassick is averaging 18.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. Her points per game total ranks second in the Canada West Conference, and her assists per game total tops the conference.

The Huskies regular season resumes on January 9, 2026, when they travel to Edmonton to face the U of Alberta Pandas (10-0). If the Huskies make it back to the U Sports title game looking to repeat as champs, that contest will be played on March 8, 2026 at the Universite Laval in Quebec City. Grassick’s time as an active player with the Huskies is limited to about two-and-a-half months, and that reality is in the back of her mind.

“It is so special being able to play on a team like this for five years,” said Grassick. “I was a COVID kid, so this is my sixth year on the team.

“It is just so special. Something like this you never want to give up. This team, this culture, the atmosphere, the coaches just make you better every single game (and) every single practice.

“Now that it is kind of nearing the end, it is one of those things that you don’t really think about, but you’re just so grateful for every moment.”

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


Friday, 26 December 2025

USask centre Pillar reflects fondly on his Mintos days

Centre aims to catch fire again with Huskies

Josh Pillar jets up ice for the Huskies on November 29.
Josh Pillar will always crack a smile when someone brings up his one full season stand with the Prince Albert Mintos Under-18 AAA Team.

In the current day, Pillar is a 23-year-old veteran centre playing out his third season with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The Warman product played a key role for the Huskies in the 2024-25 campaign culminating in the squad’s 19th Canada West Conference championship win this past March.

Pillar is no stranger to lengthy post-season runs. During his 15-year-old season in 2017-18, he experienced one of those in “Hockey Town North.”

After suiting up with the Mintos as an associate player call up for two games in the 2016-17 season, Pillar joined the Mintos on a full-time basis for the following campaign. He helped the Mintos finish third overall in the SMAAAHL regular season standings with 32 wins, nine losses and three extra time losses.

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

Hauser gets well-deserved nod as toughest road building in WHL player poll

The fans at the Art Hauser Centre cheer on the Raiders.
The faithful of the Prince Albert Raiders got an early Christmas gift courtesy of the WHL.

On Monday, the WHL released the results of a midseason player survey with regards to the question of what is the most difficult building to play in as the road team. More than 300 players from all of the WHL’s 23 clubs cast votes and the Prince Albert Raiders legendary home in the Art Hauser Centre came away with the title as the toughest building for the road team to play in at 22.9 per centre. The Hauser just edged the Everett Silvertips home barn in the Angel of the Winds Arena, which came in second at 22.2 per cent.

The WHL has made it a habit to do these midseason player surveys where the results of the various questions asked to the players are released during the circuit’s Christmas break. Last season, the Hauser came in second on that exact same question as 15.6 per cent of players said it was the toughest road building to play in. The Angel of the Winds Arena topped last year’s survey with 25.4 per cent of the votes.

It should be noted the Silvertips really do have an outstanding home ice advantage in their rink. If you are a junior hockey fan, getting to Everett to see a Silvertips game is a bucket list item.

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

Friday, 19 December 2025

Raiders romp into Christmas break with 8-3 win

Gorzynski collects five points in P.A. home debut

If first impressions are anything, Brandon Gorzynski is going to be a fan favourite in “Hockey Town North” in the not too distance future.

On Friday night, the 18-year-old left-winger played his first home game as a member of the Prince Albert Raiders before a standing room crowd of 2,584 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. Back on Monday, the Raiders acquired Gorzynski in a trade with the Calgary Hitmen that saw 17-year-old left-winger Ty Meunier, a second round selection in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft and a conditional fourth round pick in the 2027 Prospects Draft head the other way.

Gorzynski had an assist in his Raiders debut on Wednesday, when they traveled to Regina and fell to the host Pats 5-4 in a WHL regular season contest.

Skating at the Art Hauser Centre as a member of the Prince Albert side for the first time in regular season play on Friday, Gorzynski had a sensational night recording his first career WHL hat trick and two assists as the Raiders romped over the visiting Kelowna Rockets 8-3. Gorzynski scored twice on a hot night for the power play and once at even strength. The Raiders were 5-for-9 with the man advantage and successfully killed off both of the Rockets chances on the power play.

The victory allowed the Raiders to head into their Christmas break in impressive fashion. They improved to 23-5-4 to move one standings point ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers (22-6-3-2) for first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Raiders have a game in hand on the Tigers.

Prince Albert leads the East Division, while the Tigers top the Central Division. The Raiders also sit second in the overall WHL standings and third in the latest CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday.

The Rockets fell to 16-12-3-1 as they head into their Christmas break to sit inside the top five of the Western Conference. Kelowna will host the upcoming CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – from May 22 to 31, 2026, and the Rockets will be searching to play with a little better consistency when they return to action after Christmas.

The Raiders stormed out of the gates on Friday night scoring three times on their first six shots of the contest to hold a 3-0 lead at the 9:54 mark of the opening frame. Linden Burrett, who is a 19-year-old defenceman, scored just 78 seconds into the game on a backhander off an offensive rush, and Raiders captain Justice Christensen hammered home the club’s first power-play goal of the night to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

Gorzynski completed the surge with his first power-play goal of the contest and the Raiders second tally with the man advantage. Holding the puck at a bad angle to the right side of the Kelowna net, the Scottsdale, Arizona, product put a shot to the top right corner of the net over the shoulder of Rockets breakout star rookie netminder Harrison Boettiger.

Before the first period ended, the Rockets made a push back that saw captain Carson Wetsch fire home his 13th of the season just 35 seconds after Gorzynski’s first tally to trim the Raiders lead to 3-1.

Just 84 seconds into the second period, Raiders 17-year-old right-winger Jonah Sivertson potted his 10th goal of the season to push the home side’s lead out to 4-1. At the 3:02 mark of the second, Gorzynski slipped home a backhand shot from the front of the Kelowna net for an even strength tally to give the Raiders a 5-1 advantage.

That tally knocked Boettiger out of the game as he was pulled by the Rockets coaching staff after stopping 8-of-13 shots sent his way to take the loss in net for the visitors. Josh Banini turned away 23-of-26 shots playing the rest of the way in relief.

The Rockets didn’t go away. Jaxon Kehrig, who is an 18-year-old centre, scored for the Rockets at the 11:47 mark of the second to cut the Raiders lead to 5-2.

Gorzynski picked up his first of two assists by setting up 17-year-old right-winger Riley Boychuk for a power-play goal at the 13:04 mark of the second to push the Raiders advantage out to 6-2.

Rockets 19-year-old right-winger Dawson Gerwing netted his sixth goal of the campaign at the 16:30 mark of the second to trim the Prince Albert lead to 6-3. Kelowna’s offence proceeded to dry up at that point.

Just 2:33 into the third, Raiders star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring scored on the power play by potting the rebound from a shot taken by Gorzynski to make the score sit at 7-3 in favour of the hosts.

With 5:12 remaining in the third, Gorzynski completed his hat trick by firing home a power-play goal from the right faceoff dot in the Calgary zone to round out the 8-3 final score in favour of Prince Albert.

Dimitri Fortin made 34 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders.

Oiring had three assists to go with his goal. He also surpassed 200 career points in regular season play with his big night. In 231 career regular season contests played between the Winnipeg Ice and the Raiders, Oiring has collected 76 goals and 126 assists for 202 points.

Maddix McCagherty, Brayden Dube, Brock Cripps and Daxon Rudolph each had two helpers for the Raiders.

The Rockets return to action on Saturday, December 27 when they host the 15-18-1-1 Vancouver Giants (6 p.m. local time, Prospera Place).

The Raiders also return to action on that same day traveling to Swift Current to take on the 8-23-1 Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex).

Heading into the Christmas break, Prince Albert has enjoyed a memorable campaign to this point. With the performance the Raiders put on in the win over the Rockets on Friday, the faithful in “Hockey Town North” will be jumping to pack the Raiders storied home rink and enjoy a few road trips to support their team when game action resumes after the holiday hiatus.

Silvertips rally for 3-2 OT win over Cougars, other notes

Landon DuPont put on his superhero cape to cap a miracle comeback for the WHL leading Everett Silvertips.

Playing before a raucous crowd of 6,073 spectators at the Angel of the Winds Arena in a regular season clash on Friday night, the host Silvertips found themselves trailing the B.C. Division leading Prince George Cougars 2-0 heading into the final two minutes of the third period. It appeared Cougars 19-year-old rookie import netminder Alexander Levshyn was going to steal a victory for the visitors as the Silvertips threw seemingly everything including the kitchen sink at him without getting a goal.

When all hope looked lost for the Silvertips, their offence proceeded to break through.

With 71 seconds remaining in the third and star netminder Raiden LeGall pulled for an extra attacker, Silvertips 20-year-old centre Zackary Shantz potted his 15th goal of the campaign to cut the Cougars lead to 2-1. He pulled a toe-drag move and fired home a shot between Levshyn’s legs.

With 41.9 second remaining in the third, DuPont, who is the Silvertips star 16-year-old sophomore defenceman, potted the equalizer during a scramble in front of the Prince George net that forced a 2-2 tie and overtime. The rearguard ultimately potted the equalizer off a rebound from a shot taken by Silvertips star right-winger Jesse Heslop.

At the 2:47 mark of the three-versus-three overtime period, DuPont drove down the right wing with the puck, zipped past the Cougars defence, cut across the front of the Prince George net and fired home the winner after making a toe drag move. The spectacular tally that gave the Silvertips the 3-2 victory was DuPont’s sixth tally and third winner of the campaign.

The comeback helped the Silvertips push their winning streak to seven games heading into their Christmas break as they improved their WHL leading record to 27-3-2-1. The Silvertips topped the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday.

The Cougars continued to lead the B.C. Division as their record moved to 22-9-1 with the extra time setback as they set off on their Christmas break.

Prince George went ahead 1-0 in Friday’s clash with the Silvertips on a second period goal from 19-year-old defenceman Corbin Vaughan. The Cougars appeared to have locked down a victory after going ahead 2-0 with 2:50 remaining in the third when 18-year-old import rookie centre Dmitri Yakutsenak netted his 14th goal of the campaign.

That set the stage for the epic Silvertips rally for the win.

LeGall made 14 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips. Levshyn turned away 51 shots to take the extra time setback in net for the Cougars.

The Silvertips return to action on Saturday, December 27 when they travel to Kent, Washington, to face the 13-14-2-1 Seattle Thunderbirds (6 p.m. local time, Accesso ShoWare Centre).

The Cougars also get back at it on that same day when they host the 13-11-4-3 Victoria Royals (6 p.m. local time, CN Centre).

  • In Calgary, 18-year-old breakout star right-winger Joby Baumuller scored in overtime to deliver the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings to a 3-2 victory over the host Hitmen. The Wheat Kings jumped out to a 2-0 in the first period and the Hitmen rallied with single goals in the second and third frames to even the score at 2-2 and force overtime.
  • In Kent, Washington, Antonio Martorana and Brock England scored in a tiebreaking shootout to give the host Seattle Thunderbirds a 2-0 win in the tiebreaking session and a 1-0 overall game victory over the visiting Kamloops Blazers. Logan Edmonstone turned away 40 shots over 65 minutes and one shooter in the shootout for the Blazers. Marek Sklenicka stopped 36 shots and both shooters he faced in the shootout for the Thunderbirds.
  • In Langley, B.C., 16-year-old rookie left-winger Ludovic Perreault scored the first three goals of the game to power the visiting Victoria Royals to a 5-1 victory over the host Vancouver Giants. Royals 17-year-old left-winger Nolan Stewart had one goal and three assists in the win, while 18-year-old right-winger Caleb Matthews had one goal and two assists for the visitors. Of course, Perreault, Stewart and Matthews play on the same line.

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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Wednesday, 17 December 2025

Brutal break does in Blades

Rockets rally for 3-2 win after tiebreaking shootout

It proved to be the perfect time for Poke Check to take a nap.

On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the Saskatoon Blades mascot found time to catch some sleep during a lengthy video review with 1:58 remaining in the third period in a WHL regular season contest between the host Blades and the visiting Kelowna Rockets. While the antics of the Blades mascot created some laughs, the outcome of the video review would ultimately not favour the home side.

With the Blades holding a 2-1 lead, the officials were trying to determine if the Rockets had scored the equalizer during a mad scramble around the Saskatoon net, where the play was blown dead after the goal was dislodged. The officials were trying to determine if the puck crossed the goal-line before the net came off its posts.

Eventually, the video review determined the puck had just gone into the Saskatoon net before the net itself came fully off its posts resulting in a good goal. Rockets offensive-defenceman Will Sharpe was given credit for scoring the equalizer.

Most at the SaskTel Centre among the paid attendance of 2,514 spectators rained down boos. Due to a blizzard happening in Saskatoon on Wednesday, a lot of the ticket buyers understandably no-showed for the contest.

The teams advanced into overtime locked in a 2-2 tie. Late in the overtime period, Blades 18-year-old defenceman Brayden Klimpke found himself alone on a breakaway, but he missed the net with his shot. A short time later, Rockets breakout star 18-year-old rookie netminder Harrison Boettiger made a huge left pad save off Blades 17-year-old right-winger Zach Olsen to force the contest to go to a tiebreaking shootout.

The Blades had dominated the three-on-three overtime session holding a 6-1 edge in shots on goal.

In the tiebreaking shootout, Rockets star 20-year-old centre Shane Smith scored the only goal by snapping a shot past Blades star netminder 19-year-old netminder Evan Gardner in the third round. Smith’s goal gave the Rockets a 1-0 victory in the tiebreaking session and a 3-2 overall win in the contest.

Boettiger proved to be a huge reason for the fact the Rockets, who will host the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – this coming May, pulled out the road triumph. He made 40 saves over the first 65 minutes of play and turned away all three shooters he faced in the shootout.

The Rockets improved to 16-11-3-1 with the win. They travel to Prince Albert on Friday to face the Raiders (22-5-4) at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. That will be the last game for both clubs before they head out on their respective Christmas breaks.

Gardner also had a huge night in getting saddled with the tough luck extra time setback. He made 33 saves over 65 minutes of play and stopped two-of-three shooters in the shootout.

With the extra time setback, the Blades record moved to 17-14-2-1.They now head off on their Christmas break. The Blades return to action on Saturday, December 27, for their Teddy Bear Toss Game hosting the Regina Pats (11-17-2-1) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

In Wednesday’s clash, the Rockets got on the scoreboard first on a goal from 18-year-old left-winger Levi Benson at the 8:37 mark of the opening frame.

Just over six minutes later, Blades standout 18-year-old centre Hayden Harsanyi evened things up at 1-1. Harsanyi proceeded to net his second of the contest and 10th goal of the campaign with 3:59 remaining in the second period to give the Blades their 2-1 edge.

That set the stage dramatics in the third period, overtime and the shootout.

Overall, the fans that made it to the SaskTel Centre saw a really compelling game. One tough break for the home side and a great development for the visitors on a late third period video review turned out to be the difference in the contest.

Pats get puck luck in 5-4 win over Raiders

The Regina Pats puck luck around the net helped bring an end to the Prince Albert Raiders five game winning streak.

Playing before 2,576 spectators at the Brandt Centre on Wednesday night, the host Pats slipped past the visiting Raiders 5-4 despite the fact the Raiders had a 38-23 edge in shots on goal. Pats 19-year-old netminder Marek Schlenker had a big night making 34 saves in the win as Regina improved to 11-17-2-1. Raiders 19-year-old netminder Dimitri Fortin turned away 18 shots as Prince Albert fell to 22-5-4.

The Raiders, who are rated third in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings, opened the game’s scoring at the 5:52 mark of the first period, when 18-year-old left-winger Oli Chenier put a between the legs shot to the top corner of the Regina net.

With 41.8 seconds remaining in the first, Pats 17-year-old right-winger Zachary Lansard fired home the equalizer that evened the score at 1-1. The two sides exited the opening 20 minutes locked in that 1-1 tie with the Raiders holding a 12-4 edge in shots on goal.

Raiders star offensive-defenceman Daxon Rudolph fired home a power-play goal just 1:33 into the second to put the visitors back in front 2-1. Before the second ended, the Pats received a power-play goal from Lansard and an even-strength tally from 20-year-old right-winger Caden Brown to head into the second intermission holding a 3-2 lead.

At the 4:50 mark of the third, Raiders 16-year-old rookie left-winger Connor Howe netted his second goal of the season to force a 3-3 tie.

The Pats responded getting an even-strength goal from captain Ephram McNutt and a power-play tally from 19-year-old centre Ellis Mieyette to jump ahead 5-3.

With 72 seconds remaining in the third, Raiders star 20-year-old captain Justice Christensen fired home his seventh of the campaign to trim the Regina lead to 5-4. The Raiders weren’t able to find another tally to force overtime.

Pats 18-year-old left-winger Connor Bear received a double minor for high-sticking with 4:30 remaining in the third, and Raiders 18-year-old rookie left-winger Owen Corkish was tabbed for a double minor for high-sticking with 3:34 remaining in the third. Both infractions will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Pats now head out on their Christmas break. They return to action on Saturday, December 27, when they travel to Saskatoon to face the 17-14-2-1 Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Raiders return home to host the Kelowna Rockets (16-11-3-1) on Friday (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Tigers run winning streak to 10, other notes

The Medicine Hat Tigers are heading into their WHL Christmas break on fire.

On Wednesday playing before 3,006 spectators at Co-op Place, the Tigers won their 10th straight game downing the Brandon Wheat Kings 7-3. The Tigers win ends a seven game winning streak the Wheat Kings had been on.

Brandon scored the first goal in Wednesday’s clash coming off the stick of 17-year-old star centre Jaxon Jacobson just past the midway point of the opening frame. The Tigers pulled even at 1-1 just under two minutes later on a goal from 17-year-old rookie left-winger Noah Davidson.

Just 1:58 into the second period, 20-year-old centre Nicholas Johnson scored for the Wheat Kings to give them a 2-1 advantage.

The Tigers responded scoring three straight goals coming off the sticks of Kyle Heger, Liam Ruck and Ethan Neutens to take a 4-2 advantage at the 10:28 mark of the second.

Before the second ended, Wheat Kings 19-year-old centre Carter Klippenstein netted his 10th goal of the season to cut the Tigers lead to 4-3.

Medicine Hat proceeded to cruise to victory in the third scoring three times to round out the 7-3 final score. Captain Bryce Pickford, Tyson Moss and Jonas Woo all netted singles for the Tigers. Pickford’s tally was his 25th goal of the campaign, while Woo has a career-high 16 tallies on the season.

Carter Casey made 22 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers, who are rated ninth in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings. The Tigers improved to 22-6-3-2 to jump into first overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference by sitting one standings point ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders (22-5-4). The Raiders have two games in hand on the Tigers.

Jayden Kraus turned away 32 shots to take the setback in net for the Wheat Kings.

At the 7:15 mark of the second period, Wheat Kings 19-year-old rookie defenceman Max Lavoie took on Davidson in a fight.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday, December 27, when they travel to Lethbridge to face the 11-22-0-1 Hurricanes (6 p.m. local time, VisitLethbridge.com Arena).

The Wheat Kings get back at it on Friday when they travel to Calgary to take on the 17-9-3-1 Hitmen (1 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).

  • In Calgary, import centre Andrei Molgachev collected four assists as the host Hitmen hammered the visiting Swift Current Broncos 9-2 on Wednesday. Caine Wilke, Kale Dach and Julien Maze all had two-goal nights for the Hitmen.
  • In Kamloops, 18-year-old right-winger Savin Virk had the overtime winner, an assist and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department as his visiting Tri-City Americans edged the host Blazers 4-3. The Blazers held a 3-1 lead, but the Americans rolled off the last three goals of the contest to pull off the comeback.
  • In Everett, 16-year-old star sophomore defenceman Landon DuPont had the winning goal, one assists and was a plus-two as his host Silvertips slipped past the visiting Wenatchee Wild 3-2. The Silvertips have won six straight and lead the WHL’s overall standings with a 26-3-2-1 mark. The Silvertips are rated first in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings.
  • In Penticton, 20-year-old right-winger Brady Birnie netted a hat trick by scoring the final three goals to allow his Vees to down the visiting Prince George Cougars 5-2. The Vees now sport a 16-9-4-3 record in their first WHL season after moving up from the junior A ranks.
  • On December 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on 16-year-old flag football star Adley Tomlenovich. In the piece, Tomlenovich talks about her journey in the sport as a quarterback. She also took up being the head coach for a Grade 6 female squad that plays in the 5 on 5 NFL Youth Flag Football circuit overseen by Saskatoon Minor Football. The piece on Tomlenovich can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by images of the Saskatoon Hilltops winning their 24th CJFL championship. That 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.

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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.

Wednesday, 10 December 2025

Raiders break the wall down

Prince Albert successfully navigates first down stretch

The Raiders overcame a tough stretch of three straight losses.
All hockey teams during a course of a season will hit rough waters no matter what league they play in.

That includes teams having great, good, middle of the road or rebuilding seasons. Even for teams that are having great seasons, it is inevitable they will hit the wall at some point in time. All teams don’t want to hit the wall, but eventually a club will just come out flat no matter what anyone on that squad tries to do to prevent that from happening.

The Prince Albert Raiders, who lead the WHL’s East Division with a 19-4-4 mark, just hit one of those down stretches. They also ensured the down stretch didn’t last long. Actually, it has to be taken as a great accomplishment that the Raiders played into late November before hitting a wall.

The down stretch started seemingly out of the blue on November 29, when the Raiders were hosting the Medicine Hat Tigers at the Art Hauser Centre. With the teams locked in a 2-2 tie and 1:37 remaining on the clock, Raiders defenceman Linden Burrett went to clear the puck out of his own zone, and the puck deflected off the skate of Tigers centre Kadon McCann, flipped high in the air and deflected off the shoulder of Raiders star import netminder Michal Orsulak into the Prince Albert net.

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

Wednesday, 26 November 2025

Cripps makes immediate impact on Raiders back end

Brock Cripps jets up the Ice for the Raiders last Friday.
Brock Cripps is showing he doesn’t need to be eased into the WHL.

The 16-year-old rookie defenceman with the Prince Albert Raiders has dived head first into the deep end and is swimming at a fairly good pace. In the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft, Cripps was selected by the Raiders second overall in the first round.

The Victoria, B.C., product came to “Hockey Town North” with the potential to be a WHL standout or star. The Raiders were pegged to have a sturdy blue-line crew for the current campaign that could also move the puck and spark offence.

On paper, it appeared Cripps, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 160 pounds, was going to be in a spot to have a great learning season that would allow him to take off in later campaigns. Cripps is showing he is a quick learner and is already taking off. In the 16 appearances he has made with the Raiders so far this season, Cripps has recorded two goals, seven assists and a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department.

He also played under Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald for Canada Red at the U17 World Challenge that ran Nov. 2 to 8 in Truno, Nova Scotia. Canada Red posted a 4-0-1 record at that event and claimed a 6-3 victory over Canada White in the Gold Medal game. The Canada White roster contained Raiders 16-year-old right-winger Ben Harvey.

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