Prince Albert downs Warriors in Moose Jaw
after shootout
On Thursday night before an announced crowd of 3,546 spectators at Temple Gardens Centre in Moose Jaw, the visiting Raiders slipped past the host Warriors 3-2 in a WHL regular season clash following a tiebreaking shootout. Prince Albert took the shootout 1-0 with star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring netting the goal in the tiebreaking session.
The win was a fifth straight for the Raiders, who improved to 33-6-4 to vault into first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Raiders sit one point ahead of the Central Division leading Medicine Hat Tigers (32-7-3-2) and five points in front of the Edmonton Oil Kings (30-9-3-2). Prince Albert still has one game in hand on both of those clubs.
The Raiders also sit one point back of the Everett Silvertips (34-6-2-1) for first overall in the entire WHL.
In the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were release on Tuesday, the Raiders were rated second, the Silvertips were fourth, the Tigers were fifth and the Oil Kings came in at sixth.
The Warriors get an important standings point with the shootout setback to see their record move to 17-22-3-2. They sit three points up on the Red Deer Rebels (16-22-2-2) and the Regina Pats (15-21-5-1) for seventh overall in the Eastern Conference. The Rebels and Pats each have two games in hand on the Warriors.
Red Deer and Regina are tied for the eighth and ninth positions in the Eastern Conference. If the regular season stopped today, they would play a tiebreaking game to see who gets eighth place and the conference’s final playoff berth.
As for Thursday’s clash between Prince Albert and Moose Jaw, the Raiders came out flying taking a 2-0 lead in the first period while holding a 17-4 edge in shots on goal.
Prince Albert opened the scoring at the 2:36 mark of the opening frame scoring on an offensive zone rush while working on the power play. On the rush, Raiders star 19-year-old centre Max Heise fed a pass to star 18-year-old left-winger Brandon Gorzynski, who was skating towards the right post of the Moose Jaw goal.
Gorzynski fed a backhanded pass across the face of the Warriors net backdoor to star 18-year-old centre Braeden Cootes. Cootes popped home his 13th goal of the campaign to give the Raiders their one-goal edge.
Shortly after the midway point of the first period, the Raiders pushed their lead out to 2-0. On an offensive zone rush, Oiring jetted down the right wing, swooped around behind the Moose Jaw net and put a pass across the crease of the Warriors goal to Gorzynski parked by the right post. Gorzynski popped his 20th goal of the campaign to give the visitors their two-goal edge.
Just over four minutes after going ahead 2-0, Raiders rookie 19-year-old import defenceman Matyas Man faced Warriors 18-year-old right-winger Gage Nagel in a spirited fight that pleased the crowd. Man got the take down in the bout.
In the second, the Raiders carried play holding a 9-6 edge in shots on goal, but the stanza was a rough one for the visitors. With 8:12 remaining the period, Raiders standout defenceman Linden Burrett went into the boards awkwardly while engaged with a Warriors player. Burrett grabbed his left knee and exited the game at that point.
With 7:53 remaining in the second, the Warriors scored on the power play with 20-year-old centre Ethan Semeniuk potting a backhander from the left side of the Prince Albert net. The tally cut the Raiders lead to 2-1.
The host side evened the score at 2-2 with 2:05 remaining in the second when 16-year-old rookie defenceman Colt Carter drove home a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle in the Prince Albert zone.
The two sides played evenly through a scoreless third period where the shots on goal for the frame were tied at 11-11. The Warriors held a 4-1 edge in shots on goal during the three-versus-three overtime period, where they were denied on two glorious scoring chances.
Warriors 18-year-old centre Riley Thorpe had a breakaway opportunity only to be denied by Raiders rookie star import netminder Michal Orsulak. The second big scoring chance was a close-in opportunity by Warriors star 20-year-old left-winger Pavel McKenzie, but he was turned away by a left pad stop by Orsulak.
That set the stage for the tiebreaking shootout. Oiring scored on the Raiders first shooting opportunity in the tiebreaking session. Orsulak ended the session with a sweet glove stop on Warriors 18-year-old left-winger Steven Steranka.
Orsulak made 23 saves over 65 minutes and turned away all three shooters he faced in the shootout to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Chase Wutzke turned away 36 shots and one of two shooters in the shootout to take the extra time setback in net for the Warriors.
The Warriors get back at it on Friday when they host the 18-17-5-3 Victoria Royals (7 p.m., Temple Gardens Centre).
The Raiders continue a stretch where they are playing three games in three nights. On Friday, they travel to Swift Current to take on the 10-30-3 Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex). The Raiders return home on Saturday when they host the Tigers (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).
Prince Albert was without star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube on Thursday, who is day-to-day with a minor injury. Dube was injured in the Raiders 12-2 home ice romp over the Royals on Tuesday.
Oil Kings’ Holinka is prime time player,
other notes
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| Miroslav Holinka has 62 points in 41 games this season. |
Last season, the skilled centre from Zlin, Czechia had a solid debut campaign for the Edmonton Oil Kings. He skated in 47 regular season games recording 19 goals, 26 assists and a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department. He helped the Oil Kings post a 37-27-2-2 mark to make the WHL Playoffs for the first time since Edmonton last won the league title in the 2021-22 campaign.
Holinka, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 185 pounds, had been selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fifth round and 151st overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The Leafs were pleased enough by Holinka’s first WHL campaign that they signed him to a three-year NHL entry-level contract on July 15, 2025.
The Leafs assigned Holinka to play a 20-year-old season with the Oil Kings for the current season. Skating in his second campaign in North America, Holinka has taken off.
In 41 games with the Oil Kings this season, Holinka has piled up 28 goals and 34 assists to go with a plus-26 rating in the plus-minus department. Holinka’s goal total includes seven game winners, which is one behind Medicine Hat Tigers captain Bryce Pickford for the league lead.
Along with his game-winning goal total, Holinka sits seven points behind Seattle Thunderbirds right-winger Cameron Schmidt for the WHL scoring lead at 69 points. Schmidt has put up his point total on 32 goals and 37 assists.
When import players like Holinka first come over to North American, they go through growing pains both on and off the ice. On top of adjusting to the North American style of play, import players have to work through learning a new language and culture. It is common for import players to show great improvement when they come back for a second major junior campaign.
Holinka has been on another level this season with the Oil Kings. Centering a line with Lukas Sawchyn on right-wing and captain Gavin Hodnett on left-wing, Holinka has hit the ice with a confidence that is through the roof this season.
He has become a difference maker for the Oil Kings, who sit fourth overall in the WHL with a 30-9-3-2 mark and are rated sixth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday. Holinka has become a player who is worth the price of admission by his presence alone and is a player to watch.
If folks in the Alberta capital city can pull themselves away from watching superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl skate for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, they will find themselves very much entertained watching the heroics of Holinka with the city’s major junior squad.
On that note, the Oil Kings are leading the WHL in attendance averaging 6,521 spectators per game at Rogers Place, which is a great accomplishment when you are a junior squad existing in the same city as the Oilers.
When opposing teams lose track of Holinka on the ice, they usually create an invitation to have the puck end up in the back of their own net.
Holinka’s skill shows up even when the Oil Kings lose. When they dropped a 4-3 decision at home on Wednesday to the Regina Pats, Holinka potted a short-handed goal where he scored on a backhander on a breakaway.
If you live in Edmonton or you see the Oil Kings are coming to your centre as the road team for the rest of the current campaign, you’d be wise to get out and see Holinka play out his final days before graduating from the major junior ranks at the end of the season. It won’t be long before you have to pay big NHL ticket prices to see show off his skills live.
- Kamloops Blazers 17-year-old right-winger JP Hurlbert still has the afterburners on in what has been an amazing rookie campaign. Hurlbert, who is from Allen, Texas, has recorded 29 goals and 38 assists to go with a plus-11 rating playing in all of the team’s 42 regular season games to date. He leads all rookies in scoring with his 67 points and sits second in the overall WHL scoring race.
- Medicine Hat Tigers 17-year-old sophomore centre Markus Ruck leads the WHL with 51 assists this season. Ruck also had 11 goals and a plus-20 rating appearing in all of his squad’s 44 games to date.
- Medicine Hat Tigers 19-year-old veteran defenceman Jonas Woo leads the WHL in the plus-minus department with a plus-48 rating in 37 games this season. Woo has also piled up 61 points coming off 24 goals and 37 assists.
- Medicine Hat Tigers 18-year-old sophomore netminder Jordan Switzer leads the WHL with 21 goaltending victories. In 30 appearances this season, Switzer has recorded a 21-4-3 record, a 2.70 goals against average, a .896 save percentage and one shutout.
- On January 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on 16-year-old Shaurya Patel, who is one of Cricket Saskatoon’s elite junior players. In the piece, Patel talked about his journey in the sport of cricket and went through the process to try to make Cricket Canada’s Canadian under-19 World Cup team in 2025. The piece on Patel can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by images from the John Sands Classic Long Track Meet hosted by the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club. 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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