Raiders’ Protas picks up WHL Eastern Conference sportsmanship award

Aliaksei Protas won a WHL Eastern Conference award.

    Aliaksei Protas has continued to rise during his two seasons in the WHL, and it has resulted in a conference award nod.

    On Wednesday, the Belarusian import centre with the Prince Albert Raiders was named the most sportsmanlike player from the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Western Conference’s most sportsmanlike player honour went to Seth Jarvis, who is a centre for the Portland Winterhawks.

    Protas had a stellar sophomore season with the Raiders leading in the team in scoring with 31 goals and 59 assists for 80 points in 58 regular season games. Out of his 31 goals, seven were game winners.
    He posted a plus-37 rating in the plus-minus department and just eight minutes in penalties.

    A signed NHL Entry Draft selection of the Washington Capitals, Protas is eligible to return to the WHL for a 19-year-old campaign next season.

    Protas joined to the Raiders after being selected in the first round and 26^th overall in the 2018 CHL Import Draft.
    Standing 6-foot-6 and weigh 210 pounds, Protas came to the Raiders with impressive physical tools and soft hands in the offensive zone.

Aliaksei Protas (#21) picked up 59 assists this season.

    As he got used to a new culture in Canada, Protas had a sound rookie regular season in 2018-19 posting 11 goals, 29 assists and a plus-24 rating in 61 regular season games. The Raiders finished first overall in the regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2.

    The product of Vitebsk, Belarus, became a fan favourite as rookie campaign went on, and he picked up the nickname “The Viper of Vitebsk.”

    The 2018-19 regular season was just a small precursor of what was in store for Protas in the post-season.

    In the 2019 WHL playoffs, Protas turned a lot of heads with a number of big performances playing left wing on a line centred by overager Sean Montgomery and Brett Leason staring on right wing.
    Protas appeared in all 23 of the games the Raiders played in the WHL playoffs piling up 12 goals, 10 assists and a plus-12 rating.

Aliaksei Protas topped the Raiders in scoring with 80 points.

    He played a sizable role in helping the Raiders win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions for the second time in team history and appearing in the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup.

    In the NHL Entry Draft in June of 2019, the Capitals selected Protas in the third round and 91^st overall. The Capitals has selected Leason in the second round and 56^th overall in that same draft.

    Leason was signed by the Capitals and played this past season with their AHL affiliate the Hersey Bears.

    After all those experiences as a rookie, Protas came back to the Raiders with added jump and confidence.

    Having helped the Raiders finish first in the East Division with a 36-18-6-4 record, Protas was named a WHL Eastern Conference first team all-star last week. His season allowed him to have his name inscribed on the Raiders’ Dave Balon Leading Scorer Award, which was officially presented online on Tuesday.

    Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Raiders weren’t able to finish their regular season schedule and the CHL cancelled all its post-season action for all three of its member leagues including the WHL, OHL and QMJHL.

Aliaksei Protas (#21) celebrated lots of goals with his Raiders teammates.

    The Raiders have handed out three more of their team awards so far this week. Sophomore centre Ozzy Wiesblatt took home the Three Stars Award on Tuesday.

    On Wednesday, the Raiders named rookie defencemen Nolan Allan and Landon Kosior as the co-winners of the Belle Merrell and Calla Grasley Award as the team’s scholastic player of the year.

    Also on Wednesday, overage defenceman Jeremy Masella captured the Travis Laycock Award as the team’s humanitarian of the year.

    For Protas, he cemented himself as one of the WHL’s top players in 2019-20. He has the potential to have even better days in the sport of hockey in the years to come.

Hurricanes get two conference front office awards, other notes

Hurricanes GM Peter Anholt, left, was named a top executive.

    As the WHL has continued to roll out its major conference awards online, the Lethbridge Hurricanes took a couple of big honours as far as front office work goes.

    On Tuesday, Hurricanes general manager and alternate governor Peter Anholt was named the executive of the year for the Eastern Conference. Anholt has been with the Hurricanes since the start of the 2014-15 campaign and played a major role in turning the Hurricanes around from being one of the WHL worst franchises into a club that now enjoys elite status.

    This season, the Hurricanes posted a 37-19-2-5 record to finish third in the WHL’s Central Division and eighth overall in the entire league standings. The Hurricanes had locked up a playoff berth for a fifth straight year before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the final part of the regular season and the entire post-season for all CHL leagues.

    Anholt selected Slovakian left-winger Oliver Okuliar in the first round and 49^th overall in the 2019 CHL Import Draft. The 19-year-old finished second in Hurricanes team scoring with 33 goals and 35 assists for 68 points in 55 regular season games to go with a plus-25 rating in the plus-minus department.

    Anholt acquired overage centre Brett Davis in a trade with the Red Deer Rebels to help boost the Hurricanes scoring. In 57 regular season games played between the Rebels and Hurricanes, Davis had 25 goals and 24 assists.

    Anholt brought in depth right-winger Dino Kambeitz to further solidify the Hurricanes offence. The veteran GM added local Lethbridge products in left-winger Zack Stringer and netminder Erick Roest via separate WHL Bantam Drafts.

Zack Stringer was a big local WHL Bantam Draft pick by the Hurricanes.

    Stringer had a solid campaign as a 16-year-old rookie netting 11 goals, 23 assists and a plus-13 rating in 48 regular season games. Roest will attempt to crack the team’s roster next season as a 16-year-old rookie in goal.

    On Friday, the Hurricanes claimed the Eastern Conference business award. The Hurricanes have tried out new things like having intermission segments with skaters dressed in dinosaur costumes and providing more features on their website.

    They strive to give back to the community contributing over $163,000 to communities and organizations in Lethbridge and surrounding area.

    Matt Bardsley, who is the vice-president and general manager of the Kamloops Blazers, was named the Western Conference executive of the year on Friday. Bardsley helped build the Blazers roster and revamp the coaching staff by bringing in Shaun Clouston as head coach to allow the Kamloops club to top the B.C. Division with a 41-18-3-1 mark.

    The Seattle Thunderbirds claimed the Western Conference business award on Friday.

    On Monday, Edmonton Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer was named the coach of the year for the Eastern Conference. Lauer guided the Oil Kings to the best record in the Eastern Conference and third best overall mark in the league at 42-12-6-4.

    Everett Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams was named the Western Conference’s coach of the year on Monday. Williams guided the Silvertips to the second best record in the WHL at 46-13-3-1.

• On Monday, the XFL filed for bankruptcy citing in a release the harsh economic impacts and uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The XFL suspended operations on March 12 and laid off most of its employees on Friday. The 2020 campaign was the first of a rebooted XFL and drew a high amount of positive reviews. A rowdy version of the league ran for one season in 2001. The XFL was owned by WWE chairman/president Vince McMahon and Alpha Entertainment. On Wednesday, the WWE laid off a significant number of its performers.
• The 2020 Saskatoon Fringe Festival became a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday, when it was cancelled. The Fringe Festival was slated to run July 30 to August 8.
• Canada Basketball announced on Tuesday its under-15 and under-17 men’s and women’s national championships set for Aug. 2-9 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kingston, Ont., was slated to host the men’s under-15 and under-17 tournaments. Charlottetown, P.E.I., was set to host the women’s under-15 and under-17 tournaments.
• The Canadian Elite Basketball League announced on Wednesday its original regular season start in May had been pushed back to June due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. A league release cited government regulations currently limiting the size of public gatherings and causing the closures of team practice facilities as the reasons for the schedule change. The regular season was originally slated to start on May 7 with the Niagara River Lions hosting the Ottawa Blackjacks. The Saskatchewan Rattlers won last year’s inaugural CEBL championship.
• The Thursday edition of the weekly Quad Town Forum is online, and the Vibank, Sask., publication is well worth the read. Brad Brown, who is the publisher and owner of the Forum, has a great tribute piece on late Edmonton Oilers system forward Colby Cave. As a staffer for the Prairie Post in Swift Current, Brown covered Cave during part of the two-way player’s time with the WHL’s Broncos from 2012 to 2014. Brown typed out a good piece on Prince Albert Raiders 17-year-old rookie defenceman Landon Kosior. I contributed a piece on Saskatchewan Roughriders star left guard Brendon LaBatte. The online version of the Quad Town Forum can be found by clicking right here.
• The feel good tweet of the week so far comes from University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team head coach Lisa Thomaidis. She shared a short video put together by team video coach Connor Jay of the squad’s U Sports national title win on March 8. The Huskies downed the Brock University Badgers 82-64 in the national final held in Ottawa, Ont.

It's been 5 weeks since our @USPORTSca National Championship. So grateful to @CJ7Ten for capturing our @HuskieWBB "One Shining Moment" in such a beautiful way. @HuskieAthletics ` pic.twitter.com/GmPVRVrCz1

— Lisa Thomaidis (@LisaThomaidis) April 14, 2020

    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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Clouston charges full steam ahead with Blazers

Blazers head coach Shaun Clouston checks out his notepad.

    Shaun Clouston has always looked towards the opportunity that lies ahead.

    After he was released as head coach and general manager of the Medicine Hat Tigers on May 30 so the Tigers could bring back Willie Desjardins into both roles one day later, Clouston wasn’t sitting on the outside looking in for long as far as the WHL was concerned.

    On June 17, the 51-year-old Viking, Alta., product was hired as the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers. Clouston found himself taking over a team that was one the rise and appeared to be nearing a position to take off.

    Last season, the Blazers finished locked in a tie for the final playoff berth in the WHL’s Western Conference with the Kelowna Rockets as both teams sported identical 28-32-6-2 records.

    The Blazers proceeded to down the Rockets 5-1 in a standings tiebreaker game in Kamloops. After getting passed the Rockets, the Blazers put up a fight before falling 4-2 in a best-of-seven first round playoff series to the Victoria Royals.

The Blazers celebrate a goal from Daylan Kuefler, centre.

    Serge Lajoie, who was the Blazers head coach, mutually parted ways with the club on April 11, which created a head coaching vacancy.

    Clouston stepped into that role and there has been no looking back.

    On Friday before 3,517 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the Blazers downed the host Saskatoon Blades 5-2 in a WHL regular season contest.

    That win allowed the Blazers to improve to 20-9-2-1 to continue to sit first in the B.C. Division, while the Blades fell to 14-15-1-2 posting three regulation setbacks and an overtime loss over their last four games.

    Thanks to the Blazers strong start, Clouston became the 17^th bench boss in the history of the WHL to pick up a milestone 400^th career regular season win. He picked up the milestone victory on Oct. 25, when the Blazers downed the Royals in Victoria 2-1.

Ryan Hughes had a goal for the Blazers on Friday.

    “It has been really good,” said Clouston. “It is always challenging to have change.

    “I’ve been in one spot for so long, it was 16 years, so it was a big move. It has been very enjoyable right from kind of the first meeting with (Blazers general manager) Matt Bardsley I felt real comfortable. I felt like it was going to be a good spot.

    “Then, I met Donny Moores our president and got the same sense. Ever since I accepted the job, it has been eyes forward and get excited about the opportunity instead of looking in the rear view mirror, and it has been great.”
    As the season has gone on, Clouston was joined on the Blazers staff by his younger brother, Cory, who became a Blazers assistant coach.

    With Friday’s win, Shaun Clouston improved his career regular season coaching record to 411-290-52. He was the head coach of the Tri-City Americans in 2002-03, but was released after 60 games, when the Americans posted a record of 16 wins, 39 losses and five ties.

Connor Zary had a goal and an assist for the Blazers on Friday.

    He joined the Tigers as an assistant coach under Desjardins before the start of the 2003-04 campaign and would spend the next 16 seasons in the Hat.

    Clouston was promoted to associate coach before the start of the 2005-06 campaign. Working with Desjardins, Clouston experienced WHL championship victories with the Tigers in 2004 and 2007.

    Before the start of the 2010-11 season, Clouston took over the role of head coach, when Desjardins departed to become the associate coach of the NHL’s Dallas Stars.

    In August of 2012, Clouston took on the duties as Tigers general manager to go along with his duties as head coach. He held both roles until his separation with the Medicine Hat side.

Max Martin gives the Blazers WHL title winning experience.

    Clouston proceeded to find a comfortable landing spot in Kamloops, and he is enjoying his time in the B.C. centre.

    “It is a great city,” said Clouston. “Obviously, I have visited there a number of times as a coach over the years.

    “I have some good memories of my playing days.”

    One of those memories came when Clouston played in his final season in the WHL back in the 1988-89 campaign as captain of the Portland Winterhawks. In those days, the WHL was a 14-team circuit as opposed to the 22-team circuit of the current day.

    Back in 1988-89, the Winterhawks were part of the six-team West Division, and they played the Blazers frequently.

Captain Zane Franklin gives the Blazers strong leadership.

    In the playoffs, the Winterhawks downed the Blazers in a best-of-nine West Division final 5-3 to advance to the WHL Championship series. In the best-of-seven WHL final, the Winterhawks were swept by the eventual Memorial Cup champion Swift Current Broncos.

    When the Winterhawks eliminated the Blazers in the West Division final, the series clinching win came in Kamloops.

    “I remember coming in the night before,” said Clouston. “I remember going to movies.

    “I remember spending a lot of time in Kamloops. I always thought it was a nice city. I got to spend some time there in August with my family.

    “We did lots of site seeing and hiking and exploring. It is a real nice part of the world.”

Rayce Ramsay made 28 saves in goal for the Blazers on Friday.

    Besides doing some site seeing, Clouston spent some time getting to getting to know the players he was inheriting. He accomplished a lot of that over the phone, but was able to meet some of the players in person too.

    On the ice, the style Clouston’s Blazers play a style that is pretty much a carbon copy of the Tigers teams he oversaw.

    The Blazers like to transition up the ice with speed and skill. Skilled forwards like star centre Connor Zary and left-winger Orrin Centazzo are utilized on the penalty kill with the hope they will be able to create turnovers and score a short-handed tallies to go along with killing off infractions.

Montana Onyebuchi gives the Blazers back end toughness.

    Kamloops has the best penalty kill in the league at 87.6 per cent and has scored the second most short-handed goals at seven.

    “I think we are a team that is growing,” said Clouston. “I think we have some potential.”

    Zary, who is in his 18-year-old campaign, is the Blazers most well-known star, while Clouston added that overage left-winger Ryan Hughes has been a big early season trade pick up from the Blades.

    Clouston said overage captain Zane Franklin has been stellar for the Kamloops side and the Blazers have greatly benefited by picking up overage defenceman Max Martin in an early season trade with the Prince Albert Raiders.

    Martin was a key contributor to helping the Raiders finish first overall in the WHL regular season standings and capture the WHL championship last season.

    “I think we have real good leadership,” said Clouston. “I think Zane Franklin is a guy that is real confident and keeps the guys on task.

    “Max Martin is a guy that he has been through it. He knows how to win. If you watch him play, he is just steady.

Blazers HC Shaun Clouston gives direction to his players.

    “He has patience, he has poise (and) he competes. If there something to be said, he says it. He has been really, really big for us.”

    As for Friday’s game itself, the Blazers broke through at the 6:29 mark of the opening frame, when rookie 17-year-old left-winger Daylan Kuefler snuck a weird angle goal past Blades star netminder Nolan Maier. Kuefler’s goal came on his team’s second shot of the game.

    The Blades evened things up at 1-1 with 4:41 remaining in the second period on a controversial tally. Breaking into the offensive zone down the right wing, Blades winger Tristen Robins toe dragged around a Blazers defenceman and sent a pass to linemate Alex Morozoff.

Daylan Kuefler jets up ice for the Blazers.

    Morozoff directed the puck into the Saskatoon goal with his foot, but the goal stood up after a video review.

    The game didn’t stay on even terms for long. With 1:52 remaining in the third, Centazzo chipped the puck up to Zary.

    Zary, who is a Saskatoon product, got partially in alone on the Saskatoon goal and potted his 20^th tally of the season to give the visitors a 2-1 edge.

    At the 2:48 mark of the third, Hughes collected a high loose puck at the left side of the Saskatoon goal and potted his 14^th tally of the campaign to give Kamloops a 3-1 advantage.

Orrin Centazzo, right, celebrates his short-handed goal.

    Centazzo scored an even-strength tally and a short-handed marker to put the visitors up 5-1.

    Blades right-winger Zach Huber netted the game’s final goal with 1:36 remaining in the third to round out the 5-2 final in the Blazers’ favour.

    Huber also engaged rugged Blazers defenceman Montana Onyebuchi with 11.2 seconds remaining in the third period.

    Zary had an assist to go along with his goal and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department as he played his first game back with the Blazers one day after being cut from make the final roster for Canada’s world junior team.

    Clouston expected Zary to have a big night after being cut by Team Canada.

    “He has responded a bunch of times,” said Clouston. “He has a lot going for him this season, a lot to prove.

    “It is a big year for him, and he is handling it great. He is a competitor. He plays with passion.

    “He shows up and competes every night.”

Blades RW Zach Huber fights Blazers D Montana Onyebuchi.

    Maier stopped 22 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades. Saskatoon product Rayce Ramsay turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in net for the Blazers.

    Ramsay, who is the Blazers backup goalie, picked up his third win of the campaign in seven appearances. Clouston was pleased with how the WHL rookie netminder performed on Friday.

    “He (Ramsay) has a couple of shutouts at home, but he has struggled a little bit on the road,” said Clouston. “He needed this one.

    “We needed him to be good especially early. It was really nice to see him be rewarded. There have been some challenging stretches for him, and it was a big night for him in front of his hometown crowd.”

    The Blazers travel to Prince Albert on Saturday to face the defending WHL champion Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre). 

Quinn Schmiemann controls the puck on the back end for the Blazers.

    That contest will be the Raiders “Teddy Bear Toss” game, so those attending the game in P.A. will be able to throw stuffed toys on the ice when the Raiders score their first goal.

    The Blades return to action on Sunday, when they host the Raiders at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.      That contest will be the Blades “Teddy Bear Toss” game, so those attending the contest in Saskatoon will be able to throw stuffed toys on the ice when the Blades score their first goal.

    The items collected at the “Teddy Bear Toss” games on both centres will be distributed to local hospitals and charities in their respective centres.

    When the Blazers play in Prince Albert, it will be the final stop on a six-game road trip playing all of the WHL’s East Division teams. The Blazers players from Saskatchewan and Alberta have had a large contingent of family and friends following them on this swing.
    While there is still a long way to go in the current campaign, Clouston said the club’s current road swift has been a great team building experience.

The Blazers celebrate their win on Friday night.

    “I think the guys really enjoy it,” said Clouston. “We have lots of friends and family at all the games.

    “I think it gives us a little spark and jump. Sometimes you worry that guys will try to be too fancy or too creative, but no, we’ve done a real good job. The guys are excited to be out here even though it is minus 30 C or whatever it is.

    “They are enjoying it. They are having some fun. It has been a good trip.”

    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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