What a battle! What a finish!

Raiders take conference title, Tigers rally falls short

The story lines were plentiful as the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series closed out.

In a battle of two powerhouse teams, the Prince Albert Raiders were out to show their time is now. The defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers were not ready to give up their crown.

Going into Game 6 of the best-of-seven conference title tilt at Co-op Place on Sunday, the visiting Raiders were in position to advance with a win. The host Tigers were looking to force the series back to Prince Albert for a series deciding Game 7 back in Prince Albert set for Tuesday.

The Tigers brought in Oasiz Wiesblatt, who was the captain of last year’s WHL championship team, to fire up the 5,181 spectators at Co-op place with the “Whose House, Our House” chant pregame. Wiesblatt just finished his first season of professional hockey playing with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals.

When the dust settled, the Raiders prevailed 7-6 to take the series 4-2. They advance to the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series to take on the Everett Silvertips. That marks the first time the Raiders will play in the WHL final since they last won it in 2019.

Riley Boychuk had a pair of goals for the Tigers on Sunday.

The valiant Tigers took part in one last salute from their hometown crowd. Their overagers in right-winger Ethan Neutens, centre Andrew Basha and hometown product Josh Van Mulligen took a final bow. Basha finished the night with four assists, while Van Mulligen had one goal and once assist.

Medicine Hat’s Christian players did one final prayer at centre ice before departing to allow the conference trophy presentation to the Raiders. The Raiders had a quick moment with the Eastern Conference Championship trophy taking a team picture before departing to their dressing room.

The Tigers opened the contest with a big push. Early in the contest, Tigers star left-winger Markus Ruck started the contest in an uncharacteristic fashion throwing a rare bodycheck on Raiders defenceman Linden Burrett.

The hosts opened the scoring with 6:31 remaining in the first as star defenceman Jonas Woo wired home a mid range shot from the front of the Prince Albert net to the top left corner of the goal. That marked just the second time in the post-season the Raiders gave up the first goal of a game and both occurrences came at the hand of the Tigers. At the time of Woo’s goal, the Tigers were holding a 9-4 edge in shots on goal.

Josh Van Mulligen had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

One of the many momentum changes occurred with 4:17 remaining in the opening frame. During a net scramble around the Medicine Hat net, Raiders standout right-winger Riley Boychuk found a loose puck at the left side of the goal and popped the puck home to even the score at 1-1.

The 1980s shootout then commenced in earnest at the start of the second period. Centre Noah Davidson scored on the power play just 75 seconds into the stanza to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

Prince Albert answered back quickly. Star centre Braeden Cootes tallied at the 3:47 mark of the second on the power play, and star defenceman Daxon Rudolph scored at the 5:39 mark of the frame at even strength to give the visitors a 3-2 lead.

At that point, the Tigers elected to pull starting netminder Jordan Switzer after turning away 10-of-13 shots. Carter Casey turned back 14-of-18 shots playing the rest of the way in relief. He ultimately took the loss in goal for Medicine Hat.

Daxon Rudolph had one goal and two assists for the Tigers.

Casey became Medicine Hat’s goalie of record on the scoresheet a short time after entering the contest. At the 8:31 mark of the second, Tigers standout right-winger Luke Cozens potted his first of the post-season to even the score at 3-3.

Momentum proceeded to jump behind the Raiders in a huge way. They closed out the second scoring three straight goals to go ahead 6-3 coming off the sticks of star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring on the power play, star right-winger Brayden Dube and standout 17-year-old rookie right-winger Jonah Sivertson. Dube’s tally came with 2:01 remaining in the second, and Sivertson’s came with 33.5 seconds remaining in the stanza.

During that goal surge, the Tigers appeared they might have lost star captain Bryce Pickford for the contest. With 2:46 remaining in the second, he was hit on his left side by Raiders feisty 16-year-old left-winger Connor Howe, while Howe’s stick also connected across the visor of Pickford’s helmet. No penalties were called on the play.

Pickford went down, and he then got up and proceeded to skate straight to the Tigers dressing room favouring his left shoulder. Miraculously, the rearguard returned for the start of the third period.

Noah Davidson had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

His return seemed to inspire the Tigers. Kade Stengrim tallied at the 2:20 mark of the third, and Van Mulligen found the back of the net at the 6:59 mark of the stanza to cut the Raiders lead down to 6-5.

Medicine Hat pushed for the equalizer, but the Raiders came up with a key insurance goal with 7:01 remaining in the frame. Raiders centre Evan Smith made a high looping pass out of his own zone down the right wing to Boychuk springing him into the Medicine Hat end on a two-on-two rush.

Boychuk made a toe drag move around a Tigers defenceman, slipped down, got up and fired a shot to the top right corner of the Medicine Hat net to push the visitor’s edge out to 7-5.

The Tiger truly did battle to the bitter end. With 6.9 seconds remaining in the third, star right-winger Liam Ruck one-timed home a shot from the front of the Prince Albert net converting a beauty setup pass from Basha to cut the Raiders lead to 7-6. Medicine Hat couldn’t come up with a miracle play to get the equalizer to force overtime.

Michal Orsulak stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Cootes and Rudolph each finished with one goal and two assists. Rudolph leads the WHL post-season in scoring with 23 points coming off nine goals and 14 assists to go with a plus-10 rating in the plus-minus department.

Braeden Cootes had one goal and two assists for the Raiders.

Woo, Davidson and Cozens each finished with one goal and one assist for the Tigers. Yaroslav Bryzgalov had a pair of assists for Medicine Hat. For the moment, Basha sits second in the scoring race in the WHL Playoffs with 21 points coming off three goals and 18 assists to go with a plus-one rating.

During the regular season, the Raiders topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Tigers finished second in the Eastern Conference, captured the Central Division title and finished third overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 50-10-5-3 mark. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. After losing a number of key players from their WHL championship club last season, the Tigers were not expected to do as well as they did at the start of the 2025-26 campaign.

The Raiders and Tigers met four times in the 2025-26 regular season. Each side claimed two regulation time wins including one victory at home and one the road. Each side scored 16 goals in those four head-to-head contests.

Jonas Woo had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

In the Eastern Conference final, the Tigers were battling a big flu bug for the entire series. Tigers legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins said at the end of Game 6 that his players who hit the ice for his team still were not at full strength, but he gave the Raiders credit for the series win. Desjardins said the Raiders are a really good team, and he wasn’t sure his squad would have won the series at full health but would have liked to have had that opportunity.

The Raiders will now face another tough foe in the Silvertips in the WHL Championship Series. The Silvertips swept the Penticton Vees 4-0 in the Western Conference Championship Series and will enter the WHL final after a long rest period. Game 1 of the WHL final is set for this coming Friday at the Angel of the Winds Arena with a start time still to be announced.

Everett topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-8-2-1 and was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Silvertips 57 wins and 117 standings points are team records. They are appearing in the WHL final for the first time since 2018, when they fell in the championship series in six games to the Swift Current Broncos.

Aiden Oiring scored for the Raiders on Sunday.

As for the now completed Eastern Conference final, it delivered the thrills that were expected and a memorable conclusion for both teams. The Raiders exited the series as a deserving conference champion, and the Tigers went down with the fight fitting a defending league champion.

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Corkish hatty puts Raiders one win away from WHL final

Tigers fall 6-3 in Game 5 of Eastern Conference final

The Raiders celebrate a hat trick goal from Owen Corkish (#32).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Owen Corkish capitalized on his moment to be the x-factor for the Prince Albert Raiders.

On Friday night playing before a raucous sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre, Corkish, who is an 18-year-old rookie left-winger, delivered his first WHL hat trick in either regular season or post-season play. The Cottage Grove, Minnesota, product’s three-goal night powered the host Raiders to a 6-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers in Game 5 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series.

With the Raiders clinging to a 4-3 lead late in the third period, Corkish fired home a shot from his own zone into an empty Tigers net with 2:31 remaining in the third period to complete his hat trick. Following that tally, hats rained down from the Raiders faithful at the Hauser in celebration of that goal.

Owen Corkish (#32) breaks away from Noah Davidson (#39).

“I just put one and one together and tried to go for it and see what happens,” said Corkish. “Fortunately, it went in.”

If there was going to be any other drama, Raiders 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube wrapped home an empty-net tally with 1:29 remaining in the third to round out the 6-3 final score in favour of the Prince Albert side.

With the win, the Raiders take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven set with the Tigers. They will try to close the series out in Game 6 on Sunday at 6 p.m. local time at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat.

Before looking forward to Game 6, Corkish said his hat trick performance in Game 5 ranks up there with the biggest hockey games he has ever had.

Owen Corkish sets to score his long distance empty-net goal.

“It is definitely one of them,” said Corkish. “I’m fortunate enough to have the night I had with the guys around me.

“I couldn’t have done it without those guys. We have such a tight group and such an amazing group that it could have been any one of those guys tonight. I’m just proud to be a part of this group.”

The Raiders came storming out of the gate. At the five-minute mark of the opening frame, standout 17-year-old right-winger Jonah Sivertson had the puck in the left corner of the Medicine Hat and passed it to linemate Alisher Sarkenov in front of the goal. Sarkenov quickly blasted the puck home to put the host side up 1-0.

Prince Albert outshot Medicine Hat 16-3 in the opening 20 minutes, but the Tigers were able to force a 1-1 tie before the stanza came to a close. With 2:50 remaining in the first, Tigers star 19-year-old defenceman Jonas Woo popped home a puck close in at the left side of the Prince Albert net for the equalizer.

Jonas Woo scored the Tigers first goal on Friday.

“We let them get off to a great start, which we can’t do in their building,” said Tigers legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins. “We were so lucky to come out 1-1.”

While 18-year-old rookie netminder Carter Casey came up big in the opening frame, he couldn’t keep the Raiders at bay forever.

Just 22 seconds into the second period, Corkish tipped home a point shot from Raiders captain Justice Christensen to give the hosts a 2-1 lead. Raiders 16-year-old rookie right-winger Ben Harvey then tapped home a puck at the right side of Medicine Hat net to push Prince Albert’s advantage to 3-1 at the 8:57 mark of the frame. Harvey converted a beauty setup pass from linemate Maddix McCagherty from the left side boards in the Medicine Hat zone.

Alisher Sarkenov scored the Raiders first goal on Friday.

With 6:24 remaining in the second, Corkish picked up his second goal of the contest banging home the rebound of his own shot in front of the Medicine Hat net. Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald was pleased with the play of the line of Corkish, 20-year-old star centre Aiden Oiring and Dube calling them dynamic. Dube finished with an assist to go with his goal, while Oiring had one helper.

“I thought their line did a great job tonight,” said McDonald. “They were on the right side of pucks.

“They checked really well. They got their offensive chances, and they capitalized on them and really used their speed tonight.”

The Tigers proceeded to battle back in the third. 

Just 1:55 into the frame, a shot from Tigers 19-year-old left-winger Cam Parr deflected off the skate of 20-year-old right-winger Ethan Neutens into the Prince Albert net to cut the Raiders lead to 4-2.

Ethan Neutens scored for the Tigers on Friday.

At the 9:19 mark of the third, Tigers right-winger Carter Cunningham put a shot on goal from the left side of the Raiders net that was stopped by Raiders star import netminder Michal Orsulak. The puck rebounded to the right side of the net to Tigers 20-year-old rearguard Josh Van Mulligen. Van Mulligen fired home the rebound to trim the Raiders advantage down to 4-3.

While the Tigers have posted their share of comeback victories this season, they weren’t able to rally back any further on this night. The tallies by Neutens and Van Mulligen set the stage for the Raiders two empty-net markers to close the contest out.

Desjardins was pleased to see his squad battle back to make the contest a one-goal game again in the third.

“We got the first one,” said Desjardins. “You knew you had a chance.

Ben Harvey had a goal for the Raiders on Friday.

“Then, we got the second. We had some looks to get the third as well. We just didn’t get it.

“They bent a little bit, but they didn’t break. They stayed with their game plan, and they were able to pull it out.”

McDonald was happy to see there was no panic coming from his Raiders side after the Tigers pulled to within 4-3.

“They’re a good team,” said McDonald. “You can’t give them chances.

“They have the ability to put them in the back of the net. I really liked our guys’ calmness tonight. They got those two in the third, and guys were even keel.

“We just continued to go about our business and continued to win our battles and lock it down.”

Brayden Dube had one goal and one assist for the Raiders.

Orsulak stopped 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Casey turned away 41-of-45 shots to take the setback in net for the Tigers.

Prince Albert also held a 49-21 advantage in the faceoff circle.

During the regular season, the Raiders topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Tigers, who are the defending WHL champions, finished second in the Eastern Conference, captured the Central Division title and finished third overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 50-10-5-3 mark. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Tigers enjoy a goal from Josh Van Mulligen (#22).

The Raiders and Tigers met four times in the 2025-26 regular season. Each side claimed two regulation time wins including one victory at home and one the road. Each side scored 16 goals in those four head-to-head contests.

The winner of the Eastern Conference final will face the Everett Silvertips in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series. The Silvertips swept the Penticton Vees 4-0 in the Western Conference Championship Series. Everett was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Looking towards Game 6, Desjardins wants his team to be better in a couple of areas.

Fans at the Art Hauser Centre cheer on the Raiders.

“We’ve got to be more aggressive,” said Desjardins. “They’ve got lots of speed and the worst thing with speed is to back up.

“You’ve got to be aggressive on speed and gap up and handle it. We’ve got to be better in the faceoff circle too. They were really good in the faceoff circle.

“Give them credit, but they’ve got to win another one.”

The Raiders celebrate their win on Friday.

While the Raiders will try to clinch the series and the Eastern Conference title on Sunday, Corkish said his squad has to focus on business as usual on the ice.

“I think there is nothing we’ve got to overcomplicate,” said Corkish. “I think we’ve just got to simplify our game and keep doing what we’re doing, and it is going to turn out good.”

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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Rudolph’s house – D-man’s four points powers Raiders victory

WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series tied 2-2

Daxon Rudolph (#10) his second of two goals on Wednesday.

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Co-op Place was Daxon Rudolph’s house.

The Prince Albert Raiders star defenceman had a monster game when his team needed it the most. On Wednesday playing in Game 4 of a WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series, Rudolph had a pair of power-play goals and two assists to power his Raiders to 6-3 victory over the host Medicine Hat Tigers to the disappointment of most of the 5,324 spectators in attendance at Co-op Place outside of a sizable contingent of Raiders supporters.

With the win, the Raiders even the best-of-seven series at 2-2. Game 5 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. Prince Albert picked up the victory after dropping a 2-1 heartbreaker in overtime to the Tigers in Game 3.

Daxon Rudolph had two goals and two assists on Wednesday.

“Obviously, we didn’t get the result we wanted last night, so we knew tonight was going to be a big one,” said Rudolph, who turned 18-years-old in early March. “We had to even the series up before heading home.

“We gave it our all out there. For myself, I felt really good from the get go. I happened to put a couple in the net and help others as well.

“It felt good for myself and then the team holding out to get the win.”

It was obvious early in the contest that Rudolph had a good jump. In the opening moments of the first period, he went coast to coast on a rush and was stoned by a left pad save from Tigers sophomore netminder Jordan Switzer.

Rudolph, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 202 pounds, wasn’t going to be kept off the scoreboard for long. At the 10:16 mark of the first, the Lacombe, Alta., product fired home a point shot through a screen to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

Daxon Rudolph has 19 points in 13 games in the WHL Playoffs.

Tigers 20-year-old right-winger Ethan Neutens said his squad likely didn’t do the best job of tracking the Raiders rearguard.

“I think he (Rudolph) is a good player,” said Neutens. “All credit to him, and their team.

“They’ve got a good power-play unit. They are a skilled team. They are fast, and I think we just didn’t do as good of a job as we usually do or can of containing him.

“I think moving forward we have to realize that those are the type of players that we have to contain to help us be successful in our game.”

Daxon Rudolph is a top prospect for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

Just 84 seconds after Rudolph’s first tally, Raiders 19-year-old centre Evan Smith fired home a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle to push the Raiders lead out to 2-0.

Medicine Hat put a halt to the Raiders momentum eight seconds later on a positive break goal from 17-year-old centre Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll. Gordon-Carroll was attempting to one-time a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle, but he partially fanned on the attempt.

Raiders star rookie import netminder Michal Orsulak misjudged what turned out to be an off-speed shot and the puck went between his legs into the Prince Albert net to cut the visitor’s lead to 2-1. That just set the stage for Rudolph to have his next big moment in the contest.

The Raiders contigent at Co-op Place salutes their team.

Just 25 seconds into the second period and working on the power play, Rudolph burst into the Medicine Hat zone on a rush, used a Tigers defender as a screen and wired a bullet to the top right corner of the Medicine Hat net to push the Raiders lead out to 3-1.

“He (Rudolph) is just a good hockey player,” said Tigers legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins. “He is going to score.

“He could have had three in the first game (in Medicine Hat on Tuesday). He had so many chances the first night. He just didn’t score.

Josh Van Mulligen had a pair of assists for the Tigers.

“He is a good player. You have to be aware of that. I don’t think we played our best coming back and finding guys.”

Rudolph would pick up his first assist of the night on the Raiders next tally at the 4:15 mark of the second. He got the puck to defensive partner and Raiders captain Justice Christensen at the left side boards in the Medicine Hat zone.

Christensen fired a shot that rebounded out to the right side of the net to Tigers 20-year-old star centre Aiden Oiring. Oiring popped the puck home into an empty cage to put the Raiders advantage out to 4-1.

At that point, the Tigers elected to pull Switzer, who turned away 12-of-16 shots to take the setback in net. Carter Casey played the rest of the way in relief turning away 18-of-20 shots sent his way.

The Tigers celebrate a goal from Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll (#11).

Casey would fall victim by a great play from Rudolph just 2:18 after entering the contest. Working the puck in the Medicine Hat zone, Rudolph took a pass from Christensen and jetted down the right side boards low to the right side of the Tigers net.

The skilled blue-liner put a pass across the face of the cage to Raiders standout left-winger Maddix McCagherty. McCagherty tapped the puck into the empty side of the net to make the visitors lead sit at 5-1.

Gordon-Carroll admitted that Rudolph was on a roll on Wednesday.

“Obviously, he (Rudolph) is a great player,” said Gordon-Carroll. “A great player is going to make plays.

Aiden Oiring does a fly by after scoring a goal for the Raiders.

“He has a big game tonight, so we got to go out next game and focus on him.”

Rudolph said all players want to have big outings in the playoffs. After Tigers star right-winger Liam Ruck scored the overtime winner for his side in Game 3, Rudolph said he was inspired to try to have a difference-making performance in Game 4.

“I think that kind of brings the best out of everyone,” said Rudolph, who is a top prospect for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft set for June 26 and 27 in Buffalo, New York. “I saw an interview of Liam (Ruck) last night saying everyone wants to be a big player in a big moment.

“It is no different for me just like he said. Everyone wants to step up in the playoffs, and I think it is a big part of who I am. When it really matters, I think I step up really well and can play some of my best hockey.”

Maddix McCagherty had a goal for the Raiders.

The Tigers attempted to battle back as Neutens scored 25 seconds after McCagherty’s tally to trim the Raiders edge to 5-2.

Max Heise tallied for the Raiders at the 9:07 mark of the third, and Gordon-Carroll picked up his second of the contest with 4:40 remaining in the stanza to round out the 6-3 final score in favour of the Raiders.

Orsulak stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Christensen and star centre Braeden Cootes each finished with two assists for Prince Albert. Local product and 20-year-old defenceman Josh Van Mulligen had a pair of helpers for the Tigers.

Medicine Hat late scratched Ruck before Wednesday’s game and also scratched import defenceman Niilopekka Muhonen with undisclosed ailments.

Max Heise had a third period goal for the Raiders.

Still, Wednesday night was a night that belonged to Rudolph. Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald said his star defenceman was on point in all facets of his game.

“Offensively, he chips in with his goals and assists and a big time shot on the power play to get us started,” said McDonald. “He just continues to elevate his game as it goes on.

“He defends extremely hard. Anytime things might have got hairy for us out there, he was able to calm it down, him and his partner (Christensen) and continue to get pucks going in the right direction.”

During the regular season, the Raiders topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Justice Christensen had two assists for the Raiders.

The Tigers, who are the defending WHL champions, finished second in the Eastern Conference, captured the Central Division title and finished third overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 50-10-5-3 mark. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Raiders and Tigers met four times in the 2025-26 regular season. Each side claimed two regulation time wins including one victory at home and one the road. Each side scored 16 goals in those four head-to-head contests.

The winner of the Eastern Conference final will face the Everett Silvertips in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series. The Silvertips swept the Penticton Vees 4-0 in the Western Conference Championship Series.

Heading back to the Hauser for Game 5, Rudolph said the series is at a new beginning.

“Obviously, they took one in our barn, so we knew we had to get one here in their rink,” said Rudolph, who has eight goals and 11 assists in 13 post-season contests. “It is important to tie this one up and have a fresh start heading back home.

The Raiders head to their dressing room all smiles after their win.

“(It is) a best-of-three series now. It all starts at zeros again, and we’ll keep battling.”

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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Switzer steals 2-1 Game 3 OT victory for Tigers over Raiders

Medicine Hat leads WHL Eastern Conference final 2-1

Jordan Switzer (#31) and Carter Casey celebrate an OT win.

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – So how good was Jordan Switzer?

The sophomore netminder for the Medicine Hat Tigers stole an overtime victory for his team in Game 3 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series on Tuesday night at Co-op Place. Switzer had a spectacular outing making 37 saves as the Tigers downed the visiting Prince Albert Raiders 2-1 in extra time to the delight of most of the 5,204 spectators outside of a noticeable contingent of Raiders supporters.

With the win, the Tigers take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Co-op Place.

Legendary Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins admitted it might be accurate to say Switzer’s heroics on Tuesday were up there with Kevin Nastiuk’s work in the team’s run to a WHL title win in 2004, Matt Keetley’s performances in Medicine Hat’s 2007 WHL championship victory run and Harrison Meneghin’s work helping the Tigers take the WHL title last season.

Jordan Switzer (#31) stops Raiders D Linden Burrett. 

“We didn’t know we’d need that at the start, but once it got started, we knew we were going to need something big,” said Desjardins. “He (Switzer) was big.

“That was as good a performance as I’ve seen for a long time. It was the perfect time to have it.”

Switzer was excited to hear about the high praise about his work from his bench boss along with being mentioned in a name drop of legendary Tigers netminders from the past two-and-a-half decades.

Jordan Switzer made 37 saves to backstop the Tigers to victory.

“That is cool,” said Switzer. “He (Desjardins) has seen a lot of goalies play in his time, so to be in that conversation is pretty cool.”

With that said, Switzer said his team really did have to slug out Tuesday’s contest as the Raiders came in with a lot of jump and came at the host side in waves. He was pleased his club found a way to persevere.

“I think it was good for us,” said Switzer. “We stuck with it the whole way.

“We never got down on each other. Obviously, we found a way to win in the end, which was really good.”

Daxon Rudolph scored to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

The two club’s entered overtime locked in 1-1 tie after the Raiders played what might have been their best period of the contest holding a 10-2 edge in shots on goal for the third stanza. After 60 minutes, the Raiders held a 37-19 edge in shots on goal and played sizable stretches of time in Medicine Hat’s zone.

The rug was then pulled out from under the Raiders at the 4:07 mark of overtime. At that moment, Tigers 20-year-old star centre Andrew Basha took a shot from the point that changed direction on a deflection from star left-winger Liam Ruck.

Raiders star 18-year-old rookie import netminder Michal Orsulak stopped that shot, and the puck rebounded to sit beside the left post of the Prince Albert goal. Ruck collected the puck and tucked it into the Prince Albert net to give the Tigers their 2-1 victory.

Aiden Oiring had bad luck on some prime scoring chances.

Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald admitted Tuesday’s contest might be the story of the one that got away for his squad.

“I really liked our game,” said McDonald. “I thought we executed quite well.

“We had some really good looks that didn’t end up in the back of the net. I really liked our start, liked our pace, liked our hunt, liked our pucks to the paint and guys just didn’t get rewarded for it.”

Just seconds into the contest, Raiders star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring found himself alone in front of the Medicine Hat. He put on a deke, but slid a shot just wide of the left post.

That ultimately foreshadowed Oiring’s night as he would end up with about four other golden scoring opportunities and would be unable to find the back of the net.

Michal Orsulak made 19 saves in goal for the Raiders.

““O” (Oiring) brings a 200-foot game,” said McDonald. “He is a dog in the faceoff circle.

“He plays both sides of the puck from the penalty kill to the power play. He gets jobs on the defensive side plus the offensive side, and again, that is where he was earning his chances right inside the dots and you know those grade-A look situations. He got pucks off his stick and just didn’t get rewarded for them tonight.”

With 4:27 remaining in the first, the Raiders did break through on the scoreboard. Star defenceman Daxon Rudolph zipped into the left faceoff dot and his initial shot was stopped. He followed his shot and picked his own rebound close in and tucked home his sixth of the post-season to put the Raiders in front 1-0.

Kade Stengrim had the equalizer for the Tigers on Tuesday.

The Tigers evened the score at 1-1 with 3:53 remaining in the second, while working on the power play. Tigers 18-year-old standout rookie left-winger Kade Stengrim fired home a shot from the point through a screen for the equalizer.

About 5:40 into the third, the Raiders had a golden opportunity to go ahead. While holding pressure inside the Medicine Hat zone, Switzer got accidentally knocked out of his net by one of his own defencemen.

The Raider got the puck to captain Justice Christensen at the left point, who unloaded one of his “juice bombs” to what looked like an empty cage. Tigers import defenceman Veeti Vaisanen was able to get over to block the shot to allow the contest to remain tied.

Max Heise jets up ice for the Raiders.

As the rest of the third progressed, Oiring was stoned on two prime mid range chances and Raiders 18-year-old import left-winger Alisher Sarkenov was denied in close.

That set the stage for Ruck to come away with his winner in overtime. Orsulak turned away 19 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders.

“It is nice to get it done,” said Ruck. “We know that wasn’t our best game as a group.

“Obviously, it shows a lot of character to find a way to get that win.”

During the regular season, the Raiders topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Veeti Vaisanen had a big shot block for the Tigers.

The Tigers, who are the defending WHL champions, finished second in the Eastern Conference, captured the Central Division title and finished third overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 50-10-5-3 mark. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Raiders and Tigers met four times in the 2025-26 regular season. Each side claimed two regulation time wins including one victory at home and one the road. Each side scored 16 goals in those four head-to-head contests.

When the dust settled in Tuesday’s contest, Desjardins said his squad was able to come up with a steal of a victory.

“I think they outplayed us tonight for sure,” said Desjardins. “We hung in there.

“I think that is a big thing sometimes. You just have to find a way to win. Our guys battled hard.

The Tigers celebrate an OT winner from Liam Ruck.

“They got in shooting lanes and lots of stuff. “Switzie” Switzer was really good in net. We were fortunate to get that one, but we got her.”

In looking towards Game 4, McDonald said his Raiders just get back to the grind and work towards pulling even in the series.

“This is hockey, and that is why you are in playoffs,” said McDonald. “It is a seven-game series for a reason.

“We’ll take our time, reflect on it and wipe the slate clean and get ready to get back to work tomorrow.”

Desjardins would like to see his squad assert a little more control of the contest when the two sides meet in Game 4.

“We know it is going to be a hard game,” said Desjardins. “We’re going to have to be ready to go a little bit better than we were tonight.”

Liam Ruck (#12) gives a stick tap thanks to fans along the glass.

NOTE – While the Tigers and Raiders continue to battle in the Eastern Conference final, the Everett Silvertips are waiting to see which one of those two clubs will be their foe in the WHL Championship Series. On Tuesday in Penticton, the Silvertips downed the host Vees 4-2 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Championship Series. With the win, the Silvertips sweep the best-of-seven set 4-0 to advance to the WHL final for the first time since 2018. Everett fell in that WHL Championship Series in six games to the Swift Current Broncos.

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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Tigers and Raiders fans battle over God’s place in hockey

A quartet of Tigers players take part in a prayer circle on Saturday.

A holy war is breaking out in the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series between the fans of the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Prince Albert Raiders.

The trigger moment for the rising heat between the two fan bases came at the conclusion of Game 2 of the set played before a sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre, which was won 5-0 by the Tigers on Saturday night. At that point, the Christian players on the Tigers set out to do their traditional prayer circle.

Before I go on, I want to say I liked how all parties in the Tigers, Raiders and the game officials handled the next part.

After the game ended, Raiders defencemen Linden Burrett and Matyas Man skated to centre ice, and both went down on one knee at the faceoff circle. When the Tigers were done celebrating and sharing congratulations around netminder Jordan Switzer, Tigers captain Bryce Pickford, assistant captain Jonas Woo, centre Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll, right-winger Luke Cozens and left-winger Cam Parr separated from the rest of the Tigers and looked towards centre ice.

Pickford, Woo, Gordon-Carroll and Cozens are the four regulars who always take part in the Tigers prayer circle. To me, it looked like the group of Tigers players asked the Raiders players if they wanted to do a prayer together.

From my view, it looked like Burrett waved them away and told the Tigers players to go do their thing. In sports, the team logo at centre ice or centre field is a big thing, and it seemed like the Raiders players wanted to protect the logo.

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

Legendary former Mintos coach to enter P.A. Sports Hall of Fame

Tim Leonard behind the Mintos bench. (Photo courtesy P.A. Mintos)

It was a full circle moment for Tim Leonard.

As part of the announcement for being part of the 2026 class for the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame, Leonard, who is going into the Hall as a builder, and members of his class were introduced to a crowd of 2,463 spectators at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre before a Prince Albert Raiders home WHL regular season contest on February 6. The Raiders hosted the Lethbridge Hurricanes on that night, and it hit Leonard that he coached the head coaches of both teams.

“It is crazy,” said Leonard. “When they brought us out on the ice at the Raider game to introduce everybody that is going in this year, I get out on the ice, and look across at the benches, and there is Ryan McDonald.

“On the other bench where Lethbridge is Matty Anholt, and I coached them both. It was fitting, and it was a great feeling.”

Way back at the start of the 2002-03 campaign, Leonard joined the Prince Albert Mintos Under-18 AAA Team as an assistant coach. He was working on a staff led by head coach Ron Bonneau. One of their first decisions was to offer a roster spot to McDonald, who was an underage 14-year-old centre that came out to Mintos camp just to get some extra skating work.

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

Tigers show tenacity, rebound with 5-0 win over Raiders

WHL Eastern Conference final tied at 1-1 heading to the Hat

Markus Ruck (#26) is all smiles after scoring the Tigers third goal.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – When it comes to handling adversity, it can be argued that no team in the WHL circles the wagons better than the Medicine Hat Tigers.

On Friday, the Tigers opened the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series by getting trampled 8-3 by the host Prince Albert Raiders at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre. Since Willie Desjardins first joined the Tigers before the start of the 2002-03 campaign, it became common for the Medicine Hat franchise to quickly get over what happened in a bad loss and roar back with a sound victory.

In Game 2 of the series on Saturday played before another sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the Hauser, the Tigers rolled to a 5-0 victory and silenced the Raiders faithful for long stretches of the contest. The win allowed the Tigers to even the best-of-seven series at 1-1.

Markus Ruck had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

The defending WHL champions will now host the next two games of the set in Medicine Hat. Games 3 and 4 are set for Tuesday and Wednesday respectively at Co-op Place for a 7 p.m. start on both nights.

“It is a big win for sure,” said Tigers star left-winger Markus Ruck, who had one goal, one assist and a plus-two in the plus-minus department. “We knew coming in it is a really tough rink.

“To get that one is huge. We knew coming into it we had to get this one.”

The teams started off playing fairly even as the shots on goal were tied 4-4 after the first 11 minutes of the opening frame. Momentum changed when Raiders defenceman Linden Burrett was given a roughing minor with eight minutes remaining in the frame.

Jordan Switzer made 30 saves to earn a shutout win.

The Tigers proceeded to buzz the Prince Albert net forcing Raiders rookie star import netminder Michal Orsulak to make about six huge saves. Tigers star 20-year-old centre Andrew Basha came the closest to scoring by wiring a shot off the crossbar causing a scramble in front of the Raiders net. Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes came up with a clearance to relieve the pressure.

While the Raiders got the kill, the Tigers had a tonne of momentum they would carry through to the end of the second period. Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube said you could feel that momentum was on the side of the visitors after that power-play chance.

“They got lots of shots and lots of good looks,” said Dube. “They got a jump in their step.

Michal Orsulak makes one of his 36 saves in goal for the Raiders.

“We just have to find a way to go back at them after big kills like that. We have to find a way to get back to our game after.”

Before the first ended, the Tigers went back on the power-play after Raiders standout 16-year-old defenceman Brock Cripps was called for holding with 2:07 remaining in the first. Right after that power play expired, Tigers star defenceman Jonas Woo threw a puck from a bad angle at the right boards by the icing line to the front of the Prince Albert net.

The puck appeared to deflect home off Tigers standout centre Noah Davidson into the Prince Albert goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead with 5.9 seconds remaining in the frame. Woo, who missed Game 1 of the series with an undisclose ailment, was given credit for the goal. The Tigers exited the first holding their 1-0 advantage and a 16-6 edge in shots on goal.

Jonas Woo was credited with two goals on Saturday.

That opening tally by Medicine Hat marked the first time the Raiders gave up the first goal of a game in the 2026 WHL Playoffs.

The Tigers continued to come hard at the Raiders in the second holding a 17-9 edge in shots on goal for the frame. Medicine Hat finally got a second goal past Orsulak with 3:47 remaining in the stanza while working on the power play.

Ruck swooped down the right wing with the puck and made a backhanded pass to the front of the Prince Albert net to his twin brother Liam Ruck. Liam blasted home his sixth of the post-season to push the Tigers advantage out to 2-0.

“It is pretty cool,” said Markus Ruck about the power-play goal. “I was kind of just wheeling in the zone, and I kind of popped up and saw him there.

Alisher Sarkenov and the Raiders had no luck around the net.

“It is pretty cool playing with him. It is obviously really cool being his brother.”

In the third, the Raider came with a big push forcing Tigers netminder Jordan Switzer, who turned 19-years-old in January, to stand on his head. The Raiders would outshoot the Tigers 15-8 in the third but were unable to put a puck past Switzer, who was making his first start of the series.

“In our room, we knew they were going to battle hard there,” said Switzer. “I think it was only 2-0 for a bit.

“I think we did a good job shutting them down, weathering the storm and then we got a couple in the end.”

With 7:11 remaining in the third, Markus Ruck came up with a dagger goal. Tigers right-winger Carter Cunningham sprung Ruck down the left-wing on a contested breakaway. Ruck lasered home a shot to the short side on Orsulak to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage.

Aiden Oiring of the Raiders jets away from Cam Parr of the Tigers.

Woo proceeded to score a long empty-net from his own icing line with 1:55 remaining in the third, and import defenceman Niilopekka Muhonen netted his first of the post-season with a seeing-eye shot from the left side boards in the Prince Albert end to round out the 5-0 final score in favour of the Tigers.

“This is a hard barn to play in, especially in playoff time,” said Switzer. “It is a sold out rink.

“All the fans are all over us, but I think we handled it good tonight, didn’t get rattled and stuck to our game plan.”

Orsulak turned away 36-of-40 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Switzer stopped 30 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Tigers, which was also Switzer’s first clean slate in post-season play.

Noah Davidson had a strong game for the Tigers.

The Tigers were 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Raiders failed to score on four chances with the man advantage.

“The first period the shots were a little lopsided there from a couple of power-play situations,” said Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald. “I didn’t mind our start.

“I thought we created some opportunities and didn’t get some bounces and got away from it in the second period and started turning some pucks over and feeding into their transition and making it real hard on ourselves. In the third period, we got back to our game and getting pucks in behind and created some opportunities for ourselves. Again, you have to tip your cap to them.

“They played hard. Again, we need to match that intensity and match that level.”

Liam Ruck scored a power-play goal for the Tigers.

During the regular season, the Raiders topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Tigers, who are the defending WHL champions, finished second in the Eastern Conference, captured the Central Division title and finished third overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 50-10-5-3 mark. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Raiders and Tigers met four times in the 2025-26 regular season. Each side claimed two regulation time wins including one victory at home and one the road. Each side scored 16 goals in those four head-to-head contests.

These two traveling fans enjoyed the Tigers win on Saturday.

Due to how even the regular season series was, Desjardins, who is the Tigers legendary head coach and general manager, expects every game of the Eastern Conference final with the Raiders to be a battle.

“I thought we played a little better tonight,” said Desjardins. “I thought the first game they kind of took it away on us.

“We had a really good start and then got on our heels a little bit. They got some power-play goals. Tonight, we got one on the power play.

“One just went in at the end of two (minutes), so that was probably the difference.”

Niilopekka Muhonen had the Tigers final goal on Saturday.

Going into Game 3 of the series in Medicine Hat on Tuesday, Dube said his Raiders have to show their perseverance.

“We just have to wipe this one and play our game,” said Dube. “Today, we were trying to do too much I think.

“We’re at our best when we are playing fast, just getting pucks deep and on our forecheck.”

As for the Tigers, Ruck said everyone on his squad is pumped to continue the series at their home rink.

“Going back 1-1 in the series, we know our fans are going to be awesome,” said Ruck. “We can’t wait.

“Hopefully, we continue what we just had today.”

The Tigers celebrate their win on Saturday.

NOTES – The Raiders had another huge 50/50 pot for Saturday’s game with online sale combined with sales in the building. The take home prize was $98,540 and will go to the person with ticket number C-124720.

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.