Fate keeps Raiders in playoff chase after loss to Pats

Connor Bedard (#98) had two goals and an assist for the Pats.

A playoff berth is a pot of gold to the Prince Albert Raiders that is frustratingly fingertips out of reach.

On Saturday, the Raiders had a golden chance to seize a little bit more control as far as the chase for the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference is concerned, but that opportunity fell through their fingers. They dropped a 5-3 decision to Pats before 5,123 spectators at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

Even with that setback, the Raiders are still alive in the hunt for a playoff berth with two games remaining on their regular season schedule.

The Raiders received a huge assist from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who downed the visiting Calgary Hitmen 5-1 at the Enmax Centre on Saturday night.

That win by the Hurricanes, who improved to 31-30-4-1, locked them into a seventh place overall finish in the Eastern Conference and a first round best-of-seven series against the 47-14-3-1 Edmonton Oil Kings, who are guaranteed of first place finish in the Central Division.

In the race for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, the Swift Current Broncos (26-34-5-2) currently sit in eight spot with 59 standings points. The Hitmen (25-32-6-2) sit one point behind the Broncos in ninth place overall.

The Pats (26-34-3-2) and Raiders (26-35-4-1) both sit two points behind the Broncos and one point behind the Hitmen. Regina is 10^th overall and Prince Albert is 11^th overall in the conference.

The Broncos have one game remaining on their schedule, while the Hitmen and Pats both have three games remaining in their respective regular season slates.

If two teams finish tied in points for eighth in the conference, a standings tiebreaking game will be held to determine who moves on to the post-season.

Evan Herman scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.

The bunch up in the standings for that final playoff berth means there will be a lot more scoreboard watching over the final eight days of the regular season.

The Raiders also dropped a 2-0 heartbreaker to the Blades in Saskatoon on Friday, with the Blades scoring twice inside the final eight minutes of the third. A win in that contest would have drastically helped the Raiders chances in the post-season chase.

In Saturday’s clash between the Raiders and Pats, 16-year-old right-winger Tanner Howe scored short-handed with 3:56 remaining in the third period to give the Regina side a 1-0 lead.

Just 2:45 into the second period, Raiders left-winger Cale Sanders netted a short-handed goal of his own to even the score at 1-1.

Before the second ended, the Pats got goals from 16-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard and rookie right-winger Borya Valis to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Valis’s tally came on the power play.

Just 1:44 into the second, Raiders veteran centre Evan Herman scored to cut the Pats lead to 3-2. At the 3:59 mark of the third, Raiders left-winger Keaton Sorensen was awarded a penalty shot after being tripped up on a breakaway.

Sorensen proceeded to hit the crossbar on the penalty shot attempt with a backhander.

Bedard scored his second of the game with the Pats working on the power play at the 6:46 mark of the third to push Regina’s advantage to 4-2.

Just 40 seconds later, Herman netted his second of the contest to cut the Pats lead to 4-3.

Pats captain Logan Nijhoff sealed the 5-3 victory with an empty-net goal with 1:40 remaining in the third. Bedard picked up an assist on Nijhoff’s goal to finish with a three-point night.

On the season, Bedard sits fifth in WHL scoring with 92 points coming on 49 goals and 43 assists appearing in 59 games for the Pats.

Logan Nijhoff had an empty-net goal for the Pats.

Howe, who is a Prince Albert product, had a pair of assists to go with his goal for a three-point night.

Kelton Pyne, a 16-year-old netminder who joined the WHL Pats after spending most of the season with the Regina Pat Canadians under-18 AAA team, made 24 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Regina side. Import rookie Tikhon Chaika turned away 13-of-17 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

The Pats return to action on Thursday when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the Ice (7 p.m. local time, Wayne Fleming Arena).

The Raiders get back at it on Friday when they travel to Swift Current to face the Broncos (7 p.m., Innovation Credit Union i-Plex).

Ice clinch first in WHL’s Eastern Conference, other notes

Jakin Smallwood had a goal and two assists for the Ice.

The Winnipeg Ice put the race for first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference on ice.

On Saturday playing before 1,681 spectators at the Wayne Fleming Arena, the Ice downed the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 6-1 to lock up first place in the Eastern Conference. The Ice, who are rated second in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, improved to 50-10-3-2 with the win.

Winnipeg needs to earn just one more point in the standings to clinch first overall in the WHL.

Overage right-winger Jakin Smallwood potted his 24^th goal of the season at the 6:20 mark of the first to give the Ice a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers evened the score at 1-1 with a goal by overage right-winger Carter Chorney at the 6:40 mark of the second.

From that point, the Ice dominated the rest of the way taking a 3-1 lead into the second intermission before rounding out the game’s scoring with three tallies in the third. Cole Muir and Chase Wheatcroft each scored twice for the Ice, while Jack Finley netted a single.

Smallwood had two assists to go along with his goal, while Wheatcroft had one helper to go with his two tallies.

Daniel Hauser made 16 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Ice. Garin Bjorklund turned away 38 shots to take the setback in net for the Tigers (11-51-3-1).

The two sides go at it again on Sunday at 5 p.m. local time at the Wayne Fleming Arena.

• The Oil Kings locked up first place in the WHL’s Central Division with a 6-4 victory over the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Saturday. Oil Kings centres Justin Sourdif and Dylan Guenther each had two goals and two assists in the win. Edmonton improved to 47-14-3-1 with the win, while the Rebels fell to 44-18-2-2.
• The Brandon Wheat Kings won their fifth in a row downing the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors 3-2 after taking a tiebreaking shootout 1-0. Wheat Kings centre Nate Danielson, who had an assist in regulation, had the lone goal in the shootout. The Brandon win tightens the race for fourth in the Eastern Conference and home ice advantage for a first round playoff series. The Saskatoon Blades (37-26-3-1) and Warriors (36-23-3-3) each have 78 standings points. Saskatoon sits fourth due to having more wins, while the Warriors are fifth. The Wheat Kings (35-25-3-2) sit sixth in the Eastern Conference three points back of both the Blades and Warriors. The Warriors and Wheat Kings, who both have two games in hand on the Blades, face each other again on Tuesday in Brandon.
• Rebels overage left-winger Arshdeep Bains leads the WHL in scoring with 105 points coming on 39 goals and a league high 66 assists appearing in all the Rebels 66 games. He has a three-point lead over teammate in 19-year-old centre Ben King and Kamloops Blazers centre Logan Stankoven. King recorded his 102 points on a league leading 50 goals and 52 assists appearing in all the Rebels 66 games. Stankoven posted his 102 points on 44 goals and 58 assists appearing in 57 games for the Blazers.
• Blazers netminder Dylan Garand leads the WHL in goaltending wins at 33. Garand has appeared in 43 games this season posting a 33-8-1 record, a 2.15 goals against average, a .925 save percentage and four shutouts.
• I put together new content for the Gordie Howe Sports Complex’s Howe Happenings blog that went live on Saturday. I created a piece called “Sawi makes surprise burst on to football scene – Running back thankful friends prompted him to try sport.” That piece focuses on Holy Cross High School Crusaders football team running back Charles Sawi naming an out of nowhere rise to standout status. Sawi has an extremely bright football future. That article can be found by clicking right here. I also created a photo round up that 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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Blades’ Maier steals victory again in Prince Albert

Netminder makes 49 saves in 3-2 OT triumph

Blades G Nolan Maier keeps the hard charging Raiders at bay.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - You have to wonder when Nolan Maier will appear on the Prince Albert Police Service’s most wanted list, because he keeps robbing the Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre.

On Friday, the overage star netminder was in top form making 49 saves to keep his Saskatoon Blades in their WHL regular season clash with their archrivals in the host Prince Albert Raiders. In overtime with the two sides locked in a 2-2 draw, the Blades ensured Maier would get his 117^th career WHL regular season win.

After killing off a penalty to start the extra frame and the two sides playing four-versus-four hockey, Blades import right-winger Egor Sidorov wrapped home the winning goal with 2:20 remaining in the extra session to give the Blades a 3-2 victory. 

Blades G Nolan Maier covers the puck during a net scramble.

The results sent most of the 2,600 standing room crowd at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre home disappointed outside of the healthy contingent of Blades supporters who made their way up from “The Bridge City” for Friday’s contest.

Maier has won three out of his four starts at the Art Hauser Centre this season turning away 133-of-142 shots fired his way in those contests. He has traditionally played well in “Hockey Town North” throughout his WHL career.

Nolan Maier picked up his 117th career regular season victory.

The Yorkton, Sask., product said he has always gotten up for games in Prince Albert due everything that goes into the rivalry between the Raiders and the Blades, which includes getting a humourous kick out the Prince Albert fans that like to heckle him.

“I think it is just the rivalry,” said Maier, who stands 6-feet and weighs 172 pounds. “I think no matter who you are or how long you have been playing on either team you kind of get that feeling and that sense of the rivalry and that kind of hatred for each other.

“It is a really fun atmosphere to play in here. They (the Raiders fans) get intense and they get into it. You know it is going to be a fun game when you come down to P.A.

“It is always exciting.”

Nolan Maier makes one of his 49 saves on Friday night.

Maier, who is already the Blades franchise record holder for career regular season victories, became just the fifth goalie in the history of the WHL to reach 117 career regular season wins. He needs three more wins to equal the WHL record for career regular season victories of 120 held jointly by Corey Hirsch and Tyson Sexsmith.

Hirsch picked up his 120 victories playing four seasons with the Kamloops Blazers from 1988 to 1992. Sexsmith collected his 120 wins over five seasons with the Vancouver Giants from 2005 to 2009. He also had one non-decision relief appearance for the Medicine Hat Tigers late in the 2004-05 campaign.

Blades head coach Brennan Sonne said Maier played a huge role on the penalty kill forcing the Raiders to go 0-for-6 on the power play including a 59-second stretch where they had a five-on-three advantage. In the Raiders five previous outings before Friday’s game, they had gone 6-for-21 on the power play for a 28.6 per cent success rate.

Egor Sidorov (#19) wraps home the OT winner for the Blades.

Sonne said Maier was the reason his club killed off six power-play chances and got the win.

“I think P.A.’s power play the last five games was 28 per cent or something like that,” said Sonne, whose squad improved to 32-18-3-1 with the win. “They are dialled in right now.

“When you give up a five-on-three, a bunch of five-on-fours and a four-on-three, if you don’t get great goaltending they are going to go in the net. That is just the way it is against a power play like that. If not for him (Maier), this is a different story.”

Egor Sidorov, centre, celebrates his OT winner for the Blades.

After the two sides started the contest feeling each other out, the Raiders got buzzing in the Saskatoon zone when they got on the power play with 7:08 remaining in the frame. Just seconds into the power play, Raiders captain Reece Vitelli had a big chance to net the first goal of the contest, but he flipped the puck over top an open Saskatoon net.

A short time later, Maier robbed Raiders star right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt on a backdoor chance.

“He (Maier) has played well, but we’ve beat him too,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “We played OK tonight.

“We made some good plays and had some good chances and didn’t have a lot of puck luck around the net. All in all, I liked our game. We have nothing to complain about.”

A trio of Blades fans cheer their team’s OT winner.

In the midst of all the Raiders pressure, Saskatoon would be the first side to get on the scoreboard.

With 2:47 remaining in the first, Blades left-winger Vaughn Watterodt found a loose puck by the right side of the Prince Albert goal during a net scramble. He knocked the puck in the empty cage to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Just 2:18 into the second, the Raiders evened things up at 1-1, when centre Hayden Pakkala wired home a shot from the front of the Saskatoon goal for the equalizer.

Tikhon Chaika turned away 30 shots in goal for the Raiders.

At the 11:23 mark of the second, Pakkala netted his second of the contest to put the Raiders up 2-1. During furious action around the Saskatoon net, Pakkala got the puck alone in front of the goal and slid home the go-ahead tally past Maier.

Late in the second, the Raiders ended up on two power plays, but weren’t able to pot an insurance marking including playing with a five-on-three advantage for 59 seconds. Left-winger Keaton Sorensen had the best chance to score after the two-man advantage expired, but his close in shot was turned away by Maier.

With the Raiders holding a 2-1 edge going into the second intermission, Pakkala said he and his teammates were feeling positive vibes.

“We were really confident,” said Pakkala. “We had good energy in the room and good energy on the bench.

Hayden Pakkala (#11) scores twice for the Raiders on Friday.

“We definitely felt the rink too.”

At the 7:49 mark of the third, the Blades proficient power play ranked second in the WHL going into action on Friday came through at an opportune time. Blades overage star centre Tristen Robins had the puck by the right boards in the Prince Albert zone, and he found linemate Brandon Lisowsky open in the left slot.

Lisowsky quick blasted home his 31^st goal of the season to put the Blades on even terms with the Raiders at 2-2.

The Raiders thought they went ahead with 4:51 remaining in the third on a goal from overage defenceman Remy Aquilon. The Blades challenged that the Raiders were offside on the play, and video review determined Raiders centre Evan Herman was indeed offside on the rush into the Saskatoon zone where Aquilon’s goal was scored.

Cale Sanders had two assists for the Raiders on Friday.

“Obviously, it sucks,” said Raiders right-winger Cale Sanders, who had two assists on Friday night. “Emotions are high, and then all of a sudden they are so low.

“We just have to figure out a way to get back up high again and work off that.”

With 2:50 remaining in the third period, Robins was given a double minor for boarding for a hit he threw on Sanders. Robins’ double minor infraction will be reviewed automatically by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Raiders weren’t able to cash in during the four minutes of power play game that included the first 70 seconds of overtime.

That set up the dramatics on Sidorov’s winner.

Remy Aquilon thought he had a go-ahead goal in the third.

Tikhon Chaika turned away 30 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Raiders (22-28-3-1).

Maier said it was big for his side to find a way to get the comeback win especially with the way the Raiders carried play for a lot of the contest

“We’re trying to move up in the standings, and we’re trying to get home ice for playoffs,” said Maier. “We’re kind of getting ready to get on that roll before playoffs start.

“I think it was really huge for our group to kind of comeback and kind of stick with it and get the two points at the end of the night.”

Pakkala gave props to Maier for his stellar performance on Friday night.

“He (Maier) is a really good goalie,” said Pakkala. “He is really good with his glove.

Brandon Lisowsky scored the equalizer in the third for the Blades.

“It is tough to score on him.”

On the season, the Blades have won four of the seven total head-to-head games with the Raiders. The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre to conclude a home-and-home series.

Habscheid said all his side could do now was quickly regroup, but he took consolation in the fact his club got a standings point on Friday night.

“It is just a quick turnover,” said Habscheid. “Even though it is a rivalry, we’re interested in points.

The Blades celebrate their OT win on Friday night.

“We got one tonight. It would have been nice to get the other one.”

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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Pats’ Bedard sinks Raiders

Phenom 16-year-old centre nets winner 24 seconds into OT

Connor Bedard, left, enjoys scoring the Pats OT winner.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Connor Bedard might have become public enemy number one in “Hockey Town North.”

On Friday night, the 16-year-old phenom centre netted the winning goal 24 seconds into overtime to deliver his Regina Pats to a 5-4 WHL regular season victory over the host Prince Albert Raiders. Following the goal, Bedard gave off a bit of a swagger like celebration to the dislike of the standing room crowd of 2,962 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre.

Following the contest, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid wasn’t happy his squad lost track of Bedard in the extra session along with committing a number of other errors in the contest.

The Raiders won the faceoff to start overtime and got the puck deep into the offensive zone. At that point, the puck was turned over on a bad pass and Bedard streaked coast-to-coast down the right wing with the puck on a two-on-one rush.

Connor Bedard speeds down the ice on his winning goal rush.

Bedard skated in close to the Prince Albert net and roofed the winner and his 30^th tally of the season to the top left corner of the goal.

“It was disappointing,” said Habscheid. “We got caught on the wrong side of the puck.

“We talked about when he is out there. You have to be careful. You have to be on the right side of the puck, and we got caught on the wrong side to create a two-on-one with a 16-year-old who is a pretty good player.

“It ended up in our net not surprising, but it didn’t start there. It started in their end. We got a little bit greedy, and we paid for it.”

Connor Bedard picked up an assist on the Pats third period goal.

The Raiders entered the third period holding a 4-3 advantage but weren’t able to close out the contest defensively. With 4:31 remaining in the third, Bedard rushed down the right wing and took a shot on goal from a bad angle.

The shot rebounded to the front of the Prince Albert goal to Pats centre Cole Carrier. Carrier popped home his 14^th of the season for the equalizer to make the score 4-4.

The fact that Pats evened the score on a juicy rebound goal on top of losing track of Bedard in overtime made the setback that much more frustrating for the Raiders.

“I thought we played hard for most of the game,” said Raiders captain Reece Vitelli. “It was tough to let that one slip.”

Cole Carrier scored in the third period to force overtime.

The Raiders got out to a strong start scoring 69 seconds into the first period. Raiders left-winger Sloan Stanick jetted into the offensive zone down the right wing and slipped a pass across the front of the Regina goal to linemate Cale Sanders, who popped home his 11^th of the season.

The Pats evened things up at 1-1 just under five minutes later when defenceman Layton Feist rushed with the puck coast-to-coast down the right wing and wired home a shot to the top left corner of the Prince Albert goal. Feist’s tally was off Regina’s first shot on goal of the contest.

With 5:46 remaining in the opening frame, the Raiders jumped back in front 2-1, when right-winger Carson Latimer scored off a net scramble.

Landon Kosior scored twice on the power play for the Raiders.

The Pats came out with all sorts of fire to start the second period and jumped ahead 3-2 at the 7:02 mark of the frame with goals from Borya Valis and Tanner Howe. Valis tallied with the teams playing four-versus-four hockey, while Howe, who is 16-year-old left-winger from Prince Albert, scored with a point shot with the teams playing at even strength.

Before the second period ended, the Raiders jumped back in front 4-3 with a pair of power-play goals coming off the stick of offensive-defenceman Landon Kosior. Kosior drove home both his goals from the left slot while playing left wing.

He converted tick-tack-toe passing plays on both tallies with the first marker coming off a five-on-three situation and the second goal on a five-on-four advantage.

Tikhon Chaika made 31 saves in goal for the Raiders.

The five-on-three situation was created when Bedard received a minor penalty for checking from behind with a Pats player already in the penalty box.

Kosior said his Raiders felt they were in a good spot after he netted his power-play goals.

“I think after those we knew we were up, so we all kind of thought we’d play defence and we had a good chance of winning,” said Kosior. “It was just unfortunate that we weren’t able to pull through with it.”

Near the start of the third period, Raiders right-winger Carson Latimer had a golden chance to net and insurance goal for the host side, but he was turned away by Pats netminder Drew Sim.

Carson Latimer had a goal for the Raiders on Friday.

That set the stage for the Pats to rally for the overtime victory.

Tikhon Chaika turned away 31 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Raiders (17-25-2-1). Sim stopped 22 shots to pick up the win in net for the Pats (18-23-1-1).

The Pats were without head coach and general manager John Paddock for a second straight game for undisclosed reasons. Assistant coach Brad Herauf ran the Pats bench as head coach.

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

The Pats are back at it on Monday when they host the Swift Current Broncos (2 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Pats celebrate their overtime victory on Friday.

When the Raiders get back at it against the Warriors, Kosior said the focus will be to keep the play in Moose Jaw’s end of the rink.

“I think the biggest thing is just playing some time in their zone,” said Kosior. “I thought in the third period the Pats kind of were in our zone more than we were in theirs.

“We just have to generate momentum by being in their zone.”

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Oil Kings’ Guhle saluted in return to Prince Albert

Edmonton powers past Raiders 5-2

Kaiden Guhle (#4) had a memorable return to Prince Albert.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – While he was no long wearing his #6 Prince Albert Raiders jersey, Kaiden Guhle still soaked in his homecoming to “Hockey Town North.”

On Saturday night, the star defenceman stepped on to the ice at the Art Hauser Centre wearing the colours of the Edmonton Oil Kings. It marked the first time Guhle played in Prince Albert since the Raiders dealt him to Edmonton in a blockbuster deal earlier this season on December 1, 2021.

Way back in what was then known as the WHL Bantam Draft in 2017, the Raiders selected Guhle first overall. The Sherwood Park, Alta., quickly lived up to high expectations.

Kaiden Guhle mans the point for the Oil Kings.

He played eight games for the Raiders on a call up basis during his 15-year-old season in 2017-18. Guhle proceeded to be an important regular as a 16-year-old rookie in the 2018-19 campaign helping the Raiders win their second WHL championship.

The skilled offensive-defenceman broke into star status posting 11 goals, 29 assists and a plus-23 rating in the plus-minus department in 64 games helping the Raiders finish first in the East Division in 2019-20 before the end of the regular season and the post-season was cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Guhle was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round with the 16^th overall selection. He proceeded to sign an NHL entry-level contract with the Canadiens.

The Raiders play a video tribute for Kaiden Guhle on their scoreboard.

While he had been draft by the Canadiens, Guhle returned to Prince Albert to keep improving for his future career in the professional ranks. All total, he played 156 career regular season games with the Raiders piling up 17 goals, 58 assists and a plus-42 rating in the plus-minus department.

Guhle was the Raiders captain at the time he was traded to the Oil Kings.

In his return game to Prince Albert, Guhle, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 200 pounds, was on the ice to start the contest for the Edmonton side. At the first media break that came at the 9:08 mark of the first period, the Raiders played a video tribute for Guhle on the Art Hauser Centre’s giant video scoreboard.

Kaiden Guhle (#4) waves to the Art Hauser Centre crowd.

Guhle sat on the boards of the Oil Kings bench to watch the tribute. The 2,322 spectators in the 2,580 seat building rose to salute Guhle.

As the cheers grew louder as the video continued to play, Guhle gave a wave to the crowd. He gave a second wave at the end of the video with the spectators still cheering the players from both the Raiders and Oil Kings standing on their respective benching giving a stick tap salute.

“It was pretty special,” said Guhle. “I spent a lot of my career here.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without that staff and the guys in the room there. It was special to get a little recognition from the Raiders. It shows just how good of a first class organization they are.”

Kaiden Guhle (#4) breaks into the offensive zone on a rush.

The Oil Kings led 1-0 at the time of the video tribute thanks to a power-play goal from 20-year-old right-winger Josh Williams. The visitors would ultimately cruise to a 5-2 victory in the WHL regular season clash holding a big 40-19 edge in shots on goal and going 3-for-7 on the power play.

When the video tribute played, Guhle said his time with the Raiders seemed to flash before his eyes.

“It was just nice to get that video from the Raiders,” said Guhle, who turned 20-years-old just past the middle of this past January. “It was just a lot of memories flashing back from the championship to being in the dressing room with the guys.

Josh Williams scored the Oil Kings first goal on Saturday.

“It was just a lot of memories a lot of good memories that kind of rush through my mind. It was really special.”

Guhle said it felt different to walk into the Art Hauser Centre through the doors used by the visiting team, suit up in the visitors’ dressing room and take a spot on the visitors’ bench. When the game started, he got into the groove of the contest where it felt like he was playing another regular season game.

With odds of him moving to the professional ranks being high next season and the Raiders continuing to slip out of playoff contention, Guhle was likely playing his final game at the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday.

While he may not be playing for the Raiders anymore, it wasn’t lost on Guhle how much the team meant in his life.

Oil Kings centre Justin Sourdif (#42) fights through a check.

“I spent my whole junior career pretty much here with the same coaches and a lot of the same guys throughout my whole career,” said Guhle, who was captain of Canada’s entry at the last world juniors before they were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in late December 2021. “It was really special.

“I wouldn’t be out here without the coaches and the guys in the room. I give a lot of my credit to those guys in the room and the coaching staff.”

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said Guhle will always have a special place in the history of the Raiders organization. While the veteran bench boss never likes to lose, he said it was special to have Guhle back inside the Art Hauser Centre again.

Cale Sanders scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.

“He (Guhle) is a class guy,” said Habscheid. “He is a big part of the organization and part of the 2019 (WHL championship) team.

“He will be a Raider forever. He wears that (Oil Kings) jersey, but he is still a Raider. That is the way it is.”

A short time after the video tribute for Guhle, Oil Kings star centre Justin Sourdif scored on the power play to give the visitors a 2-0 edge.

Sourdif added his second of the night on another power play at the 5:29 mark of the second period to give Edmonton a 3-0 advantage.

Raiders 19-year-old right-winger Cale Sanders tallied for the Raiders with 2:16 remaining in the second period to cut the Oil Kings lead to 3-1.

Jalen Luypen scored the Oil Kings fifth goal on Saturday.

If there were thoughts of a comeback, it wasn’t to be.

The Oil Kings sealed the deal when captain Jake Neighbours potted his 12^th of the season scoring from the front the Prince Albert goal to increase Edmonton’s lead to 4-1 at the 4:06 mark of the third.

On that play, import centre Jakub Demek caused a turnover by the right boards of the Raiders zone and centred the puck to Neighbours, who promptly put the visitors up three.

Jalen Luypen potted the Oil Kings final goal to give them a 5-1 edge.

Sanders concluded the game’s scoring with his second tally of the night with 5:18 remaining in the third to round out the 5-2 final in Edmonton’s favour.

Jakub Demek had three assists for the Oil Kings on Saturday.

Tikhon Chaika turned away 35 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders, who fell to 15-24-1-1 having lost six straight. Kolby Hay stopped 17 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings, who lead the WHL’s Central Division with a 31-11-2-1.

Demek had three assists for the Oil Kings in the win.

The Raiders were playing without star 19-year-old centre Ozzy Wiesblatt on Saturday. He was out with an undisclosed injury suffered late in the Raiders 2-1 loss at home on Friday to the Red Deer Rebels. Wiesblatt is the only player left on the Raiders roster from their 2018-19 WHL championship team.

Sanders said his side is getting sick of the losing in what has become a reloading season for his team.

Tikhon Chaika made 35 saves for the Raiders on Saturday.

“We lost a bunch recently, so we have to battle back somehow,” said Sanders. “We’re in a slump.

“All of us are kind of angry. We’re just looking for a little of the bright side.”

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they host the Calgary Hitmen (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Oil Kings get back into action on Tuesday when they host the Regina Pats at Rogers Place. That contest is the team’s annual game where they host a number of local area schools so it starts at 11 a.m. local time.

As Sherwood Park sits just outside Edmonton’s eastern border, Guhle is playing for his birth family home area WHL team. He knows the potential his Oil Kings team has and wants to help them accomplish big goals like he did with the Raiders in 2019.

Kaiden Guhle (#4) and the Oil Kings enjoy their win on Saturday.

“Obviously, we want to go all the way,” said Guhle, who has five goals, 23 assists and a plus-eight rating in 29 games this season split between the Raiders and Oil Kings. “I think we kind of got a lot of good piece throughout the year.

“I think it is kind of win or bust for us. There are still a lot of new guys in the room still. We are still getting comfortable with everything.

“I think it is just win or bust for us.”

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First time a charm in shootout for Raiders’ Kosior

Prince Albert rallies for victory over Hitmen

Landon Kosior reacts to scoring in a tiebreaking shootout.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - Landon Kosior capped a Prince Albert Raiders comeback victory cashing in on a personal WHL first.

On Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre, Kosior’s Raiders entered the third period training the visiting Calgary Hitmen 3-2. The Raiders tied the game 3-3 in the third to send the contest to overtime.

After a scoreless three-versus-three overtime period, the game went to a tiebreaking shootout where the Raiders were shooting first. The Raiders held a 1-0 edge in the tiebreaking session after two rounds after star 19-year-old centre Ozzy Wiesblatt score on the team’s second shot attempt.

Kosior was picked to shoot for the Raiders in the third round. The 19-year-old defenceman, who is in his third WHL season, would be taking his first career attempt in the shootout.

Landon Kosior had a big blocked shot for the Raiders.

The Regina, Sask., product snapped home a shot glove side on Hitmen netminder Ethan Buenaventura to clinch a 2-0 win in the tiebreaking session and give the Raiders a 4-3 outright victory in the WHL regular season contest to the delight of the 2,115 spectators in attendance.

“I was excited,” said Kosior, who team was picked up a win for the first time this season when trailing after two periods. “Any time you can be relied on like that by your coach, it is always exciting.

“I think I just made the most out of it and took it as a boost of confidence and made a good shot.”

Kosior was pumped his shootout goal clinched the win for his squad.

“It was nice to get that,” said Kosior, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 189 pounds. “I saw Ozzy (Wiesblatt) kind of do the same thing (with the snap shot glove side).

The scene after Landon Kosior scores his shootout clincher.

“I went out there with the mindset that if it was open I would take that.”

Besides scoring the shootout clincher, Kosior was in on a couple of other big plays for the Raiders.

On the Raiders tally that tied the contest 3-3 with 8:16 to play in the third period, Kosior picked up a second assist on that play. He made a backhand pass to his defensive partner on that shift in Remy Aquilon on the right point.

Aquilon put a shot on goal that was tipped home by left-winger Keaton Sorensen for the equalizer.

Tikhon Chaika stops a shot in the tiebreaking shootout.

Right before the buzzer that ended the three-versus-three overtime session, Kosior blocked a shot from Hitmen rearguard Keegan Slaney to preserve the 3-3 tie and cause the contest to move to the shootout.

“I just saw the puck come out in front,” said Kosior, who has four goals and 11 assists appearing in all 25 of his team’s games this season. “I just saw a guy all alone.

“I knew on the clock there wasn’t much time left, so I just gave it everything I could to block it.”

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said Kosior has taken his game up to another level, and the bench boss was pleased to see the veteran defenceman come up with big plays in big moments.

Cale Sanders celebrates scoring the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

“He (Kosior) has been good,” said Habscheid. “There was a time all of a sudden the light switch went on for him.

“He laughs about it. He agrees. He is a really talented player not only for our team but in the league.

“He is a good two-way player. He is smart. He makes good passes, and his defensive game has come up quite a bit. He is a really important guy.”

The Raiders got out to a good start in Saturday’s game. At the 4:16 mark of the opening frame, Raiders right-winger Cale Sanders wired home a shot to the top right corner of the Calgary goal on a rush up the right wing to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

The clean up after the Raiders toque and mittens toss goal.

As Saturday’s contest was the Raiders toque and mittens toss night, the spectators rained down toques and mittens to the ice along with teddy bears and other stuffed animals. The Raiders weren’t selling teddy bears at Saturday’s game, but fans were allowed to bring teddy bears and stuffed animals to the contest to throw on the ice.

All the items collected will go to Prince Albert area charities.

“Honestly, I forgot about it,” said Sanders about what was to happen when the Raiders scored their first goal on Saturday. “When I scored, I was like, ‘Oh. I guess I scored it.’”

A short time later, Hitmen centre Riley Fiddler-Schultz netted his 13^th goal of the season to even the score at 1-1.

Raiders captain Reece Vitelli potted his ninth of the season just under three minutes later to give the hosts a 2-1 edge heading into the first intermission.

Keegan Slaney (#7) scored for the Hitmen on Saturday.

In the second, the Hitmen got singles from centre Oliver Tulk and Slaney to take a 3-2 advantage into the second intermission.

That set the stage for the Raiders comeback the rest of the way.

“We know that we didn’t have our best game out there, but we did crawl back in the third,” said Sanders. “We had a great third and out battled them.

“We had to get a goal and we did. We came through in the third, and that is all that matters.”

Tikhon Chaika stopped 28 shots over 65 minutes and both shooters he faced in the shootout to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders (10-13-1-1). Buenaventura turned away 22 shots over 65 minutes and stopped one of three shooters in the shootout to take the extra time setback in net for the Hitmen (11-9-2-2).

The Raiders celebrate their victory on Saturday night.

With Hitmen having downed the Blades in Saskatoon 4-2 on Friday night to enter Saturday’s game with some good momentum, Habscheid was pleased his Raiders found a way to pull out the comeback victory.

“When you are not above .500, any victory is good,” said Habscheid. “The comeback is nice.

“Calgary has been playing well. They’ve score a lot of goals, and they beat Saskatoon last night. We knew they were coming in really confident, and they are a good team.”

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they host the Winnipeg Ice (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Hitmen return to Calgary and get back at it on Wednesday on home ice when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings (7 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).

Habscheid gets friendly one up on Stajan

Marc Habscheid points out directions during a stoppage.

Prince Albert Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid was happy to get the friendly upper hand on one of his former world junior players.

On Saturday, the Raiders downed the visiting Calgary Hitmen 4-3 after a tiebreaking shootout at the Art Hauser Centre. One of the Hitmen’s assistant coaches is Matt Stajan, who joined the staff of Calgary’s WHL franchise before the start of the current campaign.

When Habscheid coached Canada’s entry at world juniors that were held jointly between Halifax and Sydney, N.S., in the 2002-03 season, Stajan was one of forwards on the Canadian side.

Saturday’s game was the first meeting of the current campaign between the Raiders and Hitmen.

It was also the Raiders toque and mittens toss game, and the fans could throw teddy bears or other stuffed animals on the ice after the Raiders first goal. All the items collected will go to Prince Albert area charities.

Raiders right-winger Cale Sanders netted the toque and mittens toss goal at the 4:16 mark of the first period.

That allowed Habscheid and Stajan to have a visit.

Marc Habscheid, centre, works the Raiders bench on Saturday.

“Just a little sidebar here, but it was fun for me, because Matt Stajan was on the other team,” said Habscheid. “I talked to him at the teddy bear break.

“He was my last choice at the world juniors in Halifax, and now he is on the bench across from me. It tells me two things. One, that world juniors Matt said was about 20 years ago, and two, I’m old I guess.”

Canada won silver at that world juniors in the 2002-03 campaign.

Following that world juniors, Stajan would go on to play 1,003 regular season games in the NHL spread over 15 seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames collecting 146 goals and 267 assists. He last suited up in the NHL for the Flames in the 2017-18 campaign.

Habscheid was happy to see Stajan decided to get into coaching after his playing days wrapped up.

“It was good to see him,” said Habscheid. “It just goes to prove how precious every day is and how fast time flies.

“Matt is a heck of a guy, and it is good to see that he is in coaching, because he’ll make a good coach.”

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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