Raiders capitalize on power play, schedule quirk

Prince Albert does in short-staffed Wheat Kings 5-2

Sloan Stanick, right, scores his first of three goals on Saturday.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Jeff Truitt was pleased his Prince Albert Raiders took advantage of a good hand that was dealt their way.

On Saturday night, the Raiders went 4-for-9 nine on the power play and downed a short-staffed Brandon Wheat Kings side 5-2 in a WHL regular season clash before an appreciative 2,626 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. The Wheat Kings were also playing their third game in three nights all on the road.

Brandon slipped past the Raiders 3-2 when the two sides met Thursday at the Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders proceeded to have Friday night off, while the Wheat Kings went to Saskatoon and beat the WHL leading Blades 4-1.

The Raiders celebrate a second goal from Sloan Stanick, centre.

In Saturday’s clash between the Raiders and Wheat Kings, the Brandon side played with only 15 skaters. The Wheat Kings were three short of the full complement of 18 skaters due to injuries and one suspension.

Truitt, who is the Raiders head coach, said it was important his team took advantage of a scenario that lined up in his club’s favour.

“We needed it,” said Truitt. “We need to play desperate.

“We knew they had a tough schedule with three in three, which is always hard to play with a short bench as well. We had to take advantage of it, and we did.”

The Wheat Kings injuries included forwards Roger McQueen, Joby Baumuller and Hayden Wheddon, who were all listed as day-to-day with upper body injuries. Centre Nicholas Johnson is listed as week to week with an upper body injury, netminder Ethan Eskit is day to day with a lower body injury and import defenceman Andrei Maliaven was out with an undisclosed ailment suffered on Friday in Saskatoon.

Sloan Stanick had his third career hat trick on Saturday.

Veteran 19-year-old centre Rylen Roersman was out serving a suspension with a length that is still to be determined for being given a checking from behind major in the Wheat Kings victory in Saskatoon on Friday.

When the Raiders went ahead 5-2 with 6:21 remaining in the third on a hat trick goal from star 20-year-old left-winger Sloan Stanick, frustration seemed to boil over on the Wheat Kings side. The final 6:21 featured one big scrum and a few moments when the visitors were losing their cool.

“They are on big three in three,” said Stanick, whose team was wearing special jersey’s for the club’s Kid Takeover Night. “We knew we had to get on their defencemen, and they were down some bodies.

Dominik Petr scored both Wheat Kings goals on Saturday.

“They obviously got a little frustrated there, but it was just saying on the bench just play between the whistles here and let’s get two (standings) points that we really need. You obviously want to defend your teammates and stick up for each other for sure. We were just trying to stay between the whistles.

“You can’t control what they do. We just have to control what we can do.”

The Wheat Kings opened the scoring in Saturday’s contest scoring on the tail end of power play. With 3:55 remaining in the opening frame, Wheat Kings 16-year-old right-winger Brady Turko had the puck at the left side boards and passed it to the doorstep of the right side of the Prince Albert net to 18-year-old import centre Dominik Petr. Petr popped home his 15^th of the season to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Justice Christensen had three assists for the Raiders.

Before the first intermission came around, the Raiders scored on a power play of their own. With two minutes remaining in the opening frame, Raiders centre Aiden Oiring tipped home a point shot from offensive-defenceman Justice Christensen to even the score at 1-1.

At the 7:44 mark of the second, the Raiders jumped in front 2-1 when Stanick wired home his 25^th goal of the campaign with his squad once again working on the power play. The hosts really started to take over play territorially in the second holding a 9-4 edge in shots on goal for the frame after holding a 10-8 advantage in shots on goal in the first period.

Aiden Oiring had a goal and two assists for the Raiders.

Stanick said it was big for his club to have the success they did on the power play on Saturday.

“We’ve been working on it lots,” said Stanick, who now has three hat tricks in his WHL career. “It is something that is going to help us win games getting those power-play goals, and it felt good.

“We’re clicking right now - just knock on wood keep it going.”

In the third, Raiders overage centre Turner McMillen scored off a rush to push the host side’s lead out to 3-1 at the 4:38 mark of the frame. Just under four minutes later, Stanick smartly put home his second of the night placing home a shot through a screen with the Raiders working on a two-man advantage to give Prince Albert a 4-1 lead.

Krzysztof Macias had three assists for the Raiders.

With 6:46 remaining in the third, Petr scored short-handed for his second goal of the night to cut the Raiders lead to 4-2. That wasn’t able to spark a comeback.

Just 25 seconds later, Stanick fired home his hat trick goal with his squad still working on the power play to give the Raiders a 5-2 advantage. Stanick said it was big for his side to respond quickly after Petr scored his short-handed goal.

“It was a good shot from their player there,” said Stanick, who has 27 goals and 46 assists for a team high 73 points this season. “We just wanted to stay composed.

“We knew we could win the game. We just had to play our game and to get that one to make it 5-2 was really good.”

Max Hildebrand stopped 15 shots to pick in goal for the Raiders. Carson Bjarnason turned away 29 shots to take the setback in net for the Wheat Kings.

Saturday’s game in Prince Albert include some word exchanges.

Oiring had a pair of assists to go with his goal. Christensen and import left-winger Krzysztof Macias both record three assists each for the Raiders.

The win allowed the Raiders to improve to 27-26-1-3 to remain seventh overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference three points up on the eight place 25-26-5 Lethbridge Hurricanes and four points up on the ninth place 23-25-7-1 Calgary Hitmen. The Hurricanes and Hitmen each have a game in hand on the Raiders and will play each other on Sunday in Calgary.

The Wheat Kings fall to 29-23-5-1 to remain sixth in the Eastern Conference six points up on the Raiders.

The Raiders return to action on Wednesday when they host the Red Deer Rebels (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Eric Johnston (#3) stands his ground defensively for the Raiders.

The Wheat Kings are off until Friday when the will host the visiting Raiders (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

The Raiders play seven out of their last 11 regular season games at home, and Truitt wants his side to strive to play more consistently both at home and on the road.

“It gives you confidence that is for sure, but we’ve been up and down,” said Truitt. “We were great at home and then we weren’t great at home.

The Raiders salute the crowd after their win on Saturday.

“We were great on the road. It flip flopped. It is always an advantage to play at home there is no doubt about that.

“You have to be able to manufacture things. No matter where you play at home or on the road you have to be to play the right way and play with pace and play with sacrifice and structure and things like that. It is nice to win at home don’t get me wrong, but somewhere in the later on down the line too you have to win on the road.”

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Three star selections evoke passion in WHL, hockey

Should they be objective on merit or a promotional tool?

Sloan Stanick in action for the Raiders earlier this season.

I underestimated how much passion could come up around the end of game three star selections in hockey.

For myself, I’ve long considered the three star selections to be a promotional tool. I basically see them as a showy thing for the home teams to use to give pats on the backs of the host side’s players.

I used to see them as an objective thing given out on merit for the happenings in that night’s game. That view is pretty much reserved for NHL contests these days. For any other hockey league in North America including the WHL, they are a promotional tool.

On Saturday night, I posted the sentiment on social media that the three star selections in the WHL don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things and are just showy things for the home team. I made that same post on Facebook, Instagram and Platform-X (formerly Twitter) with a screenshot of the top of the box score of the Prince Albert Raiders 4-3 overtime victory over the Hurricanes in Lethbridge on Saturday. All of the three star selections that night came from the host Hurricanes.

Those posts started attracting messages in the comments sections and direct messages poured in. All sorts of views came in about overall observations on three star selections, and the passion was there.

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

De La Gorgendiere eyes up long playoff run with Golden Bears

U of A pulls out 5-4 OT win over Huskies in Game 3

Aidan De La Gorgendiere (#6) shields the puck from a checker.

Welcome to the world of U Sports men’s hockey Aidan De La Gorgendiere.

The Abbotsford, B.C., product, who is best known for being a career member of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, is making an immediate impact with the storied University of Alberta Golden Bears. On Sunday playing a series deciding Game 3 of a Canada West Conference quarter-final set against the Golden Bears “forever rivals” in the University of Saskatchewan Huskies at Merlis Belsher Place, De La Gorgendiere scored his team’s first goal and picked up an assist on the overtime winner in a 5-4 victory.

The win allowed the Golden Bears to take the best-of-three set 2-1. The Huskies took Game 1 of the series 4-2 on Friday at Merlis, and the Golden Bears claimed Game 2 by a 3-2 final on Saturday at the same venue.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere had the Golden Bears first goal on Sunday.

With the series win, the Golden Bears advance to face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series with the dates and times to be determined for this coming weekend.

“It obviously feels awesome,” said De La Gorgendiere. “We didn’t play near to our best on Friday there.

“I feel like the last two games we kind of figured it out and got back to what makes us successful. We were skating good. We were moving our feet out there.

“It feels awesome to get the win.”

Aidan De La Gorgendiere drives a shot on goal for the Golden Bears.

When Sunday’s clash between the Golden Bears and Huskies went to overtime locked in a 4-4 tie, it seemed like the visitors found another gear holding a 5-1 edge in shots on goal. At the 4:53 mark of the extra session, De La Gorgendiere, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 188 pounds, got the puck over to rookie right-winger Connor McClennon on the right wing.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere assisted on the OT winner on Sunday.

McClennon fired a shot on goal that was redirected by Golden Bears fourth-year left-winger Daneel Lategan past Huskies netminder Roddy Ross to give the visitors their dramatic 5-4 victory to the disappointment of most of the 1,236 spectators in attendance.

In May of last year, De La Gorgendiere and McClennon were on opposite sides of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series. De La Gorgendiere was skating for the Blades and McClennon was playing for the Winnipeg Ice. The Ice swept the best-of-seven series 4-0 to bring an end to De La Gorgendiere’s WHL playing days.

Just a little over nine months later, De La Gorgendiere and McClennon were teaming to set up an overtime series winning goal for the Golden Bears.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere, left, gets in a net front battle.

“It is pretty crazy to think about,” said De La Gorgendiere, who will turn 22-years-old this coming Thursday. “Me and Connor have played against each other it seems like our whole lives.

“Being on the same team with him is pretty nice. Obviously, he is a pretty talented player and a skilled player. It is awesome to have him out there.

“We’re looking forward to the next round.”

De La Gorgendiere came to the Golden Bears after trying to find the right opportunity in the professional ranks. After he exhausted his WHL eligibility with the Blades, he went to camp with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche before the start of the current campaign.

When things didn’t work out with the Avalanche, De La Gorgendiere went to camp with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. The Admirals are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Nashville Predators.

Cade Hayes scored the Huskies first goal on Sunday.

De Le Gorgendiere was then sent down to the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL. He played 10 games for the Gladiators posting one goal, four assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department.

During that time, it crossed De La Gorgendiere’s mind that maybe he should put his professional hockey aspirations on the back burner and make sure he has something to fall back on in going the university hockey route to get a degree.

“Probably mid November, I kind of decided I should reconsider my schooling package I got with the Western Hockey League,” said De La Gorgendiere, who is in the arts faculty at the U of A. “I am here now.

“I’m focused on winning a championship. Obviously, I still want to play pro.”

Dawson Holt (#16) had the Huskies second goal on Sunday.

De La Gorgendiere began playing with the Golden Bears after they returned from their Christmas break. In 10 regular season games with the Golden Bears, De La Gorgendiere recorded one goal, 10 assists and a minus-two rating. In the three-game series victory over the Huskies, De La Gorgendiere posted one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating.

He added he got swayed to joining the Golden Bears due to the fact they had a number of his former Blades teammates on their roster including Blake Gustafson, Wyatt McLeod, Noah Boyko, Eric Florchuk and Josh Paterson.

Alex Thacker had a pair of goals for the Golden Bears on Sunday.

“It did for sure,” said De La Gorgendiere about joining the Golden Bears due to the presence of numerous Blades alums. “Obviously, the program speaks for itself the history of guys signing pro deals and NHL deals, American League deals and whatever it may be out of this program.

“It was a pretty easy decision for me.”

As for Sunday’s game between the Golden Bears and Huskies, momentum seemed to jump constantly between the two sides. The Huskies got out to a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by rookie centre Cade Hayes, and the hosts pushed their edge out to 2-0 early in the second on a tally from third-year right-winger Dawson Holt.

Ty Prefontaine had a short-handed goal for the Huskies.

At the 4:20 mark of the second, De La Gorgendiere scored for the Golden Bears to get them some traction and cut the Huskies lead to 2-1. Golden Bears rookie left-winger Alex Thacker followed with a pair of goals to put the visitors up 3-2.

With 5:09 remaining in the second, Huskies third-year defenceman Ty Prefontaine scored a short-handed goal to even the score at 3-3.

De La Gorgendiere said the intensity of the clashes between the Golden Bears and Huskies was similar to what he experienced in the rivalry games in the WHL played between his Blades and their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders. He said the momentum changes in Sunday’s contest between the Golden Bears and Huskies were noticeable.

Vince Loschiavo gave the Huskies a 4-3 lead in the third.

“I think on our end we probably could have been a little more tight in our neutral zone and defensive zone there,” said De La Gorgendiere. “We had a couple of breakdowns there.

“It is the ebbs and flows of hockey. It seems like it happens in every game. This one seemed to be a little more I guess.

“All in all, I thought we competed hard and played well.”

The Huskies went back out in front 4-3 at the 6:44 mark of the third after third-year star right-winger Vince Loschiavo scored on the power play. The host side finished the contest 1-for-4 on the power play.

Tyler Preziuso scored for the Golden Bears to force OT.

The Golden Bears would even the score at 4-4 with a power-play goal of their own coming at the 10:49 mark of the third off the stick of third-year right-winger Tyler Preziuso. The visitors were 1-for-7 on the power play.

That set the stage for the Golden Bears to get the game and series winner in overtime from Lategan.

Second-year netminder Ethan Kruger made 29 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Golden Bears. Ross turned away 29 shots to take the setback in net for the Huskies.

Going into this Canada West quarter-final series, the two sides weren’t separated by a whole lot. The Huskies, who are rated eighth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, finished fourth in the Canada West regular season standings with a 20-6-1-1 record. The Golden Bears placed fifth with an 18-8-2 mark.

Daneel Lategan scored the OT winner for the Golden Bears.

U of A will be an underdog in a semifinal series against the Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds, who are rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, topped the Canada West regular season standings with a 22-4-1-1 mark. They also won three out of the four head-to-head meeting with the Golden Bears in the regular season.

With that noted, De La Gorgendiere believes the chemistry of his Golden Bears side is coming around, and he has faith his squad will give the Thunderbirds a good battle.

“They are a skilled team,” said De La Gorgendiere. “Obviously, they have some high end talent up front and some good D-men as well.

The Golden Bears celebrate their OT win and series victory on Sunday.

“We just have to bring our A-game. We have to come ready to skate and come ready to play, and I think we should find success.”

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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Dinos’ Wood soaks in homecoming series win

U of C downs Huskies 2-0 in series deciding Game 3.

Gabriella Durante, left, and Dana Woods celebrate a Dinos series win.

Dana Wood got to run it back in Saskatoon.

The fifth-year captain of the University of Calgary Dinos women’s hockey team has experience her share of success in her hometown of Saskatoon. For three seasons from 2015 to 2018, Wood played defence for the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA team.

During that period of time, Wood helped the Stars win two SFU18AAAHL titles, two Western regional playdown series and make two appearances in the Esso Cup female under-18 AAA national championship tournament. Wood’s final game with the Stars came in the championship final of the 2018 Esso Cup played at the County Lifestyle Centre in Bridgewater, N.S. The Stars fell in that contest 2-1 to the St. Albert Slash from Alberta.

Dana Wood is playing her final season with the Dinos.

On Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place on the University of Saskatchewan campus, Wood and the Dinos faced the host Huskies in a series deciding Game 3 of a Canada West quarter-final series. The 23-year-old picked up an assist on the Dinos winning goal as they blanked the Huskies 2-0 to take the series 2-1.

The Huskies claimed Game 1 of the set 2-1 on Friday at Merlis, and the Dinos claimed Game 2 by a 2-0 scored on Saturday at Merlis. Wood had numerous family and friends in attendance among the 307 spectators on Sunday and throughout the weekend. It felt like old times for her to experience a playoff series win in her hometown.

“It was super awesome,” said Wood, who had career highs in goals (three), assists (nine), points (12) and plus-minus (plus-nine) appearing in all of the Dinos 28 regular season games. “I think everyone kind of wanted to stay in Calgary.

A number of Dana Wood’s family and friends came to cheer the Dinos.

“It was between U of S and MRU for who we were going to play for this round. Most people wanted to stay in Calgary to avoid the seven drive, but I was so excited to come home. I just knew that we would get so many fans out.

“I think we have seven girls from Saskatchewan at least. We had so many fans come out too. It felt like I was playing at home partially, so it was super fun.”

With the series win, the Dinos advance to play the defending Canada West champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a best-of-three Canada West semifinals series in Vancouver. The dates and times for that set this coming weekend are still to be announced.

Dana Wood had a career high 12 points for the Dinos this season.

Skating in her final campaign with the Dinos, Wood is pumped her final post-season run with the team is going to the Canada West semifinal round.

“I just have a craving for that really high level of competition getting far into playoffs,” said Wood, who stands 5-foot-3. “Those are the games you want to play in.

“I got really used to playing in those games when I was younger. It feels awesome to be back in that mindset. The excitement can’t be beat.”

On Sunday, the Dinos and Huskies played through a fairly even opening frame with the host side holding a 13-11 edge in shots on goal.

Dinos captain Dana Wood is an alumna of the Saskatoon Stars.

A big early turning point came at the 13-minute mark of the opening frame. Huskies centre Kate Ball destroyed Dinos centre Jolie Nafziger with a big open ice hit in the centre ice zone. Ball was given a minor penalty for interference.

The Dinos struck near the end of the ensuing power play. During a net scramble, a rebound came out to Dinos third-year right-winger Josie McLeod at the right side of the U of S net. McLeod popped home the power-play marker to give the visitors a 1-0 lead with Wood and rookie left-winger Kyla Mitenko picking up helpers.

At the 11:34 mark of the second, the Dinos got a key insurance goal to go ahead 2-0. Dinos fifth-year star right-winger Elizabeth Lang sprung Dinos veteran star left-winger Courtney Kollman on a breakaway. Kollman ripped a shot past Huskies star fifth-year netminder Camryn Drever to give the visitors a two-goal edge.

Josie McLeod, right, celebrates scoring the Dinos first goal.

Sophomore Dinos centre Sydney Mercier, who is another Saskatoon product and Stars alumna, picked up a second assist on Kollman’s tally.

Wood said getting the first period power-play marker and the breakaway tally in the second put her squad in a good spot for the rest of the contest.

“It (McLeod’s power-play goal) took a weight off our shoulders,” said Wood. “When Court (Courtney Kollman) got her goal too, that really sealed it in a little bit more.

“That one goal lead is always just you are on the edge of your seat. You don’t want to go to overtime in these games. It is like anybody’s game, if that is the case.

Courtney Kollman scored for the Dinos in the second period.

“That one goal lead is always a little sketchy. That two-goal lead was just like a weight off the back.”

The Huskies had some moments where they could have gotten some traction near the end of the frame. With just over four minutes remaining in the second, star fifth-year centre Kennedy Brown was denied with a drive from the front of the Dinos goal by U of C star netminder Gabriella Durante.

Inside the final minute of the second, Huskies third-year defender Kendra Zuchotzki tried to feed a shot through a maze of players, but the puck deflected off a player and went wide of the Dinos goal. In the final seconds of the second, Zuchotzki was stoned by Durante on a mid-range drive.

Gabriella Durante stopped 31 shots to get the Dinos shutout win.

The Huskies pressed to continue to get back in the contest in the third holding a 10-7 edge in shots on goal for the frame. Wood was pleased with how her squad was able shut things down defensively.

“It was just chaos a little bit,” said Wood. “It was just reckless abandon throw your body in front of pucks kind of thing and do what needed to be done.

“Being on defence, you always have that mindset. Our forwards really turned it around and were getting high and bearing down on pucks and playing defensive-offence, which was really, really nice from a defensive perspective. That was huge for us.”

Camryn Drever stopped 22 shots in goal for the Huskies on Sunday.

Durante stopped 31 shots to pick up a second straight shutout win in goal for the Dinos. Drever turned away 22 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

The Huskies finished fourth in the Canada West regular season standings with a 19-7-1-1 record, while the Dinos were fifth in Canada West with a 12-14-2 mark.

While eliminated from the Canada West Conference playoffs, the Huskies will have a second post-season life. They will host the elite-eight style U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship Tournament from March 14 to 17 at Merlis.

As for the Dinos, they turn their attention to the Thunderbirds knowing they will be huge underdogs going into that series. The Thunderbirds, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, topped the Canada West regular season standings with a 24-1-1-2 record and closed the regular season with 13 straight wins.

“We are just fired up,” said Wood, who squad split their two regular season games with the Thunderbirds. “That was all the conversation was about in our room.

The Dinos celebrate their series win over the Huskies.

“We had our celebration on the ice, but as soon as we got back in the room, it was just about next weekend and getting in the right mindset for that knowing that they are a really strong opponent. We have to bring it exactly what we brought this weekend if not more. It is going to be a battle here.”

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Golden Bears say “not so fast,” even series with Huskies 1-1

Series deciding Game 3 of Can West quarter Sunday at 6 p.m.

U of A’s Adam Hall (#12) battles U of S’s Landon Kosior for the puck.

The University of Alberta Golden Bears weren’t going to make life easy for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

Facing elimination from the U Sports post-season in a best-of-three Canada West Conference men’s quarter-final playoff series, the Golden Bears came out with a gutty effort on Saturday at the Huskies home rink in Merlis Belsher Place. Trailing 2-1 after 20 minutes, Golden Bears third-year forward Tyler Preziuso scored the equalizer on a power play at the 6:07 mark of the second period to force a 2-2 tie.

Playing at even strength, Preziuso potted his second of the night at the 8:08 mark of the third to put the visitors up for good by the game’s final score of 3-2 to the disappointment of most of the 1,342 spectators in attendance.

Connor McClennon had a goal for the Golden Bears on Saturday.

The win allowed the Golden Bears to even the series at 1-1. The Huskies and Golden Bears will now meet in a series-deciding Game 3 on Sunday at 6 p.m. at Merlis. U of S took Game 1 of the series 4-2 on Friday at Merlis.

In Game 2 on Saturday, the Huskies went ahead 1-0 scoring 78 seconds into the contest on a power-play tally from fourth-year forward Justin Ball.

Just 62 seconds later, a pair of former members of the WHL’s now defunct Winnipeg Ice franchise combined to pull the Golden Bears even with the Huskies at 1-1. Second-year forward Jakin Smallwood set up rookie forward Connor McClennon for the equalizer for the visitors.

At the 12:32 mark of the first, Huskies star third-year forward Chantz Petruic scored with his team working on a two-man advantage to give the host side a 2-1 lead.

Justin Ball had a goal for the Huskies on Saturday.

That set the stage for Preziuso to come through with his equalizer and winner.

Second-year netminder Ethan Kruger stopped 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Golden Bears.

Third-year goalie Jordan Kooy stopped 15-of-16 shots playing the first period in goal for the Huskies. He was pulled after the opening frame due to illness. Roddy Ross played the rest of the way in relief turning away 17-of-19 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

The Huskies, who are rated eighth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, finished fourth in the Canada West regular season standings with a 20-6-1-1 record. 

The Golden Bears placed fifth with an 18-8-2 mark.

The winner of the series between the Huskies and Golden Bears will advance to face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series. The Thunderbirds, who are rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, topped the Canada West regular season standings with a 22-4-1-1 mark.

The Golden Bears celebrate their win on Saturday.

The Mount Royal University Cougars, who are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 rankings, swept the other Canada West quarter-final series 2-0 against the MacEwan University Griffins in Calgary. The Cougars took Game 1 of the series 4-1 on Friday and Game 2 of the set 6-4 on Saturday.

The Cougars finished third in the Canada West regular season with a 21-6-0-1 mark. The Griffins were sixth in the Canada West regular season with a 9-17-0-2 record.

Mount Royal will face the defending Canada West champion U of Calgary Dinos in a best-of-three conference semifinal series with the dates and times of the contest still to be announced. The Dinos, who are rated sixth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, placed second in the Canada West regular season with a 21-5-1-1 mark.

Huskies WHKY forced to go to series deciding Game 3

Game 2 of a Canada West Conference women’s hockey series between the U of Saskatchewan Huskies and the U of Calgary Dinos belonged to the Saskatoon Stars.

On Saturday, a pair of alums of the Stars under-18 AAA program accounted for both Dinos goals as they blanked the Huskies 2-0 before 424 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place to push the best-of-three quarter-final set to a series deciding Game 3 in the U Sports post-season. Game 3 is set for Sunday at 2 p.m. at Merlis.

The Huskies took Game 1 of the series 2-1 on Friday at Merlis.

In Saturday’s clash, Sydney Mercier, who is a second year Dinos forward and a Stars graduate, scored just 22 seconds into the contest to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Fifth-year forward Elizabeth Lang and third-year forward Courtney Kollman picked up assists on Mercier’s tally.

With 3:55 remaining in the second, rookie Dinos offensive-defender Brooklin Fry banged home a rebound in front of the U of S net on the power play to give the visitors a 2-0 edge. Lang and Mercier, who is from Saskatoon, picked up assists on that tally.

Fry played last season with the Stars, and the Shell Lake, Sask., product skated for two seasons with the Prince Albert Northern Bears under-18 AAA team from 2020 to 2022.

Dinos fourth-year netminder Gabriella Durante made 28 saves to pick up the shutout win in goal. Huskies fifth-year star netminder Camryn Drever turned away 14 shots to take the setback in net for the Huskies.

The Dinos were 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Huskies failed to score on four power-play opportunities.

The Huskies finished fourth in the Canada West regular season standings with a 19-7-1-1 record, while the Dinos were fifth in Canada West with a 12-14-2 mark.

The winner of their series advances to play the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, who are rated second in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series in Vancouver. The Thunderbirds, who are the defending Canada West champions, topped the Canada West regular season standings with a 24-1-1-2 record and closed the regular season with 13 straight wins.

The Mount Royal University Cougars, who are the defending U Sports champions, swept the U of Manitoba Bisons 2-0 in the other best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series in Calgary. The Cougars took Game 1 on Friday 6-0 and closed out the series with a 5-1 win on Saturday.

The Cougars, who are rated sixth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, finished third in Canada West with a 20-7-1 mark, while the Bisons were sixth in the conference with a 10-17-1 record.

Mount Royal will face the storied U of Alberta Pandas in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series in Edmonton with the times of the games still to be determined. The Pandas, who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, finished second in Canada West with a 21-3-1-3 mark.

Raiders pull out miraculous OT win in Lethbridge

Sloan Stanick scored the OT winner for the Raiders on Saturday.

The Prince Albert Raiders worked a miracle in Lethbridge.

Taking on the host Hurricanes in a WHL regular season contest on Saturday night, the Raiders trailed 3-0 after 40 minutes of play while being outshoot 24-11. They rallied scoring three goals in the third including two tallies in the last minute of the frame and the winner 17 seconds into overtime to pull out a 4-3 victory before 3,666 stunned spectators at the Enmax Centre.

The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal from 17-year-old left-winger Trae Wilke. The opening 20-minutes also feature a fight between Raiders defenceman 18-year-old defenceman Terrell Goldsmith and Hurricanes 20-year-old defenceman Joe Arntsen late in the frame.

In the second, the Hurricanes pushed their lead out to 3-0 on goals from breakout star 17-year-old right-winger Miguel Marques and rookie 17-year-old defenceman Kale Tipler. Tipler’s tally was his career WHL regular season goal.

At the 8:46 mark of the third, Raiders 18-year-old rookie import left-winger Krzysztof Macias potted his 19^th goal of the season to cut the Hurricanes lead to 3-1. Things proceeded to get really crazy from there.

With just under 41 seconds to play, Raiders offensive-defenceman Justice Christensen fired a shot on Hurricanes netminder Harrison Meneghin that got out from under the puck stopper and trickled over the goal-line. Originally, there was no goal called on the play, but the officials went to a video review and confirmed Christensen did indeed score to trim the Hurricanes lead to 3-2.

Christensen’s ninth goal of the season would go down as a short-handed marker. The Raiders had star netminder Max Hildebrand pulled for an extra attacker.

After getting back to even strength with Hildebrand again pulled for an extra attacker, Hurricanes centre Sean Tschigerl fanned on a clearing attempt that would have sealed victory for the hosts. The puck went to Raiders overage centre Turner McMillen who buried the equalizer that tied the contest up at 3-3 with 4.8 seconds remaining in the frame.

Just 17 seconds into overtime, Raiders star 20-year-old winger Sloan Stanick blew home his 24^th goal of the season from the front of the Lethbridge net to deliver the visitors to a 4-3 victory.

Hildebrand stopped 29 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Meneghin turned away 22 shots to take the extra time setback in net for the Hurricanes.

The Raiders improved to 26-25-1-3 having won their last three straight games. They sit seventh in the WHL’s Eastern Conference three standings points ahead of both the Hurricanes and the Calgary Hitmen.

The Hurricanes record moved to 24-24-5 and they are tied with the Hitmen (23-23-6-1) for the eighth and ninth positions in the Eastern Conference standings. The Hurricanes and Hitmen each have two games in hand on the Raiders.

Lethbridge gets back at it on Monday traveling to Red Deer to take on the 28-19-2-6 Rebels (2 p.m. local time, Peavey Mart Centrium).

The Raiders return home to host the Brandon Wheat Kings on Thursday (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre). The “Hockey Town North” crew will played nine out of their last 13 regular season games at home.

Minten’s OT winner gives Blades 10^th straight win

Fraser Minten had the OT winner for the Blades on Saturday.

Fraser Minten might be developing a habit of coming through for the Saskatoon Blades in overtime.

On Saturday in Medicine Hat, the Blades went into overtime locked in a 3-3 tie in a WHL regular season contest with the host Tigers at Co-op Place. Just 68 seconds into the extra session, the Blades had the puck in the Medicine Hat zone on a two-on-one break.

Blades star 19-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky had the puck coming down the left wing. He passed the puck across the front of the Medicine Hat net to Minten coming down the right wing. Minten measured up his scoring chance and blew home a goal to the top right corner of the Medicine Hat net to deliver the Blades to a 4-3 victory to the disappointment to most of the 3,626 spectators in attendance.

The overtime tally was second such goal for Minten on the season and also his second goal on Saturday to go with a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

The Blades, who are rated first in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, now have victories in their last 10 straight games improving their WHL leading record to 41-9-2-3. The Tigers continue to lead the WHL’s Central Division as their record moved to 32-17-4-2.

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period of Saturday’s clash. The markers came from 18-year-old left-winger Hunter St. Martin scoring his 20^th goal of the campaign and centre Shane Smith, who turned 19-years-old in January, potting his 27^th goal of the season with the Tigers working on the power play.

Smith’s power-play goal came with Blades captain Trevor Wong serving a double minor for high-sticking. Wong’s infraction will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

With 4:08 remaining in the first, Lisowsky netted his 31^st of the season to give the Blades a big traction tally cutting the Tigers lead to 2-1. Lisowsky potted his second of the contest and 32^nd of the season with 5.8 seconds remaining in the second to even the score at 2-2.

At the 4:57 mark of the third, Minten netted his first of the contest to give the Blades a 3-2 lead. Tigers sophomore 17-year-old centre Tomas Mrsic scored for the host side with 7:32 remaining in the third to even the score at 3-3.

That set the stage for Minten to become the hero for the visitors in overtime scoring the winning goal.

Blades star netminder Austin Elliott stopped 20 shots to pick up the win in goal. Tigers 17-year-old rookie netminder Ethan McCallum turned away 20 shots to take the extra time setback in net.

Wong picked up a pair of assists in the win.

The Blades return to action on Monday when they travel to Brandon to take on the 27-21-5-1 Wheat Kings (2 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

The Tigers also return to action on Monday when they travel to Edmonton to face the 18-32-2-1 Oil Kings (2 p.m. local time, Rogers Place).

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 wipe out Wheaties 7-3

Sloan Stanick had a pair of goals and an assist for the Raiders.

The Prince Albert Raiders are heating up at home.

On Saturday, the Raiders thumped the Brandon Wheat Kings 7-3 in a WHL regular season clash to the delight of 2,428 spectators at the team’s storied home rink in the Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders have now won six straight games at home.

With Saturday’s win, the Raiders improve to 24-25-1-3 and vault to seventh in the WHL’s Eastern Conference standings. Prince Albert sits one standings point ahead of the Lethbridge Hurricanes (24-23-3) and the Calgary Hitmen (22-21-6-1) who are tied for the eighth and ninth positions in the conference standings. The Hurricanes and Hitmen both have three games in hand on the Raiders.

Saturday’s clash between the Raiders and Wheat kings started out as a bit of a back-and-forth affair. Centre Nolan Flamand scored 10 seconds into the contest for the Wheat Kings to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

The lead didn’t last long as Raiders 20-year-old right-winger Sloan Stanick scored at the 3:57 mark of the first to even the score a 1-1. Wheat Kings star 20-year-old left-winger Brett Hyland tallied on the power play at the 6:35 mark of the opening frame to put the visitors back out in front 2-1.

Raiders import left-winger Krzysztof Macias scored to force a 2-2 tie at the 8:30 mark of the third. Following Macias’s tally, Raiders rookie right-winger Oli Chenier, who turned 17-years-old in late January, potted his 10^th goal of the campaign with his squad working on the power play to put the hosts up 3-2.

At the 8:29 mark of the second, Raiders 19-year-old right-winger Niall Crocker scored short-handed to push Prince Albert’s lead out to 4-2. With 69 seconds remaining in the second, Wheat Kings import centre Dominik Petr tallied to cut the Raiders lead to 4-3.

The Raiders proceeded to pull away from there in the third. Macias, Crocker and Stanick all netted their respective second goals of the contest to round out the 7-3 final score in the Raiders favour. Macias, Crocker and Stanick all finished with three point nights each collecting two goals and one assist.

Max Hildebrand stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Ethan Eskit turned away 38 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wheat Kings, who fell to 26-20-5-1.

The Raiders were still without star 17-year-old right-winger Ryder Ritchie. Back on December 15, 2023, Ritchie was on the receiving end of a knee-on-knee hit from Kelowna Rockets 19-year-old left-winger Max Graham in a 4-3 setback to the Rockets at the Art Hauser Centre. Ritchie is listed as being out week to week.

The Raiders were also without 16-year-old rookie centre Luke Moroz on Saturday. Moroz went down at the 8:21 mark of the third period of a 6-1 loss on Friday to the Blades in Saskatoon after being on the receiving end of a cross check from Blades captain Trevor Wong. Wong received a minor infraction on the play.

The Raiders are now off until this coming Friday when they travel to Medicine Hat to face the Tigers (7 p.m. local time, Co-op Place).

The Wheat Kings get back at it this coming Thursday when they travel to Moose Jaw to face the Warriors (7 p.m., Moose Jaw Events Centre).

Hansen lifts Blades to eighth straight win

Egor Sidorov scored the Blades first goal on Saturday.

Defensive centre Lukas Hansen put on the hero’s cape to deliver the Saskatoon Blades to an eighth straight win.

On Saturday playing in front of 2,610 spectators at the InnovationPlex in Swift Current, the Blades found themselves locked in a 2-2 tie against the host Broncos going into the final 10 minutes of the third period. At the 11:28 mark of the third, Hansen scored his 11^th goal of the season that ultimately delivered the Blades to a 3-2 victory. The tally was Hansen’s fourth winner of the season.

In the final seconds of the third, Hansen came up with a big shot block to help preserve the win for the visitors.

The eighth straight win allowed the Blades to improve their WHL leading record to 39-9-2-3. They also officially locked up a berth in the WHL Playoffs.

Saskatoon took a 1-0 lead over Swift Current in Saturday’s clash with a first period power-play goal from star import right-winger Egor Sidorov.

At the 5:20 mark of the second, Blades star overage centre Easton Armstrong was given a major penalty for goaltender interference and a game misconduct. That infraction will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension. The Broncos were unable to score on that five-minute power play.

The hosts would even the score at 1-1 in the second with a tally from 18-year-old left-winger Brady Birnie.

At the 3:26 mark of the third, Blades star 19-year-old left-winger Brandon Lisowsky netted his 30^th goal of the season to put the Blades up 2-1. Lisowsky has now scored 30-or-more goals in three straight seasons for the Blades.

Broncos sophomore left-winger Clarke Caswell evened the score a short time later scoring at the 5:01 mark of the third to force a 2-2 tie.

That set the stage for Hansen to deliver his heroics to close out the contest.

Austin Elliott stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Joey Rocha turned away 24 shots to take the setback in net for the Broncos, who fell to 26-19-4-2.

Blades captain Trevor Wong finished the contest with a pair of assists.

The Blades return to action this coming Friday when they travel to Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes (7 p.m. local time, Enmax Centre).

The Broncos get back at it on Wednesday when they host the Hurricanes (7 p.m., InnovationPlex).

Clark, Shirley have sweet homecoming, other notes

An Emily Clark hockey card.

Emily Clark and Sophie Shirley got the hometown salutes they so rightly deserved.

On Wednesday, the two skilled forwards dressed for Canada’s National Women’s Hockey team in Game 5 of their Rivalry Series against the United States at the SaskTel Centre in their hometown of Saskatoon. A total of 7,576 spectators came out to see the local products wearing Team Canada colours on home ice for the first time.

Clark, who is 28-years-old, has been a veteran with Canada’s senior national team dating back to the 4 Nations Cup in 2014. Shirley, who is 24-years-old, was called up to Canada’s roster just before the start of Game 5.

While they weren’t able to hit the scoreboard in Canada’s 4-2 win on Wednesday, both players had their highlight moments. Clark had a really energetic game that included getting stopped on a first period breakaway. Shirley showed her still getting a good scoring chance off a half toe-drag snapshot.

The win allowed Canada to cut the United States lead in the best-of-seven series to 3-2.

As the final seconds of the victory on Wednesday ticked away, Team Canada head coach Troy Ryan ensured both Clark and Shirley were on the ice at the same time to be saluted by their hometown crowd.

“It blew my expectations out of the water,” said Clark after Wednesday’s game. “I was feeling the love, our team was feeling the love, and I’m so proud of our group for getting that win for the crowd.

“We showed a lot of character, and this time last year, we had our backs against the wall. We’re just taking it one game at a time. I’m proud of our team and so happy the series is still going.”

“I had about 15 to 20 family in the crowd, and it was a super cool experience for me,” said Shirley on Wednesday. “I know I was called in late, but I just wanted to do my best every time I was out there.

“It was probably in my very first shift, as soon as I got out there, with the atmosphere and being at home with family made it even more exciting for me.”

Canada trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes on Wednesday before rallying for the 4-2 victory.

Brianne Jenner, Ashton Bell, Renata Fast and Laura Stacey netted singles for Canada. Hayley Scamurra and Gabbie Hughes replied with singles for the United States.

Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 14 shots to pick up the win in goal for Canada. Nicole Hensley turned away 24-of-27 shots to take the setback in goal for the United States.

The hometown treatment for Clark and Shirley turned into warm home province treatment for Game 6 of the series on Friday night at the Brandt Centre in Regina. After playing through a scoreless opening 40 minutes, Canada exploded for three goals in the third to post a 3-0 victory and even the series 3-3.

Clark had Canada’s second goal in the third-period surge. Natalie Spooner had Canada’s first goal, and Sarah Nurse has the third goal for the host country.

Emerance Maschmeyer stopped 27 shots to pick up the shutout win for Canada. Maschmeyer now has 11 career shutouts playing for Canada. Aerin Frankel turned away 19 shots to take the setback in goal for the United States.

Fast played in her 100 career international game for Canada on Friday.

At game’s end Clark and Shirley took a victory lap in front of the Regina crowd.

Canada was down 3-0 in the Rivalry Series before rallying back for three wins. Game 7 is set for Sunday in St. Paul, Minn., (1 p.m. Saskatchewan Time, TSN4).

Last season, Canada trailed the Rivalry Series 3-0 before rallying back with four straight wins to take the set.

• On Saturday in Medicine Hat, the host Tigers trailed the Red Deer Rebels 4-1 after 40 minutes in a WHL regular season encounter. The Tigers roared back with three straight goals in the third and 20-year-old import defenceman Bogdans Hodass scored with 19.8 seconds remaining in overtime to give the hosts a wild 5-4 victory.
• Medicine Hat News sports reporter James Tubb laid out a compelling case for why the City of Medicine Hat and the Medicine Hat Tigers should bid for the 2026 Memorial Cup, which is the CHL’s annual championship tournament. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
• On Saturday in Kelowna, centre Emmitt Finnie scored four times for the visiting Kamloops Blazers as they dumped the host Rockets 7-3. The Rockets led the contest 2-1 after the first period. The Blazers scored three goals in the second to go up 4-2 and roll from there.
• On Saturday in Prince George, 20-year-old right-winger Zac Funk scored a hat trick for the host Cougars as they outlasted the visiting Victoria Royals 9-6. Funk leads the WHL with 49 goals so far this season.
• On Friday, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a story on the sport of cricket in Saskatoon and the growth that sport is seeing in “The Bridge City.” Officials with Cricket Saskatoon said new facilities are needed for cricket in Saskatoon to handle the surging interest in the sport. That piece can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is highlighted by a visit from members of the Toronto Blue Jays to the Indoor Training Centre along with various winter happenings. That post can be found by clicking right here.

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

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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.