Blades continue to hold hex over Raiders

Saskatoon claims 6-3 victory for fourth straight win versus P.A.

The Blades celebrate a empty-net goal from Kyle Crnkovic, centre.

    It might have looked pretty and then not looked pretty, but the Saskatoon Blades still found a way to keep a hex hanging over the Prince Albert Raiders.
    On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, the Blades jumped out to a 5-0 lead at one point in the second period only to have the Raiders cut the gap to 5-3 going into the second intermission.

    While the defending WHL champion Raiders pressed in the third, they weren’t able to get any closer on the scoreboard.

    Blades 17-year-old sophomore left-winger Kyle Crnkovic tipped home a shot from linemate Tristen Robins into an empty net to seal a 6-3 victory for the host side before 3,868 spectators.

    In six head-to-head encounters between the two sides, the Blades have won five of those contests. 
    Saturday’s game finished a stretch where the two clubs played each other three straight times, and the Blades took every single one of those encounters. The Blades have won their last four straight games against the Raiders.

Scott Walford had two goals and an assist for the Blades.

    “I think it is just that we’ve come out and really embraced the rivalry,” said Blades overage defenceman Scott Walford, who had two goals and an assist in the win. “I think it is something we have to do maybe against other teams.

    “We just have to bring that intensity to every game. They are at the top of our division for a reason. They are a fast team.

    “They are a hard team to play against. They are well coached. I think it is big for us to really take that into the next games, and we can show what kind of team we have.”

    The game got off to a big start for the host side when Blades 18-year-old sophomore defenceman Matthew Sanders fired home a shot from the point at the 1:50 mark of the opening frame to give Saskatoon a 1-0 lead. Sanders’ tally was his first goal of his WHL career and came on the Blades’ first shot of the game.

Ilya Usau had two goals and an assist for the Raiders.

    Captain Chase Wouters scored at the six-minute mark and Walford potted his first of the night at the 7:13 mark of the opening frame to give the Blades a 3-0 edge.

    The tallies by Wouters and Walford came on the same power play after Raiders right-winger Jacob Brook was given a major penalty for hitting Blades overage defenceman Nolan Kneen from behind.

    The infraction against Brook will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

    After Walford gave the Blades a 3-0 edge, the Raiders pulled starting netminder Carter Serhyenko, who stopped one of four shots sent his way.

    Boston Bilous played the rest of the way for the Raiders turning away 14-of-16 shots fired in his direction.

Blades captain Chase Wouters (#44) screens Raiders goalie Carter Serhyenko.

    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said Serhyenko, who is from Saskatoon, had an off night.

    “This is his hometown,” said Habscheid. “(Serhyenko has been) really good and consistent for us.

    “Really, this is his first game where he had a tough night. He’s a young guy (and) whatever experience good or bad is good for him. I felt bad for him as he’s been consistent for us.

    “He just had a tough one.”

    At the start of the second, it appeared a route would be on. Walford netted his second of the contest just 35 seconds into the frame, and 16-year-old right-winger Colton Dach tallied at the 4:32 mark of the stanza to put the Blades up 5-0.

Matthew Sanders scored his first career WHL goal on Saturday.

    The Raiders called a timeout after the Blades fifth goal in order to regroup.

    “No matter what, to get goals scored on you that quickly puts you on your heels (and) that’s what happened to us,” said Habscheid. “I want guys to keep their composure, but it’s tough.

    “Young guys, once they gathered and collected themselves we were pretty good.”

    Raiders 18-year-old rookie left-winger Ilya Usau stopped the bleeding scoring at the 10:34 mark of the second to cut the Blades lead to 5-1.

    Usau potted his second of the contest with 1:23 remaining in the second, and Raiders Belarusian import centre Aliaksei Protas netted his 20^th goal of the campaign just 33 seconds later to trim the Blades lead to 5-3. Usau picked up an assist on Protas’s goal.

Nolan Maier made 35 saves in goal for the Blades on Saturday.

    Blades associate coach Ryan Marsh said his club focused on regrouping in the second intermission noting they still led the contest.

    “We just had to get back to our game,” said Marsh. “I thought that we were a little bit careless with our puck management a little bit.

    “A credit to them. They really stepped their game up and started to push hard and had some good extended O-zone play and put us into some bad spots. I thought our competitiveness in the D-zone was a little bit lackadaisical.

    “You get up, and you start to cheat a little bit on offence. Our details weren’t great there, and they stepped their game up. We were able to come in after the second and regroup, and I thought we had a pretty good third period.”

    The Raiders outshot the Blades 17-5 in the third, but couldn’t get anything past Blades star netminder Nolan Maier.

The Blades fans enjoy their team’s victory on Saturday.

    Maier made 35 saves to pick up the win. He has played in all of the Blades encounters with the Raiders this season and has stopped 170-of-180 shots fired his way in those games.

    The effort by the Yorkton, Sask., product allowed the Blades to lock away the game with Crnkovic’s empty-net goal.

    “Nolan (Maier) is a phenomenal goalie, and any time that he has a great game we normally win,” said Walford. “I think he had another stellar performance tonight.

    “I don’t think we were as god as we could have been in front of him at times. That is something that we are going to have to go back to the drawing board on.”

    Going forward, Walford would like to see his club explode offensively again like they did on Saturday. The Coquitlam, B.C., product said the key for his squad is to not over think things in the offensive zone.

The Blades celebrate their win on Saturday.

    “Every time that we have success offensively, normally, we keep it pretty simple,” said Walford. “It is when we are forcing things that we don’t get our offence.
    “A lot of plays start in our own end, and it is just simple chip out of the zone. Guys come through, pick it up and make another chip. Somehow, we get an offensive zone possession.

    “We work it around, and that is our team. If we can keep it simple and get it in and make plays when we have time that is how we score.”

    The Blades improved to 17-15-1-2 with the win, while the Raiders fell to 20-11-3-1.

    The Raiders return to action on Monday, when they host the Winnipeg Ice (21-13-1) at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. Prince Albert sits first in the WHL’s East Division one point ahead of Winnipeg, so Monday’s clash looms as a big one.

    The Blades are back at it on Wednesday, when they host the Ice on New Year’s Day on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Blades’ Huber issued two-game suspension for head hit

Blades RW Zach Huber was suspended by the WHL on Saturday.

    The Saskatoon Blades were without 19-year-old right-winger Zach Huber on Saturday due to a suspension imposed by the WHL office for supplemental discipline.

    Huber received a two game suspension for delivering a head hit to Prince Albert Raiders star left-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt with 2:19 remaining in the third period of a regular season game won 3-2 by the Blades on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre.

    Huber was given a minor penalty for checking to the head at the time of the infraction.

    On the play, Wiesblatt toe dragged around a Raiders defenceman and wired a shot on goal that was stopped by Blades star netminder Nolan Maier.

    After shooting the puck, Wiesblatt was drilled with a high hit from Huber. Wiesblatt went down on the play, but left the ice under his own power.

    He came out for the second shift of the ensuing Raiders power play and finished the game.

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid made his feelings noted about the hit following Friday’s game.

    “We’ll let the league deal with that, but that was a dangerous hit,” said Habscheid. “We’re trying to protect the players.

    “The head was targeted, and we will see what the league says about it.”

    The Raiders appealed to the league office following the contest for the play to be looked at.

    Huber will conclude his suspension missing the Blades upcoming game on Wednesday at 2 p.m. on New Year’s Day against the Winnipeg Ice.

    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’ Maier, McKay up villain status in Prince Albert

Saskatoon gets fourth win in five tries versus Raiders

Riley McKay (#39) celebrates his game-winning goal for the Blades.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Like treatment reserved for WWE villains, boos rained down for Nolan Maier and Riley McKay from the fans in Prince Albert.
    On Friday, Maier made 32 saves and McKay scored two goals including the winner to deliver the Saskatoon Blades to a 3-2 victory in a regular season contest over the defending WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders. The result came to the dismay of a standing room crowd of 2,900 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre.
    The encounter was the first game for both sides since returning from their respective Christmas breaks.

    The win marked the fourth win the Blades have recorded in five head-to-head meetings with the Raiders this season. Saskatoon has won all three head-to-head to games in Prince Albert.

Riley McKay (#39) had two goals for the Blades on Friday.

    Following the Blades latest win on Friday night, Maier and McKay were roundly booed by the faithful in “Hockey Town North” when they were named the respective first and second stars in the building. McKay, who has a huge reputation of being an agitator, received the overwhelming loudest boos, and he just smiled and gave applause to the crowd.

    “I find it is a fun barn to play in,” said McKay, who was also a plus-two in the plus-minus department in Friday’s win. “I love how loud it is in this barn, and I love when fans are giving it to me.

Aliaksei Protas had a goal and an assist for the Raiders.

    “It fuels me to play harder, so it is fun.”

    Maier has really haunted the Raiders this season. He has played in all five head-to-head meetings between the two sides turning away 135-of-142 shots sent his way in those contests.

    The Yorkton, Sask., admits he enjoys seeing how the fans in Prince Albert get into games.

    “I think they are a really passionate fanbase,” said Maier. “Obviously, it is really special to kind of be a part of this kind of rivalry.

    “I like it, especially with playoffs last year. I’m kind of used to it. It hasn’t been as much as I am kind of used to from last year.

    “It is always fun kind of playing in really high intensity games like tonight.”

    Maier played a key role in allowing the Blades to exit the opening frame locked in a 0-0 tie as his club was outshot 13-3. 

Colton Dach had a goal for the Blades on Friday.

    He came up with a big glove stop on Raiders star left-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt and robbed right-winger Spencer Moe on a backdoor chance.

    At the 7:51 mark of the second, the Raiders pressure finally resulted in a goal, when Moe deflected home a shot from import centre Aliaksei Protas to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

    The Blades evened the score just 14 seconds later at 1-1, when captain Chase Wouters won a draw to McKay, who wired home the equalizer on a set play.

    Just 44 seconds after that tally, the Raiders jumped ahead 2-1, when Protas tapped home the rebound of his own shot.

    The Raiders weren’t able to cash on a number of chances to extend their advantage from that point for the rest of the second frame.

    With 8.6 seconds remaining in the second, Blades 16-year-old rookie left-winger Colton Dach wired home an accurate bad angle shot to even things up at 2-2.

Spencer Moe had a goal for the Raiders on Friday.

    “I think that goal was huge,” said Maier, whose team improved to 16-15-1-2. “It kind of set us up for a really nice third.

    “I think we got more confidence as the game went on, especially in the third.”

    The Blades did a better job of limiting the Raiders chances in the third, as the host side held an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal for the frame.

    With 5:13 remaining in the third, McKay took a set up from Wouters and lifted home the winning goal to the top left corner of the Prince Albert net to put the Blades up for good 3-2.

    Boston Bilous turned away 12 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

    “We were better team,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, whose club fell to 20-10-3-1. “We just didn’t win the game.

Chase Wouters, left, had a pair of assists for the Blades on Friday.

    “Sometimes that happens. I thought their goaltender played well. I didn’t like any of our three goals (against) to be quite honest.

    “That’s what happens sometimes, and so it is.”

    Habscheid gave credit to Maier for coming up big for the Blades.

    “He (Maier) played well,” said Habscheid. “He was the difference for sure.

    “He made the saves when he had to, and he was key.”

    McKay, who is in his overage season, now has a career high 13 goals on the campaign breaking his previous high of 12 tallies set last season. The Swan River, Man., product likes the fact his Blades have won four out of five encounters with the Raiders.

Tristen Robins circles in the offensive zone for the Blades.

    “We know we can beat any team, and it is even nicer to beat our division rivals, especially P.A.,” said McKay. “It is always usually a rough, fun game to play, so it is nice that we are beating them.”

    Blades associate coach Ryan Marsh was pleased his side found a way to grind out a victory.

    “It wasn’t pretty early,” said Marsh. “I thought we were a step behind kind of early on in the game.

    “We stayed with it, and our third period was by far and away our best period. We’re fortunate we had some key saves and some key plays earlier on to allow us to have a chance to win the game in the third period.”

    Friday’s game included one scary moment with 2:19 remaining in the third after a scoring chance from Wiesblatt. Wiesblatt toe dragged around a Raiders defenceman and wired a shot on goal that was stopped by Maier.

The Blades celebrate their win on Friday.

    After shooting the puck, Wiesblatt was drilled with a high hit from Blades right-winger Zach Huber. Huber received a checking to the head minor penalty, but the Raiders weren’t able to net the equalizer with Wiesblatt playing on the power play.
    While Wiesblatt wasn’t injured, Habscheid didn’t like the hit his young 17-year-old forward took.

    “We’ll let the league deal with that, but that was a dangerous hit,” said Habscheid. “We’re trying to protect the players.

    “The head was targeted, and we will see what the league says about it.”

    The two sides go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. Marsh hopes Friday’s win will help spark an inspired performance on Saturday.

    “Tomorrow, we need to generate more shots at the net,” said Marsh. “In order to do that, you have to play good without the puck to get it, and obviously, get your opportunities when you have it.

    “We’ll take a look at some things. Hopefully, we can knock off that rust, and we carry forward the traction that we got in the third period (on Friday night) into tomorrow’s game.”

Raiders, Broncos swap 18-year-old forwards

Cole Nagy in action for the Raiders last April.

    The Prince Albert Raiders and Swift Current Broncos exchanged 18-year-old depth forwards on Friday.

    The Raiders sent Cole Nagy, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 199 pounds, to the Broncos in exchange for Matthew Culling, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 170 pounds.

Nagy, who is from Saskatoon, is in his first full season in the WHL and had two goals and two assists in 25 games this season for the Raiders.

    Culling, who is from Regina, is in his second full season in the WHL. This season, he appeared in 31 games with the Broncos collecting three goals and one assist.

    During WHL career, Culling appeared in 104 regular season games netting 14 goals and 11 assists.      He played five games as a 16-year-old in the 2017-18 campaign with the Edmonton Oil Kings before being dealt to the Broncos.

    Both players were proficient scorers coming up through minor hockey, and a change of scenery might help ignite each player.

    Culling was a member of the Regina Pat Canadians club that won the prestigious Mac’s Midget AAA Tournament in the 2017-18 campaign.

    “We know Matthew (Culling) very well,” said Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt in a release. “He provides speed and tenacity in our lineup and can support our secondary scoring.”

    The WHL trade deadline is set for Jan. 10 in the new year at 4 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

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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“Teddy Bear Toss” game, Raiders equals relief for Blades

The Blades celebrate their teddy bear goal from Tristen Robins (#11)

    Playing the Prince Albert Raiders appears to be the thing that cures all that ails the Saskatoon Blades in the 2019-20 campaign.

    The Blades entered Sunday’s WHL regular season contest against the Raiders at the SaskTel Centre posting a 2-7-0-1 record in their previous 10 games. “The Bridge City Bunch” had three regulation losses and an extra time setback in their last four outings entering play on Sunday.

    Still, they seem to have good fortune this season anytime they play their archrivals and defending WHL champion Raiders. Sunday was the Blades “Teddy Bear Toss” game, and they came out flying playing front of a crowd of 5,344 spectators.

Tristen Robins (#11) had a goal and an assist for the Blades on Sunday.

    Right-winger Tristen Robins scored the teddy bear goal at the 10:44 mark of the first period to give the Blades a 1-0 lead. They skated away with a 4-1 victory and have beaten the Raiders in three out of four head-to-head encounters.

    The win allowed the Blades to improve to 15-15-1-2 to sit third in the WHL’s East Division. The Raiders,who are rated sixth in the CHL Top 10 rankings, remain first in the East Division falling to 20-9-3-1 with the setback.

    “We were kind of I guess not really down on ourselves, but you know a little disappointed at the same time just because we haven’t been stringing the wins together that we’d have liked to,” said Robins, who had an assist to go along with his goal. “We haven’t been getting the bounces.

The Blades teddy bear goal enters the Raiders net.

    “Going into the break with this big win against a good rival for sure is a good feeling.”

    On the Robins’ teddy bear goal, Blades overage offensive defenceman Scott Walford got the puck deep on the left side of the Prince Albert zone. Walford fed a backdoor pass to Robins, who buried his 11^th of the season into an open cage.

    After Robin’s goal went in, the ice surface at the SaskTel Centre was littered with stuffed toys.

    Robins has scored the Blades teddy bear goal for two straight seasons. He had the only tally last season’s “Teddy Bear Toss” game for the Blades when Saskatoon blanked the Raiders 1-0. 

Stuffed toys are cleaned up from the SaskTel Centre ice surface.

    All the stuffed toys that were collected at Sunday’s game will be given to the Saskatchewan chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation.

    “It was kind of a joke going around the room that if I scored that goal I would be fined,” said Robins. “It was kind of ironic that I actually got that goal.

    “It was joke going around the room, but I didn’t think it was going to be me. I thought the ‘Teddy Bear Toss’ goal was going to be passed on. I’m super happy it was me.”

    With the teddy bear goal out of the way, the Blades turned their focus towards getting a win to finish off a stretch of four straight tough home games. 

The Blades players help with the “Teddy Bear Toss” clean up.

    In each of their last four home games, the Blades faced four teams that sit inside the top 10 of the WHL standings in the Kelowna Rockets, Medicine Hat Tigers, Kamloops Blazers and Raiders. Those four clubs sport a combined 81-38-7-4 record.

    With both clubs heading into their respective Christmas breaks after Sunday’s encounter, Robins said his club really wanted to head into that break on a high note.

    “It is always important to win that last game just so you can keep that fresh on your mind of what it is like,” said Robins. “At some points, you forget what winning feels like, when you go on those losing streaks.

Ozzy Wiesblatt scored for the Raiders in the third period.

    “We finished just the way we wanted to, and we were very to have that outcome.”

    Still holding a 1-0 lead late in the second period, Blades captain Chase Wouters stole the puck just inside of the blue-line of the Prince Albert zone and blew home his 13^th of the season to give the host side a 2-0 edge.

    The Raiders got some life scoring at the 2:59 mark of the third period, when star 17-year-old centre Ozzy Wiesblatt put a shot home that ended up floating over top of Blades star netminder Nolan Maier to cut the Saskatoon edge to 2-1.

    Just 58 seconds later, the Blades when ahead 3-1, when right-winger Zach Huber got the puck off an offensive zone draw, took a stride and roofed home a shot to the top right corner of the Prince Albert goal.

Zach Huber has five goals in his last six games with the Blades.

    “Obviously, these past few weeks haven’t gone the way we liked,” said Huber, who has five goals in his last six games. “A few home games we lost, and you never like to lose at home.

    “We knew it was going to be a big crowd today, a big game with the ‘Teddy Bear Toss,’ and we just knew we had to give it all we had. It was one last game before the break, and I thought the guys did a good job.”

    Centre Eric Florchuk sealed the Blades win with a power-play goal with 7:27 remaining in the third period.

    Walford finished the contest with two assists and a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department.

Maier stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Boston Bilous turned away 24 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders.

Riley McKay (#39) and Chase Wouters (#44) enjoy Sunday’s Blades win.

    Sunday’s game marked the first head coaching win for Blades associate coach Ryan Marsh. Marsh is holding down the head coaching duties as Blades head coach Mitch Love is serving as an assistant coach for Canada’s world junior hockey team.

    “It was a good atmosphere tonight for sure,” said Marsh. “It is nice when the lower bowl is full.

    “There was buzz in the air obviously for a great cause with the teddy bears tonight, which was great. You pair that up with beating our archrival, this was an exciting hockey game. Our players were looking forward to that, and they responded well.”

    Marsh was pleased his players pulled out a win before departing for their Christmas break.

    “It was important to take care of business on home ice, which we did,” said Marsh. “It is nice to have a win when you go into a break for sure.”

    When the Blades are Raiders return to action, they will once again be facing each other, and they will go at it on Dec. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

Bears down Stars 3-1 with late surge in third, other notes

The Bears improved to 9-6 after a win over the Stars on Sunday.

    The Saskatoon Stars weren’t able to make a first period lead last against their archrivals the Prince Albert Northern Bears.

    During a SFMAAAHL regular season game on Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place, the Stars took a 1-0 lead over the Bears with a goal by Anica Gauthier.

    The Bears responded with a goal in the second and two goals late in the third to skate away with a 3-1 victory.

    Kailey Ledoux scored for the Bears in the second to even things up at 1-1.

    Jasper Desmarais and Paris Oleksyn tallied goals 73 second apart from each other late in the third to allow the visitors to pull away with their 3-1 win.

    Dani Day stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Bears. Arden Kliewer turned away 38 shots to take the setback in goal for the Stars.

    The Bears improved to 9-6 with the win. The Stars fell to 5-9-2.

    The Bears return to action on Thursday when they travel to Battleford to take on the 6-9 Battlefords Sharks (7:15 p.m., Battleford Arena).

    The Stars resume play on Friday, when they host the SFMAAAHL leading 11-0-1 Regina Rebels (7:30 p.m., Merlis Belsher Place).

• The race for the SFMAAAHL scoring title appears like it will be a heated one between Neena Brick of the Regina Rebels and Sara Kendall of the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats. Brick, who is a 16-year-old forward, has appeared in 12 regular season games collecting 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points. Kendall, who is a 17-year-old forward, has also appeared in 12 regular season games posting 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points. Brick and Kendall hold down the top two positions in the SFMAAAHL scoring race.
• Veteran referee Adam Byblow was given the WHL Milestone Award before Friday’s game at the SaskTel Centre, when the visiting Kamloops Blazers downed the host Saskatoon Blades 5-2. Byblow, who is a high school teacher, has officiated in the WHL for the past 21 seasons beginning in 1998 including the past 16 campaigns as a referee. He has worked over 650 regular season games.
• Veteran linesman Sean Dufour was given the WHL Milestone Award before Sunday’s game at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Sask., when the visiting Winnipeg Ice downed the host Pats 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout. Dufour, who is a school teacher, is in his 16^th season officiating as a linesman in the WHL and has worked over 400 regular season games.
• Medicine Hat Tigers overage captain James Hamblin is the leading scorer in the WHL. In 33 regular season games, the skilled centre has 18 goals and 34 assists for 52 points, and he has a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department.
• Medicine Hat Tigers 16-year-old centre Cole Sillinger is the leading scorer among rookie players in the WHL. The Regina, Sask., product has appeared in 28 regular season games collecting 12 goals and 23 assists for 35 points and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department.

    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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Rockets, penalties do in Raiders

Habscheid disappointed with soft infraction calls

Nolan Foote reacts to scoring the winning goal for the Rockets.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Marc Habscheid cut right to the chase.
    During his post-game media scrum, the Prince Albert Raiders head coach said he didn’t like the series of penalty calls given to his team after his squad forced a 1-1 tie in the third period of a WHL regular season clash with the Kelowna Rockets.

    The Raiders, who are the defending WHL champions, evened Friday’s game at the Art Hauser Centre on a power-play goal from 17-year-old centre Ozzy Wiesblatt at the 6:19 mark of the third.

    Over the final 8:07 of the third, the Raiders received four straight penalties. The first two calls resulted in the Raiders being down two men for 1:20.

    On that two-man advantage, Rockets centre Matthew Wedman, who was playing his first game with Kelowna after being acquired in a trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds on Thursday, set up Rockets captain Nolan Foote with a backdoor chance.

    Foote drilled the opportunity into the Raiders goal. 

Nolan Foote scored the winning goal for the Rockets on Friday.

    That tally held up as the different in a Rockets 2-1 victory before a standing room crowd of 2,825 spectators at the Raiders 2,580 seat home facility.

    “I don’t blame referees or anything, but there were three soft calls and they talked to him (Rockets head coach Adam Foote) all night,” said Habscheid. “I don’t know if they wanted to get his autograph, because he was a Stanley Cup champion or what, but it didn’t look good.

    “They talked to him all night, (and Foote) ran line changes. He did whatever he wanted, and he slowed the game down, and they just let him do it. I don’t know if they wanted his autograph or what the deal was.

Ozzy Wiesblatt scored a highlight reel power-play goal for the Raiders.

    “That wasn’t good, because there were three soft calls there. You know our guys are accountable. Yeah, we lost, but that was not good.”

    Habscheid proceeded to add he was happy Kevin Muench, who is the WHL’s senior director of officiating, was in attendance for Friday’s contest.

    The first of the four straight penalties called against the Raiders in the final 8:07 of the third was a high-sticking infraction against rugged left-winger Justin Nachbaur. The Raiders went down two men 40 seconds later, when overage defenceman Jeremy Masella was given a cross-checking minor in a scrum along the boards.

    Foote, who won two Stanley Cup rings starring as a defenceman for the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and 2001, hinted his team might have been fortunate on the call on Masella’s infraction. The bench boss added it was important his son, Nolan Foote, netted the winner on that opportunity.

Dallon Wilton scored the Rockets first goal on Friday.

    “I didn’t see the penalty,” said Adam Foote, whose team improved to 15-8-1-2 with a second straight win. “I guess it was from behind.

    “The refs were pretty good all night, so I can’t even tell you what it was, because I didn’t see it. We have to score there for sure. If it is not, it is a huge momentum swing for them.”

    The Raiders came out with good jump in Friday’s contest outshooting the Rockets 10-3 over the opening 20 minutes.

    The Rockets got on the board at the 3:31 mark of the second via an unintended move by Raiders netminder Boston Bilous. Bilous stopped a shot from the right boards from Rockets centre Alex Swetlikoff.

    The rebound landed to the side of the Prince Albert puck stopper. Bilous tried to clear the puck but put it on the stick of Rockets left-winger Dallon Wilton.

    Wilton promptly buried the puck in the back of the Prince Albert net to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

It looked like the Prince Albert side was going persevere past that misstep after evening the score at 1-1 on Wiesblatt’s highlight reel power-play goal in the third.

Spencer Moe jets into the offensive zone for the Raiders.

    During the four-on-three chance with the man advantage, Wiesblatt got the puck on the right wing, came in on Rockets netminder Roman Basran and deked the puck around the goalie into the Kelowna net.
    That set the stage for the drama in the final 8:07 of the third resulting in the Rockets going up 2-1. The Raiders pressed with the Bilous pulled with under two minutes to play, but they couldn’t final the equalizer.

    Habscheid liked how Wiesblatt played, but the veteran bench boss said he was hoping some of his older veterans would come through with a couple of clutch plays.

    “He (Wiesblatt) is a good skilled guy,” said Habscheid, whose team fell to 18-6-4-2. “He makes good plays, and the same with (Spencer) Moe.

Roman Basran deflects a shot out wide of the goal for the Rockets.

    “We need everybody contributing. He (Wiesblatt) is 17. We have guys that are 19-years-old that need to step up too.”

    Habscheid thought his side played fairly solid defensively.

    “We just played a good team game,” said Habscheid. “We played hard, and our structure was good defensively.

    “I thought our game was good. We had some lulls at key points. A couple of our older guys made a couple of mistakes.

    “That can’t happen.”

    The Raiders converted on 1-of-3 power-play chances on Friday, while the Rockets were 1-for-8 with the man advantage.

    Bilous made 13 stops to take the setback in goal for the Raiders. Basran turned away 26 shots to earn the win in net for the Rockets.

    Basran has won five out of his last six starts, and Foote has appreciated how the 18-year-old veteran goalie has come on.

The Rockets celebrate their win on Friday night.

    “He (Basran) has really picked it up lately,” said Foote, whose team will host the CHL championship tournament - the Memorial Cup - this coming May. “He is focusing on his game.

    “He is maturing. He gave us a chance tonight, especially early. We were trying to get our feet under us, get used to playing against that type of speed.”

    The Raiders return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Moose Jaw to take on the 9-15-1 Warriors (7 p.m., Mosaic Place). The Rockets travel to Saskatoon on Saturday to face the 14-13-1-1 Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel 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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Moe break out of rut, powers Raiders to 4-2 victory

Spencer Moe delivered a big two-goal night for the Raiders on Friday night.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Spencer Moe admitted he will play a little more free and easy going forward.

    On Friday, the 19-year-old right-winger potted his first two goals of the season including the winner to push his Prince Albert Raiders to a 4-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a WHL regular season contest at the Art Hauser Centre.

    Moe scored his winner with 4:51 to play in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and give the Raiders a 3-2 edge to the delight of 2,502 spectators in the building.

    His linemate in 18-year-old rookie centre Ilya Usau sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 17.2 seconds remaining in the third.

    Heading into Friday’s game, Moe had just two assists in the Raiders previous seven outings. He admitted he was gripping the stick a little too tightly.

The Raiders celebrate Spencer Moe’s first period goal.

    “It makes me relieved,” said Moe. “A lot of stress was building up on me.

    “I think with the two goals today it has kind of put me back to where I really wanted to be and how I really wanted to start the season.”

    Moe got out to a good start on Friday scoring at the 11:28 mark of the first period to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. Taking a setup pass from Usau, Moe blasted home his first of the year from the front of the Lethbridge goal.

    The speedy Calgary product said he really could feel the stress lift at that point in the game.

    “I could feel it off my back,” said Moe, who stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 170 pounds. “I felt a lot better.

    “Just the fact the first one was out, I was hungrier, and I felt a lot better.”

    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid was pleased to see Moe break out of his rut.

Spencer Moe looks for an opening to score on a second period breakaway.

    “I was happy for him,” said Habscheid. “He has been snake bit a little bit.

    “The first couple of goals of the year, so he’ll skate a little bit lighter tomorrow.”

    The Raiders, who are rated fifth in the CHL Top 10 rankings, ultimately needed Moe to break through on the scoreboard, because Friday’s contest with the Hurricanes was a battle.

    Lethbridge evened things up at 1-1 just under two minutes later when 16-year-old rookie left-winger Ty Nash fired home a backdoor setup from linemate Justin Hall. 
    The tally was the first WHL career goal for Nash.

Spencer Moe had just two assists this season entering Friday’s game.

    Prince Albert went ahead 2-1 with 3:38 remaining in the second when overage star defenceman Zach wristed home a point shot through a screen.

    Overage defenceman Koletrane Wilson pulled the Hurricanes even at 2-2 with 5:39 to play in the third.

    Moe netted his second of the night and the winner to put the Raiders up 3-2 just 48 seconds after Wilson’s tally.

    On an offensive rush, Moe converted a set up pass from left-winger Cole Fonstad to break the 2-2 tie.

    “We were just doing a normal neutral zone transition there,” said Moe, who was stopped on a second period breakaway chance. “I kind of caught up to the middle there and gave it to Fonny (Fonstad) on the side.

    “I beat my checks up the ice, and he just gave it to me right in the middle. I just happen to find the back of the net there.”

Cole Fonstad had three assists for the Raiders.

    The line of Moe, Fonstad and Usau combined for seven points. Moe had his two goals, Fonstad had three assists, and Usau had a goal and an assist.

    Entering Friday’s game, Fonstad had a goal and two assists, while Usau had two goals and an assist. Both had appeared in all of the Raiders first seven games along with Moe.

    “We’re building chemistry,” said Moe of the line that was formed this season. “It’s been growing every game.

    “We’ve been playing pretty good, but we haven’t been producing a lot. In the past couple of games, we’ve been producing, which is a good thing to see.”

    Last season, Moe played in 66 regular season games for the Raiders posting nine goals, 24 assists and a plus-14 rating in the plus-minus department. He centred the Raiders third line and was often utilized as an energetic checker during the team’s run to winning the WHL championship.

    Moe knows that his role is a lot different this season, as the Raiders graduated a number of forwards from last season.

Ilya Usau had a goal and an assist for the Raiders on Friday.

    “I am a fourth-year guy on this team,” said Moe. “I am supposed to be one of the veteran guys that the younger guys and everyone can lean on.

    “That wasn’t a role for me last year, especially with the players that we had, but now it is on all the other guys, older guys’ shoulders there. We just have to step up our game.”

    Boston Bilous made 32 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. The Raiders won their third straight improving to 6-0-2.

    Bryan Thomson, who is a 17-year-old rookie netminder, turned away 21-of-24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hurricanes (3-3).

    Habscheid said the Hurricanes provided a big challenge for his side.

    “It was a struggle,” said Habscheid. “This game didn’t come easy.

The Raiders salute the Art Hauser Centre faithful after Friday’s win.

    “I thought Lethbridge worked hard. They played heavy. It was a good game for us to feel that, because we had to grind it out.

    “We had to find a way. We didn’t have our A-game for sure, but in the end, you have to find a way to win.”

    The Raiders return to action on Saturday when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors (5-2) at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

    The Hurricanes head to Saskatoon on Saturday to face the Blades (5-3-0-1) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    Early on in the season, Moe likes the fact his Raiders will keep battling for a win no matter what challenges come their way.

    “We have a mindset now,” said Moe. “We’ve been through what happened last year winning a championship and knowing what it takes.

    “We’re hungry for it. We hate losing. It is something that will strive us for the rest of the season.”

Warriors add SFMAAAHL all-time great Howe to coaching staff

Olivia Howe stopped to chat with @mosaicincanada Warriors TV about being named our new Coaching Assistant. pic.twitter.com/QG7PfyqAom

— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) October 11, 2019

    The Moose Jaw Warriors turned a few heads in the hockey world on Friday with an outside the box coaching hire.

    The Warriors have added a Saskatchewan female hockey great to their coaching staff in Olivia Howe. Howe will be a coaching assistant with the team after serving as a guest coach during the club’s training camp.

    Howe will help out the Warriors with on ice practice sessions and being an “eye in the sky” during game days.

    It is believed Howe is the first female to be named to a WHL team’s main coaching staff. As an added bonus, the 25-year-old is a product of Moose Jaw as well.

    “It’s been really surprising the feedback and reaction I’ve got,” said Howe on a video interview posted on the Warriors Twitter page. “I’m really excited to start here.

    “It’s a great opportunity. Being from Moose Jaw, it’s just awesome.”

    In a video interview on the Warriors team website, Alan Miller, who is the club’s general manager, said Howe impressed during her stint as a guest coach. As a result, talks ensued with head coach Tim Hunter, associate coach Mark O’Leary and assistant coach Scott King about finding a way to keep Howe with the team.

    “She came in here, did a very good job and made a strong impression on our hockey staff and our coaching staff,” said Miller. “We wanted to find an opportunity to bring her on to our hockey staff.

    “Working with Mark O’Leary, Scott King and Tim Hunter, we’ve put together this job description and this position and this opportunity for Olivia to help our team. We believe that it is an exciting opportunity for her.

    “We think that she will do real well, and she is a great addition to our club.”

    Howe enjoyed the opportunity to work the Warriors training camp.

    “Alan (Miller) asked me to do the training camp, and it was really exciting,” said Howe. “I didn’t hesitate, obviously.

    “I just needed to get out there and be at this level of hockey working with the males out here. It has been really exciting. It is definitely a lot different coming from the female game, so there is a lot to learn.”

    Howe ripped up the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League for four seasons from 2008 to 2012 as a skilled forward with the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox. She became the circuit’s all-time leading scorer piling up 107 goals and 100 assists for 207 points in 106 regular season games.

    Howe helped the Hounds win the Esso Cup in 2011 as Canadian national female midget AAA hockey champions.

    She also attended Hockey Canada’s female under-18 selection camps in 2010 and 2011.

    Following her time with the Hounds, Howe, who stands 5-foot-10, joined the NCAA women’s ranks and became a star with the Clarkson University Golden Knights for four seasons from 2012 to 2016. She appeared in 152 overall games posting 42 goals and 58 assists.

    She helped the Golden Knights win their first NCAA title in 2014.
    After graduating from Clarkson, Howe returned to Wilcox to become an assistant coach with the Notre Dame Hounds team that played in the Junior Women’s Hockey League. She has scouted the women’s game for Neutral Zone, which is a hockey scouting news site that identifies and ranks prospects for the NCAA and U Sports.

    “It is great to have another perspective in the dressing room and in the coaches’ office – a female, who has played at the highest level in the NCAA and won a national championship,” said Hunter in a video interview on the Warriors website. “She is a real tall girl, so she has a real presence on the ice.

    “She speaks loudly to the players (and very) direct. She’s got a good message, and we are excited for her.”

    The Warriors fell 4-1 on home ice at Mosaic Place to the visiting Vancouver Giants on Friday night.

    Howe isn’t the first female coach to join the staff of a high level hockey team on the men’s side in Western Canada over the last few months.

    In July, Venla Hovi, a former star with the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s team and Finland’s national women’s team, joined the staff of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets as a hockey development coach. Hovi helped the Bisons win a U Sports national title in 2018 and Finland win a silver medal at this year’s women’s world hockey championships.

    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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