De La Gorgendiere eyes up long playoff run with Golden Bears

U of A pulls out 5-4 OT win over Huskies in Game 3

Aidan De La Gorgendiere (#6) shields the puck from a checker.

Welcome to the world of U Sports men’s hockey Aidan De La Gorgendiere.

The Abbotsford, B.C., product, who is best known for being a career member of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, is making an immediate impact with the storied University of Alberta Golden Bears. On Sunday playing a series deciding Game 3 of a Canada West Conference quarter-final set against the Golden Bears “forever rivals” in the University of Saskatchewan Huskies at Merlis Belsher Place, De La Gorgendiere scored his team’s first goal and picked up an assist on the overtime winner in a 5-4 victory.

The win allowed the Golden Bears to take the best-of-three set 2-1. The Huskies took Game 1 of the series 4-2 on Friday at Merlis, and the Golden Bears claimed Game 2 by a 3-2 final on Saturday at the same venue.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere had the Golden Bears first goal on Sunday.

With the series win, the Golden Bears advance to face the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series with the dates and times to be determined for this coming weekend.

“It obviously feels awesome,” said De La Gorgendiere. “We didn’t play near to our best on Friday there.

“I feel like the last two games we kind of figured it out and got back to what makes us successful. We were skating good. We were moving our feet out there.

“It feels awesome to get the win.”

Aidan De La Gorgendiere drives a shot on goal for the Golden Bears.

When Sunday’s clash between the Golden Bears and Huskies went to overtime locked in a 4-4 tie, it seemed like the visitors found another gear holding a 5-1 edge in shots on goal. At the 4:53 mark of the extra session, De La Gorgendiere, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 188 pounds, got the puck over to rookie right-winger Connor McClennon on the right wing.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere assisted on the OT winner on Sunday.

McClennon fired a shot on goal that was redirected by Golden Bears fourth-year left-winger Daneel Lategan past Huskies netminder Roddy Ross to give the visitors their dramatic 5-4 victory to the disappointment of most of the 1,236 spectators in attendance.

In May of last year, De La Gorgendiere and McClennon were on opposite sides of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series. De La Gorgendiere was skating for the Blades and McClennon was playing for the Winnipeg Ice. The Ice swept the best-of-seven series 4-0 to bring an end to De La Gorgendiere’s WHL playing days.

Just a little over nine months later, De La Gorgendiere and McClennon were teaming to set up an overtime series winning goal for the Golden Bears.

Aidan De La Gorgendiere, left, gets in a net front battle.

“It is pretty crazy to think about,” said De La Gorgendiere, who will turn 22-years-old this coming Thursday. “Me and Connor have played against each other it seems like our whole lives.

“Being on the same team with him is pretty nice. Obviously, he is a pretty talented player and a skilled player. It is awesome to have him out there.

“We’re looking forward to the next round.”

De La Gorgendiere came to the Golden Bears after trying to find the right opportunity in the professional ranks. After he exhausted his WHL eligibility with the Blades, he went to camp with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche before the start of the current campaign.

When things didn’t work out with the Avalanche, De La Gorgendiere went to camp with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. The Admirals are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Nashville Predators.

Cade Hayes scored the Huskies first goal on Sunday.

De Le Gorgendiere was then sent down to the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL. He played 10 games for the Gladiators posting one goal, four assists and a plus-four rating in the plus-minus department.

During that time, it crossed De La Gorgendiere’s mind that maybe he should put his professional hockey aspirations on the back burner and make sure he has something to fall back on in going the university hockey route to get a degree.

“Probably mid November, I kind of decided I should reconsider my schooling package I got with the Western Hockey League,” said De La Gorgendiere, who is in the arts faculty at the U of A. “I am here now.

“I’m focused on winning a championship. Obviously, I still want to play pro.”

Dawson Holt (#16) had the Huskies second goal on Sunday.

De La Gorgendiere began playing with the Golden Bears after they returned from their Christmas break. In 10 regular season games with the Golden Bears, De La Gorgendiere recorded one goal, 10 assists and a minus-two rating. In the three-game series victory over the Huskies, De La Gorgendiere posted one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating.

He added he got swayed to joining the Golden Bears due to the fact they had a number of his former Blades teammates on their roster including Blake Gustafson, Wyatt McLeod, Noah Boyko, Eric Florchuk and Josh Paterson.

Alex Thacker had a pair of goals for the Golden Bears on Sunday.

“It did for sure,” said De La Gorgendiere about joining the Golden Bears due to the presence of numerous Blades alums. “Obviously, the program speaks for itself the history of guys signing pro deals and NHL deals, American League deals and whatever it may be out of this program.

“It was a pretty easy decision for me.”

As for Sunday’s game between the Golden Bears and Huskies, momentum seemed to jump constantly between the two sides. The Huskies got out to a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by rookie centre Cade Hayes, and the hosts pushed their edge out to 2-0 early in the second on a tally from third-year right-winger Dawson Holt.

Ty Prefontaine had a short-handed goal for the Huskies.

At the 4:20 mark of the second, De La Gorgendiere scored for the Golden Bears to get them some traction and cut the Huskies lead to 2-1. Golden Bears rookie left-winger Alex Thacker followed with a pair of goals to put the visitors up 3-2.

With 5:09 remaining in the second, Huskies third-year defenceman Ty Prefontaine scored a short-handed goal to even the score at 3-3.

De La Gorgendiere said the intensity of the clashes between the Golden Bears and Huskies was similar to what he experienced in the rivalry games in the WHL played between his Blades and their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders. He said the momentum changes in Sunday’s contest between the Golden Bears and Huskies were noticeable.

Vince Loschiavo gave the Huskies a 4-3 lead in the third.

“I think on our end we probably could have been a little more tight in our neutral zone and defensive zone there,” said De La Gorgendiere. “We had a couple of breakdowns there.

“It is the ebbs and flows of hockey. It seems like it happens in every game. This one seemed to be a little more I guess.

“All in all, I thought we competed hard and played well.”

The Huskies went back out in front 4-3 at the 6:44 mark of the third after third-year star right-winger Vince Loschiavo scored on the power play. The host side finished the contest 1-for-4 on the power play.

Tyler Preziuso scored for the Golden Bears to force OT.

The Golden Bears would even the score at 4-4 with a power-play goal of their own coming at the 10:49 mark of the third off the stick of third-year right-winger Tyler Preziuso. The visitors were 1-for-7 on the power play.

That set the stage for the Golden Bears to get the game and series winner in overtime from Lategan.

Second-year netminder Ethan Kruger made 29 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Golden Bears. Ross turned away 29 shots to take the setback in net for the Huskies.

Going into this Canada West quarter-final series, the two sides weren’t separated by a whole lot. The Huskies, who are rated eighth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, finished fourth in the Canada West regular season standings with a 20-6-1-1 record. The Golden Bears placed fifth with an 18-8-2 mark.

Daneel Lategan scored the OT winner for the Golden Bears.

U of A will be an underdog in a semifinal series against the Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds, who are rated fifth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, topped the Canada West regular season standings with a 22-4-1-1 mark. They also won three out of the four head-to-head meeting with the Golden Bears in the regular season.

With that noted, De La Gorgendiere believes the chemistry of his Golden Bears side is coming around, and he has faith his squad will give the Thunderbirds a good battle.

“They are a skilled team,” said De La Gorgendiere. “Obviously, they have some high end talent up front and some good D-men as well.

The Golden Bears celebrate their OT win and series victory on Sunday.

“We just have to bring our A-game. We have to come ready to skate and come ready to play, and I think we should find success.”

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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Raiders thrive in do or die, clinch WHL playoff berth

The Raiders celebrate a second goal from Keaton Sorensen (#20).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Prince Albert Raiders centre Keaton Sorensen credited team business manager Michael Scissons for making sure the playoff party was on.

On Saturday night, the Raiders had just dumped the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 5-1 to the delight of the standing room crowd of 2,935 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre to close the regular season schedules for both clubs. The Raiders had done their part to take care of business to earn a WHL playoff berth.

With the Raiders victory finalized, they just needed the Winnipeg Ice to defeat the Pats at the Brandt Centre in Regina to clinch a post-season berth. The Ice were actually tabbed as the home team in Saturday’s regular season tilt with the Pats.

The Raiders celebrate their playoff berth clinching win.

That contest in Regina was originally scheduled to be played one day earlier in Winnipeg, but it was moved to the Pats home rink due to challenges with extreme weather conditions in the Winnipeg area.

Following the Raiders win on Saturday, captain Reece Vitelli was being presented with the team award for leading the Prince Albert squad in regular season scoring. Vitelli piled up 51 points on 25 goals and 26 assists in 65 appearances with the club.

Reece Vitelli, right, receives the Raiders top scorer trophy.

On the Raiders bench, Scissons was monitoring video of the end of the game between the Ice and the Raiders on his mobile phone. The Raiders saw Winnipeg star centre Matthew Savoie score into an empty net with less than 40 second to play to cement a 6-4 final in favour of the Ice and that meant for “Hockey Town North” the party was on.

“(Raiders business manager Michael) Scissons there had the game open on his phone,” said Sorensen, who had two goals and was a plus-three in the plus-minus department in the Raiders win. “I think we saw Winnipeg score the empty netter there to make it 6-4.

“The boys were all fired up on the bench.”

Evan Herman scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.

The Raiders whooped it up as they headed to their dressing room. Having bested the Broncos in Swift Current 4-1 on Friday night, the Raiders had won basically two straight do or die games to improve to 28-35-4-1 to lock up eighth place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and clinch the conference’s final playoff berth.

“It is awesome,” said Sorensen. “It is what we work for all year - all the hard work.

“It has all paid off to get there, and now we have to carry it on to the playoffs.”

The last time a WHL playoffs were held the Raiders took the title back in 2019. The WHL post-seasons in 2020 and 2021 were nixed due to challenges associated with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

Sloan Stanick had two assist for the Raiders on Saturday.

Star right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt is the only member on the Raiders current roster who played as a main roster player on the 2019 WHL title winning team, and he is out for the rest of the campaign due to an upper body injury. All the players current suiting up for the Raiders in games didn’t play for the club in the 2018-19 campaign outside of left-winger Evan Herman, who skated in three regular season contests, and standout defenceman Nolan Allan, who played in seven regular season games.

“We’re a team that everyone has to pitch in,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, who has the fifth most regular season coaching wins in WHL history. “We had some different games and different guys stepping up.

The Art Hauser Centre faithful cheer a Raiders goal.

“We just found a way. That is what we have been doing all year. Beginning of the year was tough.

“We’re in a point of transition and weren’t very good for a while. Playoffs seemed like a distant dream I guess for us, but Raider pride. No matter what, we expect to win, and we found a way in.”

Saturday’s game with the Wheat Kings got off to a tight checking start where the Raiders held a slim 2-1 edge in shots on goal after the first 10 minutes of the contest.

Shortly after the middle part of the frame, Raiders right-winger Carson Latimer blew down the right, slipped past a defenceman and tried to go five-hole on Wheat Kings rookie netminder Carson Bjarnason. Bjarnason swallowed up the shot to deny the scoring chance.

Landon Kosior controls the puck in the offensive zone for the Raiders.

At the 11:31 mark of the opening frame, the Raiders broke through on the scoreboard. Raiders Right-winger Sloan Stanick broke down the right wing on a rush and passed the puck across the face of the Brandon goal to Herman, who popped home his 27^th goal of the season to give the hosts a 1-0.

Herman said the opening tally got the Raiders in a confident groove but added the fans kept the excitement level high for the players.

“I think in front of these fans there is no settling down,” said Herman. “They are the sixth and seventh player on the ice.

Tikhon Chaika made 19 saves for the Raiders on Saturday.

“We got that first one, and I think it was just a little bit of a breather for us to settle down and get our feet under us to play the way we have to play to get the win.”

The open frame did have its physical moments too including Wheat Kings left-winger Brett Hylund crunching Latimer into the boards behind the Brandon goal late in the period.

At the 7:42 mark of the second, the Raiders pushed their lead out to 2-0 on a great individual effort by Herman. The product of The Pas, Man., blew down the left wing getting behind all five Brandon skaters.

Herman cut across the front of the Wheat Kings goal and tucked home his second tally of the night. After the puck went in, Herman contacted Bjarnason and the netminder’s head hit the post of the goal.

Keaton Sorensen scored twice for the Raiders on Saturday.

The speedy forward received a minor for goaltender interference on the play. Herman’s goal went to a video review, and it was upheld as good.

Bjarnason was helped off the ice by the Brandon training staff and didn’t return to the game. He turned away 12-of-14 shots to take the setback in the Wheat Kings net. Star overage goaltender Ethan Kruger played the rest of the way for the Wheat Kings turning away 17-of-20 shots set his way.

Herman wanted to avoid contacting Bjarnason when he scored his second goal.

Carson Latimer scored in the third period for the Raiders.

“I was just trying to use my speed to get the puck to the net,” said Herman, who posted 28 goals and 18 assists appearing all of the Raiders 68 games. “That was unfortunate whatever happened, happened.”

Habscheid said Herman’s play has been important in helping the Raiders make the playoffs.

“He has been good,” said Habscheid. “He really has been.

Evan Herman celebrates scoring his second goal for the Raiders.

“He was around for the (2019 WHL Championship) year. He didn’t play, but he was around. He saw what was going on in the building and the culture inside the room.

“He is a key guy, because he knows what it is all about. He didn’t play, but he knew what it was all about and dragged the guys into the fight.”

Just 88 seconds after the Raiders went up 2-0, they were checking hard on the penalty kill, and one of the Wheat Kings fanned on a point shot and the puck slid to the blue-line. Sorensen jumped on the loose puck and sped down the right wing on a two-on-one short-handed break.

Chad Nychuk controls the puck in the D-zone for the Wheat Kings.

Sorensen reached the right faceoff circle in the Brandon zone and snapped home his first goal of the contest stick side on Kruger to put the Raiders up 3-0 on the short-handed tally.

“Everybody on the penalty kill there was being aggressive,” said Sorensen. “Everybody was doing their job.

“I guess the puck kind of squirted out. I pounced on it or something. I guess I got a two-on-one there, and I didn’t really see the pass across.

“I just gave it a shot, and it went in.”

The Wheat Kings stopped the bleeding for a bit just over two minutes later. Wheat Kings left-winger Brett Hyland collected a rebound at the left side of the Prince Albert net from a shot taken by linemate Jake Chiasson and fired home his 13^th marker of the season to cut the Raiders lead to 3-1.

Vladislav Shilo had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

The Raiders proceeded to put the pedal to the medal and sealed victory in the third. The host side went up 4-1 at the 4:14 mark of the third, when import rookie left-winger Vladislav Shilo passed a puck from the right boards across the face the Brandon goal and the pass was tipped home by Latimer.

Sorensen rounded out the game’s scoring potting home a loose puck in the crease of the Brandon goal for his second tally of the night to increase the Raiders advantage to 5-1 with 4:05 remaining in the frame.

The final 10 minutes of the third period got fairly feisty and chippy, but the extracurricular action didn’t change the outcome of the game.

Import rookie netminder Tikhon Chaika made 19 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Stanick and Shilo each had two assists for the Raiders.

Dallyn Peekeekoot played a high energy game for the Raiders.

The Wheat Kings, who finish sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 35-28-3-2 mark, now face the Red Deer Rebels, who placed third in the Eastern Conference with a 45-19-2-2 record, in a best-of-seven first round WHL playoff series. Game 1 is set for this coming Friday at 1 p.m. at the Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer.

The Raiders will the Ice in a best-of-seven first round WHL playoff series. The Ice topped the WHL with a 53-10-3-2 record, so the Prince Albert side will be sizable underdogs in that series.

Game 1 is set for this coming Friday at 7 p.m. local time at the Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg.

“That is what we’ve been striving for all year,” said Herman about making the WHL playoffs. “Now that it is finally here, I think the energy in the room right now is pretty cool.

The Raiders salute their faithful at the Art Hauser Centre.

“We work so hard all year just to get to this point. Now we’re gearing up and looking forward to getting going and making a good run 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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Maier ensures Blades banner night stays festive

Netminder makes 35 saves in 2-1 win over Wheat Kings

Blades G Nolan Maier stops Wheat Kings LW Brett Hyland (#7)

The Saskatoon Blades goat in goal made certain the party to honour the team’s goat behind the bench was a festive one.

On Friday night playing before 5,609 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, Blades star overage netminder Nolan Maier made 35 saves to backstop his club to a 2-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. Maier came out with one of his best performances of the season on a night the Blades honoured their legendary former head coach and general manager Lorne Molleken.

Molleken was celebrated during a pre-game ceremony for his 14 seasons of service over two stints with the team by having his name added to the club’s builder’s banner that hangs in the rink.

Brett Hylund brings the puck up ice for the Wheat Kings.

Following the ceremony for Molleken, Maier was put to work in a contest that saw the Blades close their WHL regular season schedule. The Wheat Kings came out of the gate on fire holding a 14-6 edge in shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes.

Early the first, Wheat Kings 17-year-old right-winger Nate Danielson had a point blank chance to open the scoring from the front of the Saskatoon net, but he was stoned by Maier.

Later on in the frame, Maier robbed Wheat Kings left-winger Brett Hyland close in on the right side of the Saskatoon net. The rebound deflected to Wheat Kings 17-year-old centre Rylen Roersma for a backdoor chance at the left side of the Saskatoon goal.

Blades G Nolan Maier stops Wheat Kings RW Nate Danielson (#29).

Maier sprawled across his crease to make a steal of a save on Roersma’s backdoor opportunity.

The Wheat Kings finally got a puck past Maier and took a 1-0 lead on a positive bounce break at the 2:57 mark of the second. 

A dump in by Wheat Kings defenceman Logen Hammett saw the puck rim around the left corner boards in the Saskatoon zone, take a weird bounce out of the left corner boards off a crack where a door in the boards opens, hit the post of the Saskatoon net and shoot out in front of the Blades goal.

Rylen Roersma (#11) celebrates scoring for the Wheat Kings.

Maier had gone around behind his net to play where he expected the puck to be and was caught flat footed when the puck took the unusual deflection. The puck came right to Roersma, who promptly put the disk into an empty cage for his 19^th goal of the season.

Then, the momentum shifted in the contest.

Just under four minutes after Roersma’s goal, Blades centre Trevor Wong found himself on a breakaway. He snapped home his 17^th tally of the season to even the score at 1-1.

At the 11:56 mark of the second, the Blades went ahead 2-1 off a rush into the offensive zone. 

Trevor Wong scored for the Blades on Friday night.

Blades centre Jayden Wiens drove straight to the centre of the Brandon net and made a drop pass to star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic, who was rushing down the left boards.

Crnkovic wired a shot short side on Wheat Kings overage netminder Ethan Kruger to the top left corner of the Brandon goal for his 39^th tally of the season. That marker turned out to be the sixth game-winning goal Crnkovic would net on the campaign.

The Wheat Kings made a hard charge in the third to try and force overtime holding an 11-6 edge in shots on goal, but Maier kept the visitors at bay.

About five minutes into the frame, Maier flashed his glove to deny a laser drive by rookie import centre Zakhar Polshakov. With about 7:45 remaining in the third, Maier put up a wall to stone Wheat Kings overage import right-winger Marcus Kallionkieli on a redirection chance from the front of the Saskatoon goal.

Kyle Crnkovic smiles after scoring for the Blades.

Inside of the final minute of the third, Maier turned away Wheat Kings star 19-year-old centre Nolan Ritchie on two prime scoring chances. Maier stoned Ritchie close in at the right side of the Saskatoon goal with about 30 seconds to play and made another big stop from that same spot on the ice in the frame’s dying seconds to preserve victory for the host side.

Kruger turned away 20 shots to take the setback in net for the Wheat Kings.

The Blades improved to 38-26-3-1 closing out their regular season schedule with two straight wins to finish fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 80 points in the standings. They will face the Moose Jaw Warriors in a best-of-seven WHL first round playoff series.

The Wheat Kings buzz round the Saskatoon goal.

The Warriors locked up a fourth place finish in the Eastern Conference and home ice advantage for that first round series with the Blades picking up one standings point falling 5-4 in overtime to the Hurricanes in Lethbridge on Friday night. Moose Jaw’s record moved to 37-23-4-3 for 81 standings points.

The Warriors will face the Pats in Regina on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Brandt Centre to close the regular season schedule for both of those clubs.

The Blades and Warriors will open their upcoming playoff series this coming Friday at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw.

The Wheat Kings fell to 35-27-3-2 and are cemented to finish sixth overall in the Eastern Conference and take on the Red Deer Rebels in a best-of-seven first round playoff series. The Wheat Kings close out their regular season schedule on Saturday when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Blades start celebrating their win on Friday night.

With the Blades win on Friday, Maier rounded out his WHL career regular season goaltending wins record at 122 victories. 

Since joining the Blades on a full-time basis in November of 2017, Maier has appeared in 216 career regular season games posting a 122-72-18 record, a 2.89 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and 12 shutouts.

Along with those statistics, Maier has played 12,609 career minutes in goal for the Blades and made 5,788 career saves.

Maier’s career shutout, games played, minutes played and saves totals are all Blades franchise records.

Saskatoon still has four regulars on the injury list. Defenceman and captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere is out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.

The Blades salute their fans after their win on Friday.

Overage star centre Tristen Robins, who is the Blades captain for the rest of the current season, is out day to day with a lower body injury, while utility player Spencer Shugrue is day to day with an upper body injury. Rookie centre Lukas Hansen out indefinitely with an upper body injury.

Robins took part in the post-game ceremony the Blades held to honour their three overage players along with Maier and rugged defenceman Rhett Rhinehart. Odds are high that Robins will be in the Blades lineup when they open their post-season series with the Warriors.

In the post-game ceremony for their overages, the Blades played tribute videos and gave each player special artistic paintings.

Following the presentation, the trio did a victory lap on the ice with Maier waving a big team flag. It was fitting as the puckstopper’s memorable outing allowed the Blades organization to have a banner night.

Molleken gets his night in “Blade City”

Lorne Molleken speaks to the crowd at the SaskTel Centre.

Lorne Molleken received a well deserved hero’s welcome when he stepped on to the ice surface at the SaskTel Centre on Friday night.

The legendary former head coach and general manager of the Saskatoon Blades was honoured by the team in a pre-game ceremony before the Blades closed their regular season schedule downing the Brandon Wheat Kings 2-1. When Molleken stepped on to the ice surface with his wife, Patsy, and their children and grandchildren, the veteran bench boss received a loud standing ovation from the 5,609 spectators in attendance.

A number of those in attendance included former players and team staffers.

Molleken spent 14 total seasons with the Blades over two stints. He will forever be linked with some of the Blades best days under the ownership of the Brodsky family working alongside Rick and then Jack. Jack Brodsky would quickly become a lifetime best friend.

The first stint from 1991 to 1995 saw Molleken serve as the Blades head coach with one of his lifetime best friends in Daryl Lubiniecki toiling in the role of general manager.

During that run, the Blades advanced to the WHL Championship Series on two occasions in 1992 and 1994. In both appearances, the Blades fell in a series deciding Game 7 to the dynasty Kamloops Blazers, who went on to win the Memorial Cup as CHL champions in both of those year as well as taking the WHL and CHL crowns again in 1995.

Lorne Molleken, right, watches the video scoreboard.

Molleken returned to the Blades as both head coach and general manager before the start of the 2004-05 campaign.

He served as head coach and general manager through to the end of the 2012-13 season after the Blades hosted the Memorial Cup. The Blades were sold from the Brodsky to the Priestner family during the 2013 off-season, and Molleken stayed on for one more campaign just as the general manager with Dave Struch handling the duties of head coach.

Molleken had a 539-325-58 regular season record with 23 ties over his career as the Blades head coach.

Friday’s ceremony for Molleken started with Blades play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk reminiscing about the days when Molleken was with the team. Lazaruk, who was the master of ceremonies for the pre-game festivities, added in a couple of humourous spots.

One of the spots that got the crowd chuckling came when Lazaruk talked about a bad loss the team experienced in Moose Jaw. Lazaruk got to the bus 35 minutes after the game ended, and Molleken mentioned there was a 15 minute rule.

Lazaruk said he was on the air and didn’t know what was talked about in the dressing room and was content to go about his business.

The Blades long time play-by-play voice said it was special him to have Molleken as a friend and that friendship expand beyond life around the rink.

Lorne Molleken gathers with his family.

Blades current general manager Colin Priestner delivered a second speech where he talked about how much Molleken meant to the team and the city. Priestner said he was always impressed with the class and dignity Molleken carried himself with.

Following those speeches, attention turned to the rafters of the SaskTel Centre as Molleken’s name was unveiled on the banner that hangs in the building to honour the WHL team’s builders.

Molleken then took the podium to speak. The 65-year-old delivered a classy and dignified speech where he thanked seemingly everyone that was involved with the Blades during his years with the team.

 He got emotional and started tearing at the end of his speech when he began thanking his family.

During that part of the speech, Molleken told his wife, “I love you Pat.”

Molleken also thanked the fans and said he believed the day would come when the Blades would win the WHL title and the Memorial Cup under the watch of the Priestner family.

The Blades builder’s banner with Lorne Molleken’s name on it.

Molleken was presented with a big frame picture marking his time with the team. The pre-game festivities finished with handshakes and embraces.

Molleken gave a big hug to Blades associate general manager Steve Hildebrand, who was an athletic therapist and equipment manager when Molleken guided the club.

The veteran bench boss also shared some big hugs with his grandchildren.

Originally, the Blades were set to honour Molleken on March 21, 2020. When the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic gripped the world sparing shutdowns in North America starting on March 11, 2020, those original plans to honour Molleken were postponed.

Ultimately, the wait just made Friday night’s ceremony that much more special.

Raiders keep post-season hope alive with 4-1 win over Broncos

Carson Latimer had a goal and two assists for the Raiders.

The Prince Albert Raiders thrived in a do-or-die game to keep their playoff hopes alive.

On Friday night, the Raiders traveled to Swift Current and downed the host Broncos 4-1 before 2,093 spectators at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex. The win allows the Raiders to tie the Broncos for eighth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and the conference’s final post-season berth.

That encounter closed the Broncos regular season schedule as they finished with a 26-35-5-2 mark.

The Raiders improved to 27-35-4-1 with the win, and they have one game remaining on their regular season slate. Prince Albert closes its regular season schedule on Saturday when they host the 35-27-3-2 Brandon Wheat Kings (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The race for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference is a tight one. The 25-34-6-2 Calgary Hitmen are still alive in the playoff chase sitting one point behind the Raiders and Broncos.

The Hitmen close their regular season schedule on Sunday hosting the 32-30-4-1 Lethbridge Hurricanes (2 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).

The 26-35-3-2 Regina Pats are two points back of both the Raiders and Broncos and have two games remaining on their regular season schedule. The Pats take on the Winnipeg Ice on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

That contest is penciled in as a home game for the Ice, because that contest was originally scheduled to be held in Winnipeg but was moved due to adverse weather in the area. The Ice have locked up top spot in the WHL with a 52-10-3-2 and dumped the Pats 6-1 on Friday at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

That Friday encounter was also penciled in as an Ice home game and was originally scheduled to be playing in Winnipeg until the venue was changed due to adverse weather in the area.

Sloan Stanick scored for the Raiders on Friday.

The Pats close their regular season schedule on Sunday when they host their archrivals the 37-23-4-3 Moose Jaw Warriors (4 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Raiders could potentially lock up a playoff berth on Saturday night, if they beat the Wheat Kings and the Pats suffer any type of loss to the Ice.

If the Raiders fall to the Wheat Kings on Saturday night, there are still a number of playoff scenarios that could come into play.

If two teams finished tied for eighth place in the Eastern Conference, a tiebreaking game will be held to determine the club that moves on to the post-season.

In Friday’s contest between the Raiders and Broncos, the Prince Albert side was paced by right-winger Carson Latimer, who posted a goal and two assists.

Left-winger Sloan Stanick gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead in the first period potting his 22^nd goal of the campaign.

Just 27 seconds into the second period, overage centre Cole Nagy scored for the Broncos to even the score at 1-1.

Latimer scored four minutes after Nagy’s tally to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead. Following that tally, Latimer combined with overage defenceman Remy Aquilon to setup rookie import right-winger Vladislav Shilo for a power-play goal to give the Raiders a 3-1 advantage heading into the second intermission.

Veteran centre Evan Herman rounded out the 4-1 final in favour of the Raiders scoring into an empty net with 2:33 remaining in the third.

Standout defenceman Nolan Allan had a pair of assists and was a plus-one in the plus-minus department for the Raiders.

Nolan Allan had a pair of assists for the Raiders on Friday.

Rookie import netminder Tikhon Chaika stopped 32 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Overage goalie Isaac Poulter turned away 24-of-27 shots to take the setback in net for the Broncos.

Now, the Raiders will try and take potential their final step to locking away a post-season berth playing in what should be a raucous gathering at their storied home rink.

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Raiders’ Chaika picks up first WHL shutout

Tikhon Chaika earned his first shutout win in the WHL.

Import rookie Tikhon Chaika enjoyed his brightest day in his young WHL career on Wednesday night.

The 18-year-old netminder from Minsk, Belarus, made 26 saves to pick up his first career WHL shutout as his Prince Albert Raiders downed the Hitmen in Calgary 1-0 in a regular season clash played before 4,080 spectators at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

Chaika, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 161 pounds, is going through a growing pains type of season that is understandable for an import rookie, who has to learn a new language and culture on top adjusting to a new hockey league.

As the season has gone on, his statistics are becoming a little more solid. In 33 appearances with the Raiders this season, Chaika has a 13-14-2 record, a 2.98 goals against average and a .900 save percentage to go with his one shutout.

The Raiders got their lone goal at the 12:45 mark of the first period on a gaff by Hitmen Belarusian import right-winger Anton Astashevich. Astashevich had the puck in his own zone and tried to make a cross-ice pass to a teammate.

Astashevich’s pass was picked off by Raiders centre Evan Herman. Herman broke in alone on the Calgary net and put a backhand shot past Hitmen netminder Brayden Peters.

Peters had a solid night himself making 25 saves to take the setback in goal as the Hitmen lost their eighth straight game to fall to 18-23-5-2.

The Raiders have won two straight contests to improve to 19-26-2-1.

They were without 19-year-old defenceman Trevor Thurston, who was sitting out the first of a five game league imposed suspension. Thurston was suspended for picking up a charging major, a cross-checking major and two game misconducts in the Raiders 4-1 victory over the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Monday.

Raiders HC Marc Habscheid picked up a milestone on Wednesday.

Prince Albert’s win on Wednesday unofficially marked the 573^rd career regular season head coaching victory for Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. The win total includes Habscheid’s time with the Kamloops Blazers, Kelowna Rockets, and the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals franchise. Habscheid’s first season holding a WHL team’s head coaching duties came in the 1997/98 campaign with the Blazers.

With that total, Habscheid passes Mike Williamson to sit alone for fifth on the WHL’s all-time career regular season wins list. Williamson collected his 572 regular season head coaching victories working behind the bench of the Portland Winterhawks, Calgary Hitmen and Tri-City Americans from the 1999-2000 campaign to the 2017-18 campaign.

Habscheid now trails Lorne Molleken for fourth place on the WHL’s all-time career regular season wins list. Molleken piled up 626 wins working behind the bench with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Saskatoon Blades, Regina Pats and Vancouver Giants during a period of time that spanned from 1989 to 2016.

Don Hay holds the record for career WHL regular season head coaching victories at 750. Hay collected his win total working behind the bench of the Kamloops Blazers, Tri-City Americans and Vancouver Giants during a period of time that spanned from 1992 to 2018.

The Raiders return to action on Friday when they travel to Red Deer to take on the 31-15-2-1 Rebels (6 p.m. Saskatchewan time, 900 CKBI).

Blades drop 6-5 OT heartbreaker in Brandon

Trevor Wong scored twice for the Blades on Wednesday.

Saskatoon Blades weren’t able to hold off a determined Brandon Wheat Kings side.

Holding a 5-4 lead entering the third period of a WHL regular season game at Westoba Place in Brandon, Man., the Blades had their hands full protecting their edge against a Wheat Kings side that carried play in the third frame. With 89 seconds remaining in the stanza, Wheat Kings 19-year-old centre Nolan Ritchie potted his 20^th goal of the season and second tally of the night to force a 5-5 and send the contest to overtime.

With less than six seconds remaining in overtime, Wheat Kings 20-year-old offensive defenceman Chad Nychuk potted the winner to deliver the host side to a 6-5 victory.

Vincent Iorio, Riley Ginnell and Marcus Kallionkieli all netted singles for Brandon.

Trevor Wong scored twice for the Blades, while Vaughn Watterodt, Kyren Gronick and Kyle Crnkovic netted singles.

Crnkovic, who is the Blades veteran star left-winger, continues to lead the WHL in scoring with 74 points coming off of 33 goals and 41 assists.

The Wheat Kings led 2-0 and 4-2, before the Blades scored three goals to close out the second period to take a 5-4 lead. That set up the dramatics late in the third period and in overtime.

Ethan Kruger stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wheat Kings (26-15-3-2). Nolan Maier turned away 24 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Blades (27-18-2-1).

The two sides will go at it again on Friday in Brandon (7 p.m. Saskatchewan time, 600 CJWW).

Elsewhere in the WHL on Wednesday night, the Regina Pats blanked the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 2-0, and the Winnipeg Ice slipped past the Hurricanes in Lethbridge 3-2.

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Victory falls through Raiders’ grasp again

Wheat Kings rally for 5-4 win after tiebreaking shootout

The Wheat Kings celebrate a shootout winner from Tyson Zimmer (#25).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders were lamenting the one that got away for a second straight game.

On Friday night playing before 2,234 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders held a 3-2 lead going into a third period. After the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings tied things up at 3-3, the Raiders got ahead 4-3 with 8:18 remaining in the third.

The Wheat Kings tied things up at 4-4 on a power play and proceeded to take the WHL regular season encounter 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout.

Brett Hyland had a goal and two assists for the Wheat Kings.

The Wheat Kings took the shootout 2-1 with right-winger Tyson Zimmer potting the winner in the third round.

In Prince Albert’s previous outing last Saturday, the Raiders led the Hurricanes in Lethbridge 3-2 going into the third period. The Hurricanes proceeded to score three goals inside the final six minutes of the third frame to prevail 5-3.

 “We deserved better,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, whose team’s record moved to 2-7-0-1. “We should have won.

“We should have won the last two games. We got one point out of four, so that is disappointing. A couple of goals they scored we probably gave it to them.

Kaiden Guhle had three assists for the Raiders.

“We made a couple of glaring errors, and it ended up in our net. We also need a save.”

Friday’s game started with Raiders star centre Ozzy Wiesblatt laying a big crowd pleasing hit on Wheat Kings captain Ridley Greig early in the first period.

The Raiders proceeded cash in on that energetic start going ahead 2-0 on goals from Remy Aquilon and Reece Vitelli.

Before the opening frame ended, the Wheat Kings answered back pulling even at 2-2 with goals coming from Zimmer and Belarusian import Zakhar Polshakov. Those tallies came 19 seconds apart from each other.

The host side got the only goal of the second period. At the 10:56 mark of the frame, Raiders right-winger Cale Sanders picked up a loose puck at the left side of Brandon net, and he put the puck home into an cage to give Prince Albert a 3-2 lead.

Remy Aquilon had two goals for the Raiders.

The hosts ran into penalty trouble to close out the second frame too. At the 12:11 mark of the second, Aquilon received a double minor for checking from behind for a hit he threw on Greig behind the Prince Albert net. Greig was helped off the ice and didn’t return.

The double minor by Aquilon will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Wheat Kings were unable to score on those chances with the man advantage.

With 2:53 to go in the second, Raiders 17-year-old left-winger Niall Crocker received a slashing minor, and Brandon was unable to score on that power play.

Nolan Ritchie had a goal for the Wheat Kings.

After the penalty expired, Crocker emerged from the penalty box and was sprung on a breakaway after receiving a stretch pass coming from the Raiders zone. Crocker ended up firing the shot wide of the Brandon goal.

“Our forwards have to score,” said Habscheid. “Everybody wants to score.

“You just have to play the right way.”

At the 4:38 mark of the third, Wheat Kings left-winger Brett Hyland scored to even the score at 3-3. Hyland had two assists to go along with his goal for a three-point night.

With 8:18 remaining in the third, Aquilon fired home a point shot for his second tally of the night to put the hosts up 4-3.

When it appeared the Raiders were going to close out the contest, rookie Belarusian import forward Vladislav Shilo took an untimely roughing penalty with 3:56 remaining the frame to put Brandon on the power play.

Niall Crocker eyes up a shot on a breakaway he would miss.

The Wheat Kings capitalized on this chance when left-winger Nolan Ritchie knocked home a rebound opportunity to even the score at 4-4 with 3:40 remaining in the frame.

Despite the fact Brandon tied the contest for a third time, Aquilon thought the players on his squad didn’t get emotionally down.

“The guys did a good job of keeping it up, especially the older guys trying to make sure to just shake it off,” said Aquilon. “It is definitely not the one we want to give up late in the third there.”

Before overtime came around, the Raiders were able to go on the power play, but failed to score. They were 0-for-5 with the man advantage in the contest.

Tyson Laventure had an assist and six shots for the Raiders.

“Obviously, special teams can win or lose you games,” said Raiders 18-year-old right-winger Tyson Laventure, who had an assists and six shots on goal in the setback. “Obviously, we went 0-for-5 which didn’t help.

“They got a goal on their power play, which ended up tying the game and giving them the win. We have to be better on the power play in the future for sure.”

The Raiders had a 4-1 edge in shots on goal through the scoreless three-on-three five-minute overtime period.

In the tiebreaking shootout, captain Kaiden Guhle scored for the Raiders, while Hylund and Zimmer responded for the Wheat Kings to give them the win.

Tikhon Chaika stopped 18 shots on goal over 65 minutes for the Raiders and one of three shooters in the shootout. Ethan Kruger turned away 33 shots on net over 65 minutes for the Wheat Kings (5-6) and two of three shooters in the shootout.

Ethan Kruger made 33 saves over 65 minutes for the Wheat Kings.

Guhle collected three assists and posted a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department for the Raiders in the setback.

These two teams go at it again on Saturday at Westoba Place in Brandon, Man., at 7 p.m. local time.

Laventure said his team needs take advantage of chances to close out games, when his squad has a lead in the third period.

“Obviously our last couple of games we’ve been going into the third period with the lead and having it with less than 10 minutes left,” said Laventure. “We just have to finish those off.

The Wheat Kings celebrate their win on Friday night.

“We can’t be giving up games in the last 10 to five minutes in the game. We have to look to close one out tomorrow.”

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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