Raiders hope to find next Hannoun

Dante Hannoun (#17) enjoys a WHL title winning OT goal on May 13, 2019.

The Prince Albert Raiders would love to relive the Dante Hannoun trade and the moments that came in the months after it.

Way back on January 3, 2019, the Raiders sat on top of the entire WHL standings and were looking for a way to slightly tweak their roster without throwing any wrenches into the chemistry that had been built. On that day, they acquired 20-year-old centre Dante Hannoun, a fourth round pick and an eighth round selection in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft from the Victoria Royals in exchange for 20-year-old centre Kody McDonald, 18-year-old centre Carson Miller and a third round selection in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft. The deal came seven days before that season’s WHL trade deadline.

Hannoun, who stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 160 pounds, had been a high-scoring career WHL member of the Royals until coming to “Hockey Town North.” In just a little over five months as a member of the Raiders before exhausting his WHL eligibility, Hannoun appeared in 28 regular season games with the club posting 10 goals, 21 assists and a plus-16 rating in the plus-minus department. Prince Albert topped the WHL’s overall standings with a 54-10-2-2 record.

Hannoun skated in all 23 contests the Raiders played in the 2019 WHL Playoffs recording 14 goals, 10 assists and a plus-11 rating. He tied for the team high in game-winning goals at four with Brett Leason and Noah Gregor, but everyone who lives in Prince Albert knows one of Hannoun’s winners overshadowed all the others.

On May 13, 2019, the Raiders hosted Game 7 of the WHL Championship Series against the Vancouver Giants in front of a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the storied and historic 2,580-seat Art Hauser Centre. Locked in a 2-2 with 1:35 remaining in overtime, Hannoun tapped home a backdoor feed at the right side of the Giants net that came from Gregor to deliver the Raiders to a 3-2 victory in the game and a 4-3 win in the series.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Raiders’ Guhle, Wiesblatt sure bets in NHL Entry Draft

Kaiden Guhle is a top rated NHL prospect.

When it comes to Kaiden Guhle and Ozzy Wiesblatt, they will likely be emblematic that sure bet is the best bet in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

Guhle and Wiesblatt have been key members of the Prince Albert Raiders since suiting up in “Hockey Town North” on a full-time basis as 16-year-old rookies helping the Raiders win a WHL championship in the 2018-19 campaign.

They followed up that special season with great sophomore campaigns resulting in Guhle being rated eighth and Wiesblatt 19^th among North American skaters in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings.

Both could be selected in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft, which will be held Tuesday via video conference call from the NHL Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. Rounds two through seven will be held on Wednesday by that same video conference call format.

Ozzy Wiesblatt is a highly touted NHL prospect.

If NHL clubs pass over Guhle and Wiesblatt in the first round, they might not be able to cash in on the gamble to pick either in the second round. In just two full seasons, they have had a career worth of experiences helping the Raiders finish first in the WHL’s East Division for the past two straight campaigns.

Of course, the 2019-20 season was cut short due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

Guhle came to the Raiders with high hopes after being selected by the team in the first round and first overall in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft. His family and the club were familiar with each other as older brother, Brendan, played defence for the Raiders from 2013 to 2016.

Brendan spent the 2019-20 season split between playing for the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks and the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.

Kaiden Guhle came up through minor hockey in his hometown of Sherwood Park, Alta., and the Edmonton area as that special skilled offensive-defenceman. 

Kaiden Guhle has played big minutes for the Raiders.

During his two full seasons with the Raiders, Guhle, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 184 pounds, has turned into one of those special talents who is a sound physical presence in the defensive zone and is able to quarterback play from the blue-line in the offensive zone.

As a rookie in 2018-19, Guhle was on the Raiders starting six on defence as a 16-year-old. The other five members of the starting six were all in their 19-year-old seasons.

While Guhle was the youngest of that group, the Raiders did not rotate their five 19-year-olds, which some teams tried to do to cover for the inexperience of the youngest player.

Guhle played regular minutes with a set partner in Jeremy Masella. In total, Guhle played in 65 regular season games collecting three goals, 14 assists and a plus-17 rating in the plus-minus department.

He focused on playing more of a defensive role, while chipping in some points. Over the course of the campaign, Guhle was able to learn by watching the veteran defenceman who were on the Raiders roster.

Ozzy Wiesblatt had 70 points for the Raiders last season.

Last season as a 17-year-old sophomore, Guhle was one of three regulars that returned on the back end along with Masella and Zack Hayes. Guhle was thrust into a bigger role and was looked upon to provide more offence.

He became the quarterback on the Raiders power play and really showed his ability as an offensive defenceman during five-on-five action. Guhle has that instinct in knowing when he should get deep in the offensive zone with the puck or pinch down from the point to become a threat on a play close around the net.

He appeared in all of the Raiders 64 regular season games piling up 11 goals, 29 assists and a plus-23 rating.

Every time Guhle gets deep, he never seems to get caught or trapped out of position on the defensive end. When an offensive-defenceman can do that, they become extremely valuable to a team.

Like Guhle, Wiesblatt took on a fairly sizable role that you wouldn’t expect from a 16-year-old rookie in the Raiders WHL title season in 2018-19. The Raiders had veteran stars all over the place up front that season.

Kaiden Guhle can put up points from the blue-line.

Still, Wiesblatt played a regular roll as a right-winger and was often playing against older and more experienced players. By the end of the season, the Calgary, Alta., product often found himself on a line with star overage centre Noah Gregor and star left-winger Cole Fonstad.

Wiesblatt, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 182 pounds, appeared in 64 regular season games posting 15 goals, 24 assists and a plus-30 rating. In the run to the WHL title, Wiesblatt played in all of the Raiders 23 games in the WHL playoffs posting five goals, five assists and a plus-six rating.

This past season as a 17-year-old sophomore, Wiesblatt skating in all of the Raiders 64 regular season games finishing second in team scoring with 25 goals, 45 assists and a plus-20 rating.

Away from the rink, Wiesblatt comes from a high-character family to say the least. His mom, Kim White, has been deaf since birth and speaks using American Sign Language.

She had to raise Ozzy, his three brothers and one sister as a single mom since 2014. 

Ozzy Wiesblatt comes from a high character family.

Ozzy’s brothers are all high level hockey players.

The oldest brother, Ocean, played in the junior A ranks with the Portage La Prairie Terriers last season. The second oldest brother, Orca, is a member of the Calgary Hitmen, and the youngest brother, Oasiz, is highly touted prospect with the Medicine Hat Tigers.

It is hard to come up with words about how amazing the Wiesblatt family story is.

Also cracking the final NHL Central Scouting rankings from the Raiders is defenceman Landon Kosior at the 98^th spot among North American skaters. The Regina, Sask., product made a sizable jump of the ratings after being ranked 126^th among North American skaters in the NHL Central Scouting mid-term rankings.

Kosior, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 190 pounds, appeared in all of the Raiders 64 regular season games as a 17-year-old rookie recording five goals, 18 assists and a plus-19 rating.

Landon Kosior turned heads in his Raiders rookie season.

Raiders centre Ilya Usau, who is from Minsk, Belarus, was rated 108^th among North American skaters in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings. 

As an 18-year-old rookie, Usau appeared in 58 regular season games with the Raiders posting 22 goals, 30 assists and a plus-14 rating.

Usau, who stands 6-feet and weighs 182 pounds, is currently playing for Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League until the WHL gets back into action after a delayed start due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHL is hoping to start its regular season on December 4.

Joining the four Raiders in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings is Prince Albert product Braden Schneider, who plays for the Brandon Wheat Kings and is rated ninth among North American skaters. Due to his late birthday, this is the first year Schneider is eligible for the NHL Entry Draft.

Players need to be born on or before September 15 the year they turn 18-years-old to be eligible for the NHL Entry Draft.

Ilya Usau had 52 points as a Raiders rookie last season.

Last season as a third-year veteran at age 18, Schneider, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 202 pounds, had a breakout campaign posting seven goals, 35 assists and a plus-nine rating in 60 regular season games with the Wheat Kings.

While 2020 has been a crazy year beyond comprehension, the City of Prince Albert and the Raiders are set to have a memorable two days at the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

Leading the charge will be Guhle and Wiesblatt, who both have the skill and character make up to continue to do great things in the game.

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 2019 WHL title win still feels special

The Raiders raise the Ed Chynoweth Cup in 2019.

    Waking up in Prince Albert on the morning of May 13, 2019, I felt a surreal calm that it was going to be a special day.

    One night earlier, the Prince Albert Raiders had a chance to capture the WHL championship at the Art Hauser Centre but fell 4-2 in Game 6 of the league title series to the Vancouver Giants. With the Giants win, the best-of-seven set was tied 3-3.

    The Raiders led the highly-competitive series 3-1, before the Giants won two straight to even things up.

    If there was any disappointment by the locals that the Raiders weren’t able to capitalize on their first two chances to win the WHL crown, it didn’t show.

    “Game 7” might be the most exciting term you could inject into a hockey series. 

Raiders fans rush into the Art Hauser Centre for a standing room spot.

    On May 13, 2019, Game 7 of the WHL Championship series would be played, and the Ed Chynoweth Cup would be awarded to either the Raiders or the Giants.

    The winner would advance to the CHL championship tournament - the Memorial Cup - that was set to be played in Halifax, N.S.

    For the Raiders, this was going to be their biggest home game since May of 1982, when they downed the Guelph Platers 8-4 to sweep the best-of-seven Centennial Cup Championship series 4-0.      

The standing room spots at the Art Hauser Centre are filled quickly.

    On that night, the Raiders became national champions of junior A hockey for a fourth and final time as they graduated to the major junior ranks joining the WHL the very next season.

    On May 13, 2019, I was enjoying the moment as I got to cover that game. I couldn’t believe how calm I felt. It seemed like everything that day was floating on air for me.

    There have only been a handful of times in my life where I have felt that calm for a big day.

    I reflected back to covering Game 7 of the WHL title series between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Giants on May 14, 2007. The Tigers won that contest in epic fashion when Brennan Bosch scored the winner in double overtime to give the Tabbies a 3-2 victory before a sellout crowd of 4,006 spectators at The Arena in Medicine Hat.

The Raiders enter the ice for the start of Game 7 of the WHL title series.

    When I arrived at the Art Hauser Centre on May 13, 2019, I told people outside and inside the building before the contest that the Raiders were going to win 3-2 in double overtime and Parker Kelly was going to net the winning goal.

    I was actually just having fun saying that scenario would go down. I thought something amazing would happen that night, and it would likely be something I had never thought of.

    I felt ready to cover the game no matter how the final outcome would play out.

Ultimately, I ended up seeing another one of the most epic games in the history of the WHL. It was a contest I will always remember.

Parker Kelly in action in Game 7 of the WHL final.

    I arrived inside the rink part of the Art Hauser Centre nice and early before the main doors opened for the fans. I just soaked in the calm of the scene.

    Before I knew it, the main doors were open, and the fans were racing to get their standing room spots standing on top of milk crates and portable benches. The seats filled and the sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat facility were all set to rock.

    The teams played through a scoreless opening frame. The Giants scored first in the second and the Raiders evened things up at 1-1 going into the second intermission.

    Star centre Noah Gregor scored at the 4:25 mark of the third to put the Raiders up 2-1, and I thought that might end up being the series winner.
    Just over four minutes later, Giants import centre Milos Roman scored on a power play to even the score at 2-2 and force overtime.

    For the second time in the history of the WHL, Game 7 of the league championship series would be decided in overtime. 

The Raiders faithful celebrates one of the team’s goals in Game 7.

    I would find out well after this clash between the Raiders and Giants finished that I would be one of the few that was in the building for both of those games.

    In overtime, the Giants had at least three outstanding chances to win the game, but they were turned away by Raiders star netminder Ian Scott, who would be named the MVP of the WHL playoffs.

    That set the stage for what would become the signature moment in the history of the Art Hauser Centre.

Noah Gregor put the Raiders ahead 2-1 in the third period.

    With 1:35 remaining in overtime, overage centre Dante Hannoun tapped in a backdoor feed from Gregor to give the Raiders a 3-2 victory.
    Hannoun jetted from one side of the rink to the other throwing his helmet in the air and the team piled into the northwest corner of the rink in celebration.

    I was just energized by the moment. I quickly finished some deadline items for The Canadian Press and raced down to the ice surface for the trophy presentation and celebrations.

    I think I was on the ice for at least two hours soaking in the moment, while doing interviews and visiting. I remember standing at centre ice looking around and marvelling at the full building.

    It felt like I knew half of the people in the stands, and it was so heartwarming to see them soak in that moment.

    I had covered the Raiders as a beat writer for the Prince Albert Daily Herald from 2001 to 2004, so I knew how big this moment would be for “Hockey Town North.” 

Dante Hannoun would be the overtime hero.

    I believe the reality of what happened was far better than the dream.
    On the ice, I was happy for so many friends. I really didn’t want that celebration and the great feeling of that moment to end.

    Of course, that moment was a huge topper for team’s core group of eight that has been together since the 2016-17 season in captain Brayden Pachal, Sean Montgomery, Kelly, Cole Fonstad, Spencer Moe, Zack Hayes, Max Martin and Scott.

    I was pumped to see Raiders star right-winger Brett Leason celebrate with his family. Leason’s father, Darryl, has been a long time bud going back to our University of Regina days about a couple of decades ago.

    I enjoyed seeing trainer Duane “Puff” Bartley and skills coach Mark Odnokon lift the Ed Chynoweth Cup, because they had put in a tonne of time with the team over a lengthy stretch.

    It was fun to see general manager Curtis Hunt and head coach Marc Habscheid beam with pride over their young men.

Dante Hannoun and the iconic OT goal celebration picture.

    Even when I went back to the pressbox to finish my work, I was still walking on air.

    I didn’t realize how good my picture was of Hannoun’s celebration, until I started finishing my pieces about the game later that night. I noticed that shot, when I was working on a quoter for The Canadian Press and a lengthy story for this blog.

    When I was back at my hotel room after finishing my work, it started to hit me what had happened. I was amazed I got to cover another Game 7 in the WHL Championship series that concluded with an overtime finish.

    For the first few days, I kept thinking, “Did that actually happen again?”

    Even now in the world that is consumed with uncertainty due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the lockdowns that has brought on, the memory of the Raiders Game 7 WHL Championship series overtime win on Hannoun’s goal helps you escape to a much better place for a time.

Sean Montgomery goes for a skate with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    The moment of Hannoun’s goal easily brings a smile to the face to this day. That moment will keep creating a happy reaction as time keeps going by.

    It was one of those instances where it truly felt incredible to be alive.

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

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

Raiders’ summer highlighted by Ed Chynoweth Cup tour

The Raiders raise the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions on May 13.

    The Ed Chynoweth Cup has seen a lot of places in the summer of 2019.

    On May 13, the Ed Chynoweth Cup, which is presented annually to the championship team of the Western Hockey League, was captured by the Prince Albert Raiders.

    In what will go down as one of the iconic games in the history of the WHL, the Raiders downed the Vancouver Giants 3-2 in overtime in a series deciding Game 7 of the WHL final.

    Overage centre Dante Hannoun tapped home a backdoor feed from overage linemate Noah Gregor with 1:35 remaining in the extra session to deliver the Raiders the title before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. The Hauser became a madhouse as the Raiders fans revelled in the team’s second league championship.

    The win gave the Raiders a berth to the Memorial Cup tournament in Halifax, N.S., but Prince Albert went 0-3 trying to battle for the Canadian Hockey League crowd.

Raiders fans have enjoyed the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    The disappointment at the Memorial Cup didn’t last long.

    As soon as the Raiders returned to “Hockey Town North” on May 22, they set out to celebrate how special their 2018-19 campaign was. The Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 before embarking on their remarkable championship run in the WHL playoffs.

    They wanted to extend the celebration to as many people as possible who helped support the squad along the way.

    For almost three weeks after arriving back from the Memorial Cup, the Raiders seemed to pop up everywhere in Prince Albert and area with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    Pictures of the trophy began to appear on social media at stores, inside the big wheel of a tractor, various residences and the Clunie-Cooper Memorial Professional Bull Riders tour stop.

    It seemed like the majority of the Raiders players hung around Prince Albert in the three weeks following the team’s return from the Memorial Cup.

    The players were often the ones accompanying the Ed Chynoweth Cup to various stops. When the players departed for their hometowns, the Ed Chynoweth Cup hit the road.

    The Raiders decided to bring the WHL championship trophy to the homes of as many of the team’s players as possible. Like what happens in the NHL where players from the Stanley Cup winning team get a day with the trophy, the Raiders worked diligently to give each of their players a day with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

Going on a trip pic.twitter.com/cRNnmECt0l

— Kim Jackson (@KimJackson87) June 7, 2019

    Kim Jackson, who is the Raiders manager of team services, has mostly been the one driving the Ed Chynoweth Cup to various stops across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
    Jackson, who is the great utility man in the Raiders organization helping with the team on the ice and staff in the business office, has been accompanied by a rotating crew of volunteers and Raiders staffers on most of these trips.

    The Ed Chynoweth Cup has visited Cross Lake, Man., Camrose, Alta., Estevan, Sask., and all points in between.

    This week, the Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt and Mike Dumelie, who is one of the team’s Saskatchewan scouts, brought the Ed Chynoweth Cup to the family farm of the late Adam Herold near Montmartre, Sask.

Thank-you to Curtis Hunt and Mike Dumelie of @PARaidersHockey for bringing the Ed Chynoweth cup to the farm for Adams day with the cup. Very respectful and very appreciated by us.
😇AH34#OnceaRaiderAlwaysaRaider pic.twitter.com/9zu75NxITA

— Russ Herold (@RussHerold12) August 1, 2019

    Herold was one of the 16 players who passed away in the tragic Humboldt Broncos bus crash on April 6, 2018. The defenceman was wrapping up his 16-year-old season playing for the junior A squad that was in the semifinal round of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs.

    The Raiders selected Herold in the second round and 35^th overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. He skated in four regular season games with the Raiders, and during his time with the club, he made a lot of strong friendships.

    He was slated to be a full-time player with the Raiders as a 17-year-old for this past season had he not passed away. The Raiders made sure Herold was remembered as the club journeyed through a successful and extraordinary 2018-19 campaign.

View this post on Instagram

Thanks to everyone who made this day special!

A post shared by Parker Kelly (@parks_17) on Jul 17, 2019 at 6:06pm PDT

    The WHL Championship trophy is named after the late Ed Chynoweth, who had a huge hand in building the WHL and major junior hockey to what it is today. Chynoweth, who passed away from cancer in 2008, would have loved to see the Raiders celebrate their WHL championship win in the manner they have done.

    The previous winning teams of the Ed Chynoweth Cup have gotten the trophy out to various events in their respective centres, but it is safe to say the Raiders have outdone all of those previous winners this summer.

View this post on Instagram

Thank you to everyone who came to share this special day #PAradise #Ed

A post shared by Zack Hayes (@hayesie24) on Jul 27, 2019 at 5:03pm PDT

    The Raiders have celebrated winning the WHL title in the right way, and they have created a great summer for so many that will never be forgotten.

    The summer of 2019 will go down as “The Summer of the Raiders.”

Guhle, Wiesblatt off to Hlinka Gretzky Cup

Kaiden Guhle is an assistant captain for Canada’s summer under-18 team.

    Two of the Prince Albert Raiders biggest young stars will aim to shine on the international stage wearing the colours of Team Canada.

    Last Tuesday, defenceman Kaiden Guhle and right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt were among the 22 players named to Canada’s national men’s summer under-18 team for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. The Hlinka Gretzky Cup starts this coming Monday and runs through Saturday, Aug. 10, in Breclav in the Czech Republic and Piestany in Slovakia.

    Guhle was also named one of the assistant captains for the Canadian squad.

    Canada has won gold at the last two straight Hlinka Gretzky Cups and captured the tournament title 22 times in the previous 28 editions of the event.

    Guhle and Wiesblatt were part of a trio of outstanding 16-year-old rookies the Raiders had last season along with right-winger Jacob Brook. They helped the Raiders finish first overall in WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions.

    Brook took part in the selection camp for Canada’s under-18 summer team along with Saskatoon Blades left-winger Kyle Crnkovic, but both didn’t make the cut for the final roster.

    Last season, Guhle, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 186 pounds, appeared in 65 regular season games with the Raiders posting three goals, 14 assists and a plus-17 rating in the plus-minus department.

Ozzy Wiesblatt will play for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

    Wiesblatt, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 187 pounds, skated in 64 regular season games with the Raiders posting 15 goals, 24 assists and a plus-30 rating.

    Guhle and Wiesblatt participated in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge held last November in Quispamsis and Saint John, N.B.

    Guhle was captain of Canada Red and posted three assists in six overall games. Wiesblatt was an assistant captain for Canada Black and collected one goal and two assists in five overall games.

    On Saturday, Canada’s under-18 summer team faced Slovakia in an exhibition game at the Easton Arena in Piestany and posted a 4-1 victory.

    Guhle scored Canada’s third marker of the contest to conclude a three-goal surge in the first period. Jeremie Poirier, Jean-Luc Foudy and Seth Jarvis had singles for Canada.

    Oliver Fatul replied with a single for Slovakia.

    Tristan Lennox started the game in goal for Canada and turned away all five shots sent his way. Dylan Garand entered the contest at the 10:31 mark of the second period and turned away eight-of-nine shots fired his way.

    Simon Latkoczy stopped 22 shots going the distance in goal for Slovakia.

    Canada begins play at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this coming Monday against Finland.

    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 bow out at Memorial Cup with 5-2 loss to Storm

Skid for WHL champs grows to 13 games at CHL title tourney

Sean Montgomery had a goal for the Raiders on Tuesday.

    The Prince Albert Raiders suffered the same fate at the Memorial Cup as the three WHL champions that came before them.
    On Tuesday, the Raiders closed play at the Memorial Cup tournament falling 5-2 to the OHL champion Guelph Storm before 9,248 spectators at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S.

    With the loss the Raiders were eliminated from the tournament finishing last in the round robin standings at 0-3.

    The same fate was suffered by the Brandon Wheat Kings in 2016, the Seattle Thunderbirds in 2017 and the Swift Current Broncos a year ago. Like the Raiders this year, all of those clubs felt an extreme high winning the WHL title and capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    The league championship victory was followed by an epilogue of going winless in the CHL championship tournament creating a bit of flat feeling at the end of the campaign.

    In total, the club that enters the Memorial Cup as the WHL champion has lost 13 straight games at the CHL championship tourney. The last time a WHL champion posted a win at the Memorial Cup came back on May 29, 2015, when the Kelowna Rockets hammered the host Remparts 9-3 in Quebec City, Quebec, in a semifinal contest.

    Since 2015, WHL clubs have earned wins at the Memorial Cup, when they enter the event as the host team. The Red Deer Rebels went 2-2 as tournament host in 2016, and the Regina Pats were 3-2 as the hosts of last year’s 100^th edition of the event.
    The Pats made the Memorial Cup title game a year ago falling 3-0 to the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

    Still when looking at the fate of the entrant that is the WHL champion since 2015, one wonders how long the losing streak for that entrant will go at the Memorial Cup.

Noah Gregor was one of the Raiders top players this season.

    Over the past 10 tournaments that have determined the CHL champion, a WHL club has come out victorious just once in 2014 when the Edmonton Oil Kings captured the Memorial Cup in London, Ont.

    Clubs from the OHL won the Memorial Cup five times over that span of time, while clubs from the QMJHL have taken the title four times. When the title game of this year’s tournament is played on Sunday, the WHL as a league will have won one of the last 11 Memorial Cup championships.

    Now that the Raiders have been eliminated at this year’s event, the WHL as a league has matched its longest drought of not winning major junior hockey’s biggest prize spanning five seasons. The WHL failed the win the Memorial Cup over a five year span from 2009 to 2013.

    Clubs from the WHL first became eligible to play for the Memorial Cup in the 1970-71 campaign.

    Due to the WHL’s lack of success at the Memorial Cup, the notion that teams coming out of the OHL and QMJHL are better than those in the WHL just keeps growing.
    Honestly, how can that notion not grow?

    While the WHL has been in a funk at the Memorial Cup, hopes were high the Raiders might break that funk, even when they entered Tuesday’s game against the Storm.

    Fans of the Prince Albert club saw a core group of players grow together in overager Sean Montgomery, who is a career Raider, captain Brayden Pachal, Zack Hayes, Max Martin, Spencer Moe, Cole Fonstad, Parker Kelly and star netminder Ian Scott from a 2016-17 campaign that saw the then young squad take their lumps posting a 21-44-5-2 record.

    In a magical 2018-19 campaign, the Raiders posted the WHL’s best regular season mark at 54-10-2-2 and were also rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

Dante Hannoun scored for the Raiders on Tuesday.

    They captured the WHL title in dramatic fashion when standout overage centre Dante Hannoun scored in overtime in Game 7 of the league final to beat the Vancouver Giants 3-2 before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre.
    With all that had happened to the Raiders, you thought fate wouldn’t let them exit the Memorial Cup at 0-3.

    The Storm finished eighth overall in the OHL’s regular season with a 40-18-6-4 mark before winning their league championship. If the Raiders were going to pick up a win at the Memorial Cup, this might very well be the spot.

    The Storm opened the scoring on Tuesday at the 9:42 mark of the first period. After catching the Raiders on a bad line change, the Storm entered the Prince Albert zone on a two-on-one break.
    Storm centre Nick Suzuki made a sweet pass over to pinching defenceman Fedor Gordeev, and Gordeev converted the setup for his first goal of the tournament.

    The Raiders pulled even at 1-1 scoring their first power-play goal of the tournament, when Montgomery tipped home a point shot by star overage centre Noah Gregor at the 11:32 mark of the first.

    The goals kept coming in the opening frame. With 4:42 remaining in the first, Storm captain Isaac Ratcliffe took a pass from linemate MacKenzie Entwistle, cut across the front of the Prince Albert net and tucked home a backhand shot between the legs of Scott to give Guelph a 2-1 lead.
    With 43.1 seconds remaining in the first, the Raiders pulled even at 2-2, when Hannoun tipped home a point shot from Pachal.

    From that exciting opening 20 minutes, Guelph assumed control of the game.

    The Storm surged ahead 4-2 scoring twice early in the second period.

Brayden Pachal gave the Raiders great leadership.

    While working the power play, import left-winger Pavel Gogolev sent a pass from the left boards to Liam Hawel in front of the Prince Albert goal. Hawel blew home a shot to put the storm up 3-2 just 81 seconds into the second.
    The Storm struck again on a centre ice turnover. Storm defenceman Sean Durzi picked off a Raiders pass at the red-line and quickly transitioned the puck up ice.

    Durzi sent the puck to Ratcliffe on the left wing, and Ratcliffe slipped a beauty pass to get Suzuki in alone on the Prince Albert goal. Suzuki put a shot to the right corner of the Raiders net at the 5:02 mark of the second to put the Storm up 4-2.

    At the 6:42 mark of the third, Suzuki had the puck behind the icing line in the Prince Albert zone and banked it off the back of Scott into the Raiders goal to round out the scoring in the contest.

    Scott turned away 20 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders. Anthony Popovich stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Storm.

    The Raiders weren’t able to get any real traction to mount a comeback over the second and third frames, as the Storm had an advantage in puck possession. Guelph also had a 41-18 edge in faceoffs won forcing Prince Albert to chase to get possession of the puck.

    To make the night even more heartbreaking for the Raiders, star right-winger Brett Leason was stopped twice on one breakaway opportunity late in the third.

    The Storm finished round robin play with a 2-1 record. Guelph is waiting on the result of Wednesday’s final round robin game between the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (1-1) and host Halifax Mooseheads (2-0) to see if it will play in Friday’s semifinal or Sunday’s title game.

    For the Raiders, they had a spectacular season. Since entering the major junior ranks at the start of the 1982-83 campaign, the Raiders captured the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for finishing first in the overall league standings for the second time in team history.

Parker Kelly played the power forward role to perfection in 2018-19.

    Prince Albert won the WHL crown for the second time in team history.

    The last time the Raiders finished first in the WHL regular season and won the league title was back in 1984-85, when they won their only Memorial Cup title.

    For a team that went through a 13-year stretch from 2006 to 2018 of missing the playoffs seven times and being eliminated in the first round six times, the Raiders have a lot to be proud of. They returned to elite status in the major junior ranks.

    Unfortunately for the WHL, the losing streak by its league champion at the Memorial Cup tournament remains.

    It will be the elephant in the room the circuit has to deal with until a WHL champion finally wins to put an end to the skid.

    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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Huskies, bad luck beat Raiders

Prince Albert faces elimination from Memorial Cup

Noah Gregor had three points for the Raiders on Monday.

    Is the magic running out for the Prince Albert Raiders?
    The ending of Monday’s round robin game at the Memorial Cup tournament in Halifax, N.S., might be a bad omen for the WHL champions.

    The Raiders entered the third period locked in a 3-3 tie with the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in a clash played before 9,186 spectators at the Scotiabank Centre.

    Inside of the final five minutes of the third period, the puck luck did not go the way of the Raiders. The Huskies scored two gritty goals and put a third into an empty net for a 6-3 victory.

    With 4:32 remaining in the third, the Huskies jumped ahead 4-3, when 19-year-old right-winger Tyler Hinam scored his second of the night.

    Huskies star offensive defenceman Noah Dobson drove down the right wing into the Prince Albert zone and threw a pass to the front of the Raiders net. The puck sat loose in front of the Prince Albert goal and Hinam beat everyone to the puck firing home what turned out to be the winning tally.

    With 3:07 remaining in the third, the Huskies received another bit of puck luck to go up 5-3. A centring pass from Huskies centre Peter Abbandonato deflected off the skate of Raiders defenceman Zack Hayes right to Huskies left-winger Joel Teasdale, who was in perfect shooting position right in front of the Prince Albert net.

    Teasdale blew home his second goal of the contest to put the Huskies up two.

    Dobson added an empty-net tally with 1:41 remaining in the third to round out the Huskies three-goal surge and the 6-3 final.
    The result ruined a great game for Raiders star overage centre Noah Gregor, who had a goal and two assists in the contest.

Brayden Pachal had a goal for the Raiders.

    The win allows the Huskies to improve to 1-1. They will conclude round robin play on Wednesday with a game against the host Halifax Mooseheads, who are 2-0 in the tournament.

    The Raiders fell to 0-2 at the tournament with the loss. They will need to beat the OHL champion Guelph Storm, who are 1-1, in a round robin game on Tuesday (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, Sportsnet) to earn a likely berth into a standings tiebreaker game on Thursday.

    Prince Albert could conceivably end up in Friday’s semifinal, but would need to blowout the Storm on Tuesday and hope the Huskies lose on Wednesday. The Raiders are hampered in any tiebreaking scenario posting by far the worst goals for-and-against ratio after two games with four goals for and 10 goals against.

    If the Raiders lose on Tuesday, their season is over.

    This marks the second time the Raiders are facing elimination from the current post-season.

    Their only other elimination game came back on May 13, when overage centre Dante Hannoun scored in overtime in Game 7 of the WHL final in a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. Of course, that victory allowed the Raiders to win their second WHL championship and the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    Monday’s result also marks the 12^th straight time the WHL champion has lost a game at the Memorial Cup tournament. The last time a WHL champion posted a win at the Memorial Cup came back on May 29, 2015, when the Kelowna Rockets hammered the host Remparts 9-3 in Quebec City, Quebec, in a semifinal contest.

    The clash between the Raiders and Huskies featured the squads that posted the two largest regular season win totals in the CHL in 2018-19.
    The Raiders posted the WHL’s best regular season record at 54-10-2-2 and were also rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    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.

Cole Fonstad had a goal for the Raiders on Monday.

    Monday’s game started with the goalies on each side giving up a weak goal.

    At the 4:34 mark of the opening frame, Hinam snuck home his first of the contest from a bad angle standing along the right corner boards by the icing line in the Prince Albert zone to give Rouyn-Noranda a 1-0 lead. It was an uncharacteristic shot allowed by Raiders star netminder Ian Scott.

    Just under four minutes later, Raiders star left-winger Cole Fonstad scored on a wraparound to even things up at 1-1. Fonstad’s shot just snuck under the skate of Huskies star netminder Samuel Harvey, who didn’t have a strong seal on the post of his net.

    At the 13:47 mark of the first, the Raiders jumped ahead 2-1, when Gregor found captain Brayden Pachal pinching down from the point on a backdoor feed. Pachal, who rounded into an offensive defenceman this season, fired the puck into an empty right side of the Rouyn-Noranda goal.

    With 1:28 remaining in the first, the Huskies scores a picturesque power-play goal to even things up at 2-2. Felix Bibeau and Rafael Harvey-Pinard combined to set up Teasdale for an open backdoor chance to the right side of the Prince Albert net.

    Teasdale made no mistake knocking home his first goal of the contest.

    At the 12:59 mark of the second, the Huskies jumped ahead 3-2. Huskies import left-winger Jakub Lauko centred a pass from behind the Prince Albert net to Bibeau, who was alone in front of the goal.

Bibeau quickly wired home a shot to put Rouyn-Noranda up one.

    The Raiders evened things up at 3-3 with 2:17 remaining in the second, when Gregor took a smart drop pass from Fonstad and snapped home a shot from the right slot.

    That set the stage for the Huskies goal surge late in the third period.

Raiders netminder Ian Scott deal with some bad breaks on Monday.

    Scott turned away 27-of-32 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders. Harvey stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Huskies.

    Monday’s game was a much improved performance by both teams from their respective opening contests at the event. The Raiders fell 4-1 to the host Mooseheads on Friday.  The Huskies dropped a 5-2 decision to the Storm on Saturday.

    Prince Albert was way better than the 6-3 final in Rouyn-Noranda’s favour on Monday.

    Before any possible tiebreaking scenarios can be discussed, the Raiders need to post a win on Tuesday. If the Raiders don’t win on Tuesday, they will be the first club heading home from this year’s Memorial Cup as their spectacular 2018-19 campaign will have come to an end.

Hangover not kind for 2018 Memorial Cup teams

Titan goalie Evan Fitzpatrick makes a save in last year’s Memorial Cup.

    The 2018-19 campaign was not kind to the participants of the 2018 Memorial Cup held a year ago in Regina, Sask.

    None of the four teams from last year’s CHL championship tournament qualified for this year’s event currently going on in Halifax, N.S.

    Actually, three out of the four clubs had dreadful rebuilding campaigns.

    The Acadie-Bathurst Titan won the Memorial Cup a year ago as the QMJHL champions. They finished second overall in the QMJHL regular season with a 43-15-8-2 record.

    After going through a huge turnover on their roster and seeing head coach Mario Pouliot leave to become the head coach and general manager of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, the Titan finished last this season in the QMJHL at 8-54-5-1.

    The Swift Current Broncos entered the 2018 Memorial Cup as WHL champions. The Broncos finished second overall in the WHL regular season in 2017-18 with a 48-17-5-2 record.

    After undergoing a massive turnover in the organization, the Broncos finished last in the WHL this season with an 11-51-4-2 record.

    The host Regina Pats fell 3-0 in the Memorial Cup championship game to the Titan a year ago. The Pats finished seventh overall in the WHL regular season with a 40-25-6-1 record in 2017-18.

Regina had serious roster turnover and finished third last in the WHL this season with a 19-45-1-3 record.

Glenn Gawdin finish off his CHL days at last year’s Memorial Cup.

    The Titan, Broncos and Pats stacked up their rosters with older players in an attempt to win the Memorial Cup.

    The Hamilton Bulldogs entered the 2018 Memorial Cup as champions of the OHL. The Bulldogs had the third best record in the OHL regular season in 2017-18 with a 43-18-4-3 record.

    The Bulldogs were the only participant from last year’s Memorial Cup that managed to earn a playoff berth this season. Hamilton posted a 29-34-3-2 record to finish in eighth and capture the final post-season berth in the OHL’s Eastern Conference.

    Hamilton was swept 4-0 in a best-of-seven first round playoff series against the Ottawa 67’s.

    The four participants at last year’s Memorial Cup showed just how quickly life can change in major junior hockey. The Titan, Broncos and Pats are expected to feel the effects of loading up to make it to that event still in the upcoming 2019-20 campaign.

    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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