Silvertips cash in on Raiders bend in 3-2 Game 3 win

Everett takes 2-1 lead in WHL Championship Series

Julius Miettnen (#17) does a fly by after his game-winning goal.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Michal Orsulak couldn’t stop everything.

That was the belief the Everett Silvertips had as they fired piles and piles of pucks at the rookie import star netminder of the Prince Albert Raiders in Game 3 of the WHL Championship Series on Tuesday night at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre. Entering the third period locked in a 2-2 tie, it appeared Orsulak was going to force the contest to go to overtime as the visiting Silvertips held a 21-8 edge in shots on goal.

Everett broke through with 4:28 remaining in the third. Silvertips standout sophomore defenceman Brek Liske took a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle and the puck rebounded off Orsulak’s left pad to the right side of the Prince Albert net.

Julius Miettinen scored the winning goal for the Silvertips.

The rebound landed right on the stick of Silvertips star import centre Julius Miettinen. Miettinen put a backhand shot into the open right side of the Prince Albert net to give the Silvertips a 3-2 lead.

The Silvertips then had to close out the third by surviving a buzzer-beating shot attempt by Raiders standout sophomore right-winger Riley Boychuk. With the final seconds ticking away in the third, Boychuk found himself in position for a mid-range shot off to the left of the Everett net. Boychuk’s drive just missed going into an open top right corner of the Everett net allowing the Silvertips to hold on to a 3-2 victory to the disappointment of almost all the sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the 2,580 seat facility.

“The puck just kind of came out to my stick, and I had an empty net,” said Miettinen, who leads the current WHL Playoffs with 13 goals. “I can’t really miss those when I get a chance.”

Matias Vanhanen had the Silvertips first goal on Tuesday.

The win by the Silvertips gives them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven set. Game 4 is set for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. local time back at the Hauser.

Miettinen centres the Silvertips top line that includes star right-winger Carter Bear and star import rookie left-winger Matias Vanhanen. They accounted for two of Everett’s three goals as Vanhanen opened the game’s scoring at the 11:45 mark of the first period by jetting into the Prince Albert zone on a solo effort and wiring a shot from just above the left faceoff circle past Orsulak.

Bear had assists on both Miettinen’s and Vanhanen’s markers. In the three games of the WHL final, Miettinen had three goals and four assists, Bear had three goals and two assists, and Vanhanen had one goal and two assists.

Michal Orsulak turned away 41 shots in net for the Raiders.

“I think we just outworked the lines we were playing against,” said Miettinen. “We crashed the net, and we have a lot of rebounds.

“We have three great players on the same line, and I feel like you can’t really match that line.”

After Vanhanen gave the Silvertips a 1-0 lead, the Raiders pulled even while working on the power play. With 1:41 remaining in the first, Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes passed the puck to star centre Max Heise at the top of the left faceoff circle, and Heise one-timed home his fourth tally of the post-season to even the score at 1-1.

Just 1:59 into the second frame, the Raiders jumped ahead 2-1 as Ben Harvey from the front of the Everett net tipped home a mid-range shot from Raiders captain Justice Christensen. At that point in the contest, the action was fairly tight checking as the shots on goal were even at 8-8.

Braeden Cootes had an assist for the Raiders.

Harvey was pleased to be able to help manufacture a goal at that point in the contest to put his team ahead.

“Obviously, it was a big moment in the game,” said Harvey. “We just have to continue to stick with it, and finish off the full 60.”

From that point in the contest, the Silvertips really started to pepper Orsulak. Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald said you could feel the game turn at the midway point of the second.

“I thought we played a really good first 30 minutes,” said McDonald. “We were quick, (and) we were direct.

“We got pucks behind and got to work. Then, they were able to tilt the ice on us. Discipline has to be a big key for us, and you’ve got to stay out of the penalty box and not give them some opportunities on the power play.

Max Heise had the Raiders first goal on Tuesday.

“I thought our penalty kill did a great job when they were out there, but again, those are hard minutes that you’ve got to play. For us on the power play, we just got to look to capitalize on our opportunities and continue to keep inching that shot clock up. Again, we have an opportunity for us to reset, refocus and get ready for tomorrow.”

For a moment, it looked like the Raiders were going to escape the second period with the lead. That all changed with 1:53 remaining in the second, when Silvertips defenceman Luke Vlooswyk, who turned 19-years-old in January, fired a point shot through a screen to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net to even the score at 2-2. That goal was Vlooswyk’s first career tally in WHL post-season action.

“It was pretty exciting to get that monkey off the back,” said Vlooswyk. “It felt unbelievable.

Ben Harvey (#20) gave the Raiders a 2-1 lead early in the second.

“(It was a) big goal, and I think we got a lot of energy off of it.”

At the start of the third, the Raiders killed off two Silvertips power plays, which included playing 68 seconds where Everett held a five-on-three advantage. The Raiders proceeded to get back-to-back power plays, but they were unable to take the lead. That set the stage for Miettinen’s winner and the dramatics in the final seconds of the third.

Silvertips head coach Steve Hamilton said the two penalty kills his team got in the third were big for his side and gave credit to Silvertips star netminder Anders Miller for ensuring those penalty kills were successful.

“It was pivotal in the game,” said Hamilton. “I’d prefer we didn’t have to see it at that time in the game, but the guy’s bench talk was good.

Justice Christensen (#7) had an assist for the Raiders.

“There was a sense of confidence and a sense of purpose, when you’re going into those moments. Let’s be honest. The game hangs in the balance in those types of moments.

“Guys dug in and got key blocks. Your best penalty killer is always going to be your goaltender. I thought Anders (Miller) was excellent tonight.”

Orsulak turned away 41 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Miller stopped 18 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips.

Liske finished with two assists for Everett.

The Raiders were 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Silvertips were 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

The Raiders were without star defenceman Daxon Rudolph on Tuesday, because he was sitting out a one-game WHL league imposed suspension for receiving a cross-checking major and a game misconduct near the end of Silvertips’ 6-2 victory in Game 2 on Saturday in Everett. Rudolph was in a battle with Bear and would end up cross-checking the Silvertips forward in the head.

Luke Vlooswyk reactions to getting the equalizer for the Silvertips.

Prince Albert’s coaches placed Linden Burrett on the top defensive pairing with Christensen to take the spot Rudolph normally occupied. Hubert Clarke, who is an 18-year-old rookie, dressed for his first career game in the WHL Playoffs playing on the Raiders blue-line. Clarke played with Brock Cripps, while 19-year-old import rookie Matyas Man was paired with Benett Kelly.

Burrett thought the juggling on the back end went well for his squad, and he felt ready to shoulder extra responsibilities on the Raiders top defensive pairing.

“Obviously, I’m willing to take the role,” said Burrett. “It is something I honour.

Carter Bear had a pair of assists for the Silvertips.

“I’m just trying to go out there and play my game as best I can. “Juice” (Christensen) is obviously a good player, so that is not very hard to adapt to.”

Going into the WHL final, there was no clear cut favourite.

Everett topped the WHL regular season standings, the Western Conference and the U.S. Division with a 57-8-2-1 record and was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Silvertips 57 wins and 117 standings points are team records.

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

The Raiders and Silvertips went head-to-head once in the regular season, where Prince Albert posted a 4-1 victory on November 11, 2025 at the Angel of the Winds Arena.

Anders Miller makes one of his 18 saves in goal for the Silvertips.

On the key injury front, the Raiders were without star left-winger Brandon Gorzynski with an undisclosed injury. 

He was injured in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series that the Raiders dropped 5-0 to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers at the Hauser.

The Silvertips were without star defenceman and captain Tarin Smith with an undisclosed injury. 

He was injured in Game 4 of a 6-3 victory over the Winterhawks in Portland as Everett closed out the first round series between the two clubs at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Brek Liske had a pair of assists for the Silvertips.

After the dust settled from Game 3 on Tuesday, Hamilton was pleased his squad took the series lead.

“We got it done,” said Hamilton. “Sometimes, how you want it scripted and how it gets scripted are two different things.

“We took the hand we were dealt there, and we really got it over the line. I was proud of our group in that third. (We are) one step further down the road.”

McDonald is looking forward to his team battling back. The Raiders trailed the Eastern Conference Championship Series 2-1 against the Medicine Hat Tigers before rallying to take that set in six games.

“It is never easy here in the finals,” said McDonald. “No games are ever easy.

The Silvertips celebrate their Game 3 win on Tuesday night.

“You just have to keep fighting. You have to keep striving for that consistent 60-minute effort and keep making sure that our details and our habits are tight and keep inching forward.”

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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Expected battle materializing in WHL final between Raiders and Silvertips

Braeden Cootes has three points in the first two games of the WHL final.

You didn’t think it was going to be easy?

After two games of the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series, the Prince Albert Raiders and Everett Silvertips find themselves locked in a 1-1 tie. The first two games were held at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett with the Raiders taking Game 1 last Friday 4-2 and the Silvertips rebounding with a 6-2 triumph in Game 2 one night later.

Both teams likely believe they could have exited the first two games holding a 2-0 series lead after reviewing video of the first two contests. A split was likely the fair outcome to start the set.

Going into the WHL final, there was no clear cut favourite.

Everett topped the WHL regular season standings, the Western Conference and the U.S. Division with a 57-8-2-1 record and was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Silvertips 57 wins and 117 standings points are team records.

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

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

Silvertips rebound with 6-2 win over Raiders in Game 2

WHL Championship Series tied 1-1 heading to P.A.

The Everett Silvertips got the bounce back and bounces they were looking for.

Business is also picking up in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series too between the Silvertips and Prince Albert Raiders. Signs of rivalry are starting to spring up between the two clubs that only play each other once in the regular season due to being in separate conferences.

On Saturday, the host Silvertips downed the Raiders 6-2 to the delight of 7,987 spectators at the Angel of the Winds Arena. The win was a big one for the Silvertips as they even the series 1-1 and avoid falling behind 2-0 in the set with the next three games slated for the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. local time, and Game 4 follows on Wednesday also at 7:30 p.m. local time. Game 5 will be on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. local time.

Game 2 was a little more competitive than the final score would indicate. The Silvertips were holding a 4-2 lead when star import centre Julius Miettinen scored into an empty net with 62 seconds remaining in the third and standout right-winger Jesse Heslop scored on a five-on-three power play with less than one second to play.

Frustration also came out during the final moments of the contest too. After Miettinen’s empty-net goal, Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who had assists on both Prince Albert goals, was in a battle with Silvertips star right-winger Carter Bear.

Rudolph hit Bear with a cross check and was given a major penalty for cross-checking by the officials for his actions. The major penalty to Rudolph will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

After Heslop’s power-play goal with less than a second to play, the officials decided to have one more faceoff at centre ice. Raiders centre Evan Smith tried to charge at opposite Silvertips centre Lukas Kaplan and was quickly grabbed by the officials and ushered off to the dressing room. Smith did pick up a minor penalty for roughing.

Under WHL rules, officials can elect to run out the clock in cases where there are five or fewer seconds left in a game and the contest is decided on the scoreboard, if they believe tensions are high enough an altercation can ensue. In this case, they likely didn’t need to have one more faceoff.

Saturday’s game was likely decided by the fact the Silvertips had an explosive first period jumping out to a 3-0 lead as puck luck seemingly went their way on every tally. Just 3:20 into the first, Bear picked up a puck that deflected to him at the left side of the Prince Albert net after a Raiders player blocked a shot from Miettinen. Bear wired a shot past Raiders star 18-year-old rookie import netminder Michal Orsulak to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Brock Cripps had the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

Just 2:11 later, Silvertips 18-year-old defenceman Kayd Ruedig collected a loose puck after a faceoff just inside the top of the right faceoff circle in the Prince Albert zone. He wired a shot past a screen to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net to push Everett’s edge out to 2-0.

Everett completed the three-goal first getting a beneficial board bounce similar to the ones the Edmonton Oilers used to get in the 1980s playing out of the Northlands Coliseum. While working on the power play, Miettinen took a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that missed the net but deflected off the boards behind the Raiders goal to star 20-year-old left-winger Rylan Gould at the left side of the net. Gould popped the puck from the positive bounce into an empty cage with 42.3 seconds remaining in the first to give the Silvertips their 3-0 advantage.

The host side held a 15-11 edge in shots on goal over the opening 20 minutes. The Raiders had great chances to score in the opening frame too, but they couldn’t Silvertips star 19-year-old netminder Anders Miller.

The Raiders came with a push back in the second period. While working on the power play at the 4:24 mark of the second, Rudolph had the puck low in the right corner of the Everett zone, and he put a pass out to rising star 16-year-old rearguard Brock Cripps at the top of the left faceoff circle. Cripps blew home a shot to the top right corner of the Everett net for a power-play goal that cut the Silvertips lead to 3-1.

Prince Albert continued to push after that tally. Raiders defenceman Linden Burrett hit the crossbar of the Everett net at about the midway point of the second. Following that missed chance, Raiders standout 19-year-old left-winger Maddix McCagherty was later stopped in close to the Everett net by Miller.

After those opportunities, the Silvertips came up with a killer tally. Working in the Prince Albert zone on a delayed penalty call, Miettinen fired a shot on goal from the left side boards that rebounded out to Bear all alone at the right side of the Raiders net. Bear fired his second of the contest into an empty cage to push the Silvertips advantage out to 4-1 with 22.2 seconds remaining in the second.

Prince Albert held a 15-9 advantage in shots on goal for the frame, but Everett still went into the second intermission holding a three-goal lead.

Bear’s second tally proved to be very important. At the 9:46 mark of the third, Raiders captain Justice Christensen fired home one of his “Juice Bombs” from the point to trim the Silvertips lead to 4-2.

Justice Christensen had the Raiders second goal on Saturday.

When the Raiders pulled Orsulak for an extra skater with three minutes remaining in the third, star centres Max Heise and Braeden Cootes along with Christensen all had prime scoring chances and were denied by Miller.

That set the stage for the Silvertips to score twice in the final 62 seconds of the third and all the extracurricular activities that occurred as the end of the contest played out.

Orsulak turned away 32-of-37 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Miller stopped 37 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips.

Miettinen finished the contest with four points coming off one goal and three assists. Ruedig had a pair of assists to go with his goal, and Silvertips star 16-year-old defenceman Landon DuPont had a pair of helpers in the win.

One day earlier, the Raiders posted a 4-2 victory in Game 1 of the series at the Angel of the Winds Arena.

Going into the WHL final, there was no clear cut favourite.

Everett topped the WHL regular season standings, the Western Conference and the U.S. Division with a 57-8-2-1 record and was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Silvertips 57 wins and 117 standings points are team records.

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

The Raiders and Silvertips went head-to-head once in the regular season, where Prince Albert posted a 4-1 victory on November 11, 2025 at the Angel of the Winds Arena.

In the WHL Playoffs, Rudolph leads the post-season scoring race with 26 points coming off nine goals and 17 assists to go with a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department. Miettinen sits second in the post-season scoring race with 24 points coming off 12 goals and 12 assists to go with a plus-17 rating. His 12 goals are tops in this year’s WHL Playoffs.

Daxon Rudolph had two assists for the Raiders on Saturday.

Now, all the attention in the series turns to Game 3 in Prince Albert on Tuesday, where one team will try to knock the other into the ropes by taking the series lead. Even with that immediate focus in mind, this series feels like it ultimately can venture into deep waters in going long.

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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Raiders ride Orsulak to Game 1 win in WHL final

Netminder makes 39 saves in 4-2 victory over Silvertips

Michal Orsulak made 39 saves in goal for the Raiders.

The more shots Michal Orsulak sees the better he plays.

In Game 1 of the WHL Championship Series, the star 18-year-old import rookie netminder of the Prince Albert Raiders had a sensational outing. Orsulak, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 220 pounds, stopped 39 shots to backstop the visiting Raiders to a 4-2 victory over the host Everett Silvertips before 7,697 spectators at the Angel of the Winds Arena.

The opener of the WHL final lived up to the hype of what would be expected of a championship series between two powerhouse teams.   

Everett topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-8-2-1 record and was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Silvertips 57 wins and 117 standings points are team records.

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

The Raiders and Silvertips went head-to-head once in the regular season, where Prince Albert posted a 4-1 victory on November 11, 2025 at the Angel of the Winds Arena.

Game 1 started with both teams bringing physical play that continued throughout the whole contest.

The Silvertips got on the board first at the 6:07 mark of the first period. Silvertips star rookie import left-winger Matias Vanhanen passed the puck from left side behind the Prince Albert net to the front of the goal to linemate and star right-winger Carter Bear. Bear fired home a shot to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net to put the host side up 1-0.

The officials checked out Bear’s goal with a lengthy video review looking for a puck being knocked down by a high stick at some point in the play. Once the review concluded, the goal was ruled as good.

Everett held a 12-8 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes and had a territorial edge in play in the opening frame.

The Silvertips came out of the game flying trying to build on their lead. Early in the frame, star 16-year-old defenceman Landon DuPont wired a shot off the crossbar while working on the power play.

A short time later at even strength, Silvertips right-winger Jaxsin Vaughan, who turned 20 in January, was sprung in on a breakaway into the Prince Albert zone. Vaughan tried to go five-hole on Orsulak only to be denied by the Prince Albert netminder.

Braeden Cootes had one goal and one assist for the Raiders.

The host side then had a third golden opportunity a short time after that. Star import centre Julius Miettinen had an opportunity to score at the left side of the Prince Albert net only to be stoned by Orsulak.

Then at the 5:12 mark of the second, the Raiders evened the score at 1-1. Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes had the puck behind the Silvertips net and made a backhanded centring pass coming out of the right side of the goal. The puck came out to standout rookie right-winger Jonah Sivertson, who quickly potted the equalizer for the visitors.

Both teams played physically in Game 1, and some work in the physical department would lead to the Raiders second goal of the contest. With 5:56 remaining in the second, Raiders defenceman Linden Burrett nailed Bear with a big hit.

Silvertips standout defenceman Brek Liske, who turned 18-years-old in January, took exception to the hit, and he cross-checked Burrett. Liske was given a minor penalty for cross-checking.

On the ensuing power play, Cootes fired a seeing-eye shot through a screen along the ice for a tally that put the Raiders up 2-1 with 4:53 remaining in the second.

At this point, the Raiders offence was on a roll. Playing a spot of four-versus-four hockey due to off-setting penalties, the Raiders found themselves working the puck in the offensive zone.

Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph passed the puck to captain and his defensive partner Justice Christensen in the left faceoff circle. Christensen wired home one of his “Juice Bombs” to push the Raiders advantage out to 3-1 with 2:10 remaining in the second.

The Silvertips came with a huge push in the third outshooting the Raiders 13-5 in the frame. Still, Orsulak stood tall keeping the host side at bay.

Silvertips star 20-year-old left winger Rylan Gould tried to resort to a pest measure to get Orsulak off his game. With about four minutes remaining in the third, Gould snuck in and got away with a slash to the back of the netminder’s leg. Orsulak was down on the ice for a moment before continuing in the contest.

With 2:23 remaining in the third, the Silvertips went to their fourth power play of the contest as standout 19-year-old rookie import defenceman Matyas Man was given a tripping minor.

Everett had star 19-year-old sophomore netminder Anders Miller pulled for an extra skater with the chance with the man-advantage. Just seconds into the ensuing power play, Miettinen jetted into the Prince Albert zone down the right wing and put home a backhand shot from the right faceoff circle with 2:09 remaining in the third for a power-play goal that cut the Raiders lead to 3-2.

Aiden Oiring had a long distance empty-net goal for the Raiders.

Now training by one goal, the Silvertips had Miller pulled again as they pressed in the Prince Albert zone. It appeared the Silvertips were going to have a glorious scoring chance as they moved the puck toward 20-year-old star centre Zackary Shantz at the left side of the Prince Albert net. Shantz wasn’t able to do anything as his stick was tied up by a backchecking Rudolph.

Raiders star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring got the puck and fired the puck down the ice for a long distance empty-net goal with 65 seconds remaining in the frame to round out the 4-2 final score in favour of the Raiders.

With 7.5 seconds remaining in the third, Man apparently didn’t forget about Gould’s slash to Orsulak about four minute earlier. As Orsulak froze the puck during a scramble around the Prince Albert net, Man took the opportunity to cross-check Gould down to the ice keeping him away from the Prince Albert puck stopper.

Miller turned away 22-of-25 shots to take the setback in net for the Silvertips.

Cootes finished the contest with one goal, one assist and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. He also had a key blocked shot early in the third period. Miettinen finished with one goal and one assist for the Silvertips.

The Raiders were 1-for-1 on the power play, while the Silvertips were 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

The Raiders were without star left-winger Brandon Gorzynski with an undisclosed injury. He was injured in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series that the Raiders dropped 5-0 to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre.

The Silvertips were without star defenceman and captain Tarin Smith with an undisclosed injury. He was injured in Game 4 of a 6-3 victory over the Winterhawks in Portland as Everett closed out the first round series between the two clubs at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Game 2 is set for Saturday at the Angel of the Winds Arena at 6 p.m. local time or 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time for those looking to catch the contest on TSN of Victory+ in “The Wheat Province.”

The pressure will be on the Silvertips to get a win in Game 2 to force a split in the first two contests of the series. If the Raiders win Game 2, they will hold a 2-0 series lead as the series shifts to Prince Albert for Games 3 and 4 and potentially Game 5 at the Hauser.

Game 3 is slated for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. local time and Game 4 follows on Wednesday also at 7:30 p.m. local time. If necessary, Game 5 will be on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. local time.

Justice Christensen had the winning goal for the Raiders.

If the Silvertips aren’t able to win Game 2, they might find themselves in a hole that they can’t get out of. If Orsulak has a second straight stellar game, that might end up being the case.

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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Raiders rise and pass Tigers challenge, face stiff Silvertips test in WHL final

The Raiders celebrate a goal by Daxon Rudolph (#10) on April 29.

The Prince Albert Raiders rose up and passed the test of the Medicine Hat Tigers, and they will now face a new stiff test in the Everett Silvertips in the WHL final.

The Raiders and Silvertips open the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series with Games 1 and 2 set for Friday and Saturday respectively at the Angel of the Winds Arena. The series will switch back to the Art Hauser Centre for Game 3 on Tuesday, May 12. The start time for all games of the series will depend on the TSN broadcast schedule and could change the longer the series goes.

When it comes to the WHL final, the Raiders have made two trips to the league championships series in their history coming up with title wins in 1985 and 2019. Prince Albert went on to win the Memorial Cup as CHL champions in 1985.

The Silvertips have gone to the league final twice in their history. They got there as an expansion team in 2004 and again in 2018 and weren’t able to come up with a WHL title on either occasion.

For the Raiders, they will be helped by the fact they made it to the WHL final after eliminating the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers in six games in the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series. While the Tigers were battling a flu bug for the entire series, they showed a heart of a champion, including a never give up battle, when the Raiders closed out the series with a 7-6 victory in Game 6 at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat this past Sunday.

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

What a battle! What a finish!

Raiders take conference title, Tigers rally falls short

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aiden Oiring scored for the Raiders on Sunday.

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

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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Corkish hatty puts Raiders one win away from WHL final

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jonas Woo scored the Tigers first goal on Friday.

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

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

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

Alisher Sarkenov scored the Raiders first goal on Friday.

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

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

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

The Tigers proceeded to battle back in the third. 

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

Ethan Neutens scored for the Tigers on Friday.

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

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

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

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

Ben Harvey had a goal for the Raiders on Friday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fans at the Art Hauser Centre cheer on the Raiders.

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

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

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

The Raiders celebrate their win on Friday.

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

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

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

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