Blades start 5-0-1 in bubble

Kyle Crnkovic and the Blades are rocking the Regina bubble.

The bubble life seems to suit the Saskatoon Blades just fine.

Playing in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina, the Blades have jumped out to a 5-0-1 start to begin their abbreviated 24-game regular season. They lead the WHL’s East Division that contains the circuit’s five Saskatchewan clubs and two Manitoba squads.

A bubble is being utilized for regular season play in the East Division due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

The 2020-21 campaign is basically a developmental season, and the Blades are maximizing their opportunity to get back in the ice.

In their latest outing on Monday, the Blades downed the Brandon Wheat Kings in a high scoring 6-4 affair.

The Saskatoon side was paced by left-winger Kyle Crnkovic had two goals and an assist, while left-winger Colton Dach had one goal and two assists.

Crnkovic experience a milestone as he picked up his 100^th career regular season point in the win. In 124 career regular season games with the Blades, Crnkovic has 35 goals and 66 assists for 101 points.

Wyatt McLeod, Blake Stevenson and Caiden Daley rounded out the scoring for the Blades.

Right-winger Lynden McCallum led the way for Brandon offensively with two goals and an assist, while Ben McCartney and Nolan Ritchie had singles.

Koen MacInnes stopped 29 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Ethan Kruger turned away 22-of-27 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wheat Kings (3-2-1).

Chase Wouters is playing in his final season with the Blades.

The Blades scored their final goal into an empty net.

During their 5-0-1 start, the Blades have benefitted from timely offence and strong play from their defencemen and goaltending. The Blades have allowed two or fewer goals in four out of their six outings.

Offensively, the scoring has been fairly spread out through the Blades lineup. Stevenson, Crnkovic, Tristan Robins and Evan Patrician are tied for the team lead in goals at three.

Stevenson tops the Blades in scoring with three goals and four assists for seven points to go with a plus-five rating in the plus-minus department.

Crnkovic, Robins and Dach have six points each. Daley and captain Chase Wouters each have five points, while 16-year-old rookie left-winger Brandon Lisowsky, Alex Morozoff and Rhett Rhinehart each have four points. Rhinehart is the leading scorer among all Blades defencemen.

Veteran netminder Nolan Maier, who turned 20-years-old in January, has continued his star play. The Yorkton, Sask., product has won all four of his starts posting a 1.74 goals against average and a .926 save percentage.

MacInnes, who is in his second season with the Blades, has a win and an overtime setback in his two starts posting a 2.98 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.

Blades head coach Mitch Love and his staff have to be enjoying how things have come together in the team game for their hockey club. Of course, the Blades coaches are always looking for ways to allow their players to improve.

For the players individually, they have to be happy that they are creating good video footage for scouts.

Wouters and Daley, who are both centres, and McLeod, who is a defenceman, are playing through their overage campaigns. They are looking to leave a final good impression on professional scouts or potentially create an opportunity with a Canadian university team at the U Sports level.

Colton Dach has six points in six games for the Blades.

Robins is a 19-year-old centre who has a signed NHL Entry Level contract with the San Jose Sharks, and he trying to show the Sharks they were wise to select him in the second round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and sign him.

Veterans like Crnkovic, Maier and Rhinehart are trying to show professional teams they have been overlooked.

Dach is trying to make a good impression for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft and Lisowsky is showing he has the potential to obtain star status in the WHL sooner than later.

Last season, the Blades had locked up a playoff berth with a 34-24-2-3 record before the remainder of the 2019-20 campaign was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Blades so far are showing they were ready to take that next step. They return to action today taking on the Swift Current Broncos (8 p.m., 98.3 Cool FM).

Overall, it is great the Blades have been able to hit the ice in 2020-21 to show what they’ve got.

SJHL cancels rest of 2020-21 season, other observations

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League cancelled the rest of its 2020-21 campaign on Tuesday.

The junior A hockey circuit had hoped to complete its 2020-21 season playing in a bubble format in Weyburn. A total of seven of the circuit’s 12 teams were committed to completing the season including the Estevan Bruins, Flin Flon Bombers, Kindersley Klippers, Humboldt Broncos, Melfort Mustangs, Nipawin Hawks and Weyburn Red Wings.

The Government of Saskatchewan has denied the circuit’s return to play plan and had asked the SJHL to wait another two to three weeks before revisiting the plan. Concerns were raised about the rise of COVID-19 variant cases in Regina including the B.1.1.7 variant that was first found in the United Kingdom.

Weyburn is about 100 kilometres southeast of Regina. The Government of Saskatchewan announced a number of tighter restrictions for Regina and area on Tuesday in an attempt to curve the spread of variant cases.

The rise of variant cases and the fact the COVID-19 vaccination program in Saskatchewan is still in the more beginning stages was enough to bring an end to the SJHL’s plans. There were also concerns that one of the two hotels that was going to house teams in Weyburn was still going to be open to the public.

The SJHL last hit the ice for regular season play on Nov. 23, 2020.

Red Wings head coach and general manager Rich Pilon told 650 CKOM on Tuesday that a COVID-19 testing program that included weekly tests was planned for the proposed bubble environment in Weyburn.

The SJHL has said it now plans to focus on conducting a complete 2021-22 campaign.

Of course, the obvious disappointment from players and personnel from the SJHL surfaced regarding Tuesday’s announcement.

Some cried foul that the WHL is playing and the SJHL won’t play.

By the looks of things, the SJHL didn’t have timing on its side. COVID-19 variants weren’t a concern when the WHL’s East Division began playing in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

At the moment, COVID-19 variants are a concern, and that affected the plans for the SJHL.

While the development sucks for the SJHL, this shows an example of how quickly things can still change in these COVID-19 pandemic times.

• Last Friday, Saskatoon Blades long time volunteer dressing room attendant Bobby Kirkness made it to Regina to see the Blades down the Prince Albert Raiders 3-1 in a WHL regular season game played in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre. Kirkness, who is battling stage 4 liver and pancreatic cancer, watched the game from the stands. Following the game, both teams skated towards the location Kirkness was sitting, gathered together inside the Blades end and raised their sticks as one in salute. It was one of the most heartwarming and classiest moments in the rivalry between the Blades and Raiders. The Blades posted a story of that moment on their website, and it can be found by clicking right here.
• On Monday, the Swift Current Broncos downed the Prince Albert Raiders 5-2 in a WHL regular season game played in the East Division bubble at the Brandt Centre in Regina. The win allowed the Broncos to stop a 23 game losing streak that dated back to last season. The Broncos, who are 1-5 this season, are still going through a massive rebuild after loading up with a skilled veteran roster in 2017-18 to win the WHL championship and appear in the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. Even during their losses this season, the Broncos have put forth a good effort on the ice.
• Regina Pats 15-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard has points in each of his first six WHL regular season games with the world’s oldest major junior franchise. On Tuesday, Bedard picked up an assist in the Pats 8-3 loss to the Winnipeg Ice playing in the East Division bubble at the Brandt Centre in Regina to keep his consecutive games point streak alive. Bedard has five goals and five assists over the Pats first six games. The North Vancouver, B.C., product was the first player to be granted exceptional player status to play in the WHL on a full-time basis as a 15-year-old.
• On Monday, Brandon Wheat Kings centre Nolan Ritchie was named the WHL player of the week for the week ending March 21, 2021. Ritchie posted three goals and four assists in three games in the WHL East Division bubble at the Brandt Centre in Regina for the week of the award. The Wheat Kings posted a 2-1 record in those games.
• On Monday, Everett Silvertips goaltender Dustin Wolf was named the WHL’s goaltender of the week for the week ending March 21, 2021. For the week of the award, Wolf won both his starts via shutout turning away all 40 shots he faced.
• On Monday, the CFL announced the list of players who have been invited to take part in the league’s virtual combine. The invitees include three members of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team in defensive backs Nelson Lokombo and Josh Hagerty and centre Connor Berglof. Along with the three Huskies, two members of the University of Regina Rams football team have also been invited to take part in the virtual combine including running back Kyle Borsa and linebacker Robbie Lowes.
• Tickets are on sale for the March jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. One prize will be drawn per month, and the remaining draw dates are Wednesday, March 31, April 30 and May 31. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• On Monday, the NHL regular season contest between the Montreal Canadiens and the visiting Edmonton Oilers had been postponed after Montreal forwards Joel Armia and Jesperi Kotkaniemi were added to the NHL’s COVID protocol list. On Tuesday, the NHL announced the Canadiens have had their games through Sunday postponed. The league said it is expected the Canadiens will be able to reopen their facilities for practice this coming Monday pending COVID-19 test results over the next few days.
• In the world of sports entertainment, All Elite Wrestling has emerged as a true competitor to the WWE. AEW was founded on Jan. 1, 2019 and has a great two-hour show that airs on TNT in the United States and TSN in Canada called AEW Dynamite. The episode on March 17, 2021 closed with what was known in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a hardcore match between Dr. Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa. AEW called it an unsanctioned lights out match. It also marked the first time a women’s match was the main event on an AEW broadcast show. The match has gathered rave reviews from those the follow the sports entertainment world since it aired, and it might go down as the match of the year. The full match can be found on Youtube by clicking right here.
• With the emergence of AEW, it appears the WWE is beginning to push its boundaries once again. After the WWE bought out WCW in 2001, it pretty uncontested when to came to sports entertainment wrestling shows. Most independent promotions didn’t have the resources WWE had. As a result, WWE started to move back towards more PG programming that families could watch. That has noticeably changed over the last few months involving the storyline feud with Bray Wyatt, who is also known as The Fiend, and Alexa Bliss going against Randy Orton. In a pay per view held on Dec. 20, 2020, Orton burned The Fiend alive after a match. On the Jan. 25 episode of RAW, Orton interfered in Bliss’s match against Asuka for the WWE RAW Women’s title. Orton took out Bliss with his RKO finishing move costing her the title. The video of that moment on the WWE Youtube account nearly had five-million views in a week and currently has over seven-million views. The WWE usually tries to avoid moments where a male performer takes out a female performer. Bliss, who has supernatural powers in the storyline, tormented Orton for months resulting in an intergender match at the WWE Fastlane pay per view this past Sunday. Bliss won the match by raising The Fiend from the dead, and The Fiend took out Orton. Bliss proceeded to get the win the suggestive “straddle mount pin seen round the world.” The WWE used to do things like this on a regular basis during its Attitude Era that ran from 1997 to 2002, which included a period of intense competition against WCW from 1997 to 2000. Of course, Bliss’s straddle pin was done for the shock value. Orton’s wife, Kim, didn’t take to kindly to “the Moment of Bliss” involving her husband. On Sunday night, Kim put out a post on Twitter tagging Bliss which said, “You might have just F*&%ed up little girl.” The tweet reaction got a lot of play on the more tabloid media sites that cover the sports entertainment wrestling industry.
• Another reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is still here happened to come from the WWE. On Monday, Charlotte Flair, who is viewed as the WWE’s greatest female performer, announced she hadn’t been on any of the company’s shows lately as she is at home battling COVID-19. Last Friday, WWE pulled Flair’s image off graphic advertisements for Wrestlemania 37 coming up on April 10 and 11.

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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Hitmen delay Blades’ playoff clinch party

Focht gets goal, assist in 4-3 Calgary victory

Carson Focht jets up ice on a goal-scoring rush.

    Carson Focht and the Calgary Hitmen sank the Saskatoon Blades post-season clinching party for at least a couple of nights.

    The veteran centre was happy his side found a way to gut out a 4-3 victory in a WHL regular season contest on Wednesday night before 3,063 spectators at the SaskTel Centre over the host Blades. Calgary’s victory came one night after being on the receiving end of an 8-3 drubbing at the hands of the defending WHL champion Raiders in Prince Albert.

    With Hitmen and Blades locked in a 2-2 tie on Wednesday, Focht scored a key turning point goal at the 5:52 mark of the third period. The fifth round NHL Entry Draft selection of the Vancouver Canucks blew down the left wing and wired a close in shot short side over the shoulder of Blades star netminder Nolan Maier.

    Just over three minutes later, the Hitmen extended their edge to 4-2, when overage defenceman Dakota Krebs wired home a shot from the point.

The Hitmen celebrate a goal from Carson Focht.

    While it seemed the visitors appeared to be in complete control, Blades Slovakian import right-winger Martin Fasko-Rudas banged home a gritty goal from the front of the Hitmen net to cut the visitor’s lead to 4-3 with 72 seconds remaining in the third.

    The Hitmen gutted out some nervous moments from that point including mucking up a defensive zone faceoff in the final seconds to hold on for the win.

    “I think these are games that we want to be in,” said Focht, who had an assist to go along with his goal. “At this point in the season, I think it is a good test every night to see where our group is at.

    “I think tonight really showed that we can play a full 60 minutes. We believe that this is a winning team. We’ve had some ups and downs throughout the season, but we’re definitely a really resilient group.

Carson Focht had a goal and an assist on Wednesday.

    “We show that on a daily basis, so I have a lot of faith in all those guys in that room.”

    The win allowed the Hitmen, who have a playoff spot secured, to improve to 35-22-4-1.

    The Blades fell to 31-24-2-3, and they still need to pick up one more point in the standings to clinch the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    Wednesday’s game got off to a bit of scary start, when Blades right-winger Zach Huber hit Hitmen centre Riley Fiddler-Schultz into the curved part of the glass near the Blades bench just 1:38 into the first period.

    Fiddler-Schultz went down and the athletic trainers for both teams immediate jumped on to the ice to help the Calgary forward. Fiddler-Schultz was moving all his extremities and was helped off the ice by a stretcher.

    Huber came over to check on Fiddler-Schultz and all the Hitmen came off their bench to wish their teammate well.

    “You definitely never want to see a guy get injured like that,” said Focht. “It is just a hockey play.

    “It wasn’t dirty, but you just hate to see a guy go down like that. I thought we really rallied for him, and we had him in our minds thinking that we want to get this done for him tonight.”

Blades D Nolan Kneen hits Hitmen captain Mark Kastelic.

    The Blades proceeded to jump ahead 1-0 scoring at the 2:56 mark of the opening frame, when 16-year-old rookie centre Jayden Wiens collected the rebound of a point shot taken from overage defenceman Nolan Kneen and popped home his second of the campaign.

    The hosts nearly extended their edge a short time later, but a drive by 18-year-old centre Tristen Robins was knocked wide of the Calgary goal by Hitmen netminder Brayden Peters.

    The Hitmen proceeded to get some traction, when left-winger Cael Zimmerman backhanded home the rebound of one of his own shots from point blank range past Maier. That tally evened the score a 1-1 at the 6:55 mark of the opening frame.

    Focht picked up his assist on Zimmerman’s goal.

Dakota Krebs scored a goal for the Hitmen.

    The Hitmen took a 2-1 lead with 3:03 remaining in the second period on a power-play tally from captain Mark Kastelic. After Maier stopped a point shot from Hitmen star offensive defenceman Jeff Woo, the puck sat loose in front of him in the crease.

    Kastelic poked the puck through Maier’s legs and into the goal.

    The Blades evened the score at 2-2 with 1:24 remaining in the second. Right-winger Caiden Daley received a long bank stretch pass off the boards from import Czech defenceman Radek Kucerik, and Daley got in alone, cut across the front of the Hitmen net and tucked home the equalizer.

    Focht admitted his third period goal was fun to score.

    “I just picked up loose puck back in my zone and just ended up skating it all the way up,” said Focht. “I saw the defender was a little flat footed, so I tried to make a move on him and then just tried to beat the goalie.”

Hitmen RW Kyle Olson, centre, stops a shot in the final seconds of the third.

    After his team built a 4-2 advantage only to see the Blades cut the gap to 4-3 with 72 seconds remaining in the third, Focht was pleased his squad sealed the win from that point.

    “I’m not too sure how that third one went in, but it did,” said the Regina, Sask., product. “I thought we did a good job of responding and just really locking it down in those final minutes.”

    Maier turned away 29 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Peters stopped 29 shots to get the win in net for the Hitmen.

    Focht is hoping his team can have a long playoff run. On his family side of things, his younger sister, Lauren, recently became the all-time leading scorer for the Regina Rebels female midget AAA team.

The Hitmen celebrate their win on Wednesday.

    The Rebels have the makings to be one of those teams that could appear in the championship game of the Esso Cup female midget AAA national championship tournament in late April in Prince Albert, Sask. Carson said his mom keeps him well informed of how Lauren is doing and that the siblings are pulling for each other to do well.

    “Obviously, both of us want to play as long as we can this year, and I think we are on good teams to do that,” said Carson Focht. “It is definitely not a rivalry between us, but it is good that her team is doing well.”

    The Blades return to action on Friday when they host the Regina Pats (21-33-4-2) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Hitmen are back at it on Friday when they travel to Medicine Hat to take on the Tigers (38-19-2-1).

Ayres set to appear at Blades Suits Up game

A memory we'll all have forever pic.twitter.com/LUxqs8o3Wr

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 23, 2020

    The Saskatoon Blades will be bringing in now famous NHL emergency backup goaltender David Ayres for their WHL Suits Up to Promote Organ Donation on Friday.

    Ayres became famous on February 22 for having to enter an NHL regular season game to play goal for the Carolina Hurricanes against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. After the Hurricanes starting and backup goalies were injured, the 42-year-old Ayres fulfilled his role as the emergency backup entering the contest in the second period with the visitors holding a 3-1 edge.

    He allowed goals on the first two shots he faced and turned away the next eight shots in a 6-3 victory for the Hurricanes. With that result, Ayres became the first emergency backup goaltender to earn an NHL win.

    At age 42 years and 194 days, he became the oldest goaltender to win his NHL regular season debut.

    He is the operations manager for the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ont., and is best known for being a Zamboni driver.

    Ayres had a kidney transplant in 2004, which has allowed him to live his life to the fullest.

    At the Blades Suits Up game, Ayres will be dropping the puck for the ceremonial faceoff, and he will be signing autographs during the first intermission.

    For the Suits Up game, the Blades will be wearing special Hockey Night in Canada themed jerseys and the coaches will be wearing old school baby blue Hockey Night in Canada blazers. The jerseys and blazers will be auctioned off in a blind auction.

    All the proceeds raised from Friday’s game will be donated to Saskatoon’s Kidney Foundation Branch.

    The Blades will host the Regina Pats in their suits up game on Friday set for 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Blades to honour Molleken on March 21

    When the Saskatoon Blades close their regular season schedule on March 21, they will honour one of the all-time greatest to hold the roles of head coach and general manager in the history of the franchise.

    Before the Blades host their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders on March 21 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre, they will honour former long time head coach and general manager Lorne Molleken. Molleken’s name will be added to the Builders Banner and raised to the rafters of the SaskTel Centre.

    Molleken will be on hand for a special pre-game ceremony at ice level that will reflect on some of the great memories and moments from his time in Saskatoon. The 63-year-old will be joined by his family, former staff members, former players and friends.

    Molleken’s first stint with the Blades ran from 1991-92 to 1994-95 where he served as the team’s head coach. He guided the Blades to the WHL Championship series in 1992 and 1994. In both those appearances, the Blades fell in a series-deciding Game 7 to the Kamloops Blazers, who advanced on to win the Memorial Cup as CHL champions.

    Molleken departed to the professional ranks and served as head coach of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks in the 1999-2000 campaign.

    He returned to the Blades for the start of the 2004-05 campaign becoming the team’s head coach and general manager. He held the head coach role until the end of the 2012-13 campaign and stayed on as the general manager for the 2013-14 season.

    After leaving the Blades, Molleken served as head coach of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants for most of the 2015-16 campaign.

    Molleken is the Blades all-time leader in head coaching victories at 539 and winning percentage at .591.

    I did a story on Molleken when he returned to Saskatoon as the Giants head coach on October 4, 2015. That piece 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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Wytinck’s OT winner caps playoff style desperate effort by Wheat Kings

WHL leading Raiders do some soul searching after setback

The Wheat Kings celebrate Zach Wytinck’s OT winner.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Zach Wytinck was pumped to give his Brandon Wheat Kings a just result after a big desperate effort.

    On Friday night before a standing room crowd of 2,848 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the 19-year-old veteran defenceman drove home the overtime winner to deliver his Wheat Kings to a 5-4 victory over the host Prince Albert Raiders in a WHL regular season contest.

    At the 3:08 mark of overtime, Wytinck got the puck at the point from teammate Chad Nychuk, skated to a midrange point in front of the Prince Albert net and drove home the deciding goal.

    “Obviously, it is a pretty crazy ending to the game (with) lots of back and forth action and goals,” said Wytinck. “We wanted to get the extra point obviously.

Zach Wytinck gets set to skate in to score his OT winner.

    “I think we played a really good game leading up to that point. I just got a good pass at the blue-line and kind of walked in. They backed off a little bit, and I tried to put it on net.

    “Luckily, it ricocheted in, and that is a big two points for our team.”

    The win was a second in the row for the Wheat Kings, and they will take all the victories the can get at this point in the campaign. They improved to 25-22-3-4 but still six points behind the Calgary Hitmen (29-21-4-1) and the Red Deer Rebels (29-20-4-1) for the two wildcard and final playoff berths in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

    The Wheat Kings have a game in hand on the Hitmen.

    Against the Raiders, who still lead the overall WHL standings with a 46-7-1-2 mark, Wytinck believed his side played like they were in a post-season game.

    “I think we had a really good win,” said Wytinck. “Our desperation level was really high, and that is where it needed to be.

    “You look at the standings. We can’t waste time. We have to get wins.

Zach Wytinck reacts to scoring his OT winner.

    “That is really exciting for our group that we’re playing with that desperation level and doing what it takes to win.”

    The setback was a tough one for the Raiders to take as two third period leads slipped through their fingers.

    The two sides entered the final frame locked in a 2-2 tie.

    At the 2:48 mark of the third, import centre Aliaksei Protas potted his 10^th goal of the season to give the Raiders a 3-2 advantage.

    Brandon tied things up at 3-3 at the 8:43 mark of the third off an unassisted goal from centre Caiden Daley that seemed to come out of nowhere.

    With 6:35 remaining in the third, Raiders star left-winger Parker Kelly drove home a power-play goal, which was his second tally of the night, to give the Raiders a 4-3 advantage.

Parker Kelly said he needed to play better after the Raiders loss.

    Just 15 seconds later, Brandon tied things up 4-4 on a bit of a strange tally. Wheat Kings left-winger Cole Reinhardt threw a bad angled shot on the Prince Albert net and a slow scramble ensured where the Raiders player seemingly just stood around.

    Wheat Kings star right-winger Luka Burzan got the puck by an open right side of the Prince Albert net and made no mistake burying the equalizer.

    Kelly finished the game with a pair of goals and an assist, but he was a minus-two in the plus-minus department. 

Ben McCartney (#22) celebrates scoring for the Wheat Kings.

    The Camrose, Alta., product was on the ice for four of Brandon’s five goals including Burzan’s equalizer and the overtime winner, and that didn’t sit well with the Raiders standout, who is one of the team’s assistant captains.

   “I thought we were all pretty soft tonight myself included,” said Kelly. “It wasn’t a very great defensive game for us, and ultimately, that is what it comes down to.

    “We have to change some stuff in our D-zone if we want to make a deep playoff run. I thought we were really easy to play against. I have to change myself too.

    “I was really soft tonight. Ultimately, it comes down to leadership doing their job and figuring things out.”

Aliaksei Protas scored a third period goal for the Raiders.

    Sean Montgomery had the Raiders other tally on Friday. Ben McCartney and Reinhardt had singles for the Wheat Kings over the game’s first 40 minutes.

    Boston Bilous made 23 saves to take the overtime setback in goal for the Raiders. Jiri Patera turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in net for the Wheat Kings.

    With the Raiders being rated second in the CHL’s Top 10 rankings, Kelly said opposing team’s aren’t going to give his club any free passes.

    “Every team we’re playing against right now, they’re gunning for us,” said Kelly. “It has been like that all year.

    “Every team we play is also pushing for playoffs. We need to start using this as practice for playoff games, because if we take our foot off the gas pedal, I don’t know if we will be able to get it back on the time playoffs come.”

Luka Burzan scored to allow the Wheat Kings to force overtime.

    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid gave the Wheat Kings full marks for the win.

    “They have a good team,” said Habscheid. “(Wheat Kings owner) Kelly McCrimmon always has a good team.

    “This is no different. They played hard tonight. They played physical, and I thought we just wanted to play river hockey.

    “There were some of our key guys that weren’t very good tonight.”

    The Raiders and Wheat Kings go at it again on Saturday at Westoba Place in Brandon at 7:30 p.m. local time. Habscheid his team basically has to regroup in the simplest of ways.

   “(We) just have to feel sorry for ourselves today, and tomorrow is a new day,” he said.

    NOTES – The Raiders honoured Habscheid for picking up his 500^th WHL career regular season coaching victory as a head coach before Friday’s game. Habscheid accomplished the milestone when the Raiders downed the Hurricanes in Lethbridge 6-5 last Saturday.

Head coach Marc Habscheid and the Raiders look to regroup for Saturday.

    In a pre-game ceremony on Friday, Habscheid was presented with a jacket and a framed display that contained the game puck and scoresheet from his 500^th win.

   The Raiders were still without star right-winger Brett Leason and star netminder Ian Scott, who are both listed as day to day with lower body injuries.

    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.