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| Max Hildebrand made 32 saves in goal for the Raiders on Saturday. |
On Monday, the Raiders relieved 59-year-old head coach Jeff Truitt of his duties. While the Raiders were sporting a 34-22-5-1 record at the time, they had one win in their previous six outings posting a 1-3-2 mark over that stretch. In Truitt’s final two games as head coach, the Raiders lost both ends of a home-and-home series in regulation to their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades.
It seemed like the Raiders were repeating a trend from the previous campaign, where they went 2-9 over their last 11 games including action in the regular season and the WHL Playoffs.
The Raiders promoted 37-year-old assistant coach Ryan McDonald to interim head coach. McDonald is a Prince Albert product and played for the Raiders as a player from 2006 to 2009.
In the Raiders first 15 games after returning from their WHL Christmas break this season, McDonald served as interim head coach at that time as Truitt was on medical leave for eye surgery. Over those 15 games, the Raiders posted a 10-4-0-1 mark.
After making the moves on the coaching front, Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt told Nathan Reiter of the Prince Albert Daily Herald that he made the decision because he thought a new voice was needed in the dressing room.
With McDonald in his second stint as interim head coach for the campaign, the Raiders traveled to Lethbridge on Wednesday, held leads of 2-0 and 3-2, but fell to the host Hurricanes 5-3. On Friday, the Raiders made their way to Red Deer, fell behind 3-1 and rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory over the host Rebels. Star centre Aiden Oiring scored a hat trick including the winner in overtime.
On Saturday, the Raiders ventured to Edmonton for their latest WHL regular season clash to play the host Oil Kings before 12,142 spectators at Rogers Place. Riding a 32 save performance from star 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand, the Raiders posted a 4-1 victory for their second straight win.
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| Daxon Rudolph had the Raiders third goal on Saturday. |
The idle Blades (35-22-3-4) sit two points back of the Wheat Kings and one point back of the Raiders with a game in hand on both clubs. The Blades make up that game in hand on Sunday when they host the 15-41-5-3 Regina Pats (4 p.m., SaskTel Centre).
Prince Albert and Brandon have three games remaining on their respective regular season schedules. Saskatoon has four regular season contests remaining in the 2024-25 campaign.
In Saturday’s clash between the Raiders and Oil Kings, the visitors jumped out to a 1-0 lead with 3:21 remaining in the opening period. Breaking down the left wing into the Edmonton zone on a rush, Raiders 16-year-old rookie left-winger Ty Meunier flipped a smart pass over to fellow rookie Riley Boychuk to an open area by the right side of the Oil Kings net.
Boychuk, who turned 17-years-old in January, potted his 14th of the campaign to give the Raiders their one-goal edge.
At the 4:36 mark of the second, Raiders star left-winger Tomas Mrsic made a backhand pass from behind the Edmonton net to breakout 19-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube in front of the goal. Dube one-timed home his 29th tally of the campaign to push the Raiders lead out to 2-0.
With 68 seconds remaining in the second, Raiders rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who turned 17-years-old earlier this month, wired home a shot from the left faceoff circle to the top right corner of the Edmonton net to allow the Raiders to hold a 3-0 advantage.
With 11.9 seconds remaining in the second, the Oil Kings struck on the power play when import centre Miroslav Holinka tipped home a point shot from start linemate Gracyn Sawchyn at the right side of the Prince Albert net. That goal cut the Raiders lead to 3-1.
The third period saw the Raiders kill off four Oil Kings power plays, while Edmonton killed off one Prince Albert man advantage. Prince Albert’s first infraction of the frame was a delay of game penalty to 18-year-old defenceman Tyrone Sobry for clearing the puck over the glass from his own zone. For the rest of the frame, it seemed the Oil Kings were going down easy trying to dive like a 1980s European hockey team which drew three other power-play chances.
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| Niall Crocker scored an empty-net goal for the Raiders. |
Alex Worthington turned away 12-of-15 shots to take the setback in net for the Oil Kings who fell to 35-26-2-2.
The Raiders won three out of the five head-to-head encounters with the Oil Kings this season.
The Oil Kings return to action on Sunday, when they travel to Calgary to take on the 43-15-3-3 Hitmen (2 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).
The Raiders get back at it on Tuesday when they host the 14-43-6-2 Moose Jaw Warriors (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).
Wheat Kings get scare in Moose Jaw, prevail
in OT
On Saturday, the Wheat Kings found themselves trailing 4-3 to the host Moose Jaw Warriors in a WHL regular season contest played before 3,215 spectators at the Temple Gardens Centre. The Warriors are going through a big rebuild and sit last in the entire WHL after winning their first WHL championship last season.
With 5:14 remaining in the third, Wheat Kings 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Luke Shipley pounced on a loose puck in the right faceoff circle in the Moose Jaw zone and buried his 17th goal of the campaign to even the score at 4-4.
Just moments into overtime, Warriors captain Lynden Lakovic got in on a short breakaway on the Brandon net. He put a backhand shot on goal that was swallowed up by Wheat Kings star 19-year-old netminder Carson Bjarnason.
A short time after that scoring chance, Wheat Kings star overage centre Nolan Flamand blew home the winner at the 44-second mark of the extra frame to give the visitors a 5-4 victory.
Brandon held a 3-2 lead after the first period only to see Moose Jaw pull ahead 4-3 going into the second intermission.
Roger McQueen recorded one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department for the Wheat Kings, who received singles from Marcus Nguyen and Matteo Michels. Lakovic, Casey Brown, Pavel McKenzie and Riley Thorpe replied with singles for the Warriors.
Bjarnason stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wheat Kings. Matthew Hutchison turned away 28 shots to take the setback in net for Moose Jaw.
With the win, the Wheat Kings, who have won three straight games, continue to lead the WHL’s East Division improving to 36-22-4-3. They hold a one standings point lead over the Prince Albert Raiders (36-23-5-1) and sit two points ahead of the idle Saskatoon Blades (35-22-3-4).
The Blades have a game in hand on both the Wheat Kings and Raiders. The Blades make up that game in hand on Sunday when they host the 15-41-5-3 Regina Pats (4 p.m., SaskTel Centre).
The Warriors saw their record move to 14-43-6-2 as they continue to remain last in the entire WHL. They return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).
The Wheat Kings return home to host the Blades on Wednesday in a big late season contest at 7 p.m. at Westoba Place.
Tigers’ McKenna explodes for seven points,
other notes
The 17-year-old was in on all his team’s goals as the Tigers blasted the visiting Red Deer Rebels 7-3 in a WHL regular season clash before 5,645 spectators at Co-op Place. McKenna recorded a hat trick and four assists for seven points to go with a plus-three rating in the plus-minus category in the win.
Medicine Hat jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first period, held a 5-3 advantage after two periods and cruised to the 7-3 victory. The Tigers have won eight straight games improving to 45-17-3-1 to sit first overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and Central Division.
They sit two standings points ahead of the Calgary Hitmen (43-15-3-3). The Hitmen have two games in hand on the Tigers. Medicine Hat has two games remaining on its regular season schedule, while Calgary has four contests remaining.
After recording seven points against the Rebels, McKenna sits comfortably in second in the WHL’s scoring race with 121 points coming off 37 goals and 84 assists to go with a plus-54 rating in 54 games. He also has points in his last 38 consecutive appearances dating back to November 6, 2024. During that stretch, McKenna has piled up 92 points coming off 28 goals and 64 assists.
Tigers 20-year-old captain Oasiz Wiesblatt also had a big night in Saturday’s win. He recorded a hat trick and two assists for five points to go with a plus-two rating. The hat trick allowed Wiesblatt to surpass the 100-goal mark in his WHL career. In 282 career regular season games all with the Tigers, Wiesblatt has 101 goals, 184 assists, 285 points and a plus-42 rating.
Wiesblatt also has 100 points coming off 36 goals and 64 assists to go with a plus-42 rating in 64 games with the Tigers this season. That marks the first time Wiesblatt has hit the 100-point plateau for one season in his WHL career.
Star defenceman Tanner Molendyk had the Tigers first goal on Saturday. He also had an assist for a two-point night and posted a plus-one rating.
Tigers overage centre Mathew Ward had an assist in the win. With that helper, Ward has 250 points in his WHL career coming off 90 goals and 160 assists in 261 career regular season games.
Matthew Gard scored twice for the Rebels, while Ollie Josephson had a single.
Harrison Meneghin stopped 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers. Peyton Shore turned away 19 shots to take the loss in net for the Rebels.
The Rebels, who will miss the WHL Playoffs, fell to 26-31-6-2. They return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Calgary to take on the Hitmen (7 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).
The Tigers are off until this coming Saturday when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7 p.m. local time, Co-op Place). The Tigers and Hitmen close their respective regular season schedules going head-to-head on Sunday, March 23 at 5 p.m. local time at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.
- On Thursday, the Tri-City Americans announced defenceman Terrell Goldsmith was released from hospital late Wednesday night and is resting at home. He will continue to be monitored by the Americans medical staff. Goldsmith, who is a former member of the Prince Albert Raiders, was injured in a fight with defenceman Ashton Cumby of the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday night in a game at the Toyota Centre in Kennewick, Washington. That contest was suspended after Goldsmith’s injury.
- On Saturday, 20-year-old defenceman Hunter Mayo recorded two goals, three assists and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department to power the visiting Swift Current Broncos to a 7-5 victory over the Pats in Regina. The Broncos, who have a berth locked up in the WHL Playoffs, improved to 34-28-1-2 with the win.
- On Saturday, veteran right-winger Ethan Moore scored twice to power the visiting Calgary Hitmen to a 3-1 victory over the Hurricanes in Lethbridge. The Hitmen improved to 43-15-3-3 with the win, while the Hurricanes fell to 41-20-3-2. Both teams will have home ice advantage to for best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs.
- On Sunday, March 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on ultra-busy track and field coach Jason Reindl. The 40-year-old has coaches the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Track and Field and Cross-Country Teams since the start of the 2017-18 campaign. He also has many other roles in the sport. The piece on Reindl can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by pictures from the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club to bid farewell to the winter sports season. It also includes photos from baseball, rugby, softball and speed skating. 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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