Raiders day – P.A. smashes Saskatoon 6-1 in Game 1

Prince Albert fans grill Blades goalie in series opener

Aiden Oiring (#19) celebrates scoring the Raiders first goal on Friday.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – So do you really want to fire up the Prince Albert Raiders faithful at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre?

Saskatoon Blades star starting netminder Evan Gardner discovered that might not have been the best thing to do. In his defence, Gardner might not have thought the fans in “Hockey Town North” were going to rally up, when he elected to say something to sum up the rivalry between the Raiders and Blades before the two sides faced each other in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.

Daxon Rudolph enjoys scoring the Raiders second goal on Friday.

“I genuinely hate the Raiders,” said Gardner during a media conference on Thursday in Saskatoon. “I think everyone in that room feels the same.

“Every time we play them, we have this fire in us, and it feels real. You really do hate them. You want to beat them so bad.”

It was pretty safe to say almost everyone that was part of the sold out crowd of 3,299 spectators at the 2,580 seat fabled home rink of the Raiders were aware of Gardner’s comments, when the two sides played Game 1 of the series in Prince Albert.

Even before the game started, hex chants for Gardner were raining down from the stands. Just 3:41 into the contest, Raiders star centre Aiden Oiring got the puck in the right corner of the Saskatoon zone, skated in close to the Saskatoon net and put home a shot short side on Gardner to put the host side up 1-0 to a huge eruption of cheers amongst the fans in the building.

Alisher Sarkenov (#24) hugs Braeden Cootes after scoring a goal.

Gardner tried to silence them a short time later making a glove save on Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes. That just seemed to stall the avalanche that was to come.

At the 5:17 mark of the opening frame, Raider standout left-winger Jonah Sivertson made a backhand centring pass from the right side boards in the Saskatoon zone to star Raiders defenceman Daxon Rudolph. Rudolph fired home a shot through Gardner’s five-hole to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead to bring the cheering of the team’s faithful up to another level. The hosts were rolling and holding a 9-0 edge in shots on goal at the time of Rudolph’s goal.

From that point, it felt like the Blades were playing against a crusade in Game 1. The Raiders pushed their lead out to 3-0 by the end of the opening frame holding a 19-2 edge in shots on goal. The host’s would push their edge to 4-0 by the end of the second period and would roll to a 6-1 victory.

The fans at the Art Hauser Centre cheer the Raiders third goal.

Gardner continued to be the target of heckles from the Raiders faithful. One Prince Albert fan even brought a big sign that showed a picture of a Raiders player scoring a beach ball on the Blades netminder, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The veteran puck stopper was pulled by the Blades following the second period. He stopped 27-of-31 shots fired his way to take the setback in net for Saskatoon. Ryley Budd, who is a 17-year-old rookie, played the third period in relief and turned away 9-of-11 shots sent his way.

A Raiders fan has a sign heckling Blades G Evan Gardner.

The Raiders pushed their advantage out to 6-0 at one point in the third period, and the fans at that moment started a chant of, “We want Gardner.”

Blades feisty sophomore right-winger Zach Olsen scored on the power play for the Blades with 9:18 remaining in the third to ruin the shutout bid for Raiders star 18-year-old rookie netminder Michal Orsulak. Orsulak would stop 16 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders.

When the Raiders faithful are stirred up and engaged in a game right from the outset, the players on the Prince Albert side can feel it. All of sudden, the players are drawing energy from their supporters, and in those moments, the Hauser becomes seemingly an impossible place to play in for the opposition.

The Raiders fans were on their game against the Blades.

Friday’s Game 1 felt eerily similar to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series played between these two sides back on April 5, 2019. Going into that series, then Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid accused the Blades of embellishment and taking dives in order to draw penalties. Habscheid knew what he said would get the Raiders faithful fired up, and the theatrics worked for Game 1 of that series.

The Raiders fans placed signs on the glass in the Blades end during warm up that basically said diving wasn’t permitted in the Hauser. The faithful were all over the Blades with their taunts and the Raiders rolled on that night to a 6-1 victory. Of course, the Raiders in the WHL Playoffs of 2019 would go on to win the WHL title.

Brandon Gorzynski sets to fire home the Raiders fourth goal.

Ryan McDonald, who is the Raiders head coach in the current day, didn’t have to say anything to get his team’s fans fired up. Gardner unknowingly did that during the Blades presser on Thursday.

With 4:02 remaining in the first in Friday’s clash, Cootes broke into the Saskatoon zone on a rush down the right wing. He put a pass across the face of the Saskatoon goal to import linemate Alisher Sarkenov. Sarkenov tapped the puck by Gardner to give the Raiders a 3-0 advantage.

Raiders star left-winger Brandon Gorzynski, who turned 19-years-old in March, wired a mid range shot past Gardner at the 12:01 mark of the second to make the host side’s lead stand at 4-0.

Just 91 seconds into the third, Oiring wired his second of the night from the low right side of the Saskatoon net on the power play to push the Raiders advantage out to 5-0. The Raiders struck again on the power play 63 seconds later when star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube roofed a shot from the front of the Saskatoon net into the top right corner of the goal to make the Raiders lead sit at 6-0.

A couple of young fans cheer Brandon Gorzynski’s goal.

Rudolph and Gorzynski each finished the contest recording one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. Raiders captain Justice Christensen recorded three assists and a plus-two rating just a day after signing a two-year AHL contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

The hosts seemed to hit home runs everywhere on Friday. They had a 50/50 draw where the winner took home $84,200. Oiring, who was the game’s first star, made a young little girl’s night by giving her a souvenir stick.

Prince Albert entered the series with Saskatoon as the favourites.

The Raiders finished first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and second overall in the league with a 52-10-5-1 record during the regular season. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the first round of the playoffs, Prince Albert eliminated the Red Deer Rebels, who were eighth in the Eastern Conference, in five games.

The Raiders salute their faithful at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark. In the first round of the playoffs, they upset the Edmonton Oil Kings, who were third in the Eastern Conference and fifth overall in the WHL, in seven games taking Game 7 by a 3-2 score in overtime. In the seven games against the Oil Kings, the Blades played their best hockey of the 2025-26 campaign.

Game 2 of the series between the Raiders and Blades is slated for 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Blades have been resilient this season, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to expect the Saskatoon side will have a better effort in Game 2.

If the Raiders are able to continue to roll like they did in Game 1, they might sweep this best-of-seven series in three games.

A young fans is pumped to get a souvenir stick from Aiden Oiring.

At the moment, fans in “Hockey Town North” are celebrating a Friday that was the Raiders day.

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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