It's sweet Wouters, Paddock, overagers will get final bow

Chase Wouters (#44) enjoys an OT winner in the 2019 WHL playoffs

So what would it have been like had Chase Wouters never suited up again as captain of the Saskatoon Blades or Max Paddock never put on the pads again to play goal for the Prince Albert Raiders?

It appears questions on those fronts will be pushed off until this coming May.

Wouters and Paddock are slated to get the chance to hit the ice again.

The WHL’s five teams based in Saskatchewan along with the two clubs in Manitoba will each play a 24-game regular season schedule in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina without fans. Team will be able to practice in the neighbouring Co-operators Centre.

Those seven clubs make up the WHL’s East Division for this coming season, and they are slated to hit the ice on March 12.

At the moment, the WHL’s Central Division containing the league’s five teams based in Alberta are set to hit the ice on Feb. 26 with club’s playing in their home centres. The U.S. Division will begin play on March 19 with all games expected to be held in the state of Washington.

The teams in those divisions will each play a shortened 24-game regular season.

Plans are still in the works to get the B.C. Division back into action.

Max Paddock protects the Raiders goal in 2020.

For the overage players from 17 teams that have been cleared to return to play, they will get the chance at the moment to have a final bow.

With anything right now, there is always a possibility the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can throw a wrench into things.

The overages won’t play in front of a physical crowd. In the case of Wouters and Paddock, they won’t get to play one last time in their home centres.

The returning overagers will get a chance to put on a WHL jersey again. Back on March 12, 2020 when the 2019-20 WHL campaign was paused and the remainder of the season was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there seemed to be a real chance the overagers for the 2020-21 campaign wouldn’t hit the ice in the WHL again.

All the returning WHL players watched as the overagers from the 2019-20 campaign basically all saw their major junior careers come to a sudden end at the same time. Teams did tribute videos and pieces for the departing overagers on team websites and social media platforms.

There was still a sting those graduating overagers took that they actually didn’t expect their respective WHL careers to end when they last stepped off the ice.

The same fate could have happened to this year’s overage class. It does feel good to know that they won’t have their careers come to a sudden end.

In Wouters case, he was selected in the first round and 18^th overall by the Blades way back in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft. After playing two games as a 15-year-old call up in 2015-16, Wouters has been a career regular on the Blades roster since.

He has appeared in 259 regular season games posting 65 goals, 94 assists and a plus-10 rating in the plus-minus department.

Chase Wouters has played 259 regular season games for the Blades.

Wouters had a memorable playoff moment scoring the overtime winner to lift the Blades to a 3-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors at the SaskTel Centre in Game 1 of a first round series in 2019. The Blades swept the best-of-seven set 4-0 before falling 4-2 in a best-of-seven second round series to the eventual WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders.

Wouters has represented the Blades with class for his whole career and done seemingly every community appearance that was asked of him. It is heartwarming to know he will get to wear Blades colours once again.

Paddock got his start WHL start with the Regina Pats. As a 17-year-old rookie in 2017-18, Paddock was in goal when the Pats made it to the championship final as the host team of the 100^th Memorial Cup tournament, which determines a CHL champion.

Paddock turned away 41-of-43 shots as the Pats were blanked 3-0 by the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

The Brandon, Man., product proceeded to play through a 2018-19 season where the Pats were going through a major rebuild after hosting the Memorial Cup.

Paddock remained with the Pats until he was traded to the Raiders on January 9, 2020 for sophomore left-winger Jakob Brook, a second round selection in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft and a conditional third round selection in the 2022 WHL Bantam Draft that depended on Paddock suiting up with the Raiders as an overager.

In 114 career regular season games with the Pats, Paddock had a 44-49-10 career record, a 3.27 goals against average, a .901 save percentage and four shutouts.

In just over two months with the Raiders, Paddock appeared in 19 regular season games posting a 13-3-3 record, a 1.67 goals against average, a .935 save percentage and three shutouts.

With Paddock’s help, the Raiders were sitting first in the WHL’s East Division with a 36-18-6-4 record before the rest of the 2019-20 campaign was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Max Paddock in goal for the Raiders in March of 2020.

At the moment, Paddock is with the AHL’s Stockton Heat on an amateur tryout contract. The Heat are playing out of Calgary, Alta., due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paddock is expected to be back with the Raiders when the East Division starts regular season play on March 12.

Along with getting to make a final bow, Wouters, Paddock and the other overagers will get to compile recent game footage of themselves in action. They could use that football to potentially attract opportunities in the professional or Canadian university ranks.

While they will have that footage as a tool to attract future opportunities, they will get a change to be with their WHL teammates once more and get to create more of a proper closure to their junior careers.

Cozens on shaky ride in NHL COVID-19 campaign, other notes

Dylan Cozens in action for the Hurricanes in 2019.

Dylan Cozens showed he was ready for the NHL until COVID-19 protocols took him off the ice.

The former star centre with the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes began the 2020-21 season serving as an alternate captain for Canada’s world junior team. At world juniors played in a bubble environment at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alta., Cozens topped Canada in scoring posting eight goals, eight assists and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department in seven games.

Canada fell 2-0 in the gold medal game to the United States on Jan. 5.

Cozens then joined the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres for his rookie season as a professional. The product of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territories suited up for nine regular season games collecting two goals, one assists and a plus-one rating.

At that point, COVID-19 protocols came calling.

Cozens, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 188 pounds, dressed for the Sabres as they dropped a 5-3 decision at home to the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 31. Due to issues with COVID-19, the Sabres wouldn’t play a game again until this past Monday, when they dropped a 3-1 decision at home to the New York Islanders.

Cozens was placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 “protocol list” on Feb. 6. He returned to practice with the Sabres this past Tuesday, which means he is off the “protocol list.”

At this point, Cozens still hasn’t suited up for a game since that Jan. 31 encounter with the Devils. The Sabres travel to New Jersey on Saturday to face the Devils.

The Devils actually didn’t play any games between downing the Sabres on Jan. 31 and dumping the Rangers in New York 5-2 this past Tuesday due to issues with COVID-19.

Through Monday, the NHL has postponed 35 regular season games due to COVID-19, and all those postponements have been in the United States.

The NHL has been changing its protocols to try and prevent even more postponed games.

That included a change on Feb. 11 that said all players, coaches, training staff, equipment staff and other members of the team’s traveling party on the road will be required to remain at home during home games.

They can’t leave their place of residence except to attend practices and games, exercise outdoors on an individual basis, perform essential activities like going to the doctor or deal with family or other emergencies and other extraordinary circumstances.

The NHL also strongly recommended that household members limit their activities outside the home as well and is encouraging teams to provide way for household member to be tested for COVID-19 regularly.

As you can see, completing an NHL campaign where teams aren’t confined in bubble environments has been very challenging in the United States in these COVID-19 times. Players like Cozens have experienced highs and pitfalls of these present day moments.

• Tickets are on sale for the February jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. One prize will be drawn per month, and the remaining draw dates are Sunday, February 28, 2021, March 31, 2021, April 30, 2021 and May 31, 2021. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• There has been a sizable grouping of minor hockey parents in Saskatchewan that have been saying if their kids in minor hockey can’t play than the WHL shouldn’t play. Those parents are trying to compare two different spectrums. In order to play, WHL clubs are providing private PCR testing through DynaLIFE Medical Labs as far as the COVID-19 testing component is concerned. Plus, the five Saskatchewan based clubs and two Manitoba based teams are playing in a bubble environment in Regina. Minor hockey bodies don’t have that type of money to afford those types of things. I guess if minor hockey players could play in a bubble environment where associations provide regular weekly COVID-19 testing, then you could have minor hockey in Saskatchewan.
• On Feb. 12, the junior A Manitoba Junior Hockey League cancelled the remainder of its 2020-21 campaign including regular season and playoffs due to continuing government restrictions brought in to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In many Saskatchewan media outlets over the last few days, Saskatchewan Hockey Association general manager Kelly McClintock said there was really no hope of playing any more competitive minor hockey for the 2020-21 campaign. Those comments came after the Government of Saskatchewan decided on Tuesday to extend current Public Health Orders and restrictions to battle COVID-19 to March 19. Teams are still allowed to continue training with players in groups of eight.
• On Monday, the Saskatoon Blades acquired 2001 born right-winger Blake Stevenson from the Tri-City Americans for a conditional fifth round selection in the 2023 WHL Bantam Draft. In 2019-20, Stevenson appeared in 47 regular season games with the Americans collecting 10 goals and 10 assists. He is eligible to play in the WHL as an overager in 2021-22.
• On Tuesday, the Red Deer Rebels announced Troy Gillard would be the team’s play-by-play voice for the club’s shorted 24 WHL regular season schedule. Gillard will work the Rebels 12 home games with colour analyst Mike Moller. The Rebels open the regular season on Feb. 19 hosting the Medicine Hat Tigers.
• On Tuesday, the Everett Silvertips announced overage left-winger Cole Fonstad and overage defenceman Gianni Fairbrother were named the team’s co-captains for the 2020-21 season. Fonstad helped the Prince Albert Raiders win the WHL title in 2019 before a trade early in the 2019-20 campaign brought him to Everett. In 60 regular season games split between the Raiders and Silvertips in 2019-20, Fonstad had 15 goals, 59 assists and a plus-39 rating. This season, he had five goals and five assists in six games with the Estevan Bruins in the junior A Saskatchewan Junior Hockey league before play was halted due to government restrictions to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019-20, Fairbrother appeared in 37 regular season games for the Silvertips posting five goals, 20 assists and a plus-six rating.
• On Thursday, the Regina Pats dealt 17-year-old defenceman Daylan Weigel to the Swift Current Broncos in exchange for a fifth-round selection in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft. In 2019-20, Weigel dressed in one regular season game for the Pats. He played 42 regular season games in the Saskatchewan Male Under-18 AAA Hockey League collecting six goals and 20 assists with the Saskatoon Blazers. He suited up for the Blazers in four games this season collecting one assist before play was halted due to government restrictions to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
• On Thursday, the Brandon Wheat Kings announced 19-year-old defenceman and Prince Albert, Sask., product Braden Schneider was named the team’s captain. In 2019-20, Schneider appeared in 60 regular season games for the Wheat Kings posting seven goals, 35 assists and a plus-nine rating. This season, he was a member of Canada’s silver medal winning team at world juniors appearing in six games collecting one goal, two assists and a plus-eight rating. He dressed for two games with the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack posting one assist and a plus-two rating.

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 will still be a team to be reckoned with in WHL

The Raiders captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup last season.

    Don’t expect the Prince Albert Raiders to have a great fall.

    Going into the 2019-20 WHL regular season, the Raiders will be hard pressed to duplicate their exploits from last season, where they finished first overall in the regular season standings and captured the WHL title for second time in team history.

    Of course, the Raiders claimed the WHL title winning what will go down as one of the circuit’s all-time greatest games and arguably the most memorable moment at the Art Hauser Centre.

    That great game was of course Game 7 of the WHL final, were Dante Hannoun scored the overtime winner to give the Raiders a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants on May 13. It was a moment that could power the Raiders and their fans on adrenaline for some time.
    Both ensured the WHL title trophy the Ed Chynoweth Cup saw lots of different sites this past summer.

Cole Fonstad will be a key returnee for the Raiders.

    Last season, the Raiders rekindled their storied past and lived up to the image of being the team of Mike Modano and Dave Manson – the franchise where honour still matters.
    In the previous 13 campaigns before winning the league crown and appearing in the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup, the Raiders missed the playoffs seven times and were eliminated in the first round six times.

    Still, the Raiders roster will not be the same as a season ago and is filled with a number of significant departures.

    Gone are overage forwards Hannoun, Noah Gregor and Sean Montgomery, who put up big seasons. Netminder Ian Scott, import defenceman Sergei Sapego and forwards Brett Leason and Parker Kelly could potentially return as overagers, but all four are highly expected to play in the professional ranks.

    Scott and Sapego are part the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs system, Leason is with the Washington Capitals system and Kelly with the Ottawa Senators system. Last season, Scott captured individual honours as WHL goaltender of the year and CHL goaltender of the year.

    While the departures are significant, it is wise to expect the Raiders will still hit the ice with a good team that will cause the other 21 clubs in the WHL headaches.
    Unlike the Swift Current Broncos, who won the WHL title in the 2017-18 season, and the Regina Pats, who hosted the Memorial Cup in that campaign, the Raiders won’t be skating through a lame duck season.

Ozzy Wiesblatt looks to build on a solid 16-year-old rookie season.

    The Broncos and Pats sold the farm to ice older and more experienced teams in the 2017-18 campaign giving up young prospects and high WHL Bantam Draft picks in trades. It would have taken a miracle for either club to have clinched a playoff berth last season undergoing major rebuilds.

    The Broncos finished last in the entire league at 11-51-4-2. The Pats were third last in the WHL at 19-45-1-3.

    The Raiders didn’t sell the farm for their special campaign in 2018-19, where they posted an impressive 54-10-2-2 record to capture the Scott Munro Memorial Trophy for topping the WHL standings.

    General manager Curtis Hunt and head coach Marc Habscheid are back with new multi-year contracts. Hunt was named the WHL’s executive of the year and Habscheid was the WHL’s coach of the year last season.

    As long as Hunt and Habscheid are at the helm, the Raiders franchise will be in good hands. Even reloading seasons will feel like the team accomplished a lot and will likely include a playoff berth.

    In the 2016-17 season when the Raiders posted a 21-44-5-2 mark finished third last in the WHL, they built with a young core group of eight players that all played big parts in last season’s league championship including Montgomery, Scott, Kelly, Brayden Pachal, Zack Hayes, Cole Fonstad, Spencer Moe and Max Martin.

The Raiders faithful love to make rivals feel welcome.

    Fonstad, Moe and Martin are back with the team. Pachal is in camp with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and Hayes is at the NHL training camp of the Anaheim Ducks as unsigned free agents.
    Both could be back as overagers and would be in the mix for three 20-year-old spots along with Martin and Jeremy Masella. WHL clubs have until Oct. 10 to cut down to three overage players.

    The players from that core group will provide a foundation, and they will be starting to hand over the torch to the upcoming generation that will strive to keep building on the Raiders storied history.

    The youngsters include a trio of players that jumped to the forefront last year season as 16-year-old rookies in forwards Ozzy Wiesblatt and Jakob Brook along with rearguard Kaiden Guhle.

    All three are ready for bigger roles as 17-year-olds and will be ready to pick up some of the offence that was lost from the club’s graduating stars.

    Defenceman Nolan Allen and forward Tyson Laventure are 16-year-old rookies who appear to be destined for great things in their WHL careers.

    The Raiders are expecting import winger Aliaksei Protas to be assigned back to the club from the NHL’s Washington Capitals for a sophomore campaign as an 18-year-old. Russian centre Ivan Kechkin takes the Raiders other import spot, and he comes to the team with a lot of potential.

    Prince Albert’s staff is high that 18-year-old netminder Boston Bilous will recover the star form he had coming up through the minor hockey ranks in his third season in the WHL.

Pals - Parker Kelly (#27) and Brayden Pachal (#8).

    Of course, the Raiders will have the Art Hauser Centre faithful behind them every step of the way as the team has sold over 2,000 season tickets in the 2,580 seat iconic facility. The faithful will do their part to back the Raiders and remind opponents when they are having an off day.

    The Raiders open their season when they host their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. You can expect that outing to have an atmosphere that is similar to a playoff clash.

    At the moment, it would be hard to expect the Raiders to duplicate what they did a season ago, and they will likely take a step backwards. If you underestimate them and do not believe they will still be a solid team, those opposing clubs will likely be in for a big surprise.

Ridley chases 4,000 games as Tigers play-by-play voice

Bob Ridley is approaching 4,000 games as the Tigers play-by-play voice

    Medicine Hat Tigers play-by-play voice Bob Ridley will always be “The Dean” of WHL broadcasters, and he is chasing a milestone that no hockey broadcaster may ever hit again.

    As the storied Tigers embark on their 50^th anniversary season, Ridley will be chasing down his 4,000^th call as the team’s play-by-play voice. The 75-year-old has been the only play-by-play voice in the club’s history.

    Ridley also drove the Tigers team bus for most of that stretch too.

    Going into the 2019-20 campaign, Ridley has called 3,935 of the club’s 3,936 games. That tally includes action in the regular season, standings tiebreaker games, WHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament.

    Ridley has called 3,503 of the Tigers 3,504 regular season games, the one standings tiebreaker game the club has appeared in, all of their 411 games in the WHL playoffs and all 20 of their contests in the Memorial Cup.

The Tigers are embarking on their 50th anniversary season.

    The Tigers open their 50^th anniversary season on Friday, when they travel to Lethbridge to take on the Hurricanes. That will be 3,936^th game Ridley calls as the Tigers play-by-play voice.

    If Ridley doesn’t miss any contests, he will call his 4,000th game on Saturday, March 14, 2020, when the Tigers host the Swift Current Broncos at the Canalta Centre at 7:30 p.m. local time.

    Over the summer, I have double checked Ridley’s numbers a couple of times, and the totals I have come up with are correct. I had been following Ridley’s game called total for a number of years, and I admit I always have a fear I will get the timing of the 4,000^th game wrong.

    I am pretty certain a number of Tigers alums are going to want to make his 4,000th game, and I did not want to mess up the alums travel plans.

    With all that said, no one has called more games as the play-by-play voice of one hockey team than Ridley has. If you called 80 games a season between the regular season and playoffs and did that for 49 campaigns, you would still fall short of Ridley’s current games called total.

    In my books, he should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a 4,000^th call I think would make it hard to keep him out.

    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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Art Hauser madhouse to be cranked to give Raiders edge against Oil Kings

WHL Eastern Conference final heads to critical Game 5

The Art Hauser Centre crowd will be ready to back the Raiders.

    The Prince Albert Raiders faithful is going to be ready to pounce.
    On Wednesday, the Raiders pulled out a gritty 2-1 road win at Rogers Place in Game 4 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series against the Edmonton Oil Kings.

    With the win, the Raiders evened the best-of-seven series up at 2-2.

    After dropping a 5-1 decision to the Oil Kings at Rogers Place in Game 3 on Tuesday, the Raiders rebounded playing their best game of the series to earn victory in Game 4.

    The series now shifts back to “Hockey Town North” for Game 5 on Friday for a 7 p.m. local start time.

The Raiders will get a warm reception at home on Friday.

    After having some spotty performances over the first three games of the series against the Oil Kings, the Raiders looked more like themselves on Wednesday night.

    They skated like a team that finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season posting a 54-10-2-2 record and was rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    As a result, Friday’s crowd at the Art Hauser Centre has the potential to be the most frenzied it has been this post-season, and the Raiders wouldn’t have it any other way.

    “They (the Raiders fans) are awesome,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “We got home ice advantage back.

    “We respect this team (the Oil Kings), but it is up to us to hold home ice, and we like our chances.”

    Raiders fans have a tendency to get energized to back their team in moments when they feel that something underhanded happens to the club.

The Raiders faithful will try and give their team an edge.

    One of those moments happened around the midway point of the second period on Wednesday, when Oil Kings star captain Trey Fix-Wolansky pulled a UFC leverage style takedown on Raiders rookie defenceman Kaiden Guhle in front of the Prince Albert net. That happened in front of a referee and no penalty was called.

    Seconds later, Raiders rookie right-winger Jakob Brook was called for a cross-checking penalty behind the Prince Albert net. The Raiders killed that penalty.

    Fix-Wolansky’s take down will likely make him an even bigger villain in Prince Albert. Still, he believes his squad has handled the Art Hauser Centre crowd just fine.

Brett Leason had a big goal for the Raiders on Friday.

    “It is a little bit different,” said Fix-Wolansky. “I thought we were pretty good with it, pretty even keel.

    “We didn’t let the highs get to high or the lows get too low.”

    Fix-Wolansky, who has an NHL entry-level contract signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets, said his team does get motivated to silence the Art Hauser Centre crowd.

    “You want to try to silence them as soon as you can,” said Fix-Wolansky. “Their emotion and how loud they are, that kind of feeds into us too on the bench.

    “Guys are talking. You want to silence the crowd.”

    Raiders star right-winger Brett Leason, who scored his first goal of the series against the Oil Kings in Wednesday’s win, believes the crowd at the Art Hauser Centre will hit yet another peak with the noise.

Oil Kings captain Trey Fix-Wolansky will likely be the target of jeers in P.A.

    “It will just be another level up,” said Leason. “The crowd is always great back home.

    “Coming back for Game 5, a pivotal Game 5, it is pretty much must win, and we have to treat it like that.”

    Leason and star overage centre Noah Gregor came up with clutch goals on Wednesday night.

Habscheid believes another one of the Raiders star players is due for a breakout game.

    Left-winger Cole Fonstad has been held without a point in his last eight post-season games. The Estevan, Sask., product last hit the scoresheet offensively back on March 27, when he had a goal and two assists in the Raiders 4-1 Game 4 victory that wrapped up a first round series win against the Red Deer Rebels in Red Deer.

Raiders fans will be on every Oil Kings misstep.

    Fonstad missed the Raiders final two games of their six-game victory over the Saskatoon Blades in a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series with an undisclosed injury.

    In 67 regular season games, Fonstad recorded 29 goals, 44 assists and a plus-32 rating in the plus-minus department. He has one goal, three assists and is a plus-four in 12 post-season games.

Habscheid liked how Fonstad played on Wednesday.

    “I thought that was Cole Fonstad’s best game of the playoffs,” said Habscheid. “He was good.

Cole Fonstad might be due for a breakout game.

    “He had some chances, and he is a good player. We need him. He plays like that he will score his goals.”

    On the Oil Kings side of things, head coach Brad Lauer said his squad’s team play slipped in Wednesday’s Game 4 loss from where it was when his squad won Games 2 and 3 against the Raiders.

    The Oil Kings had a strong regular season topping the Central Division and finishing fifth overall in the WHL standings with a 42-18-4-4 mark, and they were an honourable mention in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    “Did we think we were going to win two, three or four games in a row against these guys, probably not,” said Lauer. “Again, we missed the opportunity to take advantage of this series, so we have to go back there and get another win.

    “I think we just need to be better as a group. I didn’t think our team game worked very good.”

    Still, the Raiders believe they are in a good place. Gregor said the players on his team always believed in themselves, but the gritty road win in Game 4 helped re-energize the team.

Noah Gregor loves the passion Raiders fans bring to the game.

    “I think the confidence is always there,” said Gregor. “I think after a win it might go up a little bit.

    “We like playing at home. That crowd is great for us, and I think we know how to play well there. We’re looking forward to Game 5.”

    As for the WHL’s Western Conference Championship series, it has the potential to wrap up on Friday night, when the Vancouver Giants host the Spokane Chiefs in Game 5 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.

    In Game 4 of Wednesday night at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, fourth-year veteran centre Dawson Holt scored at the 7:07 mark of overtime to deliver the Giants to a 4-3 victory over the Chiefs and give Vancouver a 3-1 edge in that best-of-seven series.

Raiders fans hope to be celebrating another win on Friday night.

    The Giants finished first in the B.C. Division and second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 48-15-3-2 record. The Chiefs finished eighth overall in the league with a 40-21-2-5 mark.

    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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OT winner by Oil Kings' Neighbours stuns Raiders

Quinn Benjafield waves to the Oil Kings fans after an OT win in P.A.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Jake Neighbours got rewarded for following the old adage there is never a bad shot on goal in overtime.

    With his Edmonton Oil Kings locked in a 3-3 tie with the host Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday, Neighbours entered the Prince Albert zone down the left wing on a routine rush.

    The rookie left-winger, who turned 17-years-old in late March, got in deep on a bad angle, but elected to get a shot on goal.    
    Neighbours put a floater over the right shoulder of Raiders netminder Ian Scott at the 14:49 mark of the extra session to give the Oil Kings 4-3 victory in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern Conference championship series between the two sides.

Oil Kings supporters celebrate their team's OT win on Saturday.

    With the win that came before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser, the Oil Kings even the best-of-seven series at 1-1. The result stunned about 95 per cent of the crowd that came to support the host side.

    “Overtime, there is no bad shot,” said Neighbours. “The puck was kind of rolling.

    “I had no other play, so I just kind of ripped it on net. It was in a good spot.

    “It is pretty amazing. It feels a bit better in an away barn I have to say.”

    Game 3 of the series is set for Tuesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton at 7 p.m. local time.

Dylan Myskiw makes one of his 26 saves in goal for the Oil Kings.

    Raiders rookie right-winger Jakob Brook had a pair of assists in the setback, and he noted it was hard to feel good about his individual performance after the setback.

    “In the end, we want to win,” said Brook. “We didn’t do that, and I feel the points are nothing, when you don’t get the win.”

    Brook said he was already getting refocused for Game 3.

    “They played hard against us,” said Brook. “We just have to rebound off that.

    “There are little things we just need to clean up, and I feel like we can do that coming into Game 3.”

Jakob Brook had a pair of assists for the Raiders.

    The Raiders stormed out of the games getting the first eight shots on goal and taking a 2-0 lead on tallies from overage centre Noah Gregor and physical left-winger Justin Nachbaur by the 6:55 mark of the opening frame.

    A power-play goal from Oil Kings sophomore defenceman Matthew Robertson through a screen with 6:02 remaining in the first period cut the Raiders lead to 2-1.

    With 28.4 seconds remaining in the first, Oil Kings overage centre Andrew Fyten scored on another power play to tie things up at 2-2.

    “We had the game by the throat there at the start,” said Raiders captain Brayden Pachal. “It is early, so we have to keep pressing and find a way to not take penalties.”

    The Raiders jumped back in front 3-2 at the 2:47 mark of the third on a goal from import left-winger Aliaksei Protas.

    Just under three minutes later, the Oil Kings pulled even at 3-3, when star captain Trey Fix-Wolansky netted his fourth goal of the post-season.

Noah Gregor had the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

    That set the stage for Neighbours to pot the winner.

    Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer was pleased with the game his side played.

    “Our start wasn’t as bad as it showed,” said Lauer. “I like how we were playing at the beginning of the game.

    “We should have shot the puck a couple of more times. We made two mistakes, and they put it in the back of our net. That kind of put us on our heels a little bit.

    “After the first (media) timeout in the first period, we went on a 13-0 run with shots, and I thought our power play got us going. It carried us through. I just like how we stuck to our details and played the team game.”

The Raiders faithful enjoyed the fact their team got out to a 2-0 lead.

    Ian Scott made 30 stops to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

    Dylan Myskiw turned away 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings.

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid like the scoring opportunities his side created in overtime, but admitted to being worried when those chances didn’t find the back of the net.

    “I thought we carried the play in overtime,” said Habscheid. “We had multiple chances.

    “I’ve been around long enough that usually when that happens it is going the other way, and it did. It is unfortunate, but that is hockey. They threw it at the net, and it went in.

Ian Scott makes one of his 30 saves for the Raiders on Saturday.

    “That is the way it goes in the game. We just have to feel sorry for yourself for a few hours here and tomorrow is another day.”

    Habscheid thought the Oil Kings were allowed to take some liberties on Scott during the game. The veteran bench boss believed Edmonton’s second goal shouldn’t have counted, because he felt Scott was contacted on that play.

    The officials only gave the Oil Kings one minor penalty on Saturday, which happened to be a goaltender interference infraction on Fix-Wolansky in the second period.

    The Raiders were called for four separate minor penalties in the game.

    “The one thing that concerned me a little bit is it was kind of open season on our goaltender,” said Habscheid. “We depend on the officials to defend our goaltender, because we have no recourse anymore these days.

The Oil Kings celebrate their overtime victory.

    “He (Scott) was getting bumped and stuck and ran all game. We expect them (the officials) to take care of that, and they didn’t. That is a little bit disappointing.”

    Prince Albert finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season posting a 54-10-2-2 record and was rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. As a result, the Raiders are pegged as favourites in the Eastern Conference final against Edmonton.

    The Oil Kings topped the Central Division and finished fifth overall in the WHL standings with a 42-18-4-4 mark, and they were an honourable mention in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. They are proving to be a formidable foe.

Jake Neighbours comes out to accept first star honours on Saturday.

    With Games 3 and 4 of the series to be playing in Edmonton, Neighbours said his side had guarded optimism. The Raiders won both regular season encounters between the two sides in Edmonton.
    “It is a good feeling,” said Neighbours, who was the first star of Saturday’s game. “They’ve been good in our barn.

    “We’re ready for it. We’ve been good in our barn this playoffs. We’re ready to come home to our fans and keep the series rolling.”

    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, Blades play straight up – coaches’ war of words entertaining side plot

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, centre, sizes up a situation on the ice.

    Marc Habscheid and Mitch Love might have the verbal shots going, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting play on the ice.

    After four games of their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series, the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades have played straight up hockey, and it has been really good. The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2 with each side winning their respective home games.

    Game 5 is slated for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    Before their series began, Habscheid, who is the Raiders veteran head coach, said in a number of media outlets that the Blades like to dive and embellish to draw penalties. He tried to paint the picture that the Blades players were the second coming of former NHL forward Claude Lemieux when it came to diving.

    After the Raiders took a 2-0 lead in the series, Love, who is the Blades first year head coach, accused the Raiders of dishing out tonnes of head shots before a large media scrum in Saskatoon.

    You had visions of the Raiders players being like former Hockey Hall of Fame NHL defenceman Scott Stevens, who went out and crushed all opposing players when they came across the ice with their heads down.

    The types of hits Stevens delivered back in his playing days would be reviewed for suspensions in the current day.

Blades head coach Mitch Love, centre, listens to a talk with a referee.

    Love said he expressed his concerns to WHL league officials, and those concerns fell on deaf ears.

    Habscheid fired back before Game 4 on Wednesday telling Trevor Redden of paNOW.com he thought Love questioned the integrity of the league about player safety and did not think that comment was appropriate.

    Habscheid told Redden it was all gamesmanship.

    Love said the same thing on the gamesmanship during his media scrum bringing up his concerns in Saskatoon.

    While the coaches on both sides went at it verbally, it was hard to see if the posturing had any effects on the first four games. It did not appear either side was able to influence how the officials called the four encounters.

    The contests themselves were pretty intense rivalry games.

    What the back-and-forth speak did do was engage the fans on both sides. After each coach said his piece, you could get lost seemingly for four hours in the comments made by fans on social media lines.

    The coaches’ war of words isn’t a central plotline to the series, but it definitely spices things up.

Time to talk taunting

Blades C Tristen Robins (#11) has words with Raiders D Jeremy Masella.

    The latest issue that came up in the series between the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades that will be sure to engage the fans is taunting.

    After the Blades downed the Raiders 4-1 in Game 4 of their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series on Wednesday, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid dropped this little nugget in his post-game media scrum.

    “It was interesting at the end of the game,” said Habscheid. “Our guys took notice they were taunting us, and making motions to us.

    “We will be ready on Friday. That just fueled us. We didn’t expect that, but they were taunting us so that is OK.”

    Habscheid was likely referring to a visible verbal exchange between Blades 17-year-old rookie centre Tristen Robins and veteran Raiders defenceman Jeremy Masella that happened after the third period clock expired.

    On the other end of things, Blades overage right-winger Max Gerlach thought his team was staying out of the verbal confrontations outside of feisty forward Riley McKay, who likes to get the opponents off their game.

    “I don’t think that is kind of our style of play,” said Gerlach after Game 4. “Obviously, “Porks” (McKay) likes to get engaged with the other team.

    “Tonight, I thought we did a really good job of staying out of kind of the crap after the whistle. When we don’t engage with them after the whistle, I think they kind of really don’t know what to do about that. If we can stay away from them kind of after the whistle and make sure we are not taking any penalties, we will be just fine.”

Jeremy Masella (#3) and Riley McKay (#39) have battled.

    Again, all of this will help fuel the fans more than anything.

    Raiders fans will likely take what Habscheid said to heart. You can bet Raider supporters will likely make even more creative signs and shout more creative heckles at the Blades, when the two teams collide for Game 5 Friday at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    You can bet there will be another sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators on hand at the 2,580 seat rink.

    As for taunts on the ice, the Raiders and Blades have now met 12 times this season including action in the regular season and playoffs.

    The Raiders topped the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. The Blades finish fourth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 45-15-8 record and earned honourable mention status in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    The two teams have a heated rivalry and they are trying to end each other’s campaigns in a heated series. You can be sure there is a lot of talking on the ice.

    With that noted, it seems like McKay and Masella are having some good heated one-on-one battles on the ice to add another side plot to the series.

    I doubt they will go to dinner together at a Cactus Club Cafe near you to meet the very good looking female staffers there.

Brook gets conference scholastic player award

Jakob Brook is a conference scholastic player of the year.

    Prince Albert Raiders rookie right-winger Jacob Brook was named the scholastic player of the year for the WHL’s Eastern Conference on Thursday.

    Brook, who turned 17-years-old in March, has maintained a 92 per cent overall average in his Grade 11 high school studies. On March 18, Brook was named the Raiders scholastic player of the year for the 2018-19 campaign.

    On the ice, Brook has appeared in 61 regular season games with the Raiders posting six goals, six assists and a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department.

    The Raiders selected the Roblin, Man., product in the second round and 40^th overall in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.

    Netminder Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips was named the scholastic player of the year for the WHL’s Western Conference.

    The WHL will present its awards for the entire league on May 1 in Red Deer, Alta.

Bloski, Byblow call great Game 3

The officials had a good night on Tuesday in Saskatoon.

    While everyone watches athletes to see who hits top form in nationally televised games, the officials crew in Game 3 of the WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades delivered a great performance in the bright lights.

    The crew of referees Adam Bloski and Adam Byblow and linesmen Sean Dufour and Tarrington Wyonzek had a great outing on Tuesday when the Blades blanked the Raiders 1-0 at the SaskTel Centre in a contest that was shown live on Sportsnet.

    In overseeing any hockey game, officials aim to make their games have great flow. Game 3 of the series between the Raiders and Blades arguably had the best flow out of any games played so far in the WHL post-season.

    The contest moved so seamlessly the officials dropped the puck for just 45 total faceoffs. The Sportsnet crew was actually worried if they would get all their commercial stoppages in.

    To show how low that total is for faceoffs in one game, Game 1 of the series between the Raiders and Blades had 66 puck drops. Game 2 had 59 faceoffs, while Game 4 had 62 faceoffs.

    The crew of Bloski, Byblow, Dufour and Wyonzek called only the penalties that needed to be called. As a result, there were only five total minor penalties called and three total power plays awarded in the game.

    I know there are fans on either side that scream for a penalty every time a player on the team they cheer for gets touched by an opposing player. That will destroy the flow of a hockey game.

    Of course, I post this mostly because fans like to beat up on the officials with criticisms but never give credit when they do well.

    With their performance on Tuesday, Bloski, Byblow, Dufour and Wyonzek would have received ovations from former veteran WHL referees Chris Schlenker, Chris Savage and Devin Klein.

Leasons fall to 7-2 in post-season against Saskatoon

Brett Leason has been held pointless in his last three games.

    The undefeated record the Leason family had against Saskatoon based teams in the post-season has come to an end.

    The Leasons were 7-0 before the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades tangled in Games 3 and 4 of their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series in Saskatoon. After the Blades won those contests against star right-winger Brett Leason and his Raiders, the Leason family fell to 7-2 against Saskatoon based teams in the post-season.

    Brett Leason is 2-2 against Saskatoon based teams in the playoffs. His father, Darryl, posted a perfect 5-0 record as the starting quarterback of the Regina Rams football team in the 1990s and early 2000s.

    Brett Leason, who led the Raiders in regular season scoring with 36 goals and 53 assists for 89 points, might be due for another explosive game.

    In Game 1 of the Raiders series with the Blades in Prince Albert last Friday, Leason had a goal and three assists as the Raiders thrashed the Blades 6-1. Since that contest, Leason has been held pointless in the last three games of the series.

    In Games 3 and 4, Leason has had golden chances to score and set up golden chances to score. Those opportunities were thwarted by Blades star netminder Nolan Maier.

    In Game 5 this coming Friday in Prince Albert, it feels like another big night could come from Leason, if he is able to crack onto the scoresheet.

Oil Kings wait to find out foe

Vince Loschiavo and the Oil Kings wait to see who they play next.

    The Edmonton Oil Kings will have some spare moments to enjoy the sights and sounds of their city.

    On Wednesday, the Oil Kings blanked the host Calgary Hitmen 6-0 at the Scotiabank Saddledown in Game 4 of their WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. With the win, Edmonton sweeps the best-of-seven set 4-0.

    In the clinching game, Oil Kings star captain Trey Fix-Wolansky was held without a point.

    Edmonton received goals from six different players with Scott Atkinson, Quinn Benjafield, Jake Neighbours, Vince Loschiavo, Wyatt McLeod and Andrew Fyten all netting singles.

    Dylan Myskiw turned away 18 shots in goal to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Oil Kings.

    Jack McNaughton turned away 24-of-29 shots to take the setback starting in goal for the Hitmen. Carl Stankowski stopped seven-of-eight shots playing the third period in relief.

    Loschiavo, who is an overage centre, leads the Oil Kings in post-season scoring with five goals and five assists.

    The Oil Kings finished fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 42-18-4-4 record and were listed as an honourable mention in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. The Hitmen were 10^th overall in the regular season with a 36-26-5-1 mark.

    With the series win, the Oil Kings are in a holding pattern. They will face the winner of the series between the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades in the WHL’s Eastern Conference championship series.

    The Raiders and Blades are tied 2-2 in their best-of-seven series with Game 5 set for Friday in Prince Albert.

It is always good to be frenemies

A frenemies moment between a Blades and Raiders fan.

    For fans who are pouring their hearts into the WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades, remember it is always good to be frenemies with supporters of the opposing team.

    Those in Prince Albert and Saskatoon are getting to experience what it is like to be part of a great rivalry playoff series. At the end of the day, the teams these fans cheer for are just playing a game.

The players, coaches and staffers of both clubs are all great people, and it will be sad to see one club’s season come to an end.

    Still, it is always fun to enjoy the company of the fans of opposing teams. Frenemies interactions frequently develop between Saskatchewan Roughriders fans and Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans in the CFL during the annual Labour Day Classic game played between those two sides in Regina.

    I admit I enjoy seeing frenemies pictures of Raiders and Blades fans on social media. I would love to see a few more of those types of pictures on social media as the series closes in on a conclusion.

    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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