Raiders series sweep victory would not be denied

Blades go down with big final battle in 5-3 defeat

The Raiders celebrate their series win over the Blades.

You have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good.

On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the puck was taking all sorts of positive bounces for the Prince Albert Raiders in the first period in Game 4 of their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against their archrivals in the host Saskatoon Blades. Thanks to three positive bounce goals, the Raiders surged ahead of the Blades 4-1 in the first period holding a 15-4 edge in shots on goal in Game 4 of a WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.

With the Raiders having built a 3-0 series lead in rather dominant fashion, it could have been easy for the Blades to pack it in after the three positive bounce goals went the Raiders way in the opening 20 minutes of Game 4 coming away with the thought that it is just not meant to happen for them.

Raiders fans celebrate their team’s series sweep.

The Blades battled back with their best two periods of the series cutting the Raiders lead to 4-3 in the second period. Star right-winger Hunter Laing and captain Tyler Parr fired home goals that got the host side back into the game.

Inside the final 70 seconds of the second, a puck from a battle along the left boards at centre ice came out to Raiders star centre Max Heise. Heise jetted into the Saskatoon zone on a rush down the left wing and wired a bullet shot short side to the top left corner of the Blades net to make the Raiders lead stand at 5-3 with 57.7 seconds to play in the frame. That tally, which was the first of the post-season for Heise, proved to be a dagger goal.

The two sides proceeded to skate to a stalemate in the third allowing that 5-3 score to hold up as the game’s final outcome. The Raiders swept the set 4-0 to advance to the Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time since 2019, when they last won the WHL title.

David Lewandowski reacts to the Blades season coming to an end.

At game’s end, the 6,361 spectators in the building, who were engaged with the contest all night, paid respects to both squads. The Raiders faithful, who were present in large numbers making just a 75 minute drive down Highway 11 to “The Bridge City,” celebrated the fact their squad was going to a conference final in what has been a memorable season.

The Blades faithful, which still made up the majority of the crowd, gave their team a rousing final salute. In the first round of the WHL Playoffs, the Blades pulled off an inspiring seven game series upset of the heavily favoured Edmonton Oil Kings to set up the rivalry series against the Raiders.

A quartet of Blades supporters take in post-game happenings.

Raiders captain Justice Christensen was pleased his squad got the win on Wednesday to advance to the WHL’s final four in the post-season.

“It means a lot,” said Christensen. “The guys battled hard tonight and are definitely enjoying it right now.

“We will move on here pretty quick, but enjoy it for the time being.”

With that noted, Christensen was part of the Raiders underdog squad that fell to the Blades in five games in the opening round of the WHL Playoffs in 2024, when the Blades finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings. The Blades went to the Eastern Conference final falling 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 at home to the Moose Jaw Warriors, who would move on to win the WHL title.

Rowan Calvert give a final salute to the SaskTel Centre crowd.

The Raiders star defenceman was happy his squad returned the favour to the Blades this season, when Prince Albert was favoured to beat the Saskatoon side.

“It was nice for sure to get that one and do it four,” said Christensen. “I definitely didn’t forget about that one in 2024.

“I had that in the back of my mind the whole time, so it was nice to get it done.”

Parr, who exhausted his WHL eligibility with Wednesday’s setback, was on the victorious side in the 2024 series with the Blades. He didn’t like being on the losing end of the series this time, but he enjoyed the fight his team put up.

“It sucks losing to the Raiders, but I’m super proud of this group over the year,” said Parr, who graduates from the team along with standout left-winger Rowan Calvert. “I am super proud of the effort against them.

The Raiders and Blades shake hands at the conclusion of Game 4.

“I am super proud of the effort in this series. We fought right to the end, so I’m super proud of the guys.”

The positive bounces for the Raiders started just 68 seconds into Wednesday’s contest. Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes had the puck below the icing line in the right corner of the Saskatoon zone. Cootes banked the puck off the back of Blades star netminder Evan Gardner into the Saskatoon net to put the visitors up 1-0.

Imports Alisher Sarkenov, left, and Elias Pul visit at game’s end.

A short time later, Blades star import left-winger David Lewandowski rang a shot off the post of the Prince Albert net.

Moments after that scoring chance, the Raiders would cash in on their second positive bounce. Raiders 16-year-old breakout rookie defenceman Brock Cripps banked a shot off teammate in 19-year-old standout left-winger Maddix McCagherty into the Saskatoon net to push the Raiders lead out to 2-0 at the 4:53 mark of the opening frame. McCagherty was actually being guarded well by sophomore defenceman Jack Kachkowski, when Prince Albert’s second goal banked home off the Raiders forward.

Members of the Raiders faithful salutes their team.

Just 79 seconds after that tally, Raiders standout rookie import defenceman Matyas Man fired home a shot from a sharp angle at the left side of the Saskatoon net to the top right corner of the Blades goal to make the Raiders lead sit at 3-0. The Blades immediately called a timeout to regroup after that tally.

The Blade proceeded to get a break just 38 seconds later, when Lewandowski put home an off-speed shot close to the blue-line along the right boards for his fourth of the post-season to trim the Raiders lead to 3-1. Lewandownski’s shot went through an inadvertent screen by a Raiders player skating through the play that blocked the visit of Prince Albert’s star import netminder Michal Orsulak.

Max Heise scored the Raiders fifth goal, and it was a big one.

Blades offensive-defenceman Brayden Klimpke would proceed to hit a goalpost setting the stage for the next big positive bounce for the Raiders.

With 2:57 remaining in the opening frame, Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph drove a shot on net that Gardner got a piece of. The puck proceeded to fall into the crease of the Saskatoon net and started to slowly creep towards the goal. Blades defenceman Jordan Martin went to play the puck and inadvertently poked it into his own net to make the Raiders advantage sit at 4-1.

“We were playing on them,” said Rudolph. “We were getting pucks in, getting behind them and playing a fast game, which is hard to play against.

“I think sometimes pucks can get bouncing when you’re rushing plays and things like that. I don’t really know what the reason is, but fortunate for us, we will take those bounces there in the first.”

Braeden Cootes had the Raiders first goal on Wednesday.

The Blades proceeded to battle back in the second period, where they outshot the Raiders 16-9. At the 11:39 mark of the frame, the Blades got a gritty goal as Laing found a loose puck around the Prince Albert net during a net scramble and popped it home to trim the Raiders lead to 4-2.

Just 2:51 later and working on a rare four-versus-three power play, Parr drove a mid range shot home through a screen from the front of the Prince Albert net to cut the Raiders lead to 4-3.

“The first wasn’t what we wanted at all obviously,” said Parr. “They came out pretty hard.

“We just kind of said, ‘This is it.’ It is time to get desperate. They’ve challenged us here, and it is how do we respond.

Brock Cripps (#12) works some creativity in the offensive zone.

“There was only one option, and that was to do everything we could to fight back into the game and we did that. It was a two-goal game, but a bounce here, a bounce there, it could have been tied. I’m just super proud of how we responded after the adversity in the first period, and I hope the guys can learn from that.”

Heise proceeded to pot his insurance goal with 57.7 seconds remaining in the second.

With about 13 minutes remaining in the third, Blades standout centre Hayden Harsanyi rang a shot off the crossbar of the Prince Albert net to further add to the total of bounces that did go in the direction of the host side.

The Raiders celebrate a goal from Maddix McCagherty (#17).

Orsulak stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Evan Gardner turned away 25 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

“I’m just really proud of our group, how we played,” said Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald. “I thought our start was absolutely tremendous as we got to our skating legs right away.

“Even the resilience throughout the game, the Blades pushed hard. That is a real scrappy team over there, and again, they didn’t go away and kept pushing us and again got the game close. We had to again buckle down and get back to our game.

“Give our guys a lot of credit, we got into that third period and really locked things down.”

Blades head coach Dan DaSilva was proud of how his club responded, when it looked like things were going to go south fast for his club in the opening frame.

Matyas Man scored the Raiders third goal on Wednesday.

“I thought that it (the game) was unfortunate the way it started,” said DaSilva. “I think our guys were excited, and they were ready to go.

“We had a couple of bad breaks early and got behind the eight ball right away. As we’ve seen all year long, there is no quit in our group. They used the timeout and the intermission to reset and get back to work.

“They played with so much pride in the last 40 minutes. They weren’t going to say die. I thought we had our best period of the series in the second period there.”

Going into this rivalry series, the Raiders were the favourites.

They finished first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and second overall in the league with a 52-10-5-1 record during the regular season. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the first round of the playoffs, Prince Albert eliminated the Red Deer Rebels, who were eighth in the Eastern Conference, in five games.

Daxon Rudolph netted the winning goal for the Raiders.

The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark. In the first round of the playoffs, they upset the Edmonton Oil Kings, who were third in the Eastern Conference and fifth overall in the WHL, in seven games taking Game 7 by a 3-2 score in overtime. In the seven games against the Oil Kings, the Blades played their best hockey of the 2025-26 campaign.

DaSilva was pleased his squad bowed out on a note where they battled hard in their Game 4 season ending loss to the Raiders in their Eastern Conference semifinal.

“It was our best game of the series,” said DaSilva. “We still came up short, hit a few posts, a couple of bad bounces.

The Blades celebrate a goal from captain Tyler Parr (#20).

“It is behind us now. I am just proud of the group, proud of the season and proud of everything that they gave. It is truly a pleasure to stand in front of that group and coach them every day.

“They are hard workers. They’re good human beings and good young men. We had a lot of fun this year.”

Before the playoffs started, expectations were high that the Raiders would face the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers in a heavyweight showdown in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference Championship Series. The Tigers finished second overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and third in the league’s overall standings at 50-10-5-3. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Tyler Parr ensures a young fan leaves with a big memory.

On Wednesday, the Tigers finished off the other Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in a 4-0 sweep posting a 5-2 victory over the Hitmen in Calgary in Game 4 of that set. The heavyweight showdown between the Raiders and the Tigers in the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series will happen with the schedule to be announced.

It is expected both clubs will have about eight off days between games as the two Western Conference semifinal series are still ongoing. The Tigers swept the Raiders in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series a year ago.

For now, the Raiders want to enjoy for a short time the fact they swept away their archrivals in the Blades and are now 5-4 in all-time post-season series between the two clubs.

The Blades give a final salute to their fans at the SaskTel Centre.

“It feels good, obviously,” said Rudolph. “We have a long, historic rivalry here against the Blades.

“To come out on top in this series is definitely big for us. It is just a super happy feeling right now and super happy to get it done.”

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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The song in Saskatoon is “Go Raiders Go!”

Prince Albert set for sweep, sweep series victory over Blades

The Raiders enjoy the first of two goals from Braeden Cootes (#34).

It was fitting that “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers was playing at game’s end at the SaskTel Centre.

With how the host Saskatoon Blades had been fairing in their WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders, the iconic country song might have been foreshadowing to the Saskatoon side that it was time to “know when to fold ’em.”

On Tuesday, the Raiders rolled to a 4-0 victory over the host Blades while also holding a 41-23 edge in shots on goal in Game 3 of the best-of-seven set played before 6,522 spectators. With the win, the Raiders take a 3-0 lead in the series where they have outscored the Blades 13-1 and held a 120-55 advantage in shots on goal. Prince Albert can close out the series in Game 4 on Wednesday, which is set for 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Braeden Cootes had a pair of goals and was a plus-two on Tuesday.

Dating back to the regular season, the Raiders have only given up one goal against the Blades in the last five head-to-head meetings between the two sides.

The last time the Blades scored an even-strength goal against the Raiders came back during a regular season clash on February 14 at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. 

In that contest, Blades captain Tyler Parr scored at the 7:42 mark of the second period to put the Blades up 4-2 in that game. The Raiders would rally back and take that contest 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout.

The Raiders faithful influtrated the SaskTel Centre on Tuesday.

The Raiders have won seven straight head-to-head games against the Blades including action in both the regular season and post-season. The Blades last victory over the Raiders came back on January 31 with a 4-0 triumph at the Hauser, where Blades star netminder Evan Gardner made 36 saves to post the shutout.

In the three post-season meetings between these two clubs, Gardner, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, has easily been the Blades best player posting a .907 save percentage. However, he can’t go out and score goals for his squad, and it becomes impossible to win hockey games if the skaters in front of the goalie don’t score any goals.

Blades G Evan Gardner pins Raiders LW Ben Harvey.

Gardner was great again on Tuesday. He turned away 37-of-40 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades.

The Raiders final tally was an empty-net goal that was short-handed by 19-year-old centre Evan Smith with 30.3 seconds remaining in the third period.

The Blades came out to a good introduction and had some great support from their fans. They managed to get the first shot on goal of the contest.

Then at the 3:19 mark of the opening frame, Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube directed a shot-pass from the right corner of the Saskatoon zone to the crease of the Saskatoon net. Star linemate Brandon Gorzynski deflected home the puck to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead off their first shot on net.

Evan Gardner makes one of his 37 saves for the Blades.

That tally seemed to suck the enthusiasm of the Blades faithful out of the building.

The sizable contingent that came down from Prince Albert to support the Raiders was just getting started when it came to rocking all night. They did their best to turn the SaskTel Center into a home away from home for the Raiders.

The Raiders carried play through the rest of the first holding a 14-6 edge in shots on goal. The visitors also had a pair of power plays after their goal in the first 20 minutes, but Gardner proceeded to keep his team in the game.

The opening six minutes of the second period became the Braeden Cootes show. Just 64 seconds into the second, Raiders standout import rookie left-winger Alisher Sarkenov sprung Cootes into the Saskatoon zone on a breakaway. Cootes snuck a shot sick side through the right arm of Gardner to push the Raiders lead out to 2-0.

Michal Orsulak makes one of his 23 saves in his shutout win.

Just 4:42 later, Raiders standout 19-year-old import rookie defenceman Matyas Man pushed the puck up to Cootes allowing the skilled centre to break into the Saskatoon zone down the right wing. The Sherwood Park, Alta., product, who turned 19-years-old in February, deked wide around a Blades defenceman and from a sharp angle to the right of the Saskatoon goal, he fired home a shot to the top right corner of the net to make the Raiders advantage sit at 3-0.

Actually, Cootes was so good for the entire night that fans of the Vancouver Canucks will be hoping the centre will start next season on the NHL club’s main roster. Cootes has a signed entry-level contract with the Canucks.

The Blades proceeded to get a pair of power plays, and Blades star import right-winger David Lewandowski rang a shot off the post of the Prince Albert net near the end of the second power play.

Brandon Gorzynski scored the Raiders first goal on Tuesday.

With less than two minutes to play in the frame, Lewandowski had another big chance to hit the scoreboard, but Raiders import star rookie netminder Michal Orsulak pulled out a sweet glove stop to rob the skilled Blades forward.

Early in the third, Orsulak robbed Blades import left-winger Elias Pul with a left pad stop on a backhand shot. After that, it felt like the Blades were trying to work their way through quicksand to get back into the contest.

They ended up with a power-play chance shortly after Pul was stoned on his scoring chance when Raiders defenceman Linden Burrett was given a kneeing minor for a hit on Blades 17-year-old centre Ben Bowtell. Bowtell left the contest and didn’t return.

Brayden Dube had an assist on the Raiders first goal on Tuesday.

The Blades power play continued to be ineffective when it came to getting on the scoreboard.

That set the stage for Smith’s short-handed empty-net goal to close the proceedings on Tuesday.

Orsulak stopped all 23 shots he faced for his third shutout win of the post-season and second against the Blades in the WHL Playoffs. In the post-season series against the Blades, Orsulak has a 0.33 goals against average and a .982 save percentage.

Going into this rivalry series, the Raiders were the favourites.

They finished first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and second overall in the league with a 52-10-5-1 record during the regular season. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. 

Evan Smith (#21) reacts to his empty-net short-handed goal.

In the first round of the playoffs, Prince Albert eliminated the Red Deer Rebels, who were eighth in the Eastern Conference, in five games.

The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark. In the first round of the playoffs, they upset the Edmonton Oil Kings, who were third in the Eastern Conference and fifth overall in the WHL, in seven games taking Game 7 by a 3-2 score in overtime. 

In the seven games against the Oil Kings, the Blades played their best hockey of the 2025-26 campaign.

Before the playoffs started, expectations were high that the Raiders would face the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers in a heavyweight showdown in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference Championship Series. 

The Raiders and Blades still engaged in a handful of scrums.

The Tigers finished second overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and third in the league’s overall standings at 50-10-5-3. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

They lead the other best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinal Series 3-0 against the Calgary Hitmen. Medicine Hat will try to close that series out in Game 4 on Wednesday in Calgary.

At the moment in the series between the Raiders and Blades, only the most optimistic of Blades fans would still hold belief that their team will keep their campaign alive at the conclusion of Game 4 on Wednesday. The thought process would be that the Raiders seven game winning streak in head-to-head contests between both sides including action in the regular season and post-season has to end at some time.

The Raiders begin celebrating their win on Tuesday.

For now, it is hard to imagine any outcome on Wednesday that doesn’t see a celebration amongst the Raiders faithful that will again be at the SaskTel Centre when Game 4 comes to a close.

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“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.

Raiders in command of Eastern Conference Semifinal

Prince Albert takes 2-0 lead in series with rival Blades

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

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders are in the driver’s seat.

On Saturday playing before a raucous sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the 2,580 seat storied and historic Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders blanked their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades 3-0 in Game 2 of a WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series while also holding a 37-15 edge in shots on goal. Combined with their convincing 6-1 victory in Game 1 on Friday before another sellout crowd at the Hauser, the Raiders hold a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven set.

The series now switches over to Saskatoon. Games 3 and 4 will be held Tuesday and Wednesday at the SaskTel Centre for a 7 p.m. start time on both nights.

Owen Corkish does a flyby after scoring for the Raiders.

Going into those two upcoming contests in Saskatoon, the Raiders are feeling good about where they are at.

“It feels amazing,” said Raider 18-year-old rookie right-winger Owen Corkish. “It feels really good.

“We’re not going to get too overwhelmed. We’re going to stay simple and keep doing the things we need to do, and that is what is going to lead us to success.”

In Saturday’s clash, the two sides played through a scoreless first period, where the Raiders held an 11-3 advantage in shots on goal. Prince Albert’s shots were put up via a more gradual pace due to the Blades doing a little better job of getting to pucks in their own zone and transitioning up ice.

Evan Gardner mades one of his 34 saves in goal for the Blades.

The Blades looked like they were going to get the biggest first break of the contest when Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube was given a double minor for high sticking. That infraction will be automatically reviewed by the WHL Office for a possible suspension, which is a standard practice by the circuit.

The visitors weren’t able to create any dangerous scoring chances on those two power-play chances due to the Raiders stellar work on the penalty kill.

With 10:05 remaining in the second period, a fight developed between two unlikely combatants in Raiders standout 16-year-old rookie defenceman Brock Cripps and Blades 17-year-old rookie centre Ben Bowtell. The two combined for 48 penalty minutes during the regular season. Both players got a couple of good shots in before the two players ended up wrapped up together after the short bout.

A Raiders fan has sympathy for Blades goalie Evan Gardner.

That set the stage for the Raiders to break onto the scoreboard. With about 6:30 remaining in the second, the Blades broke into the Prince Albert zone and Blades sophomore star centre Cooper Williams appeared in prime shooting position with the puck in front of the Raiders net.

Raiders star centre Max Heise stole the puck from Williams and passed the puck to Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph to start a rush up ice. Rudolph passed the puck up to Raiders standout left-winger Maddix McCagherty, who entered the Saskatoon zone jetting down the left wing.

McCagherty dropped the puck back to Rudolph at the top of the left faceoff circle. Rudolph fired a drive on goal that deflected off Blades star netminder Evan Gardner, bounced off Corkish and went into the Saskatoon net to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

Brock Cripps (#12) tangles with Ben Bowtell (#71).

“I saw Rudolph about to shoot the puck there on the net,” said Corkish. “I thought I should stand in front of the net and see what happens, see if there is a rebound.

“Luckily, it went off me and then in the net, so it was nice.”

With 2:04 remaining in the second, the Raiders pushed their lead out to 2-0. Blades defenceman Jack Kachkowski was trying to hold the puck in the Prince Albert zone at the left point, when he had the puck taken away from him by Raiders standout import rookie left-winger Alisher Sarkenov.

Sarkenow passed the puck to Raiders standout 17-year-old rookie right-winger Jonah Sivertson to start a two-on-one break into the Saskatoon zone. Sivertson ripped his first of the post-season to the top left corner of the Saskatoon net to give the Raiders their two-goal advantage.

Michal Orsulak made 15 saves to pick up a shutout win.

Just 61 seconds into the second, Sivertson was working with the puck along the left boards of the Saskatoon zone. He passed the puck to 19-year-old import shutdown defenceman Matyas Man, who one-timed home his first of the post-season to give the Raiders their 3-0 edge.

“I was pretty confident not that I am going to score, but that I am going to hit the net,” said Man. “I was like a little bit surprised that I scored.

“I am not there to score the goals. We have a lot of other players to score too.”

The Raiders proceeded to cruise to victory from that point.

Michal Orsulak stopped all 15 shots he faced to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Raiders. It was the second shutout of the post-season for Orsulak. Gardner turned away 34 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

Daxon Rudolph had an assist for the Raiders.

“I thought it was a better effort from our group for sure,” said Blades head coach Dan DaSilva. “We asked them to simplify our game, play a little bit harder, a little faster and a little more north-south.

“I thought that we did that for the most part. We were right there over halfway through the second period 0-0. We take a chance on a rush, a four-on-three, we don’t execute, and they come back and put it in the back of our net.

“It was a better effort from our group for sure. It is going to be a tall task. We know that, but I think it was a step in the right direction.”

During the first two games of the series in Prince Albert, Gardner has been the target of heckles from the Raiders faithful. DaSilva has no complaints about how his puck stopper, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, has played.

The faithful in the Art Hauser Centre cheer on the Raiders.

“Evan (Gardner) has been great,” said DaSilva. “He has given us everything he has back there.

“He has made some huge saves, especially early in the second period there. He stopped a couple of net front scrambles, made a couple of good pad saves and gave us an opportunity to keep on fighting. That is all you can ask of your goalie.

“I thought he has handled himself really well so far in this series.”

Going into this rivalry series, the Raiders were the favourites.

They finished first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and second overall in the league with a 52-10-5-1 record during the regular season. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the first round of the playoffs, Prince Albert eliminated the Red Deer Rebels, who were eighth in the Eastern Conference, in five games.

Jonah Sivertson (#28) celebrates scoring for the Raiders.

The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark. In the first round of the playoffs, they upset the Edmonton Oil Kings, who were third in the Eastern Conference and fifth overall in the WHL, in seven games taking Game 7 by a 3-2 score in overtime. In the seven games against the Oil Kings, the Blades played their best hockey of the 2025-26 campaign.

Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald has been pleased with how his club has played in their first two games of their post-season series with the Blades and how his squad battled in Game 2.

“I thought our guys did a tremendous job,” said McDonald. “We stuck with it.

Matyas Man was named a named the game’s second star.

“It took a period and a bit to get the first one. They (the Blades) came out hard. They pushed.

“We pushed back and continued to play fast, continued to play up the ice and play north and got our opportunities. The P.K. did a great job with a big kill at the end of the first and the second. We just continued to create our push from there.”

Now the series switches over to the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, and Man believes the Blades will come out with their best effort of the series in those contests.

“I think it is going to be harder,” said Man, who was a plus-three in the plus-minus department on Saturday. “They are going to have their fans, so as players, I think we just need to stick with what we are good in.

The Raiders salute their fans at the Art Hauser Centre.

“We just need to stick to our game.”

NOTE – The Raiders 50/50 jackpot drew a ticket where a team record $100,025 goes to the winner. As of the time this post went life, the jackpot had not been claimed. The winning number is C-115039.

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Raiders day – P.A. smashes Saskatoon 6-1 in Game 1

Prince Albert fans grill Blades goalie in series opener

Aiden Oiring (#19) celebrates scoring the Raiders first goal on Friday.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – So do you really want to fire up the Prince Albert Raiders faithful at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre?

Saskatoon Blades star starting netminder Evan Gardner discovered that might not have been the best thing to do. In his defence, Gardner might not have thought the fans in “Hockey Town North” were going to rally up, when he elected to say something to sum up the rivalry between the Raiders and Blades before the two sides faced each other in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.

Daxon Rudolph enjoys scoring the Raiders second goal on Friday.

“I genuinely hate the Raiders,” said Gardner during a media conference on Thursday in Saskatoon. “I think everyone in that room feels the same.

“Every time we play them, we have this fire in us, and it feels real. You really do hate them. You want to beat them so bad.”

It was pretty safe to say almost everyone that was part of the sold out crowd of 3,299 spectators at the 2,580 seat fabled home rink of the Raiders were aware of Gardner’s comments, when the two sides played Game 1 of the series in Prince Albert.

Even before the game started, hex chants for Gardner were raining down from the stands. Just 3:41 into the contest, Raiders star centre Aiden Oiring got the puck in the right corner of the Saskatoon zone, skated in close to the Saskatoon net and put home a shot short side on Gardner to put the host side up 1-0 to a huge eruption of cheers amongst the fans in the building.

Alisher Sarkenov (#24) hugs Braeden Cootes after scoring a goal.

Gardner tried to silence them a short time later making a glove save on Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes. That just seemed to stall the avalanche that was to come.

At the 5:17 mark of the opening frame, Raider standout left-winger Jonah Sivertson made a backhand centring pass from the right side boards in the Saskatoon zone to star Raiders defenceman Daxon Rudolph. Rudolph fired home a shot through Gardner’s five-hole to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead to bring the cheering of the team’s faithful up to another level. The hosts were rolling and holding a 9-0 edge in shots on goal at the time of Rudolph’s goal.

From that point, it felt like the Blades were playing against a crusade in Game 1. The Raiders pushed their lead out to 3-0 by the end of the opening frame holding a 19-2 edge in shots on goal. The host’s would push their edge to 4-0 by the end of the second period and would roll to a 6-1 victory.

The fans at the Art Hauser Centre cheer the Raiders third goal.

Gardner continued to be the target of heckles from the Raiders faithful. One Prince Albert fan even brought a big sign that showed a picture of a Raiders player scoring a beach ball on the Blades netminder, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The veteran puck stopper was pulled by the Blades following the second period. He stopped 27-of-31 shots fired his way to take the setback in net for Saskatoon. Ryley Budd, who is a 17-year-old rookie, played the third period in relief and turned away 9-of-11 shots sent his way.

A Raiders fan has a sign heckling Blades G Evan Gardner.

The Raiders pushed their advantage out to 6-0 at one point in the third period, and the fans at that moment started a chant of, “We want Gardner.”

Blades feisty sophomore right-winger Zach Olsen scored on the power play for the Blades with 9:18 remaining in the third to ruin the shutout bid for Raiders star 18-year-old rookie netminder Michal Orsulak. Orsulak would stop 16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders.

When the Raiders faithful are stirred up and engaged in a game right from the outset, the players on the Prince Albert side can feel it. All of sudden, the players are drawing energy from their supporters, and in those moments, the Hauser becomes seemingly an impossible place to play in for the opposition.

The Raiders fans were on their game against the Blades.

Friday’s Game 1 felt eerily similar to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series played between these two sides back on April 5, 2019. Going into that series, then Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid accused the Blades of embellishment and taking dives in order to draw penalties. Habscheid knew what he said would get the Raiders faithful fired up, and the theatrics worked for Game 1 of that series.

The Raiders fans placed signs on the glass in the Blades end during warm up that basically said diving wasn’t permitted in the Hauser. The faithful were all over the Blades with their taunts and the Raiders rolled on that night to a 6-1 victory. Of course, the Raiders in the WHL Playoffs of 2019 would go on to win the WHL title.

Brandon Gorzynski sets to fire home the Raiders fourth goal.

Ryan McDonald, who is the Raiders head coach in the current day, didn’t have to say anything to get his team’s fans fired up. Gardner unknowingly did that during the Blades presser on Thursday.

With 4:02 remaining in the first in Friday’s clash, Cootes broke into the Saskatoon zone on a rush down the right wing. He put a pass across the face of the Saskatoon goal to import linemate Alisher Sarkenov. Sarkenov tapped the puck by Gardner to give the Raiders a 3-0 advantage.

Raiders star left-winger Brandon Gorzynski, who turned 19-years-old in March, wired a mid range shot past Gardner at the 12:01 mark of the second to make the host side’s lead stand at 4-0.

Just 91 seconds into the third, Oiring wired his second of the night from the low right side of the Saskatoon net on the power play to push the Raiders advantage out to 5-0. The Raiders struck again on the power play 63 seconds later when star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube roofed a shot from the front of the Saskatoon net into the top right corner of the goal to make the Raiders lead sit at 6-0.

A couple of young fans cheer Brandon Gorzynski’s goal.

Rudolph and Gorzynski each finished the contest recording one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. Raiders captain Justice Christensen recorded three assists and a plus-two rating just a day after signing a two-year AHL contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

The hosts seemed to hit home runs everywhere on Friday. They had a 50/50 draw where the winner took home $84,200. Oiring, who was the game’s first star, made a young little girl’s night by giving her a souvenir stick.

Prince Albert entered the series with Saskatoon as the favourites.

The Raiders finished first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and second overall in the league with a 52-10-5-1 record during the regular season. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the first round of the playoffs, Prince Albert eliminated the Red Deer Rebels, who were eighth in the Eastern Conference, in five games.

The Raiders salute their faithful at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark. In the first round of the playoffs, they upset the Edmonton Oil Kings, who were third in the Eastern Conference and fifth overall in the WHL, in seven games taking Game 7 by a 3-2 score in overtime. In the seven games against the Oil Kings, the Blades played their best hockey of the 2025-26 campaign.

Game 2 of the series between the Raiders and Blades is slated for 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Blades have been resilient this season, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to expect the Saskatoon side will have a better effort in Game 2.

If the Raiders are able to continue to roll like they did in Game 1, they might sweep this best-of-seven series in three games.

A young fans is pumped to get a souvenir stick from Aiden Oiring.

At the moment, fans in “Hockey Town North” are celebrating a Friday that was the Raiders day.

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.