Laing on fire for Blades

Winger scores twice in win over Raiders, leads WHL in scoring

Hunter Laing (#27) celebrates his second of two goals on Saturday.

Hunter Laing has the proverbial chip on his shoulder and is on a mission in his final WHL campaign.

Over the summer, the 20-year-old Saskatoon Blades star right-winger saw the Calgary Flames allow his NHL signing rights to expire on June 1. Laing had been selected in the sixth round and 170^th overall by the Flames in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

After the Flames elected not to sign Laing, the skilled forward, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 210 pounds, was able to re-enter the NHL Entry Draft held this past June 26-27 in Buffalo. He went unselected there, which means he is a free agent when it comes to the professional level of the game.

Hunter Laing leads the WHL in scoring with nine points.

Returning to the Blades for his final season in the major junior ranks, Laing has started the young 2026-27 campaign on fire. In his first four games of the season, the Kelowna, B.C., product has taken the lead in the WHL scoring race with nine points coming off five goals and four assists.

On Saturday, Laing’s sweet hands were on display as he scored a pair of goals in the team’s regular season home opener before 7,379 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. Laing’s efforts allowed his Blades to post a 5-2 victory over their archrivals in the Prince Albert Raiders and also claim both games in a home-and-home series to improve to 2-1-1.

Following Saturday’s game, Laing said the fact he went unsigned by the Flames and is a professional free agent is in the back of his mind.

Hunter Laing is a free agent when it come to professional hockey.

“It obviously sucked when I found out,” said Laing. “I used that as motivation this summer, and it kind of helped me out doing the extra work and extra reps.

“It is definitely on my mind to prove people wrong this year, and that is what I’m going to keep doing.”

Just 19 seconds into Saturday’s game, Laing was attempting to give a spark to his team by engaging Raiders star 18-year-old right-winger Jonah Sivertson in a fight. Both are best known for their scoring and not for throwing punches.

The bout was a short one and kind of produced a moment where one could have a laugh. Sivertson threw an overhand right that missed and his momentum carried himself to the ground. Laing looked befuddled at the scene, and the officials jumped in to break things up.

Hunter Laing wants to prove he can play at the next level.

Sivertson and Laing were both given fighting majors for their efforts.

For the rest of the night, Laing showed what he is best known for, which is his sweet hands around the opposition net. With the two sides locked in a 1-1 tie at the 14:47 mark of the second, Laing picked up a rebound from a shot taken by Blades defenceman Jack Lavallee at the right side of the Prince Albert net.

Laing skillfully moved the puck around fallen Raiders star import netminder Michal Orsulak and tucked home a backhander to give the Blades a 2-1 lead.

With the Blades up 3-1 at the 6:36 mark of the third, Laing received a pass at the left side of the Raiders net from Blades star 18-year-old centre Cooper Williams while working on the power play. Laing toe dragged the puck around Orsulak putting it into the right side of the net to give the Blades a 4-1 lead.

Hunter Laing (#27) celebrates his first goal on Saturday.

“You’re always trying to contribute for the boys,” said Laing. “You’re trying to do what it takes to win, and you score goals in the crease.

“I’m a big guy. I love being in the crease, (because) that is where you score goals. I’m lucky they went in.”

Blades head coach Dan DaSilva said it has been noticeable how much Laing has increased the intensity in his game.

“He (Laing) is a big man,” said DaSilva. “He has got a great set of hands, and he is looking like he is really determined this year to take his game to the next level.

“He can finish absolutely. He is getting those goals around the net. He will still get his goals where he comes down the win and rips on top shelf too using his shot, but he just looks more determined to prove that he belongs at the next level next year.

Riley Boychuk scored to give the Raiders an early 1-0 lead.

“He is winning his puck battles, he is harder on pucks, he is more competitive, and obviously, he had a fight at the start of the game too to try and set the tone early. I really like where his game is at right now, and we need that to continue from him.”

At first, it looked like the Raiders were going to spoil things for the Blades in their home opener. Just 1:49 into the first, Raiders 18-year-old centre Riley Boychuk collected a rebound at the right side of the Blades net from a shot by linemate Owen Corkish and popped the puck home into an empty cage to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Prince Albert took that lead into the first intermission despite being outshot 11-6.

Just 1:52 into the second period, Blades import left-winger David Lewandowski brought the puck down the right wing and put a backhand pass across the face of the Raiders net to linemate in 19-year-old centre Hayden Harsanyi. Harsanyi converted the backdoor tap to even the score at 1-1.

Hayden Harsanyi (#6) keeps the puck from Owen Corkish.

After Laing put the Blades up 2-1 with his first tally of the contest, Lewandowski found the back of the net at the 2:23 mark of the third, when he collected a rebound at the right side of the Raiders net from a shot taken by 19-year-old import right-winger Hutzinger Kostantin to pop home his second of the campaign.

With his two-point effort on Saturday, Lewandowski now had two goals, two assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department. He returned to the Blades on Friday morning after attending training camp with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers to help his WHL side sweep the home-and-home series with the Raiders. Lewandowski said it was natural to jump right back into things with the Blades.

“It is not unusual,” said Lewandowski. “We have a lot of games here anyway, so it is just another day, another game and keep going.”

David Lewandowski had one goal and one assist for the Blades.

Following Laing’s second tally that put the Blades up 4-1, Raiders 17-year-old left-winger Connor Howe fired home a mid range shot on a power play to trim the Saskatoon advantage to 4-2 with 5:10 remaining in the third.

Blades 19-year-old left-winger Kazden Mathies rounded out the game’s scoring with the rare short-handed empty-net goal with 11.9 seconds remaining in the third.

So far this season, the Blades lead the WHL with 18 goals scored. Laing said the team has been playing with good chemistry having returned 12 players from last season and re-acquiring 20-year-old defenceman Tyrone Sobry in an off-season trade with the Prince George Cougars.

Kazden Mathies (#77) gets hugged by Brayden Klimpke after a goal.

“When you have a team with chemistry, it is always good,” said Laing. “You can play with anyone on this team, and we’re all good players.

“I think we can play all four lines and six-D. It is a good thing, and that makes a good team.”

Martin Psohlavec stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Michal Orsulak turned away 24-of-28 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders, who fell to 1-3.

The Raiders get back at it on Wednesday when they host the Red Deer Rebels (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Blades return to action on Friday when they host the Rebels (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

Before the Blades turn their attention to Rebels, Laing admitted his squad was going to take a little time enjoying beating the Raiders two straight after losing six-of-eight regular season meetings in 2025-26 and being swept in four straight in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in the 2026 WHL Playoffs.

Hunter Laing gives a souvenir stick to a young fan.

“The vibes are good,” said Laing. “You know, the boys love beating P.A.

“They’re our rivals, so it is always nice beating them. We owe them from last year still, so it was nice to get the win. We’re going to reset and focus for next week.”

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Raiders series sweep victory would not be denied

Blades go down with big final battle in 5-3 defeat

The Raiders celebrate their series win over the Blades.

You have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good.

On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the puck was taking all sorts of positive bounces for the Prince Albert Raiders in the first period in Game 4 of their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against their archrivals in the host Saskatoon Blades. Thanks to three positive bounce goals, the Raiders surged ahead of the Blades 4-1 in the first period holding a 15-4 edge in shots on goal in Game 4 of a WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.

With the Raiders having built a 3-0 series lead in rather dominant fashion, it could have been easy for the Blades to pack it in after the three positive bounce goals went the Raiders way in the opening 20 minutes of Game 4 coming away with the thought that it is just not meant to happen for them.

Raiders fans celebrate their team’s series sweep.

The Blades battled back with their best two periods of the series cutting the Raiders lead to 4-3 in the second period. Star right-winger Hunter Laing and captain Tyler Parr fired home goals that got the host side back into the game.

Inside the final 70 seconds of the second, a puck from a battle along the left boards at centre ice came out to Raiders star centre Max Heise. Heise jetted into the Saskatoon zone on a rush down the left wing and wired a bullet shot short side to the top left corner of the Blades net to make the Raiders lead stand at 5-3 with 57.7 seconds to play in the frame. That tally, which was the first of the post-season for Heise, proved to be a dagger goal.

The two sides proceeded to skate to a stalemate in the third allowing that 5-3 score to hold up as the game’s final outcome. The Raiders swept the set 4-0 to advance to the Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time since 2019, when they last won the WHL title.

David Lewandowski reacts to the Blades season coming to an end.

At game’s end, the 6,361 spectators in the building, who were engaged with the contest all night, paid respects to both squads. The Raiders faithful, who were present in large numbers making just a 75 minute drive down Highway 11 to “The Bridge City,” celebrated the fact their squad was going to a conference final in what has been a memorable season.

The Blades faithful, which still made up the majority of the crowd, gave their team a rousing final salute. In the first round of the WHL Playoffs, the Blades pulled off an inspiring seven game series upset of the heavily favoured Edmonton Oil Kings to set up the rivalry series against the Raiders.

A quartet of Blades supporters take in post-game happenings.

Raiders captain Justice Christensen was pleased his squad got the win on Wednesday to advance to the WHL’s final four in the post-season.

“It means a lot,” said Christensen. “The guys battled hard tonight and are definitely enjoying it right now.

“We will move on here pretty quick, but enjoy it for the time being.”

With that noted, Christensen was part of the Raiders underdog squad that fell to the Blades in five games in the opening round of the WHL Playoffs in 2024, when the Blades finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings. The Blades went to the Eastern Conference final falling 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 at home to the Moose Jaw Warriors, who would move on to win the WHL title.

Rowan Calvert give a final salute to the SaskTel Centre crowd.

The Raiders star defenceman was happy his squad returned the favour to the Blades this season, when Prince Albert was favoured to beat the Saskatoon side.

“It was nice for sure to get that one and do it four,” said Christensen. “I definitely didn’t forget about that one in 2024.

“I had that in the back of my mind the whole time, so it was nice to get it done.”

Parr, who exhausted his WHL eligibility with Wednesday’s setback, was on the victorious side in the 2024 series with the Blades. He didn’t like being on the losing end of the series this time, but he enjoyed the fight his team put up.

“It sucks losing to the Raiders, but I’m super proud of this group over the year,” said Parr, who graduates from the team along with standout left-winger Rowan Calvert. “I am super proud of the effort against them.

The Raiders and Blades shake hands at the conclusion of Game 4.

“I am super proud of the effort in this series. We fought right to the end, so I’m super proud of the guys.”

The positive bounces for the Raiders started just 68 seconds into Wednesday’s contest. Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes had the puck below the icing line in the right corner of the Saskatoon zone. Cootes banked the puck off the back of Blades star netminder Evan Gardner into the Saskatoon net to put the visitors up 1-0.

Imports Alisher Sarkenov, left, and Elias Pul visit at game’s end.

A short time later, Blades star import left-winger David Lewandowski rang a shot off the post of the Prince Albert net.

Moments after that scoring chance, the Raiders would cash in on their second positive bounce. Raiders 16-year-old breakout rookie defenceman Brock Cripps banked a shot off teammate in 19-year-old standout left-winger Maddix McCagherty into the Saskatoon net to push the Raiders lead out to 2-0 at the 4:53 mark of the opening frame. McCagherty was actually being guarded well by sophomore defenceman Jack Kachkowski, when Prince Albert’s second goal banked home off the Raiders forward.

Members of the Raiders faithful salutes their team.

Just 79 seconds after that tally, Raiders standout rookie import defenceman Matyas Man fired home a shot from a sharp angle at the left side of the Saskatoon net to the top right corner of the Blades goal to make the Raiders lead sit at 3-0. The Blades immediately called a timeout to regroup after that tally.

The Blade proceeded to get a break just 38 seconds later, when Lewandowski put home an off-speed shot close to the blue-line along the right boards for his fourth of the post-season to trim the Raiders lead to 3-1. Lewandownski’s shot went through an inadvertent screen by a Raiders player skating through the play that blocked the visit of Prince Albert’s star import netminder Michal Orsulak.

Max Heise scored the Raiders fifth goal, and it was a big one.

Blades offensive-defenceman Brayden Klimpke would proceed to hit a goalpost setting the stage for the next big positive bounce for the Raiders.

With 2:57 remaining in the opening frame, Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph drove a shot on net that Gardner got a piece of. The puck proceeded to fall into the crease of the Saskatoon net and started to slowly creep towards the goal. Blades defenceman Jordan Martin went to play the puck and inadvertently poked it into his own net to make the Raiders advantage sit at 4-1.

“We were playing on them,” said Rudolph. “We were getting pucks in, getting behind them and playing a fast game, which is hard to play against.

“I think sometimes pucks can get bouncing when you’re rushing plays and things like that. I don’t really know what the reason is, but fortunate for us, we will take those bounces there in the first.”

Braeden Cootes had the Raiders first goal on Wednesday.

The Blades proceeded to battle back in the second period, where they outshot the Raiders 16-9. At the 11:39 mark of the frame, the Blades got a gritty goal as Laing found a loose puck around the Prince Albert net during a net scramble and popped it home to trim the Raiders lead to 4-2.

Just 2:51 later and working on a rare four-versus-three power play, Parr drove a mid range shot home through a screen from the front of the Prince Albert net to cut the Raiders lead to 4-3.

“The first wasn’t what we wanted at all obviously,” said Parr. “They came out pretty hard.

“We just kind of said, ‘This is it.’ It is time to get desperate. They’ve challenged us here, and it is how do we respond.

Brock Cripps (#12) works some creativity in the offensive zone.

“There was only one option, and that was to do everything we could to fight back into the game and we did that. It was a two-goal game, but a bounce here, a bounce there, it could have been tied. I’m just super proud of how we responded after the adversity in the first period, and I hope the guys can learn from that.”

Heise proceeded to pot his insurance goal with 57.7 seconds remaining in the second.

With about 13 minutes remaining in the third, Blades standout centre Hayden Harsanyi rang a shot off the crossbar of the Prince Albert net to further add to the total of bounces that did go in the direction of the host side.

The Raiders celebrate a goal from Maddix McCagherty (#17).

Orsulak stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Evan Gardner turned away 25 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

“I’m just really proud of our group, how we played,” said Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald. “I thought our start was absolutely tremendous as we got to our skating legs right away.

“Even the resilience throughout the game, the Blades pushed hard. That is a real scrappy team over there, and again, they didn’t go away and kept pushing us and again got the game close. We had to again buckle down and get back to our game.

“Give our guys a lot of credit, we got into that third period and really locked things down.”

Blades head coach Dan DaSilva was proud of how his club responded, when it looked like things were going to go south fast for his club in the opening frame.

Matyas Man scored the Raiders third goal on Wednesday.

“I thought that it (the game) was unfortunate the way it started,” said DaSilva. “I think our guys were excited, and they were ready to go.

“We had a couple of bad breaks early and got behind the eight ball right away. As we’ve seen all year long, there is no quit in our group. They used the timeout and the intermission to reset and get back to work.

“They played with so much pride in the last 40 minutes. They weren’t going to say die. I thought we had our best period of the series in the second period there.”

Going into this rivalry series, the Raiders were the favourites.

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

Daxon Rudolph netted the winning goal for the Raiders.

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

DaSilva was pleased his squad bowed out on a note where they battled hard in their Game 4 season ending loss to the Raiders in their Eastern Conference semifinal.

“It was our best game of the series,” said DaSilva. “We still came up short, hit a few posts, a couple of bad bounces.

The Blades celebrate a goal from captain Tyler Parr (#20).

“It is behind us now. I am just proud of the group, proud of the season and proud of everything that they gave. It is truly a pleasure to stand in front of that group and coach them every day.

“They are hard workers. They’re good human beings and good young men. We had a lot of fun this year.”

Before the playoffs started, expectations were high that the Raiders would face the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers in a heavyweight showdown in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference Championship Series. The Tigers finished second overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and third in the league’s overall standings at 50-10-5-3. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Tyler Parr ensures a young fan leaves with a big memory.

On Wednesday, the Tigers finished off the other Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in a 4-0 sweep posting a 5-2 victory over the Hitmen in Calgary in Game 4 of that set. The heavyweight showdown between the Raiders and the Tigers in the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series will happen with the schedule to be announced.

It is expected both clubs will have about eight off days between games as the two Western Conference semifinal series are still ongoing. The Tigers swept the Raiders in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series a year ago.

For now, the Raiders want to enjoy for a short time the fact they swept away their archrivals in the Blades and are now 5-4 in all-time post-season series between the two clubs.

The Blades give a final salute to their fans at the SaskTel Centre.

“It feels good, obviously,” said Rudolph. “We have a long, historic rivalry here against the Blades.

“To come out on top in this series is definitely big for us. It is just a super happy feeling right now and super happy to get it done.”

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Raiders in command of Eastern Conference Semifinal

Prince Albert takes 2-0 lead in series with rival Blades

The Raiders celebrate a winning goal from Owen Corkish (#32).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders are in the driver’s seat.

On Saturday playing before a raucous sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the 2,580 seat storied and historic Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders blanked their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades 3-0 in Game 2 of a WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series while also holding a 37-15 edge in shots on goal. Combined with their convincing 6-1 victory in Game 1 on Friday before another sellout crowd at the Hauser, the Raiders hold a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven set.

The series now switches over to Saskatoon. Games 3 and 4 will be held Tuesday and Wednesday at the SaskTel Centre for a 7 p.m. start time on both nights.

Owen Corkish does a flyby after scoring for the Raiders.

Going into those two upcoming contests in Saskatoon, the Raiders are feeling good about where they are at.

“It feels amazing,” said Raider 18-year-old rookie right-winger Owen Corkish. “It feels really good.

“We’re not going to get too overwhelmed. We’re going to stay simple and keep doing the things we need to do, and that is what is going to lead us to success.”

In Saturday’s clash, the two sides played through a scoreless first period, where the Raiders held an 11-3 advantage in shots on goal. Prince Albert’s shots were put up via a more gradual pace due to the Blades doing a little better job of getting to pucks in their own zone and transitioning up ice.

Evan Gardner mades one of his 34 saves in goal for the Blades.

The Blades looked like they were going to get the biggest first break of the contest when Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube was given a double minor for high sticking. That infraction will be automatically reviewed by the WHL Office for a possible suspension, which is a standard practice by the circuit.

The visitors weren’t able to create any dangerous scoring chances on those two power-play chances due to the Raiders stellar work on the penalty kill.

With 10:05 remaining in the second period, a fight developed between two unlikely combatants in Raiders standout 16-year-old rookie defenceman Brock Cripps and Blades 17-year-old rookie centre Ben Bowtell. The two combined for 48 penalty minutes during the regular season. Both players got a couple of good shots in before the two players ended up wrapped up together after the short bout.

A Raiders fan has sympathy for Blades goalie Evan Gardner.

That set the stage for the Raiders to break onto the scoreboard. With about 6:30 remaining in the second, the Blades broke into the Prince Albert zone and Blades sophomore star centre Cooper Williams appeared in prime shooting position with the puck in front of the Raiders net.

Raiders star centre Max Heise stole the puck from Williams and passed the puck to Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph to start a rush up ice. Rudolph passed the puck up to Raiders standout left-winger Maddix McCagherty, who entered the Saskatoon zone jetting down the left wing.

McCagherty dropped the puck back to Rudolph at the top of the left faceoff circle. Rudolph fired a drive on goal that deflected off Blades star netminder Evan Gardner, bounced off Corkish and went into the Saskatoon net to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

Brock Cripps (#12) tangles with Ben Bowtell (#71).

“I saw Rudolph about to shoot the puck there on the net,” said Corkish. “I thought I should stand in front of the net and see what happens, see if there is a rebound.

“Luckily, it went off me and then in the net, so it was nice.”

With 2:04 remaining in the second, the Raiders pushed their lead out to 2-0. Blades defenceman Jack Kachkowski was trying to hold the puck in the Prince Albert zone at the left point, when he had the puck taken away from him by Raiders standout import rookie left-winger Alisher Sarkenov.

Sarkenow passed the puck to Raiders standout 17-year-old rookie right-winger Jonah Sivertson to start a two-on-one break into the Saskatoon zone. Sivertson ripped his first of the post-season to the top left corner of the Saskatoon net to give the Raiders their two-goal advantage.

Michal Orsulak made 15 saves to pick up a shutout win.

Just 61 seconds into the second, Sivertson was working with the puck along the left boards of the Saskatoon zone. He passed the puck to 19-year-old import shutdown defenceman Matyas Man, who one-timed home his first of the post-season to give the Raiders their 3-0 edge.

“I was pretty confident not that I am going to score, but that I am going to hit the net,” said Man. “I was like a little bit surprised that I scored.

“I am not there to score the goals. We have a lot of other players to score too.”

The Raiders proceeded to cruise to victory from that point.

Michal Orsulak stopped all 15 shots he faced to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Raiders. It was the second shutout of the post-season for Orsulak. Gardner turned away 34 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

Daxon Rudolph had an assist for the Raiders.

“I thought it was a better effort from our group for sure,” said Blades head coach Dan DaSilva. “We asked them to simplify our game, play a little bit harder, a little faster and a little more north-south.

“I thought that we did that for the most part. We were right there over halfway through the second period 0-0. We take a chance on a rush, a four-on-three, we don’t execute, and they come back and put it in the back of our net.

“It was a better effort from our group for sure. It is going to be a tall task. We know that, but I think it was a step in the right direction.”

During the first two games of the series in Prince Albert, Gardner has been the target of heckles from the Raiders faithful. DaSilva has no complaints about how his puck stopper, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, has played.

The faithful in the Art Hauser Centre cheer on the Raiders.

“Evan (Gardner) has been great,” said DaSilva. “He has given us everything he has back there.

“He has made some huge saves, especially early in the second period there. He stopped a couple of net front scrambles, made a couple of good pad saves and gave us an opportunity to keep on fighting. That is all you can ask of your goalie.

“I thought he has handled himself really well so far in this series.”

Going into this rivalry series, the Raiders were the favourites.

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

Jonah Sivertson (#28) celebrates scoring for the Raiders.

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

Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald has been pleased with how his club has played in their first two games of their post-season series with the Blades and how his squad battled in Game 2.

“I thought our guys did a tremendous job,” said McDonald. “We stuck with it.

Matyas Man was named a named the game’s second star.

“It took a period and a bit to get the first one. They (the Blades) came out hard. They pushed.

“We pushed back and continued to play fast, continued to play up the ice and play north and got our opportunities. The P.K. did a great job with a big kill at the end of the first and the second. We just continued to create our push from there.”

Now the series switches over to the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, and Man believes the Blades will come out with their best effort of the series in those contests.

“I think it is going to be harder,” said Man, who was a plus-three in the plus-minus department on Saturday. “They are going to have their fans, so as players, I think we just need to stick with what we are good in.

The Raiders salute their fans at the Art Hauser Centre.

“We just need to stick to our game.”

NOTE – The Raiders 50/50 jackpot drew a ticket where a team record $100,025 goes to the winner. As of the time this post went life, the jackpot had not been claimed. The winning number is C-115039.

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Blades, their fans, bitter over double OT penalty call

Oil Kings force deciding Game 7 in series with Saskatoon

The Oil Kings mob Miroslav Holinka (#92) after his double OT winner.

It was a classic controversial finish that made you rageaholic mad, if you are a fan of the Saskatoon Blades.

The Blades themselves were bitter about how Game 6 of their best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs ended with the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Sunday at the SaskTel Centre. The two sides were locked in a 2-2 tie in double overtime, and with 7:07 remaining in the second overtime frame, Blades star import left-winger David Lewandowski tripped Oil Kings 20-year-old star defenceman Carter Sotheran down to the ice, when Sotheran was trying to skate out of his zone with the puck.

Miroslav Holinka reacts to scoring the double overtime winner.

The officials gave Lewandowski a minor penalty for hooking.

On the ensuing power play, Sotheran had the puck in the right corner of the Saskatoon zone and he passed the puck up to the left point to Oil Kings 20-year-old star import centre Miroslav Holinka. Holinka one-timed home his seventh goal of the post-season to deliver the Oil Kings to a 3-2 victory.

Just 98 seconds before Lewandowski went off for his obstruction infraction, Oil Kings overage defenceman Austin Zemlak cross checked Blades overage captain Tyler Parr from the side into the boards by the Saskatoon blue line well away from where the puck was. The officials didn’t call a penalty in that instance even after having a conference with Parr and Sotheran after the play was blown dead.

Blades captain Tyler Parr (#20) discusses an illegal hit he received. 

Thanks to the no call on Zemlak regarding an extra-curricular hit and nailing Lewandowski with an obstruction infraction that resulted in the winning goal, the Blades faithful was irate. After Holinka scored his winner, arguably the loudest boos of the season in the building rained down from the 5,104 spectators in attendance. A handful of spectators threw debris on the ice including a couple of full plastic pop bottles.

The Blades entered the contest needing a win to take the series with the Oil Kings. The Oil Kings victory forces a 3-3 tie in the set, and the two clubs will face each other in a series-deciding Game 7 on Monday at Rogers Place in Edmonton at 7 p.m. local time.

Evan Gardner makes one of his 41 stops in goal for the Blades.

Following Game 6, Blades head coach Dan DaSilva was not happy with how the end of Sunday’s game went. He wasn’t pleased he did get any explanations from referees Corey Koop or Mark Pearce regarding the call on Lewandowski.

“They didn’t tell me anything,” said DaSilva. “They just made their call, and they wouldn’t come over and have a conversation about it at all.

“Obviously, it is extremely frustrating, and there are probably, I don’t know, eight penalties in overtime that could have been called. One was just minutes before on our captain along the boards he gets hit from behind without touching the puck, without the puck ever really ever coming near him. They don’t call that a pretty egregious hit from behind, board, whatever you want to call it.

Oil Kings goalie Parker Snell turns away a scoring chance.

“Then, they decide to step in and call a trip that is 190 feet away from our end without being a scoring chance or having really anything to do with the play. Anyways, it is what it is. Maybe they had Easter dinner plans.”

DaSilva then switched to refocusing on Monday’s winner take all Game 7 with the Oil Kings.

“We’re going to keep fighting and go down to Edmonton,” said DaSilva. “We’ve played some really good hockey down there this series, and I expect it to be the same tomorrow.”

Aaron Obobaifo had the Oil Kings first goal on Sunday.

Blades star sophomore centre Cooper Williams thought the Blades vans stood up for the team by voicing their displeasure, which also gives the players motivation heading into Game 7.

“I mean the crowd let them (the officials) hear it,” said Williams. “Just having their support behind us and just putting this game past us and focusing on tomorrow, I think that is the biggest factor.”

The Oil Kings understandably pumped to have won the contest and to have forced a series-deciding Game 7 in their home rink. Oil Kings head coach Jason Smith said there was a lot of joy amongst everyone on his squad after Holinka scored the double overtime winner in Game 6.

“It was obviously a great feeling for our bench – for our guys,” said Smith. “We had some guys get back in the lineup tonight that had been out.

The Oil Kings celebrate a goal from Dylan Dean (#14).

“The excitement and winning in overtime is one of the greatest things you can do in hockey. It is exciting. We need to refocus, recover.

“The guys need to make sure they get their rest, their food and be ready to go tomorrow.”

The Oil Kings would get an early contribution from one of their returnees. They broke on to the scoreboard first thanks to a positive bounce at the 7:28 mark of the opening frame.

A puck came off the stick of Oil Kings captain Gavin Hodnett and took a positive bounce to Edmonton centre Aaron Obobaifo in front of the Saskatoon net. Obobaifo, who missed the three previous games of the series due to an undisclosed ailment, wired the puck past Blades star netminder Evan Gardner to put the visitors up 1-0.

Brayden Klimpke scored the Blades first goal on Sunday.

“It is really tough just kind of being in and out of the lineup,” said Obobaifo. “I just keep trying to play my game.

“I’m lucky enough a bounce came my way, and I capitalized.”

The visitors pushed their edge to 2-0 with a bank shot power-play goal with 3:26 remaining in the first. Oil Kings 17-year-old rookie right-winger Dylan Dean had the puck at the left side of the Saskatoon net, and he banked a shot off Blades defenceman Kaden Allan into the Saskatoon goal to give the visitors their two-goal edge.

Just 18 seconds later, the Blades got a positive bounce tally to cut the Oil Kings lead to 2-1. Standout 18-year-old offensive-defenceman Brayden Klimpke took a shot from the point that deflected off the arm of Sotheran into the Edmonton net to cut the visitor’s lead down to one goal.

The Blades enjoy an equalizer from Cooper Williams (#16).

Regulation time didn’t have any drama over any penalty calls. For the majority of that part of the contest, the Oil Kings were playing the perfect road game.

Starting in the second period, they took more territorial control of the contest holding an 11-7 edge in shots on goal for that frame. The visitors were more territorially dominant in the third period keeping the Blades pinned in their own zone for extended stretches while holding a 10-3 edge in shots on goal for the frame.

After controlling the entire third period, the Oil Kings gave up a gift icing with 10.1 seconds remaining in the third. Off the draw in the left faceoff circle of the Edmonton zone, a scramble ensued in front the Oil Kings net. Williams ended up with the puck in front of the Edmonton net, and he fired home the equalizer to force a 2-2 tie with exactly seven seconds remaining in the third. That tally also forced overtime.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Blades.

The Blades faithful had been fairly silent through the second and third periods, but they came to life after Williams scored the equalizer to force overtime.

“The crowd to hear that it was pretty cool,” said Williams. “It felt so good to see that one go in for sure.”

The crowd was into the contest in a big way through the two overtime frames. The Blades controlled play in the first overtime period holding a 15-7 edge in shots on goal for the frame.

The Blades best chance to score in the first overtime came on a drive by centre Hayden Harsanyi from the left faceoff circle in the Edmonton zone. His shot got through Oil Kings breakout rookie netminder Parker Snell, and the puck was inching across the crease towards the open net. It was swept off the crease by Oil Kings right-winger Adam Jecho to preserve the tie score at that point in the frame.

Cooper Williams was denied on a prime scoring chance in overtime two.

The hosts had a couple of huge chances to get the winner in the second overtime. Williams found himself at one point alone in front of the Edmonton net with the puck. He tried to put a deke move on to fake out Snell, but the netminder would push the puck off Williams stick and away from the net to end that threat.

A short time later, Parr wired a shot off the post of the Edmonton net. That set the stage for the dramatics at the end of the contest that resulted in Holinka’s winner.

Gardner turned away 41 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. Snell stopped 37 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings.

Carter Sotheran set up the Oil Kings winning goal.

The Oil Kings finished third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and fifth in the circuit’s overall regular season standings with a 45-18-3-2 mark. The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark.

During the regular season, Saskatoon was a club that was consistently inconsistent. The Blades were able to go out and pick up victories against the top teams in the league and would turn around and lose to squads that missed the post-season and were at the bottom of the overall standings.

They have played their best hockey in the post-season. If they are able to beat Edmonton in Game 7, the Blades would be the only team to post a series upset in the first round of the WHL’s post-season.

Blades RW Gavin Clark encounters traffic in the Edmonton zone.

Over the first six games between the Blades and Oil Kings, the road team has pulled out victory four times, with the two squads collecting two road wins each. DaSilva believes that Game 7 is up for grabs for both teams going into it.

“I almost think that the home ice advantage is nothing in this series, honestly,” said DaSilva. “It is so close that is why.

“It is just the games are so close. The margin for error is really thin. I think both teams are leaving it all out there, whether they’re at home or on the road it doesn’t really matter.

The Oil Kings depart to their dressing room after Sunday’s win.

“Game 7, anything can happen. It doesn’t matter if we’re at home or on the road. We’re just going to show up and compete like we always do.”

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