Nolan being Nolan - That should be enough to get Blades goalie drafted to NHL

Nolan Maier makes a stop in goal for the Blades.

    Nolan Maier burst on to the WHL scene with shock and awe.

    As a 16-year-old rookie in the 2017-18 campaign, the Yorkton, Sask., product joined the Saskatoon Blades and racked up a string of impressive performances including a run of winning 10 straight games.

    He became a WHL starting netminder as a 16-year-old rookie, which is not very common in the current era of major junior hockey.

    Maier finished out his rookie campaign posting a 23-17-2 record, a 3.31 goals against average, a .895 save percentage and two shutouts.

    There were times that season you could argue he was one of the top five netminders in the WHL.

    Last August, Maier joined Blades teammate and star centre Kirby Dach on Canada’s under-18 team that won gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup held jointly in Edmonton and Red Deer.

Nolan Maier has put together two stellar seasons with the Blades.

    Going into last season, it seemed like Maier was going to be a sure bet to be a prospect that was picked in the NHL Entry Draft coming up on June 21 and 22 in Vancouver, B.C.
    Still, it seems like the attention given to Maier from professional scouts is lukewarm at best.

    Maier cracked NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings for North America goaltenders at the 22^nd spot.

    That was after he had a stellar sophomore WHL campaign where he posted a 36-10-6 record, a 2.64 goals against average, a .910 save percentage and four shutouts.

    Thanks to Maier’s efforts, the Blades finished fourth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 45-17-8 record and made the post-season for the first time since 2013.

    Maier kept up his impressive play in the playoffs helping the Blades advance to the second round.

Nolan Maier tracks the play coming up ice for the Blades.

    In Saskatoon’s 10 post-season contests, Maier posted a 6-4 record, a 2.86 goals against average, a .903 save percentage and one shutout.

    The Blades fell in a six game series in the second round to the eventual WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders.
    Maier proceeded to join Canada’s team for the world under-18 hockey championship tournament that was held in April in Ornskoldsvik and Umea, Sweden.
    Currently, Maier is taking part in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence Goaltending Camp in Calgary, Alta. The camp started Wednesday and wraps up on Saturday.

    Maier’s biggest challenge when it comes to cracking into the NHL might be the fact he stands 6-feet and weighs 173 pounds. It seems like those that make the decisions regarding player personnel in the NHL are weighted towards finding puck stoppers who stand preferably 6-foot-3 or taller.

Nolan Maier moves the puck to the side of the Blades goal.

    Those goalies can still play the butterfly style and have their shoulders cover the top of the net when they go down.

    Maier can’t control how tall he is. The one thing he can control is stopping the puck, and he is very good at that.
    Last season, Maier shutout the powerful Raiders twice. On Dec. 9, 2018, Maier made 32 stops to back the Blades to a 1-0 victory over the Raiders at the SaskTel Centre.

    On April 9, Maier turned away 26 shots in a 1-0 playoff victory over the Raiders at the SaskTel Centre.

    Maier follows in a line of great goaltenders the Blades have had in their history including Dave Parro, Tim Cheveldae, Norm Maracle, Anton Khudobin and Braden Holtby.

    Maier is a great athlete who can make the impossible save or hold up against the barrage of pucks, when his team is pinned in the defensive zone.

    On top of his hockey skills, Maier is a stellar person. Anyone that knows him from his time growing up in Yorkton will tell you how great of kid he has been.

Blades G Nolan Maier, left, celebrates a win with Dawson Davidson.

    He is the perfect person you want representing your team in the community. Due to the fact the Blades strive to make as many community appearances as possible, it has been big to have Maier on the team from that aspect.

    With all that said, it feels like Maier might play out his final three years of eligibility in the major junior ranks without being an NHL Entry Draft selection. He wouldn’t be the first star netminder to get less than a realistic shot from the NHL ranks and move on to play U Sports and get a degree.

    For NHL club that does select Maier in the NHL Entry Draft, that team is likely in for a pleasant surprise. That club will likely discover the selection of Maier is a wise one from all sorts of levels like the Blades have already discovered.

Dyck takes over as under-18 summer coach

Michael Dyck surveys a situation from the Giants bench.

    Vancouver Giants head coach Michael Dyck is in store for a busy summer.

    On Friday, Dyck was named the head coach of Canada’s summer under-18 that will play in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which is slated to run Aug. 5 to 10 in Breclav, Czech Republic and Piestany, Slovakia.

    He replaces Dan Lambert as head coach. Lambert, who was the head coach of the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs, accepted an assistant coach position with the NHL’s Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

    Due to working for a professional club, Lambert wasn’t available to fulfill his commitments with Hockey Canada.

    Last season, Dyck guided the Giants to the second best regular season record in the WHL at 48-15-3-2. The Giants advanced to the WHL final and fell in a series deciding Game 7 to the Prince Albert Raiders 3-2 in overtime.

    Dyck was named the coach of the year for the WHL’s Western Conference.

    With Dyck taking over Hockey Canada’s summer under-18 team, he vacates his position as head coach for Team Canada White for the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, which runs Nov. 2 to 9 in Medicine Hat, Alta., and Swift Current, Sask.

    Hockey Canada is searching for someone to fill that head coaching vacancy. Saskatoon Blades associate coach Ryan Marsh is an assistant coach for Team Canada White.

Dinos’ Roberts in for Hockey Canada women’s goalie camp

Kelsey Roberts earned a big Hockey Canada goalie camp invitation.

    University of Calgary Dinos women’s hockey team netminder Kelsey Roberts showed you can be discovered even if your team struggles.

    Roberts earned an invite to Hockey Canada’s National Women’s Development Camp, which started Thursday and runs through to Sunday.

    The Kitimat, B.C., product posted a 2.06 goals against average and a .935 save percentage in 23 regular season games last season for the Dinos. The Dinos finished last in the Canada West Conference with a 5-20-3 record, and Roberts was 5-15-3 in her appearances.

    With the Dinos being outshot in most of their games, Roberts stood out with the large amount of work sent her way.

    It was great to see she was one of 11 goaltenders targeted for potential spots on Canada’s national women’s team and the national women’s development team.

    The U Sports ranks sent a total of four netminders to that camp. Joining Roberts were Kristen Chamberlin from the University of Albert Pandas, Tricia Deguire of the McGill University Martlets and Kendra Woodland of the University of New Brunswick Reds.

    The National Women’s Development Camp included nine goaltenders that were targeted for potential sport on Canada’s under-18 women’s team.

    I admit I can’t argue against the selections. Still it would have been cool to see invites given to Jessica Vance of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and Lauren Taraschuk of the University of Manitoba Bisons for the camp targeting players for Canada’s national women’s team and the national women’s development team.

    Vance has been outstanding in her two full seasons with the Huskies posting a 26-10-3 record, a 1.05 goals against average, a .954 save percentage and 15 shutouts in 40 career regular season games. She was the Canada West player-of-the-year in the 2017-18 campaign and was Canada’s starting netminder in a silver medal winning performance at the FISU Winter Universiade that wrapped up in March in Krasnayarsk, Russia.

    Vance has a surreal calm to her game you wish you could see in all goaltenders.

    Taraschuk has been outstanding in her two full seasons with the Bisons posting a 27-6-3 record, a 1.28 goals against average, a .941 save percentage and six shutouts in 36 career regular season games. She was the rookie of the year in the Canada West Conference in 2017-18 and backstopped the Bisons to a U Sports national title.

    Standing 6-feet tall, Taraschuk has an edge in size that most netminders in the female game don’t have. She moves very fluidly in goal and displays very little wasted motion in stopping the puck.

    A Hockey Canada invite would have been a way to keep Taraschuk in the game. In April, she gave an interview to the Winnipeg Free Press stating she was quitting the Bisons due to personality issues on the team and a coaching staff change that will occur before the start of next season.

    Taraschuk said she wasn’t finished with hockey, but she has to sit out a year before joining another U Sports club or a team in the NCAA ranks. Actually, a team looking to contend for a national title in the NCAA ranks would be wise to pick up Taraschuk.

    The majority of Canada’s high end players at the university age skate in the NCAA ranks, and it would help Taraschuk to play against those players to continue to improve her game. She is more than ready for that step.

    One hold back would be educational goals. Taraschuk was enrolled in the criminology program at the U of Manitoba. If she pursues that course of study at a United States university, there are no certainties how her education would transfer back up in Canada.

    While, the addition of Vance and Taraschuk at the Hockey Canada women’s goalie camp would have been great, there are only four spots up for grabs between the national team and national development team. It is extremely hard to obtain one of those positions.

    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 watch party could be bigger after long weekend

Raiders fans watch their team intensely on a big screen.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - A few hearty souls were able to hold off the allures of the lake to get together to support the Prince Albert Raiders.

    On Friday, about 150 people gathered at the Art Hauser Centre to watch the broadcast of the Raiders first game at the Memorial Cup tournament in Halifax, N.S., on a huge big screen television that was set up on the building’s drained ice surface. The club’s staff that remained in “Hockey Town North” to keep the home fires burning while the team participates in the CHL’s championship tournament helped set up the watch party.

    The gathering likely could have been bigger had it not been for the fact Friday was the start of the May long weekend.

    Driving to Prince Albert from Saskatoon, the intersection where Highway 11 turns north to Highway 2 at 5 p.m. on Friday was lined with about 45 vehicles, and most of those were haft-ton trucks pulling some sort of a camper unit. It was pretty obvious most of those vehicles were heading to the vast lake country north of Prince Albert.
    The watch party itself was still fairly fun. With Prince Albert being a small city with a population of about 36,000 people, most of the people at the gathering knew each other.

A couple of fans chuckle watching Friday’s Raiders game on a big screen.

    As the Raiders faced the host Halifax Mooseheads at the opening game of the Memorial Cup, the party at the Art Hauser Centre started with cheers, but quickly became silent as Halifax took a 2-0 first period lead.

    Applause would spark up a little any time Raiders star netminder Ian Scott made a big save.

    As the second period got underway, the cheers started up again along with chants of “go Raiders go.”

    The noise hit a peak when star overage centre Noah Gregor tipped home a point shot from offensive defenceman Max Martin at the 10:46 mark of the second period. That goal cut the Mooseheads lead to 2-1.

    For about the next 10 minutes in real time, you would have thought a Raiders game was happening live at the Art Hauser Centre.

    The excitement came to a halt when defenceman Jake Ryczek scored on the power play to give the Mooseheads a 3-1 advantage with 4:08 remaining in the second period.

    When Mooseheads centre Antoine Morand scored an empty-net goal with 1:53 remaining in the third, a number of people at the watch party started making their way to the exits and by the sounds of the chatter, most were heading to the lake country too.

    It hadn’t hit 8 p.m. in Prince Albert yet, so there was lots of time to commute.
    After the third period clock expired on a 4-1 victory for the Mooseheads, the rest of the fans in the building made their way to the exits.

    Again from the chatter, it sounded like the lake country was the next destination for most.

The Raiders up on the big screen on Friday.

    About five minutes after the game ended, the Art Hauser Centre was empty outside of rink staffers.

    While things didn’t go well for the Raiders on the scoreboard on Friday, those at the watch party enjoyed coming together as a community to watch the team from afar. As Friday’s game progressed, many said they would be back for Monday’s watch party, when the Raiders take on the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, Sportsnet).

    If the Raiders advance to the Memorial Cup’s championship game on May 26, it is likely a lot more people will head to the Art Hauser Centre for that watch party.

Storm, Toropchenko impress in 5-2 win over Huskies

    The Guelph Storm announced their arrival at the Memorial Cup with an impressive statement win.

    The Ontario Hockey League champions faced the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who are the champions of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, on Saturday in the first game for both sides at the CHL championship tournament.

    The Huskies topped the QMJHL regular season standings with a 59-8-0-1 record and were rated first in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. They took the best-of-seven QMJHL final 4-2 against the Halifax Mooseheads.

    The Storm finished eighth overall in the OHL’s regular season with a 40-18-6-4 mark. Guelph went on a remarkable run in the OHL playoffs.

    The Storm trailed the London Knights 3-0 in a best-of-seven second round series and rallied for four straight wins for a 4-3 series victory.

    In the best-of-seven Western Conference final, the Storm fell behind the Saginaw Spirit 3-1 before rallying for three straight wins to take the series 4-3.

    In the best-of-seven OHL final, the Storm fell behind the Ottawa 67’s 2-0 before rallying for four straight wins to take the series 4-2.

    On paper, it appeared the Huskies would be favoured over the Storm, but the Storm players had other ideas. They skated to a 5-2 victory over the Huskies before 9,509 spectators at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S.

    The Huskies took a 1-0 lead at the 2:17 mark of the first period on a goal from 19-year-old centre Vincent Marleau.

    At that point, the rest of the first period turned into the Alexey Toropchenko show. The Storm right-winger, who is from Moscow, Russia, evened things up at 1-1 scoring a short-handed goal off a Huskies own zone turnover with nine minutes to play in the first.

    With 6:53 remaining in the first, Toropchenko gathered a rebound of a shot taken by Storm defenceman Jack Hanley in front of the Huskies net to pot his second goal of the contest.

    Toropchenko completed his hat trick with 1:37 remaining in the opening frame, when he was sprung on a breakaway by Storm defenceman Sean Durzi on a stretch pass. On the breakaway, Toropchenko tucked a shot in between the legs of Huskies netminder Samuel Harvey.

    During the regular season, Toropchenko had 17 goals and 26 assists for 43 points in 62 games. In the OHL playoffs, he netted 13 goals and six assists for 19 points in 24 games.

    MacKenzie Entwistle gave the Storm a 4-1 advantage at the 3:20 mark of the second.

    Jakub Lauko replied for the Huskies at the 11:16 mark of the second to cut the Storm lead to 4-2.

    With 44.3 seconds remaining in the second, Nick Suzuki scored for the Storm to round out the 5-2 victory.

    Anthony Popovich turned away 22 shots to take the win in goal for the Storm. Harvey turned away 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Huskies.

    Harvey is one of three players the Huskies have on their roster from the last time they appeared in the Memorial Cup back in 2016 in Red Deer, Alta., along with centre Peter Abbandonato and defenceman Jacob Neveu. Neveu, who is an overager, was scratched on Saturday due to fracturing his jaw blocking a shot in Game 2 of the QMJHL final.

    The Huskies fell 3-2 in overtime in the title game at the 2016 Memorial Cup to the Knights. Matthew Tkachuk had the winner for the Knights.

    Action resumes at the Memorial Cup on Sunday when the host Halifax Mooseheads take on the Storm (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, Sportsnet).

Dyck throws caution, notes good hand with Giants

Bowen Byram could be a key returnee to the Giants.

    The WHL Championship series will likely only be the beginning for the resurgent Vancouver Giants.

    On Monday, the Giants bowed out of the post-season falling 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 of the WHL final to the host Prince Albert Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre. Vancouver finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-15-3-2 mark and was rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

Going into the current post-season, the Giants were in search of their first playoff series victory since 2010. 

    From 2011 to 2018 the Giants missed the playoffs four times and were eliminate in the first round in their four playoff appearances.

    Vancouver has the potential to return star offensive defenceman Bowen Byram and netminder Trent Miner as 18-year-olds. The Giants could have steady Dylan Plouffe on defence as an overager and Alex Kannok Leipert, Kalek Bulych and Seth Bafaro on the back end as 19-year-olds.

    Up front, Tristen Nielsen and import Yannik Valenti could be back as a 19-year-olds, Lukas Svejkovsky as an 18-year-old and Justin Sourdif as a 17-year-old.

    While Plouffe would seem to be a lock for one of the three overage spots, five forwards will be in the running for those spots in import Milos Roman, Owen Hardy, Dawson Holt, Jadon Joseph and Brayden Watts.

Lukas Svejkovsky will look to play a bigger role with the Giants.

    Defenceman Landon Fuller would be highly unlikely to be around to compete for an overage spot due to only playing 21 career regular season games in the WHL. Netminder David Tendeck could be an overager, but he is an NHL Entry Draft selection of the Arizona Coyotes and could be in their system.

    Michael Dyck will be in his second season guiding the Giants as head coach. He optimistic about next season throws caution to the win.

    The veteran bench boss said the team still has to wait to see who will be in their lineup and who might stick in the professional ranks.

    “We’ve got the building blocks in place,” said Dyck. “It is a new team, but certainly the building blocks are in place, but we will see what happens.

    “Obviously, Bowen Byram is going to be a high draft pick (in the NHL Entry Draft). We could have a bunch of guys drafted. That is our job is to develop guys to get them ready for the next level, but the building blocks are in place.

    “It is exciting.”

    Dyck praised the efforts of Giants outgoing 20-year-olds in captain Jared Dmytriw, winger Davis Kock and defenceman Dallas Hines for helping return the team to being one of the top clubs in the league.

    “For our 20-year-olds that are moving on, they left a legacy here,” said Dyck. “They’ve been a huge part of the chance in the culture and winning some respect back.

    “For our younger guys, what an experience it was for them and a foundation to build on.”

Raiders sign Crocker to players agreement

    While the Prince Albert Raiders are in Halifax, N.S., playing in the Memorial Cup, they locked up part of their future.

    On Thursday, the Raiders announced they signed forward Niall Crocker to a WHL Standard Players Agreement. The Raiders selected Crocker in the first round and 22^nd overall in the WHL Bantam Draft held on May 2.

    Crocker, who will turn 15-years-old in late July, already stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 161 pounds.

    In 30 games with the Delta Hockey Academy Bantam Prep program, Crocker piled up 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 points. He added two goals and an assist in three playoff games.

    Crocker is eligible to appear in five regular season games in 2019-20 with the Raiders as a 15-year-old.

Never say never again, back in the Daily Herald

One of my stories in the Daily Herald’s special section.

    If you checked out Friday’s edition of the Prince Albert Daily Herald, you are in for a treat.

    The staff at the Daily Herald put together a special Prince Albert Raiders section due to the fact the team is playing in the Memorial Cup.

    I contributed three stories for the special section. Two stories revolved around the 1984-85 Raiders who won the WHL championship and the Memorial Cup.

    The third piece was my “More than just a hockey team” column on the Raiders.

    When I left the Daily Herald as a sports reporter back in September of 2004, I didn’t think I would ever have the chance to write for that publication again. I am happy I was wrong in this instance.

    I believe you can still purchase copies of Friday’s edition of the Daily Herald in Prince Albert, or pop by their office during office hours to pick up a copy.

    The staff there did a great job with the special section.

    Also of note, the Raiders captured the Memorial Cup 34 years ago today in 1985 with a 6-1 victory over the Shawinigan Cataractes, who were the tournament hosts.

    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 in seventh WHL championship OT heaven

Hannoun hero in 3-2 extra time victory over Giants

Dante Hannoun (#17) reacts to scoring the OT winner for the Raiders.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - The only thing missing on this night was video of the late “Grandma Raider” saying, “Once a Raider always a Raider.”

    Calla Grasley must have been smiling down on her team from heaven.

    On Monday before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, overage centre Dante Hannoun tapped in a backdoor feed from linemate Noah Gregor with 1:35 remaining in overtime to deliver the Prince Albert Raiders to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants in Game 7 of the WHL Championship series.

    The contest was arguably the greatest game ever played at the Raiders storied home rink.

    With the win, the Raiders take the best-of-seven series 4-3, and they captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions.

The Raiders mob Dante Hannoun after he scored the WHL title OT winner.

    “Honestly, I blacked out,” said Hannoun about his OT winner. “It was Gregs (Gregor) who made an unbelievable feed to me backdoor.

    “I just tapped it in. Like I said, I blacked out. It was just slow motion. It was unbelievable.”

    The victory marks the first time the Raiders have won the WHL title since 1985.

    That year, the Raiders moved on to win the Memorial Cup under the guidance of then head coach and general manager Terry Simpson, who is a legend in Prince Albert hockey circles. The 1984-85 Raiders team featured the likes of Dan Hodgson, Dave Pasin, Emanuel Viveiros, Dave Manson and Ken Baumgartner.

    The current edition of the Raiders advance to this year’s Memorial Cup, which starts Friday and runs to May 26 in Halifax, N.S. 

The Raiders faithful erupts after Dante Hannoun’s OT winner.

    Prince Albert opens the tournament Friday against the host Mooseheads.

    Hannoun came to the Raiders in a trade in early January from the Victoria Royals. He was elated to score the overtime winner that gave the Raiders the WHL title, while playing in his final season of major junior eligibility.

    “I am just so grateful for this opportunity for the Prince Albert Raiders bringing me in here,” said Hannoun. “I’m so happy. I’m speechless right now.”

    Gregor was excited that he was able to set up the winner and that his team won the league title.

    “It feels pretty good,” said Gregor. “That moment that Hannoun was able to put that puck into the net, I kind of blacked out.

    “I just chased him down the ice. He was already at the other end of the ice before I could even look up, so it was pretty unreal. Overtime in Game 7, it doesn’t happen too often, so it was pretty amazing we were able to come out on the winning side.”

Dante Hannoun was a big trade addition for the Raiders.

    Monday’s game had various swings. Giants import centre Milos Roman scored at the 4:45 mark of the second to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

    Gregor brought the Art Hauser Centre faithful to life scoring with 5:05 remaining in the second to force 1-1 tie.

    At the 4:25 mark of the third, Gregor took a pass from import defenceman Sergei Sapego and sniped home a shot to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead.

    Just over four minutes later Roman scored for the Giants on the power play to tie things up at 2-2 and ultimately force overtime setting the stage for Hannoun to score his winner.

    Raiders star right-winger Brett Leason was pleased his club overcame the swings in momentum, and he was pumped when Hannoun scored the winner.

    “It was just pure joy and pure relief,” said Leason. “They battled.

    “They brought it to us. It was a hell of a game, and when that puck went in, the building erupted and so did the bench. It just went crazy here.”

Noah Gregor scored twice for the Raiders on Monday.

    Ian Scott, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, made 24 saves in goal for the Raiders. David Tendeck turned away 37 shots to take the setback in goal for the Giants.

    Scott was named the MVP of the WHL playoffs. The Calgary, Alta., product played in all of the Raiders 23 games in the WHL post-season posting a 16-7 record, a 1.96 goals against average, a .925 save percentage and five shutouts.

    “It was pretty cool,” said Scott about the MVP. “I couldn’t have done it without this group of guys.”

    Scott was more pumped to win the WHL title for the people of Prince Albert and all the supporters of the Raiders.

    “The fan support through this whole playoffs is something I have never seen before,” said Scott. “They drive us a lot.

    “You could tell tonight just the way they were cheering that they fuel us.”

    Monday’s contest mark the first time the Raiders clinched a playoff series on home ice since 2005, when they defeated the Medicine Hat Tigers 3-0 in Game 6 of a second round series.

Giants C Milos Roman set to fire a shot past Raider D Sergei Sapego.

    Before Monday, the Raiders had clinched each of their three previous series wins in this year’s playoffs on the road.

    Actually, the last time the Raiders won a major hockey championship on home ice came back in 1982, during the franchise’s final year in the junior A ranks. That season, the Raiders downed the Guelph Platers 8-4 in Prince Albert in the deciding game of the Centennial Cup championship series to become national champions at the junior A level.

    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said it was great the Raiders home crowd got to witness the spectacle that was Monday’s Game 7.

David Tendeck makes one of his 37 saves in goal for the Giants.

    He said he was proud of his players remembering how a couple of teams taunted the Raiders core two seasons ago, when the club was young and building.

    “We lost with class, and we won with class,” said Habscheid. “Now, these kids are champions, and it is something they can carry with them for the rest of their lives and good on them.

    “If these kids would have lost, it wouldn’t have been right. It wouldn’t have been right for what these guys have gone through the last two to three (years).”

    Habscheid said it was great to see overage centre Sean Montgomery become a WHL champion. Montgomery is a career member of the Raiders who has played a team record 345 regular season games with the club.

Raiders goalie Ian Scott (#33) stops Giants winger Davis Koch.

    “Look at Sean Montgomery and what he went through with the losing and the taunting,” said Habscheid. “If he would have lost today, it wouldn’t have been right.

    “I’m really happy for him.”

    Montgomery said it was surreal to see Hannoun score the overtime winner and realize the Raiders had won the league title.

    “It was just the best feeling of my life,” said Montgomery. “Skating down there and throwing all our stuff, it was unbelievable.

    “We’ve had some tough years, and to end it off on the most incredible year of my life, I can’t put it into words.”

Raiders fans cheer one of their team’s goals.

    During the WHL regular season, the Raiders and Giants were the circuit’s top two teams.

    The Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Vancouver finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-15-3-2 mark and was rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    The Raiders eliminated the Red Deer Rebels, Saskatoon Blades and Edmonton Oil Kings on their way to the WHL final.

    The Giants eliminated the Seattle Thunderbirds, Victoria Royals and Spokane Chiefs on their way to the WHL final.

The Raiders celebrate with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    Vancouver last won the WHL title in 2006 and last won the Memorial Cup in 2007 as the host team.

    Before this year’s post-season, the Giants hadn’t won a playoff series since 2010. Giants head coach Michael Dyck was obviously disappointed his team couldn’t pull out the WHL final.

    Still, Dyck, who is in his first season guiding the Giants, noted not much was expected from his team at the start of the season, so he was really happy with what his club accomplished in 2018-19. He was pleased with how his club battled back from being down 3-1 in the series with the Raiders to force Game 7.

Sean Montgomery takes a spin with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    Dyck said Vancouver’s overagers in captain Jared Dmytriw, winger Davis Koch and defenceman Dallas Hines contributed a lot to the squad.

    “I couldn’t be prouder of our group of guys right now,” said Dyck. “How far they came this season and the way they battled in this series and right through the playoffs, it is a reflection of the character of this group.

    “For our 20-year-olds that are moving on, they left a legacy here. They’ve been a huge part of the chance in the culture and winning some respect back. For our younger guys, what an experience it was for them and a foundation to build on.”

The Raiders are all smiles for the customary team photo.

    The QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and the OHL champion Guelph Storm round out the field at this year’s Memorial Cup.

    While Monday’s WHL championship win was a high, Montgomery is looking forward to play more hockey at the Memorial Cup.

    “It is exciting,” said Montgomery. “We’re going to enjoy this for tonight, and then get ready to go.”

    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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Dmytriw sees Giants through to force Game 7

Captain nets third period winner in 4-2 victory over Raiders

Jared Dmytriw, left, celebrates scoring the winner for the Giants.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – It’s true thanks to Jared Dmytriw.
    The WHL Championship is heading to a series deciding Game 7 for the first time since 2014.

    On Sunday in Game 6 of the WHL final, Dmytriw’s Vancouver Giants, who were facing elimination, were locked in a 2-2 draw with the host Prince Albert Raiders heading into the third period at the Art Hauser Centre.

    At the 3:40 mark of the third, Dmytriw, who is the Giants captain, backhanded home the rebound of a shot taken by linemate Lukas Svejkovsky to give Vancouver a 3-2 lead. That tally held up as the winner as the Giants pulled out a 4-2 victory before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the Raiders 2,580 seat home rink.

    With the win, the Giants tie the best-of-seven series 3-3. A winner take all Game 7 for the Ed Chynoweth Cup and the WHL title is set for 7 p.m. local time Monday at the Art Hauser Centre.

David Tendeck stopped 36 shots in goal for the Giants.

    Vancouver was down 3-1 in the series before rallying back to force a Game 7.

    The last WHL final to go to a series deciding Game 7 came back in 2014, when the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Portland Winterhawks to take the league crown. Edmonton moved on to win the Memorial Cup.

    Dmytriw, who is from Craven, Sask., was pumped to score the winner on Sunday.

    “It was unbelievable,” said Dmytriw. “To get the lead at that point in the game was huge.

    “Then, we kind of locked it down. I thought the team played well down the stretch.”

    At first, things didn’t start well for the Giants.

    Just 53 seconds into the game, Raiders power forward Parker Kelly shot down the right wing, cut to the front of the Vancouver goal, took a shot and banged home his own rebound to give the host side a 1-0 edge.

Davis Koch scored two goals on Sunday for the Giants.

    The Giants weren’t shaken by the early Raiders goal. Overage winger Davis Koch and left-winger Owen Hardy netted singles to give Vancouver a 2-1 advantage in the opening frame.

Dmytriw was pleased with how his squad bounced back after falling behind early.

    “It has kind of been the identity of our group this whole year is to bounce back,” said Dmytriw. “We knew coming into tonight whether they got the first one or we got the first one we weren’t going to change our game.

    “We were going to stick to our game plan, and I was proud of the way the boys handled that adversity early and bounced back.”

    Before the first period ended, the Raiders evened things up at 2-2, when Kelly netted his second of the game with 32.2 seconds remaining in the frame.

Parker Kelly (#27) sets to pop home a rebound for a Raiders goal.

    The two sides proceeded to skate through a scoreless second period setting the stage for Dmytriw to net the winner for the Giants in the third.

    Koch potted his second goal of the contest with 14.2 seconds remaining in the third to seal the Giants victory.

    Ian Scott turned away 23-of-26 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders. David Tendeck stopped 36 shots in a sensational outing to pick up the win in goal for the Giants.

    “I thought we were OK outside of a couple of things in our D-zone that could have been better,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “I thought we missed a couple of assignments.
    “We weren’t as good as we could have been. They played heavy. We can be better in our own end, and that will help us out offensively.”

Raiders fans cheer on Parker Kelly’s first goal.

    Giants head coach Michael Dyck was pleased with the resiliency of his team.

    “I’m proud of the way we’ve played,” said Dyck. “Coming into a building that is not easy to play in, but I think we fed of the energy early.

    “I like the way we responded after giving up a goal in the first minute. I thought we played solid from there.”

    After the Giants went ahead 3-2, Kelly had a huge chance in front of the Vancouver goal to net the equalizer, but he was stoned by Tendeck.
    Looking back on the contest, Kelly thought his team might have had a bit of a lull after he scored the game’s first goal.
    “I thought our start was good,” said Kelly. “Maybe, we kind of let our foot off the gas pedal.

    “We can’t be doing that.”

Aliaksei Protas jets up the right wing for the Raiders.

    The Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Vancouver finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-15-3-2 mark and was rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    When the Giants fell behind 3-1 in the series, they faced a tough challenge in attempting to pull even. After winning two straight, Koch was pumped to see his WHL career get extended for a second time.

    “It is nice to stave off elimination in those two games,” said Koch. “I look forward to tomorrow in Game 7.”

    In Monday’s Game 7, the Raiders will be facing elimination for the first time in the post-season. Still, Raiders captain Brayden Pachal is looking forward to playing a winner take all contest.

    “It is something you dream of your whole life,” said Pachal. “It is time for us to take control of that opportunity.”

    The winner of Game 7 on Monday will earn a berth to the Memorial Cup, and this year’s CHL championship tournament starts Friday and run to May 26 in Halifax, N.S.

The Giants celebrate an empty-net goal from Davis Koch.

    In order to get to that point, the Giants are trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win the WHL final since the Victoria Cougars pulled off that trick in 1981 against the Calgary Wranglers.
    “We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves,” said Dyck. “We didn’t think about winning three games when we were down.

    “We thought about winning one. It was an opportunity to come back into here, and we just wanted to keep moving forward from there.”
    Habscheid has faith that his players will find a way to prevail in Game 7.

    “This is a special group that I coach here,” said Habscheid. “It is a great bunch of guys.

    “We treated Game 5 like it was Game 7. We treated Game 6 today like it was Game 7. We will treat Game 7 like it is Game 7.

    “We’re fine. If I was going anywhere, I’d take these 20 guys with me. They are great kids, they’re winners, and we like our chances tomorrow.”

Storm romps to 8-3 OHL title clinching victory

    A five-goal surge in the second period powered the Guelph Storm to an Ontario Hockey League Championship series clinching victory.

    On Sunday before 5,005 spectators at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph, the host Storm fell behind 2-0 to the visiting Ottawa 67’s heading into the first intermission.

    The Storm exploded for five straight goals to start the second period to go ahead 5-2 and cruised to an 8-3 victory in Game 6 of the OHL final.

    With the win, the Storm took the best-of-seven series 4-2. Ottawa won the first two games of the series before Guelph closed things out with four straight victories.

    Dmitri Samorukov and Isaac Ratcliffe both scored twice for the Storm, while Cedric Ralph, Nick Suzuki, Domenico Commisso and Keegan Stevenson had singles. Commisso’s goal was scored into an empty net, when the 67’s pulled their goalie for an extra attacker while down 6-3 in the third period.

    Noel Hoefenmayer, Kody Clark and Sasha Chmelevski had singles for the 67’s.

    Anthony Popovich turned away 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Storm. Cedrick Andree turned away 31-of-38 shots to take the loss in goal for the 67’s.

    The 67’s were without star goaltender Michael DiPietro, who was injured in Ottawa’s 4-3 victory on home ice in Game 2. DiPietro is reported to have a high ankle sprain.
    Suzuki was named the MVP of the OHL playoffs posting 16 goals and 26 assists appearing all of his team’s 24 post-season games.

    The 67’s topped the OHL regular season standings with a 50-12-4-2 record and were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    The Storm finished eighth overall in the OHL’s regular season with a 40-18-6-4 mark.

    Guelph advances to play for the CHL title in the Memorial Cup tournament, which starts Friday and runs to May 26 in Halifax, N.S.

    The Memorial Cup field includes the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and the host Mooseheads.

    The Storm opens play at the Memorial Cup on Saturday taking on the Huskies.

    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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Giants’ Byram focused on here and now in WHL final

D-man on cusp of long and bright future in hockey

Bowen Byram is a top prospect for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

    Bowen Byram appears to be set to have a long future in professional hockey, but his mind is locked on an opportunity in the present that overshadows possible dreams of NHL glory.

    The 17-year-old is a star offensive defenceman for the Vancouver Giants who is ranked second among North American skaters in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, which happens to be set for June 21 and 22 in Vancouver.

    Byram, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 192 pounds, had a breakout season with the Giants finishing second in regular season team scoring with 26 goals and 45 assists for 71 points to go with a plus-33 rating in the plus-minus department.

    He tops the Giants in post-season scoring with seven goals and 16 assists in the club’s 19 games. He has a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department as well.

    Currently, Byram and the Giants are facing a tough challenge in the WHL Championship series against the Prince Albert Raiders. 

Bowen Byram has impressed as an offensive defenceman.

    The Raiders lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and are looking to lock up their first WHL title in Game 5 on Friday at 7:30 p.m. local time at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. Prince Albert will win the Ed Chynoweth Cup with a victory in that contest.

    The Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    The Giants finished second in the WHL with a 48-15-3-2 mark and were rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    While the Giants face a long road in crawling back to try and win the series, Byram is aware that his team has a rare opportunity.

    If they can rally to win the WHL title, they will advance to the Memorial Cup tournament to play for the CHL championship. The Memorial Cup runs May 17 to 26 in Halifax, N.S.

    “There are not many players that get to play in a championship series in their career,” said Byram, who is an assistant captain with the Giants. “Being a young guy, I definitely want to soak it all in, and I don’t want to have any regrets at the end of the series.

    “They are a good team over there, and I feel like so are we.”

Bowen Byram rose to star status with the Giants this season.

    Byram has logged huge minutes for Giants over the four games played so far in the WHL final. He has posted five assists and a minus-one rating in those outings.

    The Cranbrook, B.C., product knows what is waiting for him in the future in the professional ranks, but he wants to stay in the moment for the present.

    “I definitely have a lot to look forward to,” said Byram. “I’ve said this all along I’m more focused on helping my team win the championship right now and move on to the Memorial Cup.

    “That is my biggest focus right now. Obviously, I have some stuff to look forward to coming up in the later months. I’m focused on the team right now.”

    Giants head coach Michael Dyck said Byram has earned the extra attention he has gaining for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. The veteran bench boss said his young rearguard possesses a real good all-around game.

    “He (Byram) has obviously had a great season,” said Dyck, who guided the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes as head coach from Nov. of 2005 to 2009. “He is an elite player.

Bowen Byram stood out in minor hockey.

    “He is doing something that not many 17-year-olds are capable of doing in this league. That is not only putting up points and creating offence, but he is playing defence as well.

    “He is playing against the opponents top lines. When you can combine those two at his age, obviously he has kind of set himself apart.”

    Dyck has had the rare chance to see Byram grow as a player and person over the years as well. Byram came to Lethbridge, Alta., to play on their top tiered teams starting at the peewee level.

    Dyck, who is from Lethbridge, first coached Byram in spring hockey before peewee along with his own son, Carson Dyck.

    Michael Dyck coached Byram from that point in minor hockey up until the blue-liner cracked the Giants as a 16-year-old rookie for the 2017-18 campaign.

    The Giants hired Dyck to be the team’s new head coach before the start of the current campaign.

    “Bowen (Byram) has always been a real good player at every level,” said Dyck. “For him to continue doing what he is doing at this level, it is a testament to him as far as how hard he has worked to get here and certainly what a good kid he is too.

    “He is a leader at 17 for our team as well, so it kind of reflects his character.”

    Byram said he has been fortunate to have had Dyck as a coach for an extended period of time.

    “He is one of the best junior coaches in the world probably,” said Byram. “To have him for how many ever years I’ve had him I think it is six or seven now, he has helped me out so much.

    “I definitely owe it to him to credit to where I am now.”

Bowen Byram, left, is skilled at reading the play on the ice.

    Byram said the Giants hit another gear this season with having Dyck as head coach. Dyck took over from Jason McKee, who was the Giants head coach for two seasons from 2016 to 2018.

    Byram didn’t have anything bad to say about McKee, but believes the chemistry with the players and the coaches under Dyck and his staff has been better.

    “This year, I think the guys just really clicked with the coaches,” said Byram. “They brought in a new system, a more defensive system than last year, so I guess that really helped us.”

    The skilled defenceman said his father, Shawn Byram, has played a big part in helping him along in the game as well. Shawn was a forward in the WHL from 1984 to 1988 with the Regina Pats and the Raiders and skated mainly in the minor professional ranks from 1988 to 2003.

Bowen Byram tops the Giants in post-season scoring.

    Shawn did play four games in the NHL with the New York Islanders in 1990-91 and one contest with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1991-92.
    Bowen said his father was the one that encouraged him to jump up into the play influencing his style to become an offensive defenceman.

    “Throughout my life, he (Shawn Byram) has been a huge influence on me obviously as a coach but also as a person,” said Bowen. “I think we have a really good relationship.

    “We’re really close. He doesn’t really push me too much anymore like he did when he coached me. He is more just a guy that I can talk to about certain things.”

    Bowen added Shawn told him old stories of what it was like to play for the Raiders and how loud the fans can get at the Raiders home rink the Art Hauser Centre. When the WHL final started, Bowen said Shawn wished him luck and has continued to be a support figure.

    Overall, the younger Byram has enjoyed his 17-year-old campaign with the Giants and plans to do what he can to keep adding a few more good memories.

    “It has been fun,” said Byram. “Whenever you are on a team that has a good year and is successful, it always makes it easier on yourself as a player.

Bowen Byram wants to make more special memories with the Giants.

    “I owe all the credit in the world to my teammates, my defence partner Alex Kannok Leipert. It has been a super fun year so far, and hopefully, we can end it off on the right foot.”

    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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