Hitmen take command of first round series with Blades

Calgary smokes Saskatoon 5-1 in Game 2

Grayden Siepmann had a goal for the Blades on Sunday.

The Calgary Hitmen were good in Game 1 and even better in Game 2.

On Sunday afternoon playing before 4,430 spectators at the Scotiabank Saddledown, the Hitmen skated to a convincing 5-1 victory over the visiting Saskatoon Blades in Game 2 of a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs. Combined with Calgary’s sound 4-2 victory in Game 1 on Friday, the favoured Hitmen lead the series 2-0.

In the Game 2 clash on Sunday, it was a great afternoon to be a fan of the Hitmen. They led 2-0 after the first period holding a 15-8 edge in shots on goal.

Calgary scored twice more holding a 22-5 edge in shots on goal for the second period to push their advantage out to 4-0. At that point, the Blades elected to pull star netminder Evan Gardner, who has turned away 33-of-37 fired his way over the first 40 minutes.

The third period was a more competitive with the Hitmen holding an 11-10 edge in shots on goal. Blades 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Grayden Siepmann wired home a shot from the left faceoff circle dot at the 10:27 mark of the frame to trim the Hitmen lead to 4-1.

Hitmen star centre Tanner Howe rounded out the game’s scoring with an empty net tally with 1:47 remaining in the third round.

Ethan McCallum stopped all 10 shots he faced in a relief effort in the third period in goal for the Blades.

The Hitmen opened the game’s scoring at the 10:03 mark of first period when left-winger Brandon Gorzynski, who turned 18-years-old earlier this month, popped home a shot close in from the right side of the Saskatoon net.

Just over two minutes later and working on the power play, the Hitmen jetting into the Saskatoon zone on an offensive rush. Hitmen standout right-winger Ethan Moore, who turned 19-years-old in February, wired home a shot from inside the right faceoff circle to give the host side a 2-0 edge.

The Hitmen train continued to roll in the second. They struck again in the power play at the 7:34 mark of the frame to push their lead to 3-0.

Hitmen star 17-year-old centre Ben Kindel had the puck at the left faceoff dot and put a pass to the front of the Saskatoon net to Calgary captain Carson Wetsch. Wetsch redirected the puck past Gardner to give the hosts their three-goal lead.

Evan Gardner stopped 33-of-37 shots over two periods on Sunday.

Just over four minutes later, Hitmen 20-year-old star offensive-defenceman and Saskatoon product Kalem Parker got in on the fun. He netted his first of the post-season to make the Hitmen lead sit at 4-0.

In the first two games of the series, rugged Hitmen 19-year-old centre David Adaszynski made a number of big hits. He made another big collision in the third period leveling Blades sophomore defenceman Jack Kachkowski.

The goals by Siepmann and Howe followed after that hit to close out the notable moments of the contest.

Anders Miller made 22 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Hitmen. For the first two games of the post-season, Calgary has been without the services of star overage netminder Daniel Hauser, who holds the WHL record for career regular season goaltending victories at 123. Hauser is out day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Eric Tu, who is a 16-year-old rookie, is serving as Calgary backup netminder.

In Sunday’s win over the Blades, Gorzynski, Moore and Howe each finished with a one goal and one assist for the Hitmen. Kindel had a pair of assists for the Calgary side.

The Hitmen entered the series having finished third overall in the WHL with a 45-17-3-3 record. They were also rated ninth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings that were released on Tuesday.

The Blades finished sixth overall in the Eastern Conference standings with a 37-23-4-4 mark. They enter the WHL Playoffs with the second youngest roster out of the 16 teams that are playing in the circuit’s post-season with an average age of 17.9 years on their roster.

A year ago, the Blades entered the playoffs having topped the WHL standings with a 50-13-2-3 mark and were loaded with a lot of star veterans. They advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship series where they fell 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 at the SaskTel Centre to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors.

The 2024-25 campaign ended up being a reload season for the Blades, who traded a number of veteran stars before the WHL’s trade deadline back on January 9 acquiring needed draft capital and younger players. Even with those moves, the Blades still comfortably landed in a position to qualify for the WHL Playoffs.

Now, the series between the Hitmen and Blades switches over to Saskatoon for Games 3 and 4 to be held Tuesday and Wednesday respectively at 7 p.m. both nights at the SaskTel Centre. The Blades, who were 20-8-4-2 at home during the regular season, will be looking to find a boost inside the friendly confines of the SaskTel Centre as they attempt to make some noise in this series.

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Raiders rebound, romp over Oil Kings 6-1 in Game 2

First round WHL post-season series even up at 1-1

The Raiders celebrate a goal by Lukas Dragicevic (#3) on Saturday.

PRINCE ALBERT – Rilen Kovacevic thought experience was the best teacher.

The 20-year-old winger helped the Moose Jaw Warriors win their first WHL championship in May of 2024. Now playing for the Prince Albert Raiders, Kovacevic saw his squad fall 3-1 to the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre in Game 1 of a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs.

Having a league title run under his belt, Kovacevic thought the best course of action was not to say anything going into Game 2 on Saturday.

“I kind of just let the first game go,” said Kovacevic, who was traded by the Warriors to the Raiders on January 7. “It is better to let the guys get their feet wet.

Justice Christensen (#7) had the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

“As we progress, it is easier for me to step in and use my voice, but it is all about learning.”

The Kelowna, B.C., product’s line of thinking proved to be the correct line of thinking. His Raiders posted a resounding 6-1 rebound victory in Game 2 on Saturday before a raucous standing room crowd of 2,852 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. The win allowed the Raiders to even the series up 1-1.

“It was a learning curve last night,” said Kovacevic. “I think we just kind of were stepping on our own toes a little bit.

“It is only going to get better, and we have a really solid group of top guys that are going to lead us there.”

Rilen Kovacevic broke a lengthy goal scoring drought on Saturday.

While the Raiders would post a big win, the Oil Kings came flying out of the gate on Saturday holding a 19-6 edge in shots on goal in the first period with a number of shots coming off two power-play chances. Raiders star 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand turned away everything that came his way in the opening 20 minutes to allow his teammates to get their skating legs under them.

With 35.6 seconds remaining in the opening frame, the Raiders changed the momentum of the contest seemingly out of nowhere. Working the puck in the Edmonton zone, Raiders breakout rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph passed the puck from the right point to the top of the left faceoff circle to Prince Albert captain Justice Christensen.

Lukas Sawchyn scored for the Oil Kings on Saturday.

Christensen one-timed a shot home to put the Raiders up 1-0 heading into the first intermission.

“(Christensen’s) goal kind of turned the tide for us, and we got going after that,” said Hildebrand. “We probably have to be a bit more disciplined to start the game.”

Just 2:35 into the second, the Raiders pushed their lead out to 2-0. Raiders rookie defenceman Linden Burrett had the puck at the right side boards in the Edmonton zone and slipped a backdoor pass to Kovacevic positioned at the left post of the Oil Kings net. Kovacevic made no mistake in tapping home the puck for his first goal in 15 games for the Raiders.

Niall Crocker had two goals for the Raiders on Saturday.

Before that tally, Kovacevic’s last goal came way back on February 8 in a 5-4 overtime victory over the Tigers in Medicine Hat. During the regular season, Kovacevic collected 26 goals and 33 assists in 60 games split between the Warriors and Raiders. He was pleased to be able to break his goal scoring drought.

“I found a good step tonight,” said Kovacevic. “I thought I was pretty solid last night, but it is going to get better as we go.”

At the 6:01 mark of the second, the Oil King struck on the power play to cut the Raiders lead to 2-1. Oil Kings star import centre Adam Jecho had the puck along the left side boards deep in the Prince Albert zone and made a backdoor pass across the face of the Raiders net to Oil King star right-winger Lukas Sawchyn positioned at the right post.

Max Hildebrand makes one of his 42 saves in goal for the Raiders.

Sawchyn’s first shot was stopped by a sprawling Hildebrand, but the skilled rookie popped home his own rebound to trim the Raiders advantage to one goal.

Just a little over three-and-a-half minutes later, the Raiders struck for a power-play goal. Raiders star left-winger Tomas Mrsic had the puck at the left wing boards and he put a slick pass on the stick of 20-year-old star left-winger Niall Crocker, who was stationed in front of the Edmonton net. Crocker showed some soft hands sliding home a power-play goal to push the Raiders lead out to 3-1.

The hosts proceeded to open the flood gates in the third. Just 3:04 into the frame, Crocker banged home his second goal of the night from the front of the Edmonton net to give the Raiders a 4-1 advantage.

Aiden Oiring had the Raiders fifth goal on Saturday.

Raiders star centre Aiden Oiring popped home a shot close in at the right side of the Edmonton net at the 7:48 mark of the third to put Prince Albert up 5-1. Raiders star defenceman Lukas Dragicevic rounded out the game’s scoring firing home a midrange shot on the power play with 7:34 remaining in the third.

At that point, frustration started to take over for some members of the Oil Kings. Just 23 seconds after Dragicevic’s goal, Burrett and Oil Kings rookie right-winger Jack Toogood engaged in a fight.

With 4:05 remaining in the third, Oil Kings overage centre Marshall Finnie was given a 10-minute misconduct for getting a little too loose with his lips on the ice. Finnie left the ice and departed to the Oil Kings dressing room to a standing ovation from the Raiders faithful.

Lukas Dragicevic had one goal and two assists on Saturday.

Hildebrand said it was important for his side to stay out of the extracurricular activities that occur on the ice.

“We just have to worry about ourselves and not them and just keep playing our game every game,” said Hildebrand. “We have to stay even keel, and that is going to be a big thing for us this series.”

Hildebrand stopped 42 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Alex Worthington turned away 20 shots to take the setback in net for the Oil Kings.

Dragicevic had a pair of assists to go with his goal, and Rudolph had three helpers to go with a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department.

Prince Albert was 2-for-4 on the power play, while Edmonton was 1-for-9 with the man advantage.

Oil Kings RW Jack Toogood, left, fights Raiders D Linden Burrett.

Raiders interim head coach Ryan McDonald was pleased to see a number of his players have big games.

“I thought we had a really good group effort,” said McDonald. “Hilty (Hildebrand) stood tall back there.

“Our PK guys, they ate lots of pucks. They had great sticks and had some great stands on the blue line. We took advantage of the opportunities when they came.

“I thought it was a really good group effort. Our goals came off of resetting pucks back underneath the play.”

The Raiders entered the series having won the WHL’s East Division title with a 39-23-5-1 mark. 

Daxon Rudolph had three assists for the Raiders on Saturday.

The Oil Kings were seventh overall in the Eastern Conference with a 37-27-2-2 mark.

The series how switches to Edmonton. Game 3 is set for Tuesday and Game 4 follows on Wednesday at 7 p.m. local time both nights at Rogers Place. 

Kovacevic said his club is gunning to take both of those games on the road.

“Our goal is to go and win two there,” said Kovacevic. “We want to come back and be able to finish it off at our rink.

“What happened will be what happens. We got home ice for a reason. We’re happy with the split, honestly.

The Raiders salute the Art Hauser Centre faithful after their win.

“There is nothing I’d change. I think it is a good learning curve that first game, and we have an opportunity to go in there and steal a couple.”

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Gardner’s 40 stops can’t save Blades in Game 1

Hitmen look the part of favourites in 4-2 win

Evan Gardner made 40 saves in net for the Blades on Friday.

Evan Gardner gave his Saskatoon Blades a chance, but the Calgary Hitmen weren’t going to be denied.

On Friday night, the Hitmen looked the part of favoured team in Game 1 of a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs against the Blades. Gardner, who is the Blades star netminder, did his best to steal the contest making 40 saves and showing why he backstopped the Saskatoon side to being one win shy of advancing to the WHL Championship Series one year ago.

In the series opener, the Hitmen proved to be too much for the Blades to handle. The Calgary side skated away with a 4-2 victory they had to work for while holding a 44-17 edge in shots on goal playing before a home crowd of 3,770 spectators at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The Hitmen entered the series having finished third overall in the WHL with a 45-17-3-3 record. They were also rated ninth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings that were released on Tuesday.

The Blades finished sixth overall in the Eastern Conference standings with a 37-23-4-4 mark. They enter the WHL Playoffs with the second youngest roster out of the 16 teams that are playing in the circuit’s post-season with an average age of 17.9 years on their roster.

A year ago, the Blades entered the playoffs having topped the WHL standings with a 50-13-2-3 mark and were loaded with a lot of star veterans. They advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship series where they fell 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 at the SaskTel Centre to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors.

The 2024-25 campaign ended up being a reload season for the Blades, who traded a number of veteran stars before the WHL’s trade deadline back on January 9 acquiring needed draft capital and younger players. Even with those moves, the Blades still comfortably landed in a position to qualify for the WHL Playoffs.

While Calgary finished higher in the standings, Saskatoon could still enter the series with some confidence. The Blades actually won the season series in the regular season between the two sides recording two wins and one overtime setback in four head-to-head encounters.

The two sides met twice after the trade deadline. The Hitmen posted a 4-1 victory at home on January 10, and the Blades claimed a 6-3 victory at home on February 14.

Calgary went into Game 1 without the services of star overage netminder Daniel Hauser, who holds the WHL record for career regular season goaltending victories at 123. Hauser is out day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Anders Miller, who is an 18-year-old rookie, started in goal for the Hitmen, and he was backed up by 16-year-old rookie Eric Tu.

The Hitmen broke on to the scoreboard at the 4:26 mark of the opening frame with a short-handed goal. On a clearance into the back boards to the right of the Saskatoon net, Hitmen star 19-year-old left-winger Tanner Howe hit Blades 17-year-old rookie defenceman Brayden Klimpke into the boards and got the puck.

Howe centred the puck to veteran Hitmen right-winger Ethan Moore, who buried the short-handed marker to give the host side a 1-0 lead. Calgary outshot Saskatoon 18-5 in the opening frame.

At the 5:16 mark of the second, Blades 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Grayden Siepmann fired home a point shot through a screen to even the score at 1-1.

Calgary proceeded to pull away at that point. With 3:18 remaining in the second, Hitmen star right-winger Oliver Tulk stole a breakout pass just inside the blue-line of the Saskatoon zone. Tulk jetted in on goal and snapped a shot past Gardner to give the Hitmen a 2-1 edge.

Appearing in 65 regular season games with the Hitmen in 2024-25, Tulk finished sixth in the WHL scoring race with 100 points coming off 38 goals and 62 assists to go with a plus-40 rating in the plus-minus department.

Calgary had a 12-8 edge in shots on goal in the second.

At the 7:58 mark of the third while working on the power play, Moore deflected home a shot pass from star defenceman Sawyer Mynio at the left side of the Saskatoon net to push Calgary’s lead out to 3-1.

Just 2:25 later, Mynio put a point shot on the Saskatoon net that rebounded to Hitmen star centre Ben Kindel in front of the goal. Kindel popped home the loose puck to increase Calgary’s advantage to 4-1.

The Blades didn’t go away. Just 25 seconds later, Blades breakout rookie centre Cooper Williams, who turned 17 in February, stole the puck from a Hitmen defenceman in the Calgary zone. Williams had the puck on the left wing and passed it to breakout 18-year-old right-winger Hunter Laing in the right faceoff circle.

Laing went in alone on Anders and snapped home a shot to cut the Calgary lead to 4-2. The Blades couldn’t close any further as the Hitmen held a 14-4 edge in shots on goal in the third period.

Anders made 15 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Hitmen. Howe had a pair of helpers in the Calgary victory.

After a day off, the series resumes with Game 2 set for Sunday at 2 p.m. local time at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

While the Hitmen get full credit for their win on Friday, the opportunity is there for the Blades to make a push back to turn some heads. They are in a “house money” position where they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

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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Feisty Oil Kings claim series opener over Raider 3-1

Niall Crocker had the Raiders lone goal on Friday night.

The little things added up to ultimately cost the Prince Albert Raiders.

On Friday night playing before a standing room crowd of 2,816 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders had a couple of mistakes at inopportune times and saw their power play that was rated third best in the WHL during the regular season come up dry on seven chances. That allowed the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings to skate away with a 3-1 victory in the opener of a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs between the two clubs.

Game 2 is set for Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders entered the series having won the WHL’s East Division title with a 39-23-5-1 mark and had won their last five straight games. The Oil Kings were seventh overall in the Eastern Conference with a 37-27-2-2 mark.

During the regular season, the Raiders claimed the season series between the two clubs winning three of the five head-to-head meetings.

The Oil Kings like to play more of a feisty and agitating style of game to go along with some decent skill. Overage centre Marshall Finnie relishes playing the role of being the Oil Kings version of Matthew Tkachuk of the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers of the NHL.

In 2024-25, Finnie appeared in 59 regular season contests for the Oil Kings recording 18 goals, 13 assists and 115 penalty minutes. The Lethbridge, Alta., product was one of eight players to have 100-or-more penalty minutes in the WHL this season.

The Raiders were able to hold their discipline in check enough to draw six power-play opportunities. That included Oil Kings star centre Gracyn Sawchyn picking up a double minor for high sticking late in the second period. That infraction will be automatically reviewed for a possible suspension by the WHL office.

Prince Albert had the WHL’s third best power play in the regular season, clicking with a 28.2 per cent success rate, but it came up dry on Friday against Edmonton. The Raiders power play was also hampered when star left-winger Tomas Mrsic left the game with an injury and didn’t play in the third period.

Edmonton was 0-for-2 with the man advantage in the game.

The first 29 seconds of the game proved to be ominous for the Raiders. Just 19 seconds into the contest, Oil Kings defenceman Josh Mori, who turned 21-years-old on Thursday, took a penalty for interference.

Just 10 second later, Oil Kings left-winger Roan Woodward made a long clearance from his own zone. The puck bounced off the end boards to the left of the Prince Albert net out to the front of the goal.

Raiders 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand misjudged playing the puck, which landed on Sawchyn’s stick. Sawchyn put a backhand shot on target that Hildebrand got a piece of with his stick, but the puck crept across the goal-line to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

After giving up that unexpected short-handed tally, the Raiders regained their composure. With 86 seconds remaining in the first, Raiders star 20-year-old left-winger Niall Crocker came through with a “vintage Crocker” goal shoveling home a loose puck in front of the Edmonton net to even the score at 1-1.

Raiders rookie right-winger Riley Boychuk, who turned 17 in January, and rising star rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who turned 17 earlier this month, both picked up assists on Crocker’s tally. The helpers were the first WHL post-season points for Boychuk and Rudolph.

At the 9:03 mark of the second, the Oil Kings jumped ahead 2-1 while working the forecheck. Oil Kings captain Gavin Hodnett picked off a breakout pass in the Prince Albert zone at the left side of the Raiders net.

Hodnett put a backhand pass across the front of the Edmonton net to linemate Landon Hanson. Hanson did a shake move and tucked home a shot to give the visitors the lead once again.

Despite their best efforts, the Raiders were never able to come through with another equalizer. With 97 seconds remaining in the third, Sawchyn scored into an empty net for his second tally of the contest to round out the 3-1 final score in favour of the Oil Kings. Hodnett had a helper on that tally for his second assist of the contest.

Hildebrand turned away 37-of-39 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Alex Worthington stopped 31 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings, who were playing for the first time in the post-season since winning the WHL title and appearing in the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – in 2022.

As this series goes on, you can expect more of the little things to add up to let one side or the other claim victory.

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Raiders experienced playoffs before playoffs in sweep of Blades

The Raiders celebrate a winning goal from Lukas Dragicevic last Saturday.

The Prince Albert Raiders experienced playoffs before the actual WHL Playoffs began.

Now, that experience will help them as they head into the WHL post-season as the league’s East Division champions taking on the Edmonton Oil Kings in a best-of-seven first round series. Games 1 and 2 of that series are set for Friday and Saturday respectively at the Art Hauser Centre with a 7 p.m. start time on both nights.

The series should be a tight one with the Raiders sporting a 39-23-5-1 record in the regular season, while the Oil Kings posted a 37-27-2-2 mark. The two clubs met five times in the regular season with the Raiders winning three of those contests. The Oil Kings play a gritty and feisty style that will make them a tough out in the post-season.

The Raiders received ample preparation for what awaits them thanks to the experience they gained closing the regular season in a home-and-home series with their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades. Last weekend, those two clubs entered their final two head-to-head matches with both sides knowing they would win the East Division, if they swept that series.

When the two sides met last Friday before a season high 10,990 spectators at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, that contest’s intensity felt like a playoff game. The energy both the Raiders and Blades showed on the ice was a step up from any regular season contest they played to that point.

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

Dragicevic starts the party, Raiders win East Division title

Archrival Blades fall 4-3 before electric Art Hauser Centre crowd

The Raiders celebrate a winning goal from Lukas Dragicevic.

PRINCE ALBERT – Lukas Dragicevic couldn’t help but let the emotions out.

On Saturday night playing before 3,264 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, the Prince Albert Raiders star 19-year-old defenceman blew home a power-play goal from inside the right faceoff circle to put his squad up 4-3 over the Saskatoon Blades. The tally was Dragicevic’s 18^th goal of the campaign and it came with 3:01 remaining in the third period in a winner take all match between the two sides for the WHL’s East Division championship.

The roar of the fans after the key tally almost blew the roof off the Art Hauser Centre in a contest where the Raiders and Blades closed their respective regular season schedules. The noise from that point of the game was surpassed when the final seconds of the third period clock expired during a mad scramble in the Prince Albert end.

Lukas Dragicevic had the winning goal for the Raiders.

When the final buzzer sounded, the 4-3 score held up as the game’s final outcome. The noise in the building got louder as the archrivals got into some scrum action shortly after the contest ended causing the officials to separate the two sides from each other.

After the officials got the Blades players back to their bench, Dragicevic and his teammates proceeded to skating to centre ice both saluting and hyping up the crowd at the same time. As is the Art Hauser Centre tradition when the Raiders beat the Blades, The Guess Who’s “Runnin’ Back to Saskatoon” blared through the building’s sound system.

With a fifth win in a row, the Raiders improved to 39-23-5-1 to become champions of the WHL’s East Division.

The mad scramble around the Raiders net at game’s end.

“It is unbelievable,” said Dragicevic, who remembered his team stumbled out of the gate to a 2-7-2 start. “Just the group that we have in there, you guys know what we’ve been through.

“We were almost last place in the CHL for a bit there, and then we climbed back and now we’re division champions. The work we put in this year just shows what kind of group we have and now much time and effort we put in every single day to claim that banner. Nobody is taking that away from us.

“We’re division champions in the Western Hockey League, so it is super cool. Just to see what we went through this year, I’m just so proud of everyone in there.”

The Raiders and Blades engage in scrums at the end of the game.

Dragicevic’s tally came on what would be just the Raiders second of two power-play opportunities in the contest. Raiders head turning rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph had the puck at the left point and got a pass down to star centre Aiden Oiring in the left corner of the Saskatoon zone.

Oiring passed the puck up the centre of the ice to Dragicevic, who was pinching down from the right point. The rearguard proceeded to stride into the right faceoff circle where he blew home his winner. He was pumped to be in the right spot at the right time.

Lukas Dragicevic pumps up the Art Hauser Centre faithful.

“We were buzzing all night on the power play,” said Dragicevic. “We just couldn’t get one to go in, and then we finally got one to go in.

“I just let it go, and it happened to go in. Fortunately, it was me (who scored).”

In what was a back-and-forth game, the Blades broke through on the scoreboard first with 8:04 remaining in the opening frame. Blades rookie import left-winger David Lewandowski, who turned 18-years-old in February, had the puck in front of the Prince Albert net and passed it off to rookie linemate Cooper Williams positioned by the left post. Williams, who turned 17-years-old in February, potted his 21^st goal of the campaign to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

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

The Raiders pulled even at 1-1 when gritty centre Harrison Lodewyk wired home his 11^th over the campaign with 64 seconds remaining in the first.

Just 62 seconds into the second, the Raiders jumped ahead 2-1, when Oiring wired his 29^th of the campaign home converting a drop pass from linemate Brayden Dube.

At the 11:18 mark of the second, Raiders rookie centre Ethan Bibeau made a long looping dump of the puck from his zone into the right faceoff circle of the Saskatoon zone. That created a race to the puck by Raiders 16-year-old right-winger Ty Meunier and Blades sophomore defenceman Jack Kachkowski.

Raiders players salute the fans and say farewell to the Blades.

Meunier fought off Kachkowski for the puck, did a turnaround in close in to the Saskatoon net and wired a shot past Blades star netminder Evan Gardner to put the Raiders up 3-1.

The Blades proceeded to battle back. Breakout right-winger Hunter Laing potted his 25^th goal of the campaign capitalizing on a power-play chance with 3:41 remaining in the second to cut the Raiders lead to 3-2.

At the 9:11 mark of the third just as another power-play chance had expired, the Blades evened the score at 3-3. Blades 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Grayden Siepmann put a backhand pass from the left side of the Prince Albert net across the front of the goal to Blades sophomore centre Hayden Harsanyi. Harsanyi preceded to one-time home the equalizer.

The officials direct the Blades down their dressing room tunnel.

That set the stage for the dramatics with Dragicevic’s winner and the scrum activities at the end of the game. The win allowed the Raiders to take the regular season series against the Blades winning five the the eight head-to-head encounters between the two sides.

“I am extremely proud of the group and just the way we continue to battle,” said Raiders interim head coach Ryan McDonald. “We start off and we have a really good start.

“We bend a little bit in the first period there. I think we just continued to take the game over as it went on and really simplified and got pucks in behind and used our speed to create our chances.”

Cooper Williams scored the Blades and the game’s first goal.

Raiders star 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand put in another spectacular performance making 34 saves to backstop the Raiders to victory. Hildebrand loved how his squad stayed composed even when the Blades rallied to tie the game.

“It is kind of something we’ve been talking about down the stretch here just staying even keel no matter what happens,” said Hildebrand. “If we give up a goal or get ahead by a few, you can lose leads fast, and you can get leads fast.

“It is a game of inches out there. I thought we stayed even keel and our power play came clutch like it has all year. That was the difference.”

Aiden Oiring had a goal and an assist for the Raiders.

Gardner turned away 28 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. The Blades fell to 37-23-4-4 with the loss to finish third in the East Division two points behind the Raiders and one point behind the second place Brandon Wheat Kings (38-23-4-3).

Saskatoon placed sixth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Blades wait to find out who their opponent will be in the first round of the WHL Playoffs. They will face the team that loses in Sunday’s clash for top spot in the conference between the Medicine Hat Tigers (46-17-3-1) and the host Calgary Hitmen (45-16-3-3) at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Thanks to finishing first in the East Division, the Raiders will be the second seed in the Eastern Conference for the first round of the WHL Playoffs. 

Evan Gardner made 28 saves in goal for the Blades.

They will face the Edmonton Oil Kings (36-27-2-2) opening the first two games of a best-of-seven series at the Art Hauser Centre. Game 1 is Friday at 7 p.m., and Game 2 follows on Saturday, March 29 at 7 p.m.

McDonald is looking forward to seeing his squad play before the Art Hauser Centre faithful in the post-season. He said the fans gave the Raiders a big boost in Saturday’s win to claim the East Division title.

“They are just absolutely tremendous,” said McDonald. “Our fans, they’re second to none.

“They are the atmosphere in here. They keep our guys going. Their passion is exactly how we play on the ice.

Max Hildebrand stopped 34 shots in goal for the Raiders.

“As a Prince Albert born and raised young man, I’ve been coming to these games for a lot of years. It never ceases to amaze me the support that we have.”

Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Niall Crocker was pumped to help his squad win the East Division title. 

The last time the Raiders claimed the division crown was during the 2019-20 campaign, which was shortened due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. That was the campaign before Crocker joined the team on a full-time basis.

This season Crocker had career highs in goals (27), assists (38), points (65) and the plus-minus department (plus-four) in helping the Raiders claim a division title.

A total of 3,264 fans packed the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre.

“It is unbelievable,” said Crocker. “From the start of the year to where we are now, I’m just so proud of these guys.

“Some guys counted us out at the start, but we kept at it. We battled. Now, we are East Division champions.

“I’m so proud of these guys.”

While Crocker soaked in the moment on Saturday night, he is looking forward to his last venture through the WHL Playoffs.

“We’ll just take it one game at a time,” said Crocker. “It is nice that we have the home ice advantage.

Max Hildebrand sends a souvenir stick to the crowd.

“I know it is my last year. We have the team to make a big boom here. I’m super excited and looking forward to it.”

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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Dube delivers winner takes all showdown with OT tally

Raiders/Blades meet for final East Division title battle Saturday

The Raiders pile on Brayden Dube after their overtime win.

Brayden Dube forced another big game.

On Friday night playing before a season high 10,990 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, Dube broke the hearts of the host Saskatoon Blades and their faithful. Locked in a 2-2 tie playing a three-versus-three overtime period, Raiders captain Justice Christensen put a shot on goal from the top of the right faceoff circle that was deflected home by Dube just 98 seconds into the extra session.

Dube’s tally, which was his second goal of the contest, delivered the Raiders to a 3-2 victory in the WHL regular season clash. Following the overtime goal, the Raiders poured of their bench to celebrate in the left corner of the Saskatoon zone to the appreciative cheers of their contingent of fans who were in the crowd.

Brayden Dube scored the OT winner for the Raiders.

The victory allowed the Raiders to push their winning streak to four games and improve to 38-23-5-1. They have 82 standings points which equals the Blades, whose record moved to 37-22-4-4, for first place in the WHL’s East Division. Prince Albert holds the standings tiebreaker due to having more wins.

That result created a situation where the Raiders and Blades will play one winner take all contest for the East Division title. Both squads close their regular season schedules playing each other on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

Prince Albert’s extra time win on Friday also knocked the Brandon Wheat Kings out of contention for first in the East Division. The Wheat Kings dumped the visiting Regina Pats 7-3 on Friday night at Westoba Place in Brandon.

The Raiders fan contingent soaks in the overtime win.

With the win, the Wheat Kings improved to 37-23-4-3 to sit one point back of both the Raiders and Blades. The Wheat Kings and Pats (16-43-5-3) close their respective regular season schedules going at it again on Saturday in Regina (6 p.m., Brandt Centre).

Dube’s overtime winner was his second goal of Friday’s contest. The 19-year-old right-winger from Roblin, Man., has had an amazing breakout season having set career highs in goals (31), assists (35), points (66) and the plus-minus department (plus-20). He has also appeared in all of the Raiders 67 regular season contests to date in the 2024-25 campaign.

Raiders G Max Hildebrand (#30) denies Blades C Hayden Harsanyi.

Dube got things rolling early for the Raiders scoring 24 seconds into Friday’s game to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. At the centre ice zone, Raiders star centre Aiden Oiring made a backhanded pass to the left wing to spring Dube into the Saskatoon zone.

He proceeded to jet past the Blades defence, cut across the front of the Saskatoon net, and tucked home his first marker of the night.

Just 73 seconds later, the Blades had a great chance to get the equalizer. Blades 18-year-old right-winger William James received a backdoor pass at the right side of the Prince Albert net. He put a shot on goal only to be robbed by Raiders star 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand, who slid across his crease to make the stop.

David Lewandowski had the Blades first goal on Friday.

The Raiders had a glorious chance to increase their lead while working on the power play. On a rush into the Saskatoon zone, Raiders rising star defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who turned 17-years-old earlier this month, received a backdoor pass at the right side of the Blades net. Rudolph quickly released a shot only to be denied by a left pad save from Blades star netminder Evan Gardner.

The Blades found the equalizer that forced a 1-1 tie with 4:43 remaining in the opening frame. Blades 18-year-old head turning right-winger Hunter Laing came down the right wing on a rush and put a shot on goal that Hildebrand stopped but rebounded out the left of the Prince Albert net.

Blades rookie import left-winger David Lewandowski jumped on the loose puck and put it into an empty cage to force the even score.

Zach Olsen had the Blades second goal on Friday.

At the 6:07 mark of the second, the Blades went on the power play after Oiring picked up an interference minor after hitting Saskatoon import centre Frantisek Dej from behind into the boards in the right corner of the Blades zone. Dej went down on the ice and had to be helped off the ice. He would quickly return to the game after getting to the Blades bench.

On the ensuing power play, Blades rookie centre Cooper Williams, who turned 17-years-old in February, directed a shot pass midrange from the left of the Prince Albert net to the right side of the visitors goal. Blades rookie right-winger Zach Olsen, who turned 17-years-old earlier this month, redirected the puck into an empty cage to put the host side up 2-1.

The Raiders celebrate an equalizer from Harrison Lodewyk (#29).

At that point, the rest of the second period seemingly became the Hildebrand show with the Raiders netminder making a number of big saves. Those included turning away Blades standout left-winger Rowan Calvert in close with a pad save and denying Blades centre Hayden Harsanyi with a blocker save close in.

From there, Hildebrand made a pair of diving stops on Laing and put up a wall on Blades 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Grayden Siepmann twice in close. The Blades had every opportunity to bury the Raiders, but thanks to Hildebrand, Saskatoon had only a one-goal edge heading into the second intermission.

When the third period got rolling, Hildebrand made key stops on Calvert, Blades star right-winger Tyler Parr and Lewandowski. That gave the Raiders traction to get on even terms.

Justice Christensen had an assist on the Raiders OT winner.

With 5:07 remaining in the third, Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Niall Crocker had the puck in the right corner of the Saskatoon zone, and he centred a pass to gritty centre Harrison Lodewyk, who turned 20-years-old earlier this month. Lodewyk was stoned on his first shot by Gardner, but the veteran forward collected his own rebound at the left side of the Saskatoon net and put home the equalizer that forced a 2-2 tie and ultimately overtime.

The Raiders had the only two shots on goal in the extra session. Gardner made a glove stop off Raiders start left-winger Tomas Mrsic but was ultimately beat by Dube’s deflection goal.

Hildebrand stopped 35 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Gardner turned away 20 shots to take the extra time setback in net for the Blades.

At first, it was viewed that Friday’s game at the SaskTel Centre was going to be the biggest clash of the season for the two archrivals. Now, they will meet in what will be the biggest game of the campaign between the two sides on Saturday in Prince Albert as they battle for a prize only one can win in an East Division banner.

The Raiders celebrate their win on Friday night.

You can expect the Raiders faithful with make the Art Hauser Centre a madhouse as it not every day the Raiders and Blades play their respective final regular season games against each other in a winner take all clash for the division crown.

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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Blades down Wheat Kings 3-1, return to top of East Division

Evan Gardner made 33 saves in net for the Blades on Wednesday.

Evan Gardner’s roll has vaulted to Saskatoon Blades back to the top of the WHL’s East Division.

On Wednesday, the star netminder made 33 saves to backstop the Blades to a 3-1 victory in a regular season clash over the host Wheat Kings before 2,902 spectators at Westoba Place in Brandon. Gardner, who turned 19 in January, has won his last six straight starts.

He also signed three-year NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. The Blue Jackets selected Gardner, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 177 pound, in the second round and 60^th overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

Thanks to his efforts, the Blades, who have won their last three straight games, improved to 37-22-3-4 to return to the top of the East Division. They lead their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders (37-23-5-1) by one standings point and hold a two point edge over the Wheat Kings, who fell to 36-23-4-3. All three of those squads each have two games remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

The Blades and Raiders close their respective regular season playing a home-and-home series against each other. The two sides go at it Friday in Saskatoon (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre) and Saturday in Prince Albert (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The winner of Friday’s encounter will sit first in the East Division heading into action on Saturday. The Blades are expecting to draw over 10,000 spectators for Friday’s clash.

The Wheat Kings conclude their slate with a home-and-home series against the Regina Pats (16-42-5-3). Those two teams play Friday in Brandon (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place) and Saturday in Regina (6 p.m., Brandt Centre). Brandon needs to win both of those contests to have a chance to finish first in the East Division.

The Wheat Kings have won their respective regular season series with the Blades and Raiders. If Brandon finishes tied in wins and standings points with either or both of Saskatoon and Prince Albert, the Wheat Kings will take the standings tiebreaker in that instance.

Wednesday’s battle between the Blades and Wheat Kings was a fairly tight checking affair. The two sides played through a scoreless opening frame with Blades standout 19-year-old left-winger Rowan Calvert nailing the post with a shot inside the final minute of the stanza.

Early in the second, Wheat Kings 20-year-old star right-winger Marcus Nguyen put a backhand shot off the crossbar of the Saskatoon net.

Saskatoon broke through on the scoreboard at the 8:15 mark of the second. Import rookie left-winger David Lewandowski circled around the right side of the Brandon zone holding off a defender and fired home a shot through a screen to put the visitors up 1-0.

Rowan Calvert scored for the Blades on Wednesday.

With two seconds remaining in the second, Blades import centre Frantisek Day engaged Wheat Kings star 18-year-old centre Roger McQueen in a fight. The bout came about in a clunky manner.

During a scramble on the Saskatoon zone, Day cross-checked McQueen accidentally into Gardner. Day saw McQueen knock Gardner and then went after the Brandon forward.

McQueen was given a fighting major, while Day was given a minor for instigating, a major for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct. Working on that ensuing power play early in the third, Wheat Kings standout 18-year-old centre Jordan Gavin wired a shot off the post.

Once the Brandon power play came to an end, the Blades jumped ahead 2-0 at the 7:19 mark of the third, when Calvert tucked in his 24^th goal of the season with a bad angle shot just above the icing line to the left side of the Wheat Kings net.

The Wheat Kings didn’t go away. With 8:13 remaining in the third, Wheat Kings 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Luke Shipley wired a midrange shot through a screen for his 18^th tally of the campaign to cut the Blades lead to 2-1. Wheat Kings 16-year-old rookie centre Jaxon Jacobson stole the puck working the forecheck deep in the Saskatoon zone, and he got the puck to Gavin. Gavin setup Shipley for his goal-scoring shot.

Inside the final two minutes of the third with Brandon having pulled star 19-year-old netminder Carson Bjarnason for an extra attacker, Shipley wired a shot off the post of the Saskatoon goal.

Just moments after that missed chance, Lewandowski potted a long range empty-net goal from the left side boards beside the faceoff circle in the Saskatoon zone to seal the 3-1 victory for the visiting Blades. That tally was the second of the contest for Lewandowski and his 14^th marker of the campaign.

Bjarnason turned away 24-of-26 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wheat Kings.

Last season, the Blades finished with a 50-13-2-3 mark to top the WHL’s overall standings. In the post-season, the Blades advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series and fell in an epic seven-game set that saw six contests go to overtime to the eventual WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors.

Going into the current campaign, the Blades weren’t expected to challenge for first in the division. They occupied first place for most of the first half of the regular season.

Leading up the WHL’s trade deadline on January 9, the Blades unloaded stars Brandon Lisowsky, Tanner Molendyk and Ben Riche to stock up on draft capital and add solid younger players. The Blades dealt a lot of high draft selections during a load up last season.

Saskatoon fell out of top spot in the East Division in late January. The Blades weren’t expected to be sitting at the top of the division with two regular season games remaining on their schedule.

Now, they will try to conclude a heated three team race with what would be a surprise division title.

Hitmen’s Hauser gets career wins record

Daniel Hauser is the WHL’s new all-time goaltending career wins king.

On Wednesday night, the star netminder, who turned 21 in January, made 21 saves to backstop his Calgary Hitmen to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Red Deer Rebels before 2,573 spectators at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The triumph allowed Hauser to move alone to the top of the WHL’s career regular season goaltending wins list with 123 victories.

Hauser had been tied for top spot at 122 wins with Nolan Maier, who played his entire WHL career with the Saskatoon Blades from 2017 to 2022.

“It feels awesome,” said Hauser to the WHL’s director of public relations and brand communications Taylor Rocca. “I could stand here for hours listing the people I can thank for putting me in this position.

“I’m super grateful for this team, this organization and every team I’ve been on in the past. To share (the record) with this group – these guys play so well in front of me every night. They made it special for me tonight, and it was awesome.”

Hauser, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 166 pounds, started his WHL career playing for the Winnipeg Ice during the circuit’s abbreviated campaign in 2021. The Ice played in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

He moved with the Ice franchise when it relocated to Wenatchee, Washington, to become the Wenatchee Wild at the start of the 2023-24 campaign. On January 2, Hauser was dealt to the Hitmen in a blockbuster trade.

Hauser, who is a Chestermere, Alta., product, has appeared in 175 career WHL regular season contests posting a 123-36-9 record, a 2.59 goals against average, a .910 save percentage and 17 shutouts. In combined action with both the Wild and Hitmen this season, Hauser has posted a 28-13-3 record, a 2.57 goals against average, a .912 save percentage and five shutouts.

The Hitmen did their best to ensure Hauser wouldn’t be denied the record on Wednesday. Carson Wetsch and Hunter Aura netted singles in the first period to give Calgary a 2-0 lead. Brandon Gorzynski, Sawyer Mynio and Ethan Moore potted singles in the second period to push the Hitmen’s advantage out to 5-0.

Samuel Drancak tallied for the Rebels in the third to round out the game’s scoring.

Hitmen star right-winger Oliver Tulk collected a pair of assists to hit the 100-point barrier in one regular season for the first time in his WHL career. Tulk, who turned 20 in January, has recorded 38 goals and 62 assists for 100 points to go with a plus-44 rating in the plus-minus department in 63 games with the Hitmen this season.

Peyton Shore turned away 25 shots to take the setback in net for the Rebels, who fell to 26-32-6-2 as they play out the string in 2024-25.

The win allowed the Hitmen to improve to 44-16-3-3.  Their 94 standings points ties the Medicine Hat Tigers (45-17-3-1) for top spot in the Central Division and the Eastern Conference. The Tigers hold the standing tiebreaker due to having more wins. Both clubs have two games remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

The Hitmen and Rebels go at it again on Saturday in Red Deer (7 p.m. local time, Peavey Mart Centrium). The Tigers are also in action on Saturday as they host the rival Lethbridge Hurricanes (7 p.m. local time, Co-op Place).

The Hitmen and Tigers conclude their respective regular season slates playing each other on Sunday in Calgary (5 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).

The Rebels conclude their 2024-25 campaign on Sunday traveling to Edmonton to take on the Oil Kings (4 p.m. local time, Rogers Place).

Royals jump to top of B.C. Division

The Victoria Royals are back on top of the B.C. Division.

On Wednesday, the Royals downed the host Rockets in Kelowna 5-3 before 3,451 spectators at Prospera Place. The Rockets took a 2-0 lead in the second period before the Royals rolled off three straight tallies to take a 3-2 edge into the second intermission.

Kelowna scored the equalizer early in the third to force a 3-3 tie, but the Royals netted the contest’s final two markers to pull out the two-goal victory.

Cole Reschny led the way for the Royals with two goals and one assist. Brandon Lisowsky, Reggie Newman and Kenta Isogai all netted singles for Victoria. Isogai tallied into an empty net.

Hiroki Gojsic, Levi Benson and Jakub Stancl replied with singles for the Rockets.

Jayden Kraus stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Royals. Rhett Stoesser turned away 32-of-36 shots to take the setback in net of the Rockets.

With the win, the Royals improve to 39-17-3-7 to hold a lead of two standings points over the Prince George Cougars (40-20-4-2) for first in the B.C. Division. Both squads conclude their respective regular season schedules playing each other twice in Prince George. They go at it 7 p.m. local time Friday and 6 p.m. local time Saturday at the CN Centre.

The Rockets have lost 10 straight games to fall to 17-43-4-2 to sit in the basement of the Western Conference. They are playing out the string and have two games remaining on their regular season slate.

The Rockets host the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday (6 p.m. local time, Prospera Place) and head on the road Sunday to take on the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C., (4 p.m. local time, Langley Events Centre).

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.