Raiders vault to first in WHL’s Eastern Conference

Prince Albert downs Warriors in Moose Jaw after shootout

The Prince Albert Raiders will sit in first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference for at least one night.

On Thursday night before an announced crowd of 3,546 spectators at Temple Gardens Centre in Moose Jaw, the visiting Raiders slipped past the host Warriors 3-2 in a WHL regular season clash following a tiebreaking shootout. Prince Albert took the shootout 1-0 with star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring netting the goal in the tiebreaking session.

The win was a fifth straight for the Raiders, who improved to 33-6-4 to vault into first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Raiders sit one point ahead of the Central Division leading Medicine Hat Tigers (32-7-3-2) and five points in front of the Edmonton Oil Kings (30-9-3-2). Prince Albert still has one game in hand on both of those clubs.

The Raiders also sit one point back of the Everett Silvertips (34-6-2-1) for first overall in the entire WHL.

In the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were release on Tuesday, the Raiders were rated second, the Silvertips were fourth, the Tigers were fifth and the Oil Kings came in at sixth.

The Warriors get an important standings point with the shootout setback to see their record move to 17-22-3-2. They sit three points up on the Red Deer Rebels (16-22-2-2) and the Regina Pats (15-21-5-1) for seventh overall in the Eastern Conference. The Rebels and Pats each have two games in hand on the Warriors.

Red Deer and Regina are tied for the eighth and ninth positions in the Eastern Conference. If the regular season stopped today, they would play a tiebreaking game to see who gets eighth place and the conference’s final playoff berth.

As for Thursday’s clash between Prince Albert and Moose Jaw, the Raiders came out flying taking a 2-0 lead in the first period while holding a 17-4 edge in shots on goal.

Prince Albert opened the scoring at the 2:36 mark of the opening frame scoring on an offensive zone rush while working on the power play. On the rush, Raiders star 19-year-old centre Max Heise fed a pass to star 18-year-old left-winger Brandon Gorzynski, who was skating towards the right post of the Moose Jaw goal.

Gorzynski fed a backhanded pass across the face of the Warriors net backdoor to star 18-year-old centre Braeden Cootes. Cootes popped home his 13^th goal of the campaign to give the Raiders their one-goal edge.

Shortly after the midway point of the first period, the Raiders pushed their lead out to 2-0. On an offensive zone rush, Oiring jetted down the right wing, swooped around behind the Moose Jaw net and put a pass across the crease of the Warriors goal to Gorzynski parked by the right post. Gorzynski popped his 20^th goal of the campaign to give the visitors their two-goal edge.

Just over four minutes after going ahead 2-0, Raiders rookie 19-year-old import defenceman Matyas Man faced Warriors 18-year-old right-winger Gage Nagel in a spirited fight that pleased the crowd. Man got the take down in the bout.

In the second, the Raiders carried play holding a 9-6 edge in shots on goal, but the stanza was a rough one for the visitors. With 8:12 remaining the period, Raiders standout defenceman Linden Burrett went into the boards awkwardly while engaged with a Warriors player. Burrett grabbed his left knee and exited the game at that point.

With 7:53 remaining in the second, the Warriors scored on the power play with 20-year-old centre Ethan Semeniuk potting a backhander from the left side of the Prince Albert net. The tally cut the Raiders lead to 2-1.

The host side evened the score at 2-2 with 2:05 remaining in the second when 16-year-old rookie defenceman Colt Carter drove home a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle in the Prince Albert zone.

The two sides played evenly through a scoreless third period where the shots on goal for the frame were tied at 11-11. The Warriors held a 4-1 edge in shots on goal during the three-versus-three overtime period, where they were denied on two glorious scoring chances.

Warriors 18-year-old centre Riley Thorpe had a breakaway opportunity only to be denied by Raiders rookie star import netminder Michal Orsulak. The second big scoring chance was a close-in opportunity by Warriors star 20-year-old left-winger Pavel McKenzie, but he was turned away by a left pad stop by Orsulak.

That set the stage for the tiebreaking shootout. Oiring scored on the Raiders first shooting opportunity in the tiebreaking session. Orsulak ended the session with a sweet glove stop on Warriors 18-year-old left-winger Steven Steranka.

Orsulak made 23 saves over 65 minutes and turned away all three shooters he faced in the shootout to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Chase Wutzke turned away 36 shots and one of two shooters in the shootout to take the extra time setback in net for the Warriors.

The Warriors get back at it on Friday when they host the 18-17-5-3 Victoria Royals (7 p.m., Temple Gardens Centre).

The Raiders continue a stretch where they are playing three games in three nights. On Friday, they travel to Swift Current to take on the 10-30-3 Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex). The Raiders return home on Saturday when they host the Tigers (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Prince Albert was without star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube on Thursday, who is day-to-day with a minor injury. Dube was injured in the Raiders 12-2 home ice romp over the Royals on Tuesday.

Oil Kings’ Holinka is prime time player, other notes

Miroslav Holinka has 62 points in 41 games this season.

The second-year import bump has seen Miroslav Holinka jump up to being one the WHL’s best.

Last season, the skilled centre from Zlin, Czechia had a solid debut campaign for the Edmonton Oil Kings. He skated in 47 regular season games recording 19 goals, 26 assists and a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department. He helped the Oil Kings post a 37-27-2-2 mark to make the WHL Playoffs for the first time since Edmonton last won the league title in the 2021-22 campaign.

Holinka, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 185 pounds, had been selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fifth round and 151^st overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The Leafs were pleased enough by Holinka’s first WHL campaign that they signed him to a three-year NHL entry-level contract on July 15, 2025.

The Leafs assigned Holinka to play a 20-year-old season with the Oil Kings for the current season. Skating in his second campaign in North America, Holinka has taken off.

In 41 games with the Oil Kings this season, Holinka has piled up 28 goals and 34 assists to go with a plus-26 rating in the plus-minus department. Holinka’s goal total includes seven game winners, which is one behind Medicine Hat Tigers captain Bryce Pickford for the league lead.

Along with his game-winning goal total, Holinka sits seven points behind Seattle Thunderbirds right-winger Cameron Schmidt for the WHL scoring lead at 69 points. Schmidt has put up his point total on 32 goals and 37 assists.

When import players like Holinka first come over to North American, they go through growing pains both on and off the ice. On top of adjusting to the North American style of play, import players have to work through learning a new language and culture. It is common for import players to show great improvement when they come back for a second major junior campaign.

Holinka has been on another level this season with the Oil Kings. Centering a line with Lukas Sawchyn on right-wing and captain Gavin Hodnett on left-wing, Holinka has hit the ice with a confidence that is through the roof this season.

He has become a difference maker for the Oil Kings, who sit fourth overall in the WHL with a 30-9-3-2 mark and are rated sixth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday. Holinka has become a player who is worth the price of admission by his presence alone and is a player to watch.

If folks in the Alberta capital city can pull themselves away from watching superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl skate for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, they will find themselves very much entertained watching the heroics of Holinka with the city’s major junior squad.

On that note, the Oil Kings are leading the WHL in attendance averaging 6,521 spectators per game at Rogers Place, which is a great accomplishment when you are a junior squad existing in the same city as the Oilers.

When opposing teams lose track of Holinka on the ice, they usually create an invitation to have the puck end up in the back of their own net.

Holinka’s skill shows up even when the Oil Kings lose. When they dropped a 4-3 decision at home on Wednesday to the Regina Pats, Holinka potted a short-handed goal where he scored on a backhander on a breakaway.

If you live in Edmonton or you see the Oil Kings are coming to your centre as the road team for the rest of the current campaign, you’d be wise to get out and see Holinka play out his final days before graduating from the major junior ranks at the end of the season. It won’t be long before you have to pay big NHL ticket prices to see show off his skills live.

• Kamloops Blazers 17-year-old right-winger JP Hurlbert still has the afterburners on in what has been an amazing rookie campaign. Hurlbert, who is from Allen, Texas, has recorded 29 goals and 38 assists to go with a plus-11 rating playing in all of the team’s 42 regular season games to date. He leads all rookies in scoring with his 67 points and sits second in the overall WHL scoring race.
• Medicine Hat Tigers 17-year-old sophomore centre Markus Ruck leads the WHL with 51 assists this season. Ruck also had 11 goals and a plus-20 rating appearing in all of his squad’s 44 games to date.
• Medicine Hat Tigers 19-year-old veteran defenceman Jonas Woo leads the WHL in the plus-minus department with a plus-48 rating in 37 games this season. Woo has also piled up 61 points coming off 24 goals and 37 assists.
• Medicine Hat Tigers 18-year-old sophomore netminder Jordan Switzer leads the WHL with 21 goaltending victories. In 30 appearances this season, Switzer has recorded a 21-4-3 record, a 2.70 goals against average, a .896 save percentage and one shutout.

• On January 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on 16-year-old Shaurya Patel, who is one of Cricket Saskatoon’s elite junior players. In the piece, Patel talked about his journey in the sport of cricket and went through the process to try to make Cricket Canada’s Canadian under-19 World Cup team in 2025. The piece on Patel can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by images from the John Sands Classic Long Track Meet hosted by the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club. That post 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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Warriors down to last life at Memorial Cup tourney

Moose Jaw drops 5-4 decision to Knights to fall to 0-2

Ethan Semeniuk scored twice for the Warriors on Monday.

The Moose Jaw Warriors are finding out life can come at you fast at the Memorial Cup.

On Monday, the WHL champions played their second round robin game at the tournament that crowns a CHL champion taking on the London Knights, who are the champions of the OHL. Once again, the Warriors supplied their share of thrills at the DOW Event Centre in Saginaw, Michigan, but fell 5-4 in a contest played before 4,768 spectators.

The Warriors also came up short by a 5-4 final score in their first round robin contest on Friday against the host Saginaw Spirit from the OHL.

Sitting at 0-2, the Warriors are down to their last life at the Memorial Cup tournament. On Tuesday, Moose Jaw takes on the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Voltigeurs are also 0-2 at the tournament. Tuesday’s clash between the Warriors and Voltigeurs will be the final round robin game for both clubs at the tourney. The winner moves on to play in a semifinal contest on Friday, while the losing squad is eliminated from the event.

The Knights improved to 2-0 at the Memorial Cup. They close the round robin portion of the event taking on the host Spirit, who are also 2-0, on Wednesday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

That clash between the Knights and Spirit will be a rematch of the OHL’s Western Conference Championship series, which London claimed 4-2. 

The winner of Wednesday’s encounter between the two OHL clubs advances to the Memorial Cup championship game slated for this coming Sunday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

Denton Mateychuk had the Warriors first goal on Monday.

The squad that falls in Wednesday’s battle will play in Friday’s semifinal contest (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN) against the winner of Tuesday’s game between the Warriors and Voltigeurs.

In Monday’s encounter between the Warriors and Knights, the WHL champs got out to a fast start. Just 27 seconds into the contest, Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus broke into the London zone on a breakaway. Firkus put a backhand shot on net that was turned away by a right pad save from Knights star netminder Michael Simpson.

Moose Jaw would break through on the scoreboard first a short time later. At the 3:39 mark of the first, Warriors captain and star defenceman Denton Mateychuk received a drop pass from Warriors star 20-year-old right-winger Atley Calvert in position for a midrange shot straight out from the left post of the London net.

Mateychuk rocketed a shot to the top left corner of the London net to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. That marked the first time the Warriors held a lead at any time in the Memorial Cup tournament. Moose Jaw is making its debut in the CHL championship event.

The Knights would answer back in the second half of the opening frame. After causing a turnover off the forecheck in the Moose Jaw zone, Knights centre Jacob Julien made a backhand pass from below the icing line to the right side of the Warriors goal across the face of the net to import right-winger Ruslan Gazizov. 

Gazizov popped the puck into an empty left side of the Moose Jaw net to even the score at 1-1.

With 2:10 remaining in the first, Knights star offensive-defenceman Sam Dickinson wired a midrange shot from the front of the Moose Jaw net through screen home to the left side of the goal to give the Knights a 2-1 lead.

Moose Jaw would even the score at 2-2 at the 7:01 mark of the second. Warriors defenceman Aiden Ziprick fired a shot from the left side of the London net that rebounded out to Warriors left-winger Ethan Semeniuk at the right side of the goal. Semeniuk quickly fired the rebound into an empty right side of the London net past a fallen Simpson for the equalizer.

Atley Calvert set up the Warriors first goal on Monday.

At that point, the Knights shot out on a surge scoring three straight goals to take a 5-2 lead. At the 9:02 mark of the second, standout rookie centre Sam O’Reilly scored a beauty for the Knights. He made a puck drag move to get around Warriors defenceman Cosmo Wilson on a rush down the left wing and roofed a close in shot to the top right corner of the Moose Jaw net to put the Knights up 3-2.

With 7:13 remaining in the second, O’Reilly found himself breaking into the Moose Jaw zone jetting down the right wing on a two-on-one rush with veteran left-winger Landon Sim speeding down the left win. O’Reilly made a pass across the front of the Moose Jaw net to Sim, who buried a shot to put the Knights up 4-2.

The Knights completed the surge with 3:46 remaining in the second, when import winger Kasper Halttunen one-timed home a midrange shot from just off to the left of the Moose Jaw to give the OHL champs their 5-2 advantage. Halttunen converted a beauty setup pass from star right-winger Easton Cowan.

Moose Jaw got a big traction moment just six second later, when Semeniuk netted his second of the contest putting home a shot from just outside the London blue-line that cut the Knights advantage to 5-3.

Things got a bit rough with 2:30 remaining in the second as Warriors offensive-defenceman Kalem Parker took on Knights power forward Max McCue in a fight. McCue got the better of Parker in the bout.

When the second period came to a close, the Knights held their 5-3 advantage holding a 24-20 edge in shots on goal. While the Knights have skill, they built their lead by playing heavy in a style similar to that of some of the skilled and physical squads that traditionally have been more usual in coming out of the WHL.

The Knights players often dumped the puck into the Moose Jaw zone, and the London forwards got some big hits on Warriors defencemen working on the forecheck.

Jagger Firkus has been snake bitten around the net.

In the third, the Warriors came with a big push holding a 10-4 edge in shots on goal. Moose Jaw elected to first pull star netminder Jackson Unger for an extra attacker with about 4:36 remaining in the third.

During a scramble around the London net with 3:55 remaining in the third, Warriors standout overage import left-winger Martin Rysavy banged the puck home into the OHL champs’ goal to trim the Knights lead to 5-4.

Unger returned to the Warriors net and was pulled once again for an extra attacker with 79 seconds remaining in the third. The Warriors proceeded to get an offensive zone faceoff with 71 seconds left in the frame.

Off the draw, Warriors star centre Brayden Yager got the puck at the right side boards of the London zone and passed it to Firkus, who was in position for a midrange one-timer just off to the left of the London net. Firkus one-timed Yager’s setup pass but the shot was corralled by Simpson.

The Knights clamped things down defensively from there to hold on to their 5-4 victory.

Unger turned away 23 shots to take the setback in net for the Warriors. Simpson stopped 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Knights.

Cowan and Denver Barkey each had a pair of helpers for the Knights. London has now won six straight games at the Memorial Cup tournament, which includes going 4-0 to win the 2016 edition of the tournament held in Red Deer, Alta.

In the WHL Playoffs, the Warriors won two elimination games taking their epic seven game WHL Eastern Conference title series win over the Saskatoon Blades. The Warriors claimed a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 of that series at home in Moose Jaw and posted a 3-2 overtime victory in a series-deciding Game 7 in Saskatoon.

On Tuesday, the Warriors take on a Voltigeurs side that is facing elimination for the first time in the 2024 post-season.

Brayden Yager nearly set up a late equalizer for the Warriors.

Moose Jaw has battled and lost two games that could have gone either way at the Memorial Cup. In the department of Captain Obvious, now would be a great time for the Warriors to get their first win at the CHL championship tourney.

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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Epic finish to epic series as Warriors take conference title

Lakovic morphs into “Mr. OT” for Moose Jaw

Lynden Lakovic, top left, reacts to scoring his OT winner.

Lynden Lakovic will be “Mr. OT” forever to the city of Moose Jaw.

On Tuesday night playing before a campaign high crowd of 13,240 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the 17-year-old sophomore right-winger gave what was arguably the greatest WHL post-season series ever played a fitting finish. In a series deciding Game 7 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series, Lakovic’s Moose Jaw Warriors went into overtime locked in a 2-2 tie with the host Saskatoon Blades.

That marked the sixth time both clubs went to overtime to decide a game in the series, which is a record for the WHL. Just 36 seconds into overtime, Lakovic drove down the right wing into the Saskatoon zone. From a bad angle, Lakovic backhanded the puck toward the Saskatoon net.

Warriors fans cheer their team’s OT winning goal.

Warriors star overage right-winger Atley Calvert drove towards the Saskatoon net while being covered by Blades utility winger Tyler Parr. The puck from Lakovic’s backhand deflected off Parr’s skate into the Saskatoon net to deliver the Warriors to a 3-2 victory in the extra session.

The Game 7 win on Tuesday allowed the Warriors to take the series 4-3 and capture their second Eastern Conference title in team history with the first coming back in 2006. When his latest overtime winner went in, Lakovic said it was a euphoric moment.

The Warriors celebrate their Game 7 OT win.

“It was just pure excitement,” said Lakovic. “I know you probably want like a cool celebration or something, but you can’t really just think of anything.

“So many things are going through your head. You just get so excited you just want to hug all the guys, because without them you wouldn’t be here. I do it for them.”

Lakovic also had the overtime winner in the Warriors 4-3 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final at the Moose Jaw Events Centre in Moose Jaw on Sunday. He also had an extra time winner back on March 30 in a Warriors 5-4 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings in Game 2 of an opening round series at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

The Warriors celebrate with players who were scratched and coaches.

Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk said it was cool that Lakovic has come through in multiple big moments in overtime.

“That is awesome,” said Mateychuk. “That is great to see.

“He has been here for a couple of years now. He came in as a young guy and kind of fit in right with our top nine pretty much. He has been a great player for us.

“He doesn’t shy away from those moments, which is great to see.”

With the Eastern Conference title win, the Warriors advance to face the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL Championship Series. The Winterhawks claimed the WHL’s Western Conference Championship Series in six games over the Prince George Cougars.

The Blades react to their Game 7 overtime loss.

Portland closed out the Western Conference final on Monday with a 2-1 victory over the Cougars in double overtime in Game 6 at the CN Centre in Prince George. Standout left-winger Josh Davies scored the winner at the 5:40 mark of the second extra session for the Winterhawks.

Game 1 of the WHL Championship Series is set for Friday at 7 p.m. local time at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

In Tuesday’s Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final, the Blades came firing out of the gates to the huge roars of the crowd holding a 7-1 edge in shots on goal over the first 6:39 of the opening frame. Warriors star netminder Jackson Unger stood tall, which included stopping a good backhand chance from Blades gritty left-winger Vaughn Watterodt at the right side of the Moose Jaw net.

The Blades and Warriors go through traditional post-series hand shakes.

The Warriors took the wind out of the home crowd’s sails with 6:25 remaining in the opening frame with a positive bounce goal. Warriors offensive-defenceman Kalem Parker took a shot from the point that was deflected by left-winger Ethan Semeniuk in front of the net.

Semeniuk’s deflection hit the right post of the Saskatoon goal, deflected off the back of the leg of Blades breakout rookie netminder Evan Gardner and went into the net. That tally gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead. The officials video reviewed that goal and concluded it was a goal.

Denton Mateychuk (#5) receives the Eastern Conference title trophy.

The Warriors finished the frame with a good surge of chances. When the first period ended, the Warriors held a 1-0 lead, while the Blades had a 9-7 edge on shots on goal.

The Warriors came with pressure to start the second holding a 5-2 edge in shots on goal in the first 10:15 of the frame. At that point, the Blades found another gear and outshot the Warriors 15-4 through the rest of the stanza.

With 7:38 remaining in the second, Blades standout overage left-winger Easton Armstrong roofed a backhand shot past Unger to even the score at 1-1. Armstrong’s goal brought the crowd at the SaskTel Centre back to life.

Warriors fans salute their team’s Eastern Conference title win.

Blades captain Trevor Wong thought his squad played a sound game despite coming up on the wrong end of the scoreboard.

“We played real well I thought,” said Wong, who exhausted his WHL eligibility with Tuesday’s loss. “It was a pretty complete game.

“I thought we took over in the O-zone a bunch of times. Moose Jaw, they’ll counter attack you quick if you make one mistake. We knew that, and it happened to us.

“We can’t think about that, because I thought we played a real good game.”

Lynden Lakovic has three OT winners in the 2024 WHL Playoffs.

The two sides started out playing cautiously in the third, which resulted in no shots on goal for the first 3:20 of the stanza. At that point, the pace picked up.

With 9:47 remaining in the third, the Warriors big stars came through in centre Brayden Yager and right-winger Jagger Firkus. Yager stole the puck behind the Saskatoon net from Blades 19-year-old defenceman Ben Saunderson.

After making the steal, Yager centred a pass to the front of the net to Firkus. Firkus buried his 12^th of the post-season to put the Warriors in front 2-1. The sizable contingent of Warriors fans in attendance roared their approval.

That tally would not hold up as the winner.

Easton Armstrong (#27) had the Blades first goal on Tuesday.

With 3:07 remaining in the third, Watterodt positioned himself midrange in front of the Moose Jaw net and blew home the equalizer to the top left corner of the goal that forced a 2-2 tie. The crowd at the SaskTel Centre exploded with their loudest cheers to that point in the campaign.

Wong said the Blades have been great at bouncing back this season when things have gone wrong.

“It was kind of all year,” said Wong. “We’re a resilient team.

“We knew we weren’t out of it when they scored that one. I thought we kind of carried the play most of it. It was huge for Vaughner (Watterodt) to step up there, but that is kind of how we were all year.

Trevor Wong played his final WHL game on Tuesday.

“Guys would step up like that in big moments. That was a huge goal. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done, but it just kind of shows the character that we have in that room just pushing back there.”

The Blades actually had the first chance to score in overtime. Shortly after the extra session started, Warriors star centre Matthew Savoie gave away the puck in his own zone to Blade star import right-winger Egor Sidorov.

Sidorov put a quick shot on goal that Unger had to make a smart glove save on. The Warriors would win the ensuing defensive zone faceoff and start the rush that resulted in Lakovic’s winner.

“I’m just really sad,” said Blades head coach Brennan Sonne. “We had a staff, a group, a team of players that just worked so hard to be in this position completely dedicated all in.

Fraser Minten breaks into the offensive zone for the Blades.

“I’m just really sad that the result didn’t go our way.”

Gardner turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. Unger stopped 37 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Warriors.

Sonne believed his club came with a big effort on Tuesday.

“I thought we played really hard tonight,” said Sonne. “I thought we played really, really hard tonight.

“I thought we put ourselves in a good position. We left it all out there.”

Going into the Eastern Conference Championship Series, it was expected the Blades and Warriors would put on a battle, and the series greatly exceeded those expectations that were set at the outset.

Vaughn Watterodt celebrates his third period equalizer.

During the regular season, the Blades topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and were rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Warriors finished fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark.

The two sides split their six head-to-head encounters in the regular season without having to go to extra time. 

In the Eastern Conference final, the Warriors claimed the series 4-3 with six contests going to overtime. Each side won three contests in extra time.

Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary was proud of what his players were able to accomplish with the series win.

Blades fans cheer Vaughn Watterodt’s third period equalizer.

“I think it is such a tight group,” said O’Leary. “We said it all along they just don’t want to let each other down.

“Whether you give up a tough goal late there or you get scored on early like a couple of games ago. There is just nothing that fazes this group. They are just destined for big things, and we saw it here tonight.”

It is believed that only two other series in the WHL post-season have ever had five overtime finishes. 

Jackson Unger made 37 saves for the Warriors on Tuesday.

That included the 2008 Western Conference Championship Series that saw the Spokane Chiefs down the Tri-City Americans in seven games. The Chiefs would go on to with the WHL title and capture the Memorial Cup as CHL champions.

The first round series in 2013 between the Kelowna Rockets and the Seattle Thunderbirds also had five overtime games. The Rockets won that series in seven games after the Thunderbirds opened the set winning three straight overtime contests.

Lakovic said his team’s conference title series win over the Blades felt special.

“We made WHL history tonight I think with six of the seven games going to overtime,” said Lakovic. “It doesn’t get any closer than that.

The Warriors are pictured with the Eastern Conference title trophy.

“I think I said this last time (after Game 6) if these teams were to play 10 series I bet you there would be a different winner each time. I think this definitely did feel like a championship series.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.