Raiders’ Dube gets confidence boost as regular season ends

Prince Albert blanks Saskatoon 4-0 heading into WHL Playoffs 

The Raiders celebrate the first of two goals from Brayden Dube (#15).

Brayden Dube got the goal-scoring tune up he was looking for heading into his final foray into the WHL Playoffs.

On Saturday, the 20-year-old star right-winger fired home a pair of goals to power his Prince Albert Raiders to a 4-0 victory over the host Saskatoon Blades before 10,861 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. Dube accounted for the Raiders final two markers, and they both came in the second period.

At the 3:45 mark of the second, the Raiders rushed into the Saskatoon zone and defenceman Linden Burrett had the puck just inside the top of the right faceoff circle. He passed the puck down to Dube at the doorstep of the left side of the Saskatoon net, and the Roblin, Man., product one-timed home his first tally of the night to give the Raiders a 3-0 advantage.

Brayden Dube had 24 goals and 27 assists in 55 regular season games.

Dube proceeded to pick up his second goal at the 10:14 mark of the second with his squad working on the power play. Raiders star left-winger Brandon Gorzynski had the puck just coming off the right side boards in the Saskatoon zone and passed the puck to Dube, who was positioned at the top of the left faceoff circle.

Dube one-timed home a laser beam to the top right corner of the Saskatoon net. That tally put the Raiders up by the game’s final score of 4-0.

“It felt really nice, especially before playoffs to get that confidence up,” said Dube, who finished the regular season with 24 goals, 27 assists and plus-20 rating in the plus-minus department in 55 regular season contests. “Hopefully, it leads into playoffs coming up.”

Brayden Dube will make his final foray into the WHL Playoffs.

The win allowed the Raiders to finish with a 52-10-5-1 record. They were locked into finishing first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings entering play on Saturday.

The 52 victories allowed the current Raiders, who are rated fourth in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings, to match their 1985-86 team for posting the third highest regular season win total in the club’s history in the WHL. The 1985-86 Raiders posted a record of 52 wins, 17 losses and three ties.

The Blades fell to 34-27-5-2 with the setback. They entered play on Saturday locked into finishing sixth in the Eastern Conference.

Hubert Clarke (#8) fights Triston Mitchell-McElhone (#25).

Having joined the Raiders in a trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds early into his rookie season in the WHL in 2022-23, Dube said the current campaign has been his most memorable major junior season. He has enjoyed being on a Raiders side this season where he has been one of nine players who has scored 20-or-more goals. The last time the Raiders had nine players score 20-or-more goals was back in the 1985-86 season.

“It is obviously nice,” said Dube, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 184 pounds. “We can just roll lines.

“Every line is just really, really good. Having lots of goal scorers, it is a good mixture. Every game someone else is having a game, and the next game someone else gets a couple.

Alisher Sarkenov had one goal and one assist for the Raiders.

“It just works out perfect.”

While Dube has been part of a large mix of Raiders players who have had good seasons in 2025-26, Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald does not downplay how big of a part the veteran forward has been for the team.

“He has been huge,” said McDonald. “I mean his pace, the way he skates, the way he can drive the puck inside the dots with his skating and his release is tremendous.

“He is very effective on the hunt and gets under sticks and is able to close on guys quickly on the forecheck. He can also take away time and space on the track and really push the track as well. He does a tremendous job with his battle and is just a big piece of our puzzle.”

Daxon Rudolph had a slick assist for the Raiders.

McDonald said it was great to see Dube find the back of the net twice right before the Raiders embark on their journey through the WHL Playoffs.

“It is about confidence,” said McDonald. “He missed a little bit of time there.

“(It is) really nice to stack up some games for him here towards the end. It is really nice to see him get rewarded.”

In Saturday’s game, the rivalry between the Raiders and Blades hit high-level intensity shortly after the opening puck drop.

Just 19 seconds into the contest, a fight broke out between Raiders 18-year-old rookie defenceman Hubert Clarke and Blades 17-year-old rookie centre Triston Mitchell-McElhone. The two players were tied up for much of the lengthy bout with Mitchell-McElhone getting in the majority of hard punches.

Jonah Sivertson had the Raiders second goal on Saturday.

The Blades came out with some good early jump holding a 6-3 edge in shots on goal early in the opening frame. The momentum changed at the 8:33 mark of the stanza.

Raiders starting netminder Steele Bass passed the puck to rookie defenceman Benett Kelly to start a rush up ice. Kelly drove into the Saskatoon zone and fired a shot on net that was turned away with a blocker stop from Blades star netminder Evan Gardner.

Raiders rookie import 18-year-old left-winger Alisher Sarkenov picked up the rebound in the left faceoff circle and drove home his 21^st goal of the campaign to put the Raiders in front 1-0.

With 5:18 remaining in the opening frame and working on the power play, the Raiders would score again on another offensive zone rush. Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph made a backhanded pass in his own zone to Sarkenov to spring the import forward up ice on a rush.

Steele Bass made 30 saves to pick up the shutout win.

Sarkenov jetted down the left wing into the Saskatoon zone and passed the puck to the front of the Blades net to 17-year-old rookie right-winger Jonah Sivertson. Sivertson promptly fired home his 24^th goal of the season to push the Raiders lead out to 2-0.

When the first period ended, a scrum developed. While no big fights came out of the scrum, Bass and Gardner started skating towards centre ice to potentially have a goalie fight. Both netminders were intercepted by the officials and sent to their respective dressing rooms for the intermission.

“It is definitely a big rivalry,” said Dube. “Every time we play, it gets a little rough as you could tell.

“(There are) a couple of fights every game. Both sides want to win every time you play each other.”

Brandon Gorzynski had an assist on the Raiders fourth goal.

After Dube scored his second goal of the night in the second period, the Blades pulled Gardner. He stopped 20-of-24 shots to take the setback in net for Saskatoon. Riley Budd played the rest of the way in the Blades net in relief stopping all nine shots sent his way.

In the third, the two sides engaged in a major scrum with 1:44 remaining in the frame. Out of that scrum, a main event fight developed between Sivertson and Blades veteran defenceman Jack Kachkowski. Sivertson got the better of Kachkowski in that tilt and ended the bout with a takedown.

The two clubs proceeded to play a peaceful final 1:44 to end the contest.

Bass stopped 30 shots he faced to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Raiders. The shutout was the third of the season for Bass.

The Raiders and Blades scrum it up with 1:44 left in the third.

Kelly finished with two assists and a plus-one rating for the Raiders.

As the Raiders and Blades closed their respective regular season schedules on Saturday and couldn’t make any movements in the standings, they both scratched veterans and played younger lineups. McDonald was pleased with the effort of the players who took the ice for his side on Saturday.

“I thought the group did a great job,” said McDonald. “They pushed right off the start, and again, we answered.

“We continued to play fast. We continued to play north and got to our pace and got to our forecheck, which led to some offensive zone time and some chances for us. The guys did a great job capitalizing and just continued to stick with it and played a real simple road game.”

Jonah Sivertson (#28) fights Jack Kachkowski (#37).

Now both clubs turn their attention to the WHL Playoffs.

The Blades play a first round series against the Edmonton Oil Kings, who are locked into a third place finish in the Eastern Conference going into their final regular season contest hosting the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday. Game 1 of the best-of-seven first round series between the Blades and Oil Kings is slated for Friday at 7 p.m. local time at Rogers Place.

The Raiders will battle the Red Deer Rebels in a best-of-seven first round series. The Rebels finished eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 26-36-4-2 mark. Game 1 of that series is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

Reflecting on the upcoming post-season, Dube said he is looking forward to having a final playoff run with the Raiders and especially with fellow 20-year-olds and longtime teammates in star centre Aiden Oiring and captain Justice Christensen.

The Raiders celebrate their win on Saturday.

“I’ve been with them my whole career, and it has been an honour playing with them,” said Dube. “We’ve got a lot of games left, so it is going to be fun.”

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Christensen’s Gordie Howe hat trick powers Raiders over Blades

Prince Albert locks up first in WHL’s Eastern Conference  

Justice Christensen celebrates his second goal of Friday’s game.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Justice Christensen got the party started for the Prince Albert Raiders.

The 20-year-old captain delivered a signature game to give his Raiders a first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. He had a pair of goals, an assist, a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department and engaged in one fight to power Prince Albert to a 4-0 victory over their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades. The victory came before an elated standing room home crowd of 3,076 spectators at the 2,580 seat storied and historic Art Hauser Centre.

With the win, the Raiders improve to 51-10-5-1. While the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers improved to 49-10-5-3 with a 9-3 victory over the Rebels in Red Deer on Friday to remain two standings points back of the Raiders, Medicine Hat loses out on the standings tiebreaker. Both teams have one game remaining in their respective regular season schedules, and the Raiders are guaranteed to finish with more wins than the Tigers to take the standings tiebreaker.

Justice Christensen (#7) fights Tyler Parr (#20).

The Raiders will also finish second overall in the WHL behind the Everett Silvertips (56-8-2-1), while the Tigers will place third overall. Everett is rated first in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings, Prince Albert is fourth in those ratings and Medicine Hat is rated fifth.

Friday’s tilt between the Raiders and Blades got off with some good fireworks just 38 seconds into the contest with a fight between captains of the two sides in Christensen and Tyler Parr of the Blades. The players went at it for about a solid 30 seconds throwing a bunch of punches for arguably one of best fights of the 2025-26 WHL campaign.

The Raiders opened the game’s scoring on a beauty power-play goal at the 7:57 mark of the first period. Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph had the puck in his own zone and hit star centre Braeden Cootes with a slick stretch pass right before the Saskatoon blue-line.

Justice Christensen had a Gordie Howe hat trick on Friday.

Cootes burst into the Saskatoon zone and beat Blades netminder Taye Timmerman mid-height to the glove side to give the hosts a 1-0 edge.

With 5:44 remaining in the first, the Raiders pushed their edge to 2-0 on a goal from sophomore right-winger Riley Boychuk. Boychuk tipped home a puck in front of the Saskatoon net that came from a point shot taken by Raiders standout left-winger Maddix McCagherty.

Christensen would complete the Gordie Howe hat trick with 6:24 remaining in the second frame firing home a “juice bomb” point shot for his 17^th goal of the season. That tally pushed the Raiders advantage to 3-0.

Daxon Rudolph had a pair of assists for the Raiders on Friday.

At the 5:22 mark of the third, Christensen fired home his second “juice bomb” shot of the contest with this one coming from midrange to make Prince Albert’s lead sit at 4-0. The marker was Christensen’s 18^th goal of the campaign.

Blades starting netminder Taye Timmerman got dinged up on the Raiders fourth goal. The associate player call up was pulled after turning away 26-of-30 shots sent his way to take the setback in net for Saskatoon. Timmerman, who turned 19-years-old in late February, had been playing in the junior A ranks with the Warman Wolverines of the SJHL and had been making his second WHL regular season start on Friday.

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

Blades star netminder Evan Gardner stopped all five shots he faced playing the rest of the way in relief.

Michal Orsulak stopped all 16 shots he faced to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Raiders. The shutout was the fourth of the season for the rookie Czech import start netminder.

Rudolph finished with two assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department. Cootes and Boychuk each had an assist to go with their goals, and both had a plus-one rating.

Michal Orsulak made 16 saves to pick up the shutout win.

The Blades fell to 34-26-5-2 with the loss and are locked into finishing sixth overall in the Eastern Conference. They will face the 44-18-3-2 Edmonton Oil Kings, who finished third overall in the Eastern Conference, in a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs.

The Raiders could still potentially face either the Regina Pats (25-33-7-2), the Red Deer Rebels (26-35-4-2) or the Moose Jaw Warriors (25-35-5-2) in the first round of WHL Playoffs. The Pats, Rebels and Warriors all finish their respective regular season schedules on Saturday.

The Raiders and Blades go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon to close out their respective regular season schedules. After that clash, the focus turns to the WHL post-season.

The Raiders salute their fans after their win on Friday night.

As Raiders fans have known for some time, Christensen has been an outstanding leader for the team. As he is playing out his final season of WHL eligibility, you can expect Christensen will do whatever he can in his power to help his squad conclude the 2025-26 campaign in a blaze of glory.

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Raiders in rare air with 20-goal men

Maddix McCagherty (#17) celebrates scoring his 20th goal last Friday.

Do you like 20-goal men?

While the Prince Albert Raiders have lots of 20-goal men – eight to be exact. Entering play on Tuesday, they include Daxon Rudolph (28), Aiden Oiring (28), Max Heise (28), Brandon Gorzynski (27), Braeden Cootes (22), Jonah Sivertson (22), Brayden Dube (21) and Maddix McCagherty (20). At the moment, 18-year-old import rookie left-winger Alisher Sarkenov is sitting on 19 goals. If he scores one more goal, that would give the Raiders nine 20-goals scorers.

The Raiders 2018-19 WHL title winning team didn’t even have eight 20-goal scorers. The five players who hit the 20-goal mark in that campaign included Noah Gregor (43), Brett Leason (36), Parker Kelly (35), Cole Fonstad (29) and Sean Montgomery (29).

The last time the Raiders had eight players who hit the 20-goal plateau was back in the 1991-92 campaign. The players that hit the 20-goal mark that season included Lee Leslie (52), Jeff Nelson (48), Dan Kesa (46), Dean McAmmond (37), Donevan Hextall (33), Curtis Regnier (30), David Neilson (25) and Jeff Gorman (23).

If Sarkenov scores one more goal to hit 20, it would give the Raiders nine players who hit the 20-goal plateau for the first time since the 1985-86 campaign. That season they included Pat Elynuik (53), Ryan Stewart (52), Dale McFee (47), Tony Grenier (42), Steve Gotaas (40), Kim Issel (29),Scott Kruger (26), Emanuel Viveiros (22) and Rod Dallman (20).

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

Raiders one win away from top spot in Eastern Conference

Prince Albert downs Regina 8-4 to reach 50^th victory  

The Raiders enjoy the 20th goal from Alisher Sarkenov (#24) this season.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – One down. One to go.

The Prince Albert Raiders are one win away from locking up first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. On Tuesday playing before 2,511 spectators at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders downed the visiting Regina Pats 8-4 in a WHL regular season contest for a fourth straight victory.

With the win, the Raiders improve to 50-10-5-1 marking the first time they’ve won 50-or-more games in a season since going 54-10-2-2 back in the 2018-19 campaign when they last won the WHL title and also topped the WHL’s regular season standings.

Ben Harvey had two goals for the Raiders on Tuesday.

In the current day, the Raiders need to win one of their final two games in order to lock up top spot in the Eastern Conference for the first time since that WHL championship season and ensure second place finish in the overall WHL standings. Standing in the Raiders way are their archrivals in the Saskatoon Blades.

Those two clubs close their respective regular season schedules playing a home-and-home series against each other. The Raiders will first attempt to take top spot at home on Friday, when they host the Blades at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. If Prince Albert isn’t able to take that contest, the Raiders get a second chance on Saturday when they meet the Blades at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

Keets Fawcett scored his 30th goal of the campaign for the Pats.

The Raiders currently sit two points up on the Medicine Hat Tigers (48-10-5-3). Prince Albert would lock up top spot in the conference with one more win due to being assured of claiming a standings tiebreaker of finishing with more wins than Medicine Hat in that scenario. The Raiders are rated fourth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, while the Tigers are rated fifth in the ratings.

Prince Albert opened the scoring of Tuesday’s clash with Regina right after killing the first penalty of the contest in the first period.

Right when the kill came to an end, Raiders rookie defenceman Benett Kelly, who turned 18 in February, got a hold of the puck in his own zone a fired a pass up to centre ice to Raiders 16-year-old right-winger Ben Harvey, who just got out of the penalty box after serving a minor infraction. Harvey jetted into the Regina zone on a breakaway and fired home his 13^th marker of the year through the legs of Pats netminder Marek Schlenker to put the host side up 1-0 at the 5:49 mark of the frame.

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

Just 2:26 into the second, Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes popped home his 23^rd of the season from low in the left faceoff circle to push the host side’s lead out to 2-0. The Pats responded 59 seconds later when rookie left-winger Mathis Paull, who turned 17 in late January, snipped home his seventh of the campaign on a two-on-one break to cut the Raiders lead to 2-1.

Right before the midway point of the second, Raiders right-wingers Riley Boychuk and Jonah Sivertson netted singles to give the Raiders a 4-1 advantage. Prince Albert took that three-goal lead into the second intermission holding a 28-11 edge in shots on goal.

Mathis Paull had one goal for the Pats on Tuesday.

Just 71 seconds into the third, Pats left-winger Keets Fawcett netted his 30^th goal of the season, and star defenceman Reese Hamilton tallied on the power play at the 9:03 mark of the frame to cut Prince Albert’s lead to 4-3.

Raiders 18-year-old import left-winger Alisher Sarkenov proceeded to put home a backhander from the front of the Regina net for his 20^th goal of the season. Brayden Dube and Max Heise proceeded to add singles for Prince Albert to make the host’s lead sit at 7-3.

Pats 19-year-old centre Ellis Mieyette proceeded to score for Regina and Harvey picked up his second of the contest for the hosts to round out the 8-4 final in favour of the Raiders.

With Sarkenov hitting the 20-goal mark, the Raiders now have nine players on their team who have scored 20-or-more goals this season, which is the most for the club since the 1985-86 campaign.

Alisher Sarkenov is 20-goal man number nine for the Raiders.

For the current Raiders, their 20-goal scorers include Heise (29), Daxon Rudolph (28), Aiden Oiring (28), Brandon Gorzynski (27), Cootes (23), Sivertson (23), Dube (22), Maddix McCagherty (20) and Sarkenov (20).

The Raiders 20-goal scorers from the 1985-86 campaign included Pat Elynuik (53), Ryan Stewart (52), Dale McFee (47), Tony Grenier (42), Steve Gotaas (40), Kim Issel (29), Scott Kruger (26), Emanuel Viveiros (22) and Rod Dallman (20).

Michal Orsulak stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Cootes had a pair of assists to go with his goal and finished with a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department.

Schlenker turned away 34-of-40 shots to take the setback in net for the Pats. He was pulled after the Raiders sixth goal at the 11:11 mark of the third period.

Jonah Sivertson scored for the Raiders on Tuesday.

Associate player call up in 16-year-old Drake Mooney played the rest of the way in relief turning away 7-of-9 shots sent his way. Mooney had been playing with the Prairie Hockey Academy U18 Prep team in Moose Jaw, Sask.

The Pats fall to 25-32-7-2 with the loss and are still holding on to seventh place in the Eastern Conference. They need one more standings point to clinch a berth in the WHL Playoffs.

The Pats close their regular season schedule with a home-and-home series with the Brandon Wheat Kings. The two sides play on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre in Regina on Friday, and they meet again on Saturday at Assiniboine Credit Union Place in Brandon at 6 p.m. local time.

The Raiders celebrate their 50th win of the season on Tuesday.

Now, the Raiders turn their attention to Friday’s home game against the Blades. If the Raiders take that clash to capture a first place finish in the Eastern Conference, the party is going to be on for their faithful in “Hockey Town North.”

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Raiders survive major scare by Pats’ Tabashniuk

Prince Albert claims 2-1 (SO) victory over Regina

An extremely hot goaltender almost threw a wrench into the Prince Albert Raiders chances for finishing first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

On Saturday night, the Raiders traveled to Regina to face the Pats, and were almost stonewalled by Regina’s 18-year-old rookie netminder Taylor Tabashniuk. Tabashniuk was turning away everything including the kitchen sink and looked like he was going to steal a victory to the delight of the 5,558 spectators at the Brandt Centre.

Pats 17-year-old centre Zachary Lansard scored his 23^rd goal of the campaign with 2:13 remaining in the third to give the host side a 1-0 lead. With 50.3 seconds remaining in the frame and the Raiders having pulled star import netminder Michal Orsulak for an extra skater, Raiders star centre Max Heise popped home his 28^th goal of the season to even the score at 1-1 and force overtime.

After playing through a scoreless three-versus-three overtime session, the contest went to a tiebreaking shootout. Ben Harvey and Braeden Cootes scored for the Raiders in the shootout as the visitors took the tiebreaking session 2-0 and the overall WHL regular season contest 2-1.

The victory was a third straight for the Raiders, who improved to 49-10-5-1. They have the identical amount of standings points as the Medicine Hat Tigers at 104 in the race for top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Tigers won their third straight downing the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-5 in overtime on Saturday night at Co-op Place to improve to 48-10-5-3.

Prince Albert holds the standings tiebreaker over Medicine Hat due to having more wins. The Raiders, who are fourth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, have three games remaining on their regular season schedule, while the Tigers, who are fifth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, have two games left on their regular season slate. If the Raiders win two of their final three games, they will lock up top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Pats saw their record move to 25-30-7-2 picking up one standings point with the extra time setback to remain seventh in the Eastern Conference. They need to earn one more standings point over their last three games to lock up a berth in the WHL Playoffs.

Along with Tabashniuk’s play and the late rally by the Raiders, Saturday’s clash included a spirited fight near the end of the second period between Raiders 19-year-old import rookie defenceman Matyas Man and Pats 17-year-old rookie right-winger Shea Rollason.

After the Raiders were denied on countless scoring chances, Lansard received a cross-ice pass from linemate Mathis Paul at the right side of the Prince Albert net and popped home the go-ahead goal to give the hosts their 1-0 lead. Lansard’s marker came on the Pats second shot of the period and 14^th shot on goal in the contest.

With 50.3 seconds remaining in the third, Heise received a pass in front of the Regina net from the right corner of the Pats zone from linemate Brayden Dube. Heise fired a shot to the top right corner of the Regina goal to even the score at 1-1 and force overtime. Heise’s tally came on the Raiders 22^nd shot of the period and 51^st shot on goal in the contest.

In overtime, Orsulak allowed the Raiders to stay in the big game making three big saves coming off the sticks of Pats forwards Cohen Klassen, Ellis Mieyette and Ruslan Karimov. Karimov was denied during a power-play chance late in the stanza.

In the shootout, Harvey, who is a 16-year-old rookie right-winger, was the Raiders second shooter, and he scored a highlight reel goal that was absolutely sick. Cootes sealed the win as the Raiders third shooter snapping home a mid-height shot glove side on Tabashniuk.

Tabashniuk turned back 52 shots over 65 minutes and one of three shooters in the shootout. Orsulak stopped 16 shots over 65 minutes and both shooters he faced in the shootout.

The Pats return to action on Sunday when they travel to Moose Jaw to face the 23-35-5-2 Warriors (2 p.m., Temple Gardens Centre).

The Raiders get back at it on Tuesday when they return home to host the Pats (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Tigers rally for 6-5 (OT) win over Hurricanes

The Medicine Hat Tigers nearly didn’t go 8-0 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

On Saturday playing at home before 5,209 spectators at Co-op Place, the Tigers found themselves trailing the rival Hurricanes for most of the final WHL regular season clash between the two sides in the 2025-26 campaign. The Hurricanes were holding a 5-3 lead with 11:31 to play in the third after 17-year-old right-winger Kai Anderson scored his second goal of the contest.

With 10:06 remaining in the third, Tigers star centre Markus Ruck deflected home his 20^th goal of the season in front of the Lethbridge net to cut the Hurricanes edge to 5-4. Ruck got a smart stick on a point shot from import defenceman Veeti Vaisanen.

With 4:30 remaining in the third, Tigers 18-year-old left-winger Kade Stengrim potted his hat trick tally of the contest and 23^rd marker of the campaign to even the score at 5-5 and force overtime.

Tigers star right-winger Liam Ruck ended things scoring his second goal of the contest at the 1:56 mark of overtime to give the host side a 6-5 comeback victory.

Tomas Malinek, Oli Chenier and Kayden Longley all had singles for the Hurricanes.

Jordan Switzer stopped 12 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers, who did indeed win all eight head-to-head meetings with the Hurricanes in 2025-26. Leif Oaten turned away 38 shots to take the setback in net for the Hurricanes.

The win was a third straight for the Tigers as they improved to 48-10-5-3 for 104 standings points. They have the same amount of standings points as the Prince Albert Raiders (49-10-5-1) in a battle for top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Raiders downed the host Pats in Regina 2-1 after a tiebreaking shootout on Saturday night.

Prince Albert holds the standings tiebreaker over Medicine Hat due to having more wins. The Raiders, who are fourth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, have three games remaining on their regular season schedule, while the Tigers, who are fifth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, have two games left on their regular season slate. If the Raiders win two of their final three games, they will lock up top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Markus Ruck finished Saturday’s game with one goal and two assists for the Tigers. He leads the WHL scoring race with 102 points coming off 20 goals and 82 assists. Liam Ruck, who is Markus’s twin brother, sits second in the WHL scoring race with 99 points coming off 43 goals and 56 assists.

The Tigers have also eclipsed their wins and standings points total from last season when they topped the Eastern Conference with a 47-17-3-1 mark for 98 points. They have also scored more goals this season at 331 than they did last season at 300.

Last season, the Tigers had superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna on their roster, and he took home honours as the WHL player of the year and the CHL player of the year. McKenna is currently playing in the NCAA ranks with the Penn State University Nittany Lions.

The Hurricanes record moved to 17-44-3-1 to sit second last in the overall WHL standings.

They return to action on Wednesday returning home to host the 25-34-4-2 Red Deer Rebels (7 p.m. local time, VisitLethbridge.com Arena).

The Tigers get back at it on Friday when they travel to Red Deer to take on the Rebels (7 p.m. local time, Marchant Crane Centrium).

Silvertips work over time to clinch first overall in WHL

The Everett Silvertips worked overtime to lock up first place overall in the WHL.

On Saturday, star import centre Julius Miettinen, who turned 20-years-old in January, scored his 32^nd goal of the campaign at the three-minute mark of overtime to deliver the host Silvertips to a 4-3 victory over the Penticton Vees to a raucous gathering of 8,249 spectators at the Angel of the Winds Arena. The victory allowed the Silvertips to increase their winning streak to nine games and improve to 54-7-2-1 to capture the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for finishing first overall in the WHL’s regular season standings for a second straight year.

The Silvertips 54 wins and 111 standings points equaled team records that were set in the 2006-07 campaign. In 2006-07, the Silvertips posted a 54-15-1-2 mark to finish first overall in the WHL’s regular season standings.

Currently, the Silvertips are rated first in the CHL’s Top 10 Rankings.

In Saturday’s win over the Vees, Tarin Smith scored twice for the Silvertips, while Zackary Shantz had a single. Ryden Evers replied with a pair of goals for the Vees, while Matteo Danis had a single.

Anders Miller stopped 40 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips. Andrew Reyelts turned away 34 shots to take the setback in net for the Vees.

With the extra time setback, the Vees record moved to 41-14-6-4 to remain second overall in the Western Conference and fourth overall in the WHL. The Vees are rated eighth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Silvertips return to action on Sunday when they travel to Portland to take on the 29-29-6-1 Winterhawks (4 p.m. local time, Veterans Memorial Coliseum).

The Vees return to action on Tuesday when they host the 26-34-4-1 Tri-City Americans (6:30 p.m. local time, South Okanagan Events Centre).

The previous two times the Silvertips finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings in 2006-07 and 2024-25, they were eliminated in a Western Conference semifinal series both times in the WHL Playoffs.

Blades rebound with win over Broncos

One day after suffering a disappointment, the Saskatoon Blades rebounded against the foe that caused the disappointment.

On Friday at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades held a 3-1 lead early in the third period over the visiting Swift Current Broncos only for the Broncos to rally for three straight goals to pull out a 4-3 victory in overtime in a WHL regular season clash. On Saturday playing before 2,488 spectators at the InnovationPlex in Swift Current, those two squads met again, and the visiting Blades pulled out a 4-2 victory scoring twice inside the final two minutes of the third period.

Just 38 seconds into the first, rookie left-winger Carter Moen, who turned 17-years-old in late February, scored his 10^th of the season to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead. The Blades would score twice before the nine-minute mark of the opening frame to take a 2-1 lead with goals coming off the sticks of defenceman Jordan Martin and star centre Cooper Williams.

With 2:42 remaining in the second, Broncos 19-year-old right-winger Hudson Darby scored on a breakaway to even the score at 2-2.

The second period had an increase of feisty play with a couple of fights breaking out in the frame. With 7:01 remaining in the frame, Blades defenceman Jack Kachkowski took on Broncos centre Brock Burch. With less than a minute remaining in the third, Blades offensive-defenceman Brayden Klimpke took on Moen in a spirited bout.

In the third, Blades 17-year-old rookie left-winger Ben Bowtell scored the winner for the visitors with 6:44 remaining in the frame. Blades captain Tyler Parr scored an empty-net goal with less than 35 seconds remaining in the stanza to round out the 4-2 final score in favour of the visitors.

Associate player call up Taye Timmerman, who turned 19-years-old in late February, made his first WHL start and stopped 11 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Timmerman had been playing in the junior A ranks with the Warman Wolverines of the SJHL.

Archer Cooke turned away 34-of-37 shots to take the setback in goal for the Broncos.

Rowan Calvert, Hunter Laing and Klimpke each picked up two assists for the Blades in the win.

The Blades improved to 33-25-5-2 with the victory to remain sixth overall in the Eastern Conference. As the WHL Playoffs near, the Blades can’t finish any lower than sixth in the conference and the highest they can finish is fifth in the conference before opening up play in the post-season.

In order for the Blades to finish fifth in the conference, they need to win their remaining three games and would need the Brandon Wheat Kings (38-25-2) to lose all of their remaining three contests in regulation time.

The Broncos fell to 14-43-4-5 to sit last in the WHL.

The Blades return to action on Wednesday when they host the Wheat Kings (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Broncos get back at it on Friday when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors (7 p.m., InnovationPlex).

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 equals Raiders record held by Morrissey

Prince Albert romps over Moose Jaw 11-0

Daxon Rudolph scored his 28th goal of the season on Friday.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - Daxon Rudolph wants to take things as they come when it comes to being the lone holder of a cool Prince Albert Raiders team record.

The star defenceman is happy to be sharing a Raiders team mark with one of the best playing along the blue-line in the current day. On Friday playing before a standing room crowd of 2,890 spectators at the 2,580 seat storied and historic Art Hauser Centre, Rudolph, who turned 18-years-old on March 6, had a goal and three assists helping his Raiders romp to an 11-0 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors in a WHL regular season clash.

With the Raiders holding a 1-0 lead entering the second, Rudolph tallied on the power play firing home a shot the front of the Moose Jaw net to the top right corner of the goal to put the Raiders up 2-0. That tally was Rudolph’s 28^th goal of the season and it equaled the Raiders team record for most goals in one regular season by a defenceman.

Daxon Rudolph equaled the one season record for goals by a D-man.

Josh Morrissey, who is a star defenceman with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, was the first blue-liner to score 28 goals in regular season for the Raiders, when he was the team’s captain in the 2013-14 campaign. During that season, Morrissey recorded 28 goals and 45 assists for 73 points in 59 regular season games to go with a plus-six rating in the plus-minus department. Morrissey’s 28 goals for one season a Raiders defenceman went unmatched until Rudolph picked up his 28^th tally on Friday.

“It feels good,” said Rudolph, who also had a plus-three rating on Friday. “I mean, obviously being named with a guy like (Josh) Morrissey is pretty special.

The Raiders celebrate Daxon Rudolph’s 28th goal of the season.

“He is having a tremendous career, and he is going to play for a lot more years to come. (It is) pretty cool for sure, and I hope to break it here in the next couple of games. I am just happy about the two points.

“The team played a really good game.”

In a game where seemingly everyone on the Raiders was having a good night, Rudolph’s accomplishment wasn’t lost amongst the team’s coaches and players. The rearguard also leads the Raiders in scoring with 74 points coming off his 28 goals to go with 46 assists and a plus-26 rating appearing in all of the team’s 64 games this season.

Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald said it has been special to watch Rudolph have the season he has had as a second-year player in the WHL. The bench boss said equaling the team record for most goals by a defenceman held by Morrissey makes Rudolph’s campaign even extra special.

Daxon Rudolph leads the Raiders in scoring with 74 points.

“It is impressive,” said McDonald. “You watch how he does his business out there.

“You just watch in the first period where he is getting pucks past the first layer of blocks that he did. He got pucks there (to the net) and shot with a purpose to create rebounds. When he got his opportunity, he was able to put it in the back of the net.

“His hockey I.Q. is through the roof defensively and offensively with how he does stuff like that.”

While Rudolph had a great night, Raiders 16-year-old rookie right-winger Ben Harvey had an even more memorable night. In the win, he led the Raiders in goals (three), assists (three), points (six) and plus-minus (plus-six).

Daxon Rudolph had three assists and a plus-three rating on Friday.

Harvey’s hat trick was his first in his WHL career. Still, he was pumped Rudolph equaled Morrissey’s Raiders record for most goals in one season by a defenceman. Harvey and Rudolph were part of the Northern Alberta Xtreme academy program for a couple of seasons from 2022 to 2024, so the young forward was pumped to see his long time friend equal a Raiders team record with one of the club’s most famous alums.

“It is obviously something that is very cool going up with him (Rudolph) and knowing him before I came here,” said Harvey. “He is obviously a very special player.

“He is going to do great things in his career. To tie a record put up by such a great defenceman (in Morrissey), I am not surprised. He (Rudolph) is a great player.

Ben Harvey celebrates his first of three goals on Friday.

“It is something very cool to be a part of.”

Harvey scored his first of the night just 21 seconds after Rudolph’s tally to give the Raiders a 3-0 advantage. The host side would proceed to surge out to 7-0 lead heading into the second intermission.

On the Raiders fifth goal that came at the 9:28 mark of the second period, Rudolph had the puck in prime shooting position at the left point. Instead of going for lone possession of the goals record there, he started a tick-tack-toe passing play that saw the puck go to star centre Braeden Cootes and then to breakout star centre Max Heise, who popped home his 27^th tally of the campaign.

Maddix McCagherty had two goals and two assists on Friday.

“I try not to think about it (the goals record) too much when I’m out there,” said Rudolph. “I just always try to make the right play.

“I saw Cootesy (Cootes) open there through the seam, and he fired one right back to Heise, who ended up putting it in the back of the net. (It was) a really nice play by our power play. I thought we were pretty good tonight.”

In the third with the Raiders rolling with a more than comfortable lead and ultimately adding four more goals in that frame, it was apparent that thoughts about helping Rudolph get the record came up. During a couple of offensive zone faceoffs, the Raiders lined up with a set play to give Rudolph a shooting chance, if they could execute on the draw.

Rudolph said his defensive partner and Raiders captain in Justice Christensen talked to him about getting the record in the third.

“Justice (Christensen) is a little bit bugging me on the bench about it and trying to get me another one,” said Rudolph. “He fired a pass to me I remember off the rush.

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

“I shot one, but it didn’t end up going in. Really, (it is) not the end of the day or not the end of the world. I’m not thinking about it a whole lot.

“It is cool, obviously, and you want to get another one. You are just trying to play hockey and make the right play.”

In Friday’s win, Raiders standout left-winger Maddix McCagherty had two goals, two assists and a plus-five rating. Cootes finished with one goal, three assists and a plus-three rating. Alisher Sarkenov, Jonah Sivertson and Brock Cripps all had singles for the Raiders.

Michal Orsulak stopped 17 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Raiders.

Chase Wutzke turned away 19-of-24 shots starting in net and taking the loss for the Warriors. He was pulled after the Raiders fifth goal. Kyle Jones turned aside 18-of-24 shots playing the rest of the way in relief for the visitors.

The Raiders return to action on Saturday when they travel to Regina to take on the Pats (6 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Raiders salute their faithful at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Warriors get back at it on Sunday when they return home and host the Pats (2 p.m., Temple Gardens Centre).

Going forward, McDonald said Rudolph has a pretty good shot at outright breaking Morrissey’s record as the Raiders continue to push for first overall in the Eastern Conference.

“For him (Rudolph), we got more games left in the holster here,” said McDonald. “He is going to get lots of opportunities to get that opportunity.

“He is a tremendous player, and he is a team first guy. That is where his mind is at.”

Odds and Ends:

Michal Orsulak picked up his third shutout of the season.

• With Friday’s win, the Raiders improve to 48-10-5-1 and remain tied with the Medicine Hat Tigers (47-10-5-3) for first in the Eastern Conference at 102 standings points. Prince Albert has a game in hand on Medicine Hat. The Raiders hold the standings tiebreaker due to having more wins.
• Orsulak picked up his third shutout of the season in Friday’s win. In 33 games in the 2025-25 campaign, the star rookie import netminder has posted a 25-4-4 record, a 2.27 goals against average and a .907 save percentage to go with his three shutouts.
• Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary is searching for one more win to become his team’s all-time leader in regular season head coaching victories. O’Leary is tied with Tim Hunter with 189 career wins.
• The Warriors fell to 23-35-5-2 with the loss and sit ninth in the Eastern Conference two points back of the Red Deer Rebels (25-34-3-2) for eighth place and the conference’s final playoff berth. Red Deer has one game in hand on Moose Jaw.
• Only four Raiders skaters were held without a point on Friday. They included Christensen, Riley Boychuk, Brandon Gorzynski and Owen Corkish.
• The Raiders were 2-for-3 on the power play on Friday, while the Warriors were unable to score on their one chance with the man advantage.
• The Raiders wore fan designed jerseys on Friday as part of CHL promotion. The jerseys were auctioned off online with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to President’s Choice Children’s Charity to help feed one-million children a year.

Stanks’ Three Stars

Ben Harvey had three goals and three assists on Friday.

1. Ben Harvey, (Raiders) – Had a career night with three goals, three assists and a plus-six rating. That is one of the most impressive outings seen by a 16-year-old Raiders rookie in recent years.
   
2. Daxon Rudolph, (Raiders) – Had one goal, three assists and a plus-three rating. He controlled play for the back end every time he stepped on the ice.
3. Maddix McCagherty, (Raiders) - Had two goals, two assists and a plus-five rating. He was one of many Raiders players who were rolling.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. This piece can also be found in the Prince Albert Daily Herald by clicking right here.

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Rush in driver’s seat in chase for first in NLL

Captain Ryan Keenan and the Rush sit first overall in the NLL.

For anyone who hasn’t heard, the good days are back for the Saskatchewan Rush.

Last season, the Rush finished second overall in the NLL posting a 13-5 record. That ended a reload stretch for the Rush where they just missed the post-season posting respective 8-10 records for three straight campaigns.

In the 2025 NLL Playoffs, the Rush advanced to the best of three NLL Championship Series where they fell 2-1 to the Buffalo Bandits, who claimed a third straight league title and their record seventh NLL championship in team history. In the series-deciding Game 3 on May 24, 2025 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., the Rush trailed 7-6 at halftime only to see everything go the Bandits way in the second half outscoring the Saskatchewan side 8-0 to roll to a 15-6 victory.

After returning to the NLL final in 2025 since last winning the league championship in 2018, the Rush entered the current campaign with the belief that it will be a special season. They jumped out to a 10-1 start thanks to a nine-game winning streak.

Their last two outings were heartbreakers. On February 27, they fell 11-10 in overtime to the three-time defending NLL champion Bandits in Buffalo, and one night later, the Rush came out on the wrong end of a 13-12 overtime decision to the Knighthawks in Rochester.

Still, the Rush still sit first overall in the NLL with their 10-3 record. They are holding off the Colorado Mammoth and Vancouver Warriors, who are both 9-4 and the Georgia Swarm, who are 8-4.

Going into the final stretch of the NLL regular season, the Rush are sitting in a good place when it comes to the race for top spot as they play four of their final five games in the friendly confines of their home venue in the SaskTel Centre. The Rush are 5-0 at home this season.

On Saturday, the Rush begin that final sprint when they host the San Diego Seals (6-6) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. The Seals are battling for their post-season lives sitting in a tie for seventh and eighth overall in the league with the Bandits. The top eight teams in the NLL’s overalls standings qualify for the post-season.

Robert Church has 67 points for the Rush so far this season.

The Rush last played at home on February 14, when they slipped past the Warriors 9-8 in overtime before a season-high crowd of 7,319 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. That should set the anticipation appetite for the upcoming clash with the Seals.

Leading the way for Saskatchewan are two of the team’s legends in Ryan Keenan and Robert Church. Keenan, who is the team’s captain, sits sixth in league scoring with 74 points coming off 31 goals and 43 assists. Church, who debuted with the Rush when the franchise was still in Edmonton back in the 2013-14 campaign, is ninth in league scoring with 67 points coming off 24 goals and 43 assists.

Veteran forwards Zach Manns and Austin Shanks are both having big years again for the Rush. Manns has 63 points coming off 29 goals and 34 assists, while Shanks has 57 points coming off 23 goals and 34 assists.

Long time transition player Mike Messenger and grizzled defender Matt Hossack have made their presence known. Messenger sits fifth in the NLL collecting 109 loose balls and third in blocked shots at 19. Hossack is tied for fourth in the NLL with caused turnovers at 20.

Young transition player Jake Naso continues to be a battler when it comes to faceoffs winning 203-of-301 faceoffs for a 67.4 per cent success rate.

In net, reliable star goalie Frank Scigliano leads the NLL with 10 victories posting a 10-2 record, a 9.08 goals against average and a 80.0 per cent save percentage.

Back on January 2, NLL icon Derek Keenan, who is the co-head coach and general manager of the Rush, became the first person in the history of the league to coach in his 300^th game. Along with co-head coach and associate general manager Jimmy Quinlan, the Rush have no worries when it comes to coaching.

The Rush have a real shot to win their fourth NLL title in team history and first championship since 2018. If anyone hasn’t been on the Rush bandwagon for some time, now is the time to get back on.

Title run for Huskies women’s hoopsters impressive

Gage Grassick and the Huskies are U Sports champs once again.

The U Sports women’s basketball championship trophy – The Bronze Baby – is finding a regular home on the University of Saskatchewan campus grounds.

On Sunday at the Amphitheatre Desjardins-Universite Laval in Quebec City, Quebec, the fifth-seeded Huskies took the title game of the U Sports Championship Tournament 77-68 over the second seeded University of New Brunswick Reds. That marked the second straight year the Huskies have won the U Sports title.

The Huskies have now won four U Sports titles in their team history with the first championship coming in 2016.

In Sunday’s win over the Red, Huskies fourth-year star guard Logan Reider led all scorers with 19 points, which included making 4-of-9 shots from three-point range. Fifth-year forward Ella Murphy Wiebe recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Fourth-year guard Maya Flindall fired home 17 points, while superstar point guard Gage Grassick posted 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.

The Huskies were up 52-50 after three quarters before pulling away for the win.

Murphy Wiebe was named the tournament MVP and a tournament all-star, while Grassick, who was named the Canada West Conference player of the year in each of the past two seasons, was also named to the tournament all-star team.

In 2025, the Huskies downed the Carleton University Ravens 85-66 in the U Sports title game in Vancouver. Those two squads met in the 2024 U Sports championship game in Edmonton, where the Ravens prevailed 70-67. That was the Ravens second straight U Sports title win.

The Huskies went through the 2025-26 U Sports regular season with a perfect 20-0 record to finish first in the Canada West Conference. Dating back to the 2024-25 campaign, the Huskies put together a program record 51-game overall winning streak.

Their winning streak came to an end on February 21, when they fell 61-58 in a Canada West semifinal to the University of Calgary Dinos on home court at the Physical Activity Complex on the U of S grounds. The Dinos went on to win the Canada West title.

The Huskies were awarded an at-large wildcard berth to the elite-eight U Sports Championship Tournament. In a quarter-final on March 5, they downed the fifth-seeded University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 71-55. In a semifinal on March 7, the Huskies grinded out a 55-43 victory over the eighth-seeded and tournament host Universite Laval Rouge et Or.

That set the stage for the title game victory over the Reds.

After that win, Grassick, Murphy Wiebe, forward Tea DeMong, guard Andrea Dodig and guard Anna Maelde all exhausted their respective U Sports eligibilities completing their fifth-years at that level. Going into the off-season Huskies iconic head coach Lisa Thomaidis will be faced with a reload.

With that said, the Huskies have set an impressive positive culture, so the reload might not take that long.

Last medal hurrah for Canada at Winter Olympics? Other notes

A Canadian flag.

For the sixth straight Winter Olympics, Canada won 20 or more medals, but one has to wonder if it will be the end of the line for that string of success.

At this past Winter Olympics that ran February 6 to 22 in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Canada collected a total of 21 medals including five gold, seven silver and nine bronze. First, I have to say I was proud of all the athletes who represented Canada, and I enjoyed watching those games.

With that said, I wonder if these most recent Winter Olympics will mark the last time Canada gets 20 or more medals at those games.

Back in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., Canada had the most gold medal wins at those games at 14 and the third most total medals at 26. The highlight, of course, was winning gold in both women’s and men’s hockey.

The performance at those games could be credited to the Own the Podium program running in strong form. While you can pick apart the horrible parts in the world of politics, I always felt like sports was a priority when Stephen Harper was the prime minister of Canada and the Conservatives ruled at the federal government level.

At this point in my life, the last prime minister I actually liked for Canada was Paul Martin and the Liberals under his watch, and they were last in power in early 2006. Actually, the last time core federal funding was increased for Canada’s 62 federally funded national sport organizations was in 2005 under that federal government.

When Harper was the prime minister, it did feel like there was an attitude from the federal government of wanting to win. Under the current federal government with the ruling Liberal party that is not like the Liberal party under Martin’s watch, it feels like the attitude is to just be in the mix and be a try hard nation when it comes to sports.

While I understand current Prime Minister Mark Carney has more than enough issues to occupy his time, it has felt like the Liberals have had the just be in the mix and try hard attitude for sports for some time.

Even after the Liberals became the ruling party at the federal level in 2015, Canada posted its highest metal total win at a Winter Olympics in 2018 at Pyeongchang, South Korea, with 29 medals including 11 gold, eight silver and 10 bronze. It seemed like those totals were a residual result from the push that happened in 2010 in Vancouver.

The total medal count has decreased in each of the next two Winter Olympics for Canada. For the Winter Olympics that just wrapped up, it seemed like a large number of athletes who won medals for Canada were in their 30s. While that is cool to see, you start wondering if those athletes will be part of the picture in four years time and wonder when the younger generation is going to come in.

As far as the Olympics go in either the Summer or Winter games in Canada, it seems the bulk of the country is on the bandwagon when Canada is winning medals. If Canada isn’t winning medals, there is apathy unless gold medal wins are not coming in women’s and men’s hockey.

I do believe there is a desire to get more young people into sports in Canada playing more of a recreation fashion, and I am all for that. Actually, I am all for getting people of all ages involved in all sorts of activities that gets them away from screen time on phones, computers and televisions. I believe the amount of time people spend on those devices is ridiculous.

If there is no new core federal funding for sports or no new avenues for funding for sports in Canada, I can’t see any want in the sports realm getting satisfied. At this point, I am expecting to see another drop in total medals won by Canada at the 2030 Winter Olympics to be held in the French Alps in France from February 1 to 17 of that year.

• The Prince Albert Raiders and the Medicine Hat Tigers are engaged in a sprint for first overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. Both teams have 100 standings points with the Raiders sporting a 47-10-5-1 mark, while the Tigers have a 46-10-5-3 record. The Raiders have a game in hand on the Tigers and currently hold the standings tiebreaker due to having more wins.
• With teams having anywhere from four to six games remaining on their respective regular season schedules, the WHL’s four division winners have been determined. At the moment, they all sit in the top four of the circuit’s overall standings. The U.S. Division champion Everett Silvertips (52-7-2-1) are first, the East Division champion Prince Albert Raiders (47-10-5-1) are second, the Central Division champion Medicine Hat Tigers (46-10-5-3) are third and the U.S. Division champion in the first-year Penticton Vees (41-13-5-4) are fourth. If those squads remain in the top four, it will mark the first time the WHL’s division winners have occupied the top four spots in the overall standings at the end of a season since the 2021-22 campaign.
• Medicine Hat Tigers star twin forwards Markus and Liam Ruck could finish in the top two of the WHL scoring race. At the moment, Markus leads the WHL scoring race with 98 points coming off 19 goals and 79 assists. Liam is second with 97 points coming off 41 goals and 56 assists. Both turned 18-years-old on February 21 and are expected to be high-level picks in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.
• A salute has to go to Saskatoon Blades manager Tanner Chubey for overseeing the great production his team puts on for their Victory Plus online home broadcasts. Chubey hosts a pre-game show as well as segments during both intermissions. He has done catch up interviews with a number of Blades alums on those broadcasts including alums that are coaches or managers with other WHL teams. The Blades home broadcasts I have seen have looked really good on Victory Plus. On top of doing that, Chubey coordinates all the post-game interviews and all the website and social media updates that the team needs done at game’s end too. A lot of that work ends up being really thankless, but the fans benefit the most when it is done.
• Naim Cardinal put together an outstanding piece on the Indigenous Rookie Cards site making the case that Prince Albert Raiders icon forward Dan Hodgson should be on the CHL’s Top 50 Players List for top 50 players in the last 50 years that was announced on February 10. The list attempts to weigh the impacts a player had in both his CHL days and professional days. Part of Cardinal’s case includes giving Hodgson’s professional accomplishments in Europe more weight. It is a great piece to check out, and it can be found right here.
• Due to battling illness over the last 10 days of February, I wasn’t able to get this teased earlier. On February 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a story on pitcher Garrett Hawkins heading to Spring Training as a member of the San Diego Padres MLB 40-man roster. Hawkins earned that opportunity after coming back from injury and having a great season in the minors in 2025 .The piece on Hawkins can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by images of familiar local area football faces playing in the Saskatoon Adult Flag Football League. That post can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a post that saluted forever Saskatoon StarPhoenix sportswriter Darren Zary heading into retirement on the blog. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
• On March 9, I had my most recent new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on Nicole Ostertag making a triumphant return to track and field. In the piece, Ostertag talked about how she almost quit the sport after a rough couple years on the injury and illness front. The piece on Ostertag can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by images of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team doing off-season training at the Indoor Training Centre. That post can be found by clicking right here.
• On Friday, I am going to have another back to the future moment with the independent Prince Albert Daily Herald. I’ve been back in the pages of the Daily Herald for some time including writing a regular WHL column for the longtime outlet since 2021. I was the main sportswriter there from 2001 to 2004 before moving on to the Medicine Hat News. On Friday night, I will be doing my first Prince Albert Raiders game story for the outlet since an exhibition contest in September of 2004. The Raiders host the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Art Hauser Centre. With the Raiders busy schedule, the gamer is going to be just online from my understanding. I might bring back my “Stanks’ Three Stars” for that night from my days with the News, which I did for WHL game stories for that outlet. I just never thought of doing that in my run with the Daily Herald from 2001 to 2004. Anyways, feel free to check the Daily Herald site on Saturday morning for my Raiders gamer, which 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.