Raiders wise to focus on Game 5 of WHL Championship Series

Questionable third period calls in Game 4 left in past

An officials’ conference takes place in Game 4 of the WHL final.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Prince Albert Raiders turned the page as soon as their post-game presser on Wednesday night.

That feeling was reinforced in media interviews during an off day on Thursday.

No matter how you cut it, the Raiders are in the classic cliché “do or die” situation in their best-of-seven WHL Championship Series with the Everett Silvertips. With a 5-2 victory in Game 4 on Wednesday at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre, the Silvertips took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series having won the last three straight contests in the set. Everett has also scored first in every game of the series.

Game 5 is slated for Friday at 7:30 p.m. local time at the Hauser. At the moment, the Raiders can only look towards the game Friday.

They can go into the contest with a key motivating factor. They do not want that game to come to a conclusion where the Silvertips are being presented the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions. If that situation materializes, the Raiders will find out one of the hardest things they will experience in sports is seeing an opponent celebrate a league championship in their own home rink and home city.

In the older era of the WHL and even into the early 2010s, teams that made the WHL final did not want to see an opponent enjoy a championship celebration on their home rink. If the Raiders prevail on Friday, they will force the series to head back to Everett for Game 6 on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time at the Angel of the Winds Arena. The last WHL final to go to a Game 6 came in 2022, when the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Seattle Thunderbirds in six games.

In Game 4 of this year’s WHL final, frustration ensued for the Raiders and their fans as an official’s mistake snowballed on the host side. Raiders fans might not believe this, but there was a game in this year’s WHL Playoffs that snowballed worse due to an official’s mistake. That contest will be brought up a little later, but first the focus goes to the third period in Game 4 of the WHL final.

The fans first got upset when Silvertips star right-winger Carter Bear scored on the power play at the 4:24 mark of the third to put the visitors up 3-1. A replay shown in the building after the goal was scored showing the play was close to being offside on a zone entry. Before the 2023-24 campaign started, the WHL made a rule change eliminating offside plays from a coach’s challenge.

A short time later, Raiders captain Justice Christensen scored to cut the Silvertips lead to 3-2. That set the stage for the biggest controversial play of the contest.

With 11:33 remaining in the third, Raiders star centre Aiden Oiring tried to wrap the puck home at the right side of the Silvertips net. Silvertips star netminder Anders Miller made the stop, but a mad scramble ensued at the right side of the goal.

The puck bounced around a maze of skates and sticks and shot out to Raiders rookie defenceman Benett Kelly in front of the Everett net. Kelly appeared to blast home the equalizer causing the crowd at the Hauser to momentarily erupt.

The officials blew the play dead having lost sight of the puck. They disallowed the goal due to the quick whistle causing the crowd to turn irate. About two or three people ended up throwing debris on the ice.

The officials did a short video review and still held up the no goal call.

That quick whistle was a mistake, and the Raiders should have been in a tie game at that point. What fans often forget in the WHL is that the circuit is a development league for the officials as well as the players. You do run into a handful of fans in every WHL market thinking everything should be executed at an NHL level, which is great to hope for but unrealistic to expect.

On seemingly the next shift with 10:40 remaining in the third, Raiders standout sophomore Riley Boychuk appeared to fire home another equalizer. That goal was waved off as the officials correctly ruled a Raiders player had knocked a Silvertips player into Miller causing inadvertent contact that prevented the netminder from making a save.

The officials got that call right. Still, there were Raiders fans that were mad that goal didn’t count.

The snowball effect carried on.

With 9:40 remaining in the third, the Raiders suffered a bad break that didn’t have anything to do with the officials. While attempting to break out of their zone, Raiders star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring and Christensen both blew tires causing the puck to be turned over to Silvertips 20-year-old centre Zackary Shantz along the right boards in the Prince Albert zone.

Shantz passed the puck across the front of the Prince Albert net to linemate in 18-year-old left-winger Shea Busch. Busch popped the puck home to push the Silvertips lead out to 4-2. Matias Vanhanen proceeded to add an empty-net goal to round out the 5-2 final score in favour of the Silvertips.

This wasn’t the only game that went off the rails due to an official’s mistake. An even worse one took place earlier in the current WHL Playoffs on April 15 at the CN Centre in Prince George, B.C.

On that night, the host Prince George Cougars went into Game 4 of a Western Conference Semifinal Series against the Penticton Vees holding a 2-1 lead in that best-of-seven set. The two sides were locked in a 2-2 tie in a very entertaining contest heading into the final six minutes of the third period.

With 5:50 remaining in the third, Cougars defenceman Corbin Vaughan nailed Vees centre Ryden Evers with a shoulder to the chest bodycheck in the centre ice zone. Evers fell face first to the ice and was cut by his visor.

The officials in that game gave Vaughan a major penalty for head checking and a game misconduct. It was clear reviewing the video that no head check occurred on the play.

All of a sudden, the snowball happened. A short time later, Cougars defenceman Arsenii Anisimov cleared the puck over the glass from his own zone resulting in a delay of game penalty.

Vees captain Nolan Stevenson scored on that two-man advantage with 4:16 remaining in the third to put Penticton up 3-2. A handful of Cougars fans were so upset they threw debris on the ice.

After play resumed, a couple of other Cougars fans threw debris on the ice while play was in progress. That caused the officials to blow the play dead with 3:40 remaining in the third and give the Cougars bench a penalty due to the actions of the fans. That is a rule that rarely gets put into action, but that was the right time to call that penalty.

Vees defenceman Ethan Weber scored on that two-man advantage with 2:29 remaining in the third to push the Vees lead out to 4-2. The Cougars penalty box parade continued resulting in Vees left-winger Brady Birnie scoring third power-play goal on a two-man advantage with 51 seconds remaining in the third to round out the 5-2 final score in favour of Penticton.

That ultimately was the contest that saw the Cougars get fined $1,500 on April 17 by the WHL for inadequate security. Vaughan did not receive any further discipline for his hit on Evers. Cougars left-winger Aiden Foster was given a two-game suspension for receiving a head checking major and a game misconduct in the second period of that contest.

In both the Raiders Game 4 situation in the WHL final and the Cougars Game 4 development in their Western Conference semifinal, the fans speak from Raiders and Cougars supporters online was fairly standard regarding how bad the officials were. The men wearing the referee armbands in both games got singled out heat from some fans.

There were some Raiders fans that did not like referees Jeff Ingram and Ward Pateman who worked Game 4 of the WHL final. There were some Cougars fans that did not like referees Bryan Bourdon and Bobby Jo Love who worked Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinal in Prince George.

You also had fans going the conspiracy theory route saying the league was trying to set up some sort of match up or help certain teams win. Every team in the WHL has at least a couple of fans like that, and they’ve kind of said those lines for at least three decades. Those types of fans have a passion in a place where you can’t change their mind.

Switching sports to the world of the NFL, there are still fans out there who believe that league did everything they could to ensure the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, 2024, because Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was the boyfriend of icon of all music icons in Taylor Swift. There are fans that believe the NFL went out of their way to make sure “Goddess Taylor” was happy because of all the fans she brought to the viewership of the game helping the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ERS 25-22 in overtime.

None of those fans said anything when the Chiefs lost Super Bowl LIX the very next year 40-22 in an absolute drubbing handed out by the Philadelphia Eagles. That contest also happened to be attended by the President of the United States of America in Donald Trump, which marked the first time a sitting U.S. President attended the Super Bowl.

Back to the WHL, the Cougars would ultimately lose their Western Conference Semifinal Series to the Vees in six games. Going into Game 5 in Penticton, both teams left what happened in Game 4 of that series in the past and moved forward focusing on controlling what they can control.

When the puck drops for Game 5 of the WHL final on Friday at the Hauser, you can bet both the Raiders and Silvertips will have left what happened in Game 4 of their series in the past. Teams won’t always agree with what the officials call, but there is a realization they are developing and gaining experience too.

For myself, I have actually been fine for the most part with the officiating in the WHL Playoffs outside of a handful of hiccups here and there.

As for the Raiders, they are facing their biggest adversity of the campaign, and their test will be to see how they respond to that adversity. They have taken the first step on that path in focusing on the future.

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 romp into Christmas break with 8-3 win

Gorzynski collects five points in P.A. home debut

If first impressions are anything, Brandon Gorzynski is going to be a fan favourite in “Hockey Town North” in the not too distance future.

On Friday night, the 18-year-old left-winger played his first home game as a member of the Prince Albert Raiders before a standing room crowd of 2,584 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. Back on Monday, the Raiders acquired Gorzynski in a trade with the Calgary Hitmen that saw 17-year-old left-winger Ty Meunier, a second round selection in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft and a conditional fourth round pick in the 2027 Prospects Draft head the other way.

Gorzynski had an assist in his Raiders debut on Wednesday, when they traveled to Regina and fell to the host Pats 5-4 in a WHL regular season contest.

Skating at the Art Hauser Centre as a member of the Prince Albert side for the first time in regular season play on Friday, Gorzynski had a sensational night recording his first career WHL hat trick and two assists as the Raiders romped over the visiting Kelowna Rockets 8-3. Gorzynski scored twice on a hot night for the power play and once at even strength. The Raiders were 5-for-9 with the man advantage and successfully killed off both of the Rockets chances on the power play.

The victory allowed the Raiders to head into their Christmas break in impressive fashion. They improved to 23-5-4 to move one standings point ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers (22-6-3-2) for first place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Raiders have a game in hand on the Tigers.

Prince Albert leads the East Division, while the Tigers top the Central Division. The Raiders also sit second in the overall WHL standings and third in the latest CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday.

The Rockets fell to 16-12-3-1 as they head into their Christmas break to sit inside the top five of the Western Conference. Kelowna will host the upcoming CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – from May 22 to 31, 2026, and the Rockets will be searching to play with a little better consistency when they return to action after Christmas.

The Raiders stormed out of the gates on Friday night scoring three times on their first six shots of the contest to hold a 3-0 lead at the 9:54 mark of the opening frame. Linden Burrett, who is a 19-year-old defenceman, scored just 78 seconds into the game on a backhander off an offensive rush, and Raiders captain Justice Christensen hammered home the club’s first power-play goal of the night to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

Gorzynski completed the surge with his first power-play goal of the contest and the Raiders second tally with the man advantage. Holding the puck at a bad angle to the right side of the Kelowna net, the Scottsdale, Arizona, product put a shot to the top right corner of the net over the shoulder of Rockets breakout star rookie netminder Harrison Boettiger.

Before the first period ended, the Rockets made a push back that saw captain Carson Wetsch fire home his 13^th of the season just 35 seconds after Gorzynski’s first tally to trim the Raiders lead to 3-1.

Just 84 seconds into the second period, Raiders 17-year-old right-winger Jonah Sivertson potted his 10^th goal of the season to push the home side’s lead out to 4-1. At the 3:02 mark of the second, Gorzynski slipped home a backhand shot from the front of the Kelowna net for an even strength tally to give the Raiders a 5-1 advantage.

That tally knocked Boettiger out of the game as he was pulled by the Rockets coaching staff after stopping 8-of-13 shots sent his way to take the loss in net for the visitors. Josh Banini turned away 23-of-26 shots playing the rest of the way in relief.

The Rockets didn’t go away. Jaxon Kehrig, who is an 18-year-old centre, scored for the Rockets at the 11:47 mark of the second to cut the Raiders lead to 5-2.

Gorzynski picked up his first of two assists by setting up 17-year-old right-winger Riley Boychuk for a power-play goal at the 13:04 mark of the second to push the Raiders advantage out to 6-2.

Rockets 19-year-old right-winger Dawson Gerwing netted his sixth goal of the campaign at the 16:30 mark of the second to trim the Prince Albert lead to 6-3. Kelowna’s offence proceeded to dry up at that point.

Just 2:33 into the third, Raiders star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring scored on the power play by potting the rebound from a shot taken by Gorzynski to make the score sit at 7-3 in favour of the hosts.

With 5:12 remaining in the third, Gorzynski completed his hat trick by firing home a power-play goal from the right faceoff dot in the Calgary zone to round out the 8-3 final score in favour of Prince Albert.

Dimitri Fortin made 34 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders.

Oiring had three assists to go with his goal. He also surpassed 200 career points in regular season play with his big night. In 231 career regular season contests played between the Winnipeg Ice and the Raiders, Oiring has collected 76 goals and 126 assists for 202 points.

Maddix McCagherty, Brayden Dube, Brock Cripps and Daxon Rudolph each had two helpers for the Raiders.

The Rockets return to action on Saturday, December 27 when they host the 15-18-1-1 Vancouver Giants (6 p.m. local time, Prospera Place).

The Raiders also return to action on that same day traveling to Swift Current to take on the 8-23-1 Broncos (7 p.m., InnovationPlex).

Heading into the Christmas break, Prince Albert has enjoyed a memorable campaign to this point. With the performance the Raiders put on in the win over the Rockets on Friday, the faithful in “Hockey Town North” will be jumping to pack the Raiders storied home rink and enjoy a few road trips to support their team when game action resumes after the holiday hiatus.

Silvertips rally for 3-2 OT win over Cougars, other notes

Landon DuPont put on his superhero cape to cap a miracle comeback for the WHL leading Everett Silvertips.

Playing before a raucous crowd of 6,073 spectators at the Angel of the Winds Arena in a regular season clash on Friday night, the host Silvertips found themselves trailing the B.C. Division leading Prince George Cougars 2-0 heading into the final two minutes of the third period. It appeared Cougars 19-year-old rookie import netminder Alexander Levshyn was going to steal a victory for the visitors as the Silvertips threw seemingly everything including the kitchen sink at him without getting a goal.

When all hope looked lost for the Silvertips, their offence proceeded to break through.

With 71 seconds remaining in the third and star netminder Raiden LeGall pulled for an extra attacker, Silvertips 20-year-old centre Zackary Shantz potted his 15^th goal of the campaign to cut the Cougars lead to 2-1. He pulled a toe-drag move and fired home a shot between Levshyn’s legs.

With 41.9 second remaining in the third, DuPont, who is the Silvertips star 16-year-old sophomore defenceman, potted the equalizer during a scramble in front of the Prince George net that forced a 2-2 tie and overtime. The rearguard ultimately potted the equalizer off a rebound from a shot taken by Silvertips star right-winger Jesse Heslop.

At the 2:47 mark of the three-versus-three overtime period, DuPont drove down the right wing with the puck, zipped past the Cougars defence, cut across the front of the Prince George net and fired home the winner after making a toe drag move. The spectacular tally that gave the Silvertips the 3-2 victory was DuPont’s sixth tally and third winner of the campaign.

The comeback helped the Silvertips push their winning streak to seven games heading into their Christmas break as they improved their WHL leading record to 27-3-2-1. The Silvertips topped the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday.

The Cougars continued to lead the B.C. Division as their record moved to 22-9-1 with the extra time setback as they set off on their Christmas break.

Prince George went ahead 1-0 in Friday’s clash with the Silvertips on a second period goal from 19-year-old defenceman Corbin Vaughan. The Cougars appeared to have locked down a victory after going ahead 2-0 with 2:50 remaining in the third when 18-year-old import rookie centre Dmitri Yakutsenak netted his 14^th goal of the campaign.

That set the stage for the epic Silvertips rally for the win.

LeGall made 14 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips. Levshyn turned away 51 shots to take the extra time setback in net for the Cougars.

The Silvertips return to action on Saturday, December 27 when they travel to Kent, Washington, to face the 13-14-2-1 Seattle Thunderbirds (6 p.m. local time, Accesso ShoWare Centre).

The Cougars also get back at it on that same day when they host the 13-11-4-3 Victoria Royals (6 p.m. local time, CN Centre).

• In Calgary, 18-year-old breakout star right-winger Joby Baumuller scored in overtime to deliver the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings to a 3-2 victory over the host Hitmen. The Wheat Kings jumped out to a 2-0 in the first period and the Hitmen rallied with single goals in the second and third frames to even the score at 2-2 and force overtime.
• In Kent, Washington, Antonio Martorana and Brock England scored in a tiebreaking shootout to give the host Seattle Thunderbirds a 2-0 win in the tiebreaking session and a 1-0 overall game victory over the visiting Kamloops Blazers. Logan Edmonstone turned away 40 shots over 65 minutes and one shooter in the shootout for the Blazers. Marek Sklenicka stopped 36 shots and both shooters he faced in the shootout for the Thunderbirds.
• In Langley, B.C., 16-year-old rookie left-winger Ludovic Perreault scored the first three goals of the game to power the visiting Victoria Royals to a 5-1 victory over the host Vancouver Giants. Royals 17-year-old left-winger Nolan Stewart had one goal and three assists in the win, while 18-year-old right-winger Caleb Matthews had one goal and two assists for the visitors. Of course, Perreault, Stewart and Matthews play on the same line.

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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Laing finds his offensive groove in Saskatoon

Blades lock up berth in WHL Playoffs with 4-1 win over Raiders

Hunter Laing reacts to scoring his second goal on Saturday.

Hunter Laing discovered that “Runnin’ Back To Saskatoon” is turning out to be the best thing for his WHL career.

The 18-year-old right-winger came to “The Bridge City” in a blockbuster trade on January 8. Laing was dealt by the Prince George Cougars along with 15-year-old prospect defenceman Luke Dumas, a first round selection in the 2026 Prospects Draft and fifth round pick in the 2028 Prospects Draft to the Blades in exchange for 19-year-old centre Ben Riche.

On Saturday playing before 5,330 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, Laing scored twice to power the host Blades to a 4-1 victory over their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders. The win allowed the Blades to improve to 33-21-3-4 to officially clinch a berth in the WHL Playoffs.

Hunter Laing has five goals and one assist in his last three games.

Since arriving in Saskatoon, Laing has recorded 13 goals, five assists and a plus-five rating in the plus-minus department in 21 games with the Blades. That includes the five goals and one helper he has put up in his last three outings. In the 36 games he played in the 2024-25 campaign with the Cougars, Laing posted 10 goals, 12 assists and a plus-seven rating.

“I think I’m just having a lot more confidence,” said Laing, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 209 pounds. “I’m playing with two great guys with Coop (Cooper Williams) and Lew (David Lewandowski) there.

“I think everything is just clicking. I’m enjoying myself right now.”

Hunter Laing came to the Blades in a trade on January 8.

Last season, Laing played his first full season in the WHL. He suited in 66 regular season games with the Cougars collecting 11 goals and 14 assists. The product of Kelowna, B.C., showed well enough that the Calgary Flames selected him in the sixth round and 170^th overall in the last year’s NHL Entry Draft.

With the Blades, Laing has shown he has a good set of hands working magic around the net to score goals. He is also getting more opportunities to contribute offensively on a younger Blades roster compared to the veteran heavy unit the Cougars are carrying.

“I think the coaches in P.G. trusted me,” said Laing. “I think here they trust me even more to be a guy that can put the puck in the net and be an offensive guy.

The Blades and Raiders engaged is some rough stuff on Saturday.

“I’ve kind of just taken that opportunity and just kept rolling with it.”

The Raiders came out of the gates strong getting the first five shots on goal of the contest. After that initial flurry, the Blades proceeded to carry momentum for an extended time.

Saskatoon opened the game’s scoring while working on the power play at the 7:47 mark of the opening frame thanks to Laing’s sweet hands. Williams, who is a rookie centre, fired a shot on goal that was deflected home by Laing to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

Growing up through the minor hockey ranks, Laing has always been a player who could put up points offensively.

Ethan McCallum made 40 saves for the Blades.

Blades head coach Dan DaSilva said the team’s coaching staff is working with Laing to bring that aspect of his game more to forefront in the WHL.

“We knew that he (Laing) had that capability,” said DaSilva. “He knows that he has the soft hands.

“He is a very smart player with an extremely high hockey IQ. He puts himself in really good position that he can finish. You saw that tonight.

“His hand-eye coordination, his deflection goals are crazy. That first goal tonight was unbelievable just to get a piece of that.”

Max Hildebrand stopped 31-of-34 shots in goal for the Raiders.

With 5:08 remaining in the first, things got a little heated resulting in a short fight by Raiders 18-year-old defenceman Tyrone Sobry and Blades 16-year-old right-winger and associate player call up Kohen Lodge, who has skated for his hometown Red Deer Chiefs under-18 AAA team this season.

The opening frame ended with Raiders star left-winger Tomas Mrsic pinning Williams to the ice. Mrsic received a minor for roughing, which the Raiders killed off at the start of the second.

The Blades pushed their lead out to 2-0 with 7:01 remaining in the second on a power-play goal from Williams. Williams took a shot from the left faceoff circle that deflected in off back checking Raiders centre Evan Smith.

The Blades celebrate a goal from Cooper Williams (#25).

At the time of the goal, the Blades were holding a 26-11 edge in shots on goal after having five straight power plays.

From that moment, the Raiders got some momentum as they got four straight power plays. Blades netminder Ethan McCallum stood his ground and ultimately made 40 saves in the game to pick up the win in the Saskatoon net.

That allowed Laing to add a dagger goal to seal the outcome of the contest with 6:58 remaining in the third. On a rush into the Prince Albert zone, Laing received a nifty backhanded pass from import centre Frantisek Dej, jetted towards the right side of the Raiders net and slipped home his second of the contest to push the Blades advantage out to 3-0.

Brayden Klimpke had a pair of assists for the Blades.

DaSilva appreciated Laing’s finish on his third period tally.

“It was a great big goal for us,” said DaSilva. “He (Laing) is a heck of a hockey player.

“You can see why he is drafted. Calgary saw something in his with the size and the skill. He is a great teammate.

“The guys love him. He has fit in here so well with our group.”

Blades veteran right-winger Tyler Parr, who turned 20-years-old in January, scored the rare short-handed empty-net goal with 70 seconds remaining in the third. While still on the penalty kill, the Blades tried their hardest to get McCallum his first shutout of his WHL career.

Tyler Parr had a short-handed, empty-net goal for the Blades.

With 15.8 seconds remaining in the third, sophomore right-winger Oli Chenier one-timed home a power-play goal from the left side of the Saskatoon net to break up McCallum’s shutout bid and round out the 4-1 final score in favour of the Blades. McCallum admitted he wanted to hold on to the shutout, but he had already shrugged it off when it didn’t happen.

“Obviously, you’re a little upset in the moment, because you’re battling so hard, especially with the six-on-four at the end there,” said McCallum. “You’re just trying to work your butt off, but at the same time, you’re not thinking about it too much.

Grayden Siepmann had a pair of assists for the Blades.

“Just when that goal goes in, it is not a huge deal. I’ve played enough games in this league where I’m just going to be patient with it.”

Max Hildebrand turned away 31-of-34 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders, who fell to 34-22-5-1. Raiders import defenceman Vojtech Vochvest was helped off the ice after blocking a shot late in the first period. He came back for a little bit but wasn’t on the Raiders bench for the third period.

Blades 17-year-old rookie defenceman Brayden Klimpke and 20-year-old rearguard Grayden Siepmann each finished with two assists. Dej was stopped on a penalty shot with 2:30 remaining in the third period. 

The Raiders still sit first in the WHL’s East Division with a one standings point lead over the Blades and the idle Brandon Wheat Kings (33-21-4-3). The Blades and Wheat Kings each have one game in hand on the Raiders.

Frantisek Day had an assist for the Blades.

Brandon sits second in the division holding the standings tiebreaker over Saskatoon with three wins and three extra time losses in the six head-to-head meetings between the two squads. The Wheat Kings are back in action on Sunday when they travel to Calgary to take on the 40-15-3-3 Hitmen (2 p.m. local time, Scotiabank Saddledome).

The Blades get back at it on Tuesday when they travel to Regina to take on the 15-39-5-3 Pats (7 p.m., Brandt Centre).

The Raiders return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Lethbridge to take on the 34-22-5-1 Hurricanes (7 p.m. local time, VisitLethbridge.com Arena).

With the WHL’s regular season nearing an end, Laing is excited to be in a final sprint for first place in the East Division with his team.

“It is getting close for sure,” said Laing. “We made a jump there.

The Blades celebrate their win on Saturday night.

“Every game is huge for us. We’ve got a couple of games against Brandon and P.A. We’ve got to keep it going here.”

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

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Blades, Warriors series has some underlying fan angst

The Blades and Warriors have played an outstanding series.

MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Some fans of the Saskatoon Blades and Moose Jaw Warriors mirror Peyton Manning in the AFL Championship game from the NFL’s 2006 season.

That NFL conference title match featured Manning’s Indianapolis Colts taking on the visiting New England Patriots quarterbacked by Tom Brady. At that point in time, Brady had three Super Bowl rings and had never lost to Manning and the Colts in the post-season. Manning had yet to quarterback a team to a Super Bowl title.

With a minute remaining in the game, Colts running back Joseph Addai scored a touchdown on a three-yard run to put Indianapolis up 38-34 with one minute remaining in the contest.

Manning feared too much time was left on the clock for Brady. After the Colts scored to go ahead, Manning actually said a prayer to God asking for this one time that Brady doesn’t make game-winning drive for the Patriots. Brady ultimately was intercepted on the Patriots final drive and the Colts won the contest 38-34 and would go on to triumph in Super Bowl XLI.

Currently in the 2024 WHL Playoffs, the Blades and Warriors are going at it in the league’s best-of-seven Eastern Conference Championship Series. The Blades lead the series 3-2 and four of those contests having gone to overtime.

Game 6 is set for Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre in Moose Jaw. Over the first five games of the set, the Blades and Warriors have been playing arguably one of the greatest post-season series the WHL has ever seen.

With that said, there seems to be an underlying feeling of angst among some of the fans of both teams. The angst comes from the fact both teams are searching for their first WHL title and Memorial Cup title, which goes to the CHL champion.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Blades.

The Blades were formed in 1964 and were a charter member of the WHL in 1966. In their history, the Blades have never won a league championship or a Memorial Cup.

The Blades have appeared in the WHL final five times and have come away empty handed on each trip. In the those five trips, the Blades went to a series deciding Game 7 with the set locked in a 3-3 tie and weren’t able to bring a WHL title to Saskatoon.

The Blades made the 1989 title game of the Memorial Cup tournament as the host team and fell 4-3 in overtime to the Swift Current Broncos with Tim Tisdale scoring the winning goal for “Speedy Creek.”

The Warriors franchise played in Winnipeg for four seasons before moving to Moose Jaw in 1984. They Warriors have never won a WHL title or a Memorial Cup title. The franchise’s only appearance in the WHL final came in 2006, when they were swept away by the Vancouver Giants.

A previous Moose Jaw entry in the WHL in the Canucks won the league title in the circuit’s inaugural season in 1966-67.

Fans of both the Blades and Warriors are hoping that 2024 will finally be the one time their team wins one or both the WHL title or the Memorial Title to become CHL champions. When something goes wrong for either side, some fans go through a doomed reaction reflecting on being empty handed when it comes to WHL and Memorial Cup titles.

For the Blades, they have a lot of newer fans and have attracted a lot families with kids to their games thanks to ground work of getting into the community including through elementary school visits and being guest coaches for minor hockey teams. 

Fans at the Moose Jaw Civic Centre cheer on the Warriors.

The kids in those families have greatest time in the world at the Blades home rink in the SaskTel Centre, and the parents are usually pleased their kids are having a good experience.

No matter what happens in the post-season, that group of fans will see the playoff run as being memorable.

The Blades also have legacy fans too who have supported the team for decades. Some of those fans have a higher chance of basing their happiness about the season around the Blades winning one or both the WHL and Memorial Cup titles.

There are legacy fans that will be positive for the Blades no matter what ups and downs come the club’s way. Still, those fans really deep down hope 2024 will be the one time the Blades pull it all out.

The Warriors are an institution in Moose Jaw. It feels like everyone in “the Friendly City” is a legacy Warriors fan.

From 1984 to 2000, the Warriors kind of almost had a lovable loser image similar to that of the MLB’s Chicago Cubs, which the Cubs carried for a lengthy stretch. Over the span of time, the Warriors posted winning records on just four occasions.

Despite that, their legendary former home in the Moose Jaw Civic Centre, which was best known as “The Crushed Can,” was packed with a raucous bunch of supporters. When you played the Warriors at “The Crushed Can,” you were playing against the Warriors and their fans. The noise the fans made came at opposing teams with force.

Kalem Parker (#8) is checked by Fraser Minten.

You also had to form an admiration on some level for Warriors fans, because the losing seemingly wouldn’t drive them away for long. If they did go away, they came back to “The Crushed Can” when just even the smallest positive thing happened for the team. You wondered what Moose Jaw would look like if the Warriors did manage to win WHL and Memorial Cup titles.

Since the start of the 2000-01 campaign, the Warriors have been one of the WHL’s better franchises and at times they have been one of the circuit’s elite franchises. 

They moved into a new home in the Moose Jaw Events Centre at the start of the 2011-12 campaign and finished first in the WHL’s regular season standings in 2017-18 with a 52-15-2-3 mark.

The championship still didn’t come in the post-season.

While the hockey between the Blades and Warriors in this year’s Eastern Conference Championship Series has been beyond epic, some fans will seemingly be bothered or take it too hard when their team doesn’t win. The most visible sign of being bothered usually manifests in blaming losses on the officials.

At times, it seems like the fans on both teams and bond over their shared belief the officials can’t do anything right. With that said, you have to respect the passion the fans have.

Due to the fact the Blades and Warriors are searching for their first WHL and Memorial Cup titles, fans on both sides likely believe their team will win this series, because they are not facing someone with a winning pedigree.

The Blades press around the Warriors net.

Had the Medicine Hat Tigers been made it to the Eastern Conference final and managed to take a 3-2 lead on either the Blades or Warriors, some fans of either the Blades or Warriors would be certain the Tigers would close out the series, because they’ve won the WHL title five times and captured the Memorial Cup on two occasions. There would be a feeling teams like the Tigers are destined for those accomplishments and teams like the Blades and Warriors are not.

Honestly, you hope the fans of the Blades and Warriors get to see their teams win WHL and Memorial Cup titles one day. At the moment, those clubs are giving an incredible show.

No matter who wins this series, hopefully the fans on the winning side will have empathy for the fans on the losing side. They might not be mirror images of each other, but the fans of the Blades and Warrior do share a lot of commonalities.

Cougars have new life in Western Conference final

Keaton Dowhaniuk scored for the Cougars on Thursday.

The heavyweight showdown between the Prince George Cougars and Portland Winterhawks is back on in the WHL’s Western Conference Championship Series.

For a moment, it looked like the Winterhawks were going to skate away with a series victory. Due to the lengthy travel between Prince George and Portland, the series is being conducted in a two-three-two format.

The Cougars finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 49-15-1-3 mark, while the Winterhawks were third overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 48-15-4-1 record. That meant the Cougars would host the first two games and the final two contests of the series.

After the two sides split Games 1 and 2 in Prince George, it appeared the Winterhawks home ice advantage would be too much for the Cougars to overcome. Last Monday, the Winterhawks took Game 3 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland 4-1.

The Winterhawks followed that up claiming a 5-2 victory to take Game 4 of the series on home ice last Wednesday along with a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. It seemed like it was academic the Winterhawks would take Game 5 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum last Thursday.

At the 7:03 mark of the first period of Game 5, 20-year-old star centre Gabe Klassen scored to give the Winterhawks a 1-0 lead. It appeared at that point the party was going to be on in Portland. Since the Winterhawks moved to Portland on June 11, 1976, they have won three WHL titles and two Memorial Cup crowns becoming CHL champions.

Riley Heidt and the Cougars have new life in the post-season.

After Klassen’s goal, the Cougars proceeded to play their best game of the post-season. Cougars skilled 19-year-old right-winger Koehn Ziemmer scored twice before the first period ended to give Prince George a 2-1 lead.

Hunter Laing added a single in the second period to push the Cougars edge out to 3-1. Ondrej Becher, Borya Valis and Keaton Dowhaniuk added singles for the visitors in the third to round out an impressive 6-1 victory. Valis’s tally came on a penalty shot.

Joshua Ravensbergen stopped 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Cougars. Jan Spunar turned away 31 shots to take the setback in net for the Winterhawks.

The Cougars romped to victory in Game 5 with their two biggest stars in Riley Heidt and Zac Funk being held pointless.

With the next two games of the series set for the CN Centre in Prince George, the Western Conference title is up for the taking. Game 6 is slated for Monday at 7 p.m. local time at the CN Centre. If the Cougars win Game 6, a series deciding Game 7 will be held on Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time at the CN Centre.

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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Which goalie will be “the guy” in Blades versus Warriors?

WHL’s Eastern Conference final opens on Friday

Evan Gardner covers up a puck in goal for the Blades.

How bad does each goalie want it?

It might be unfair to just look at the guys playing between the pipes when it comes to a hockey playoff series, but the reality is the netminders are the first players anyone checks out when a team wins or loses in the post-season. When it comes to the conference championship round in the WHL Playoffs, a goalie making one or two impossible saves usually makes the different in which team moves on and which club heads into the off-season thinking about what might have been.

This year’s WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series features two clubs in search of their first league title as the Saskatoon Blades take on the Moose Jaw Warriors. The best-of-seven series begins on Friday with Game 1 set for 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

This also marks the first time the Eastern Conference final will be an all-Saskatchewan battle since 1993. Back in 1993, the Swift Current Broncos swept away the Regina Pats and advanced to win the WHL title.

In the 2023-24 campaign, the Blades finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and are 8-1 advancing through the first two rounds of the post-season. Saskatoon was also rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Warriors placed fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark and are also 8-1 in advancing through the first two rounds of the post-season.

Saskatoon is in the Eastern Conference final for a second straight year. Moose Jaw is in the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2012.

Jackson Unger became the Warriors starting goalie this season.

Both teams are loaded at forward.

The Blades front end features captain Trevor Wong, who had 101 points in the regular season coming off 15 goals and 86 assists, star right-winger Egor Sidorov, who has 50 goals and 88 points in the regular season and star left-winger Brandon Lisowsky, who had 42 goals and 80 points in the regular season.

Saskatoon’s other top players up front include star centre Fraser Minten, who is a big prospect of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, Alexander Suzdalev, star overage left-winger Easton Armstrong, while Vaughn Watterodt, Lukas Hansen and Rowan Calvert provide great depth.

The Blades will be without Armstrong for the first two games of the Eastern Conference final as he finishes out a four-game suspension for receiving a charging major and a game misconduct in the Blades 2-1 overtime win over the Red Deer Rebels at home on April 14. 

Armstrong was given his infractions in Game 2 of the series with the Rebels after he bowled over Red Deer netminder Chase Wutzke.

The Warriors counter with 19-year-old star centre Jagger Firkus up front, who lead the WHL in regular season scoring with 126 points coming off 61 goals and 65 assists. Atley Calvert, who is a 20-year-old centre, had 47 goals and 95 points in the regular season for the Warriors, while centre Brayden Yager, who turned 19-years-old in January, had 35 goals and 95 points in the regular season.

Moose Jaw’s other top players up front include savvy veteran Matthew Savoie, Brayden Schuurman and Czech import Martin Rysavy, while Lynden Lakovic, Pavel McKenzie, Rilen Kovacevic and Ethan Semeniuk provide sound depth.

Trevor Wong posted 101 points in the regular season.

Both squads are sound on defence.

The Blades have no problem rolling out a group of seven on the back end in Tanner Molendyk, Charlie Wright, Ben Saunderson, John Babcock, Grayden Siepmann, Nicholas Andrusiak and Morgan Tastad. The Warriors counter with captain Denton Mateychuk, Kalem Parker, Lucas Brenton, Connor Schmidt and Czech product Vojtech Port.

In goal, the starters for both teams weren’t WHL starters a season ago. All eyes will be focusing to see how they handle the bright lights of the Eastern Conference final.

Evan Gardner had an outstanding breakout rookie campaign for the Blades. Gardner, who turned 18-years-old in January, appeared in 30 regular season games for the Blades posting a 21-5-2 record, a 1.91 goals against average, a .927 save percentage and four shutouts. The Fort St. John, B.C., product’s goals against average was the lowest in the WHL and his save percentage topped the circuit.

In the WHL Playoffs, Gardner has appeared in eight games for the Blades posting a 7-0 record, a 1.66 goals against average, a .928 save percentage and one shutout.

Unger is in his third season with the Warriors, and he has improved as he has carried the starter’s load in the 2023-24 campaign. In 54 appearances in the regular season, Unger, who turned 19-years-old in January, posted a 35-15-2 record, a 3.08 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and three shutouts. 

In nine appearances in the WHL Playoffs, Unger has posted an 8-1 record, a 3.29 goals against average, a .903 save percentage.

Jagger Firkus topped the WHL in regular season scoring.

If Gardner struggles, the Blades can turn to a star backup in Austin Elliott. Elliott, who is 19-years-old, was the Blades starter through the regular season and started the first game of the post-season dropping a 4-3 decision to the Prince Albert Raiders at the SaskTel Centre.

If Unger falters, the Warriors would have to turn to 17-year-old rookie Dimitri Fortin or have to dress 19-year-old veteran Evan May.

Going into Eastern Conference final, one would have to give the Blades the edge in net with Gardner’s performance this season and the fact the Blades can turn to Elliott if need be.

Still, the opportunity is there for the netminders on either side to create a reputation at the WHL level of being a championship level clutch puck stopper. Now we get to see who will be “the guy” in net and take their game to the next level.

Cougars, Winterhawks battle for Western Conference title

Zac Funk led the WHL with 67 goals in the regular season.

The heavyweight showdown that was expected at the start of the WHL Playoffs will take place in the WHL’s Western Conference Championship Series.

The Prince George Cougars will face the Portland Winterhawks in a best-of-seven set to determine who advances to the WHL Championship Series. Game 1 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. local time at the CN Centre in Prince George.

The Cougars finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 49-15-1-3 mark and have gone 8-1 in the post-season. Prince George topped the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Winterhawks finished third overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 48-15-4-1 mark and have won all eight of their outings in the post-season. Portland was rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Cougars are making their first appearance in the Western Conference final since 2007. The Cougars franchise has won one WHL title coming back in 1981, when the club was located in Victoria.

Since setting up shop in Portland on June 11, 1976, the Winterhawks have been one of the WHL’s most storied teams winning three league titles in 1982, 1998 and 2013. They also captured the Memorial Cup as CHL champions on two occasions in 1983 and 1998.

This will be Portland’s first appearance in the Western Conference final since 2015.

The Winterhawks were the original Edmonton Oil Kings franchise that existed in the Alberta capital from 1950 to 1976. During those years as the Oil Kings, the franchise claimed WHL titles in 1971 and 1972. The franchise won Memorial Cup titles in 1963 and 1966 before the WHL played its inaugural campaign in 1966-67.

Gabe Klassen had 106 points in the regular season.

Zac Funk, who is the Cougars 20-year-old star right-winger, topped the WHL regular season with 67 goals and finished second in scoring with 123 points. Forwards Riley Heidt, Terik Parascak and Ondrej Becher give the Cougars high end firepower up front.

Hudson Thornton, who is 20-years-old, topped the Cougars in defence scoring with 74 points coming off 18 goals and 56 assists.

Joshua Ravensbergen has had a breakout season as a 17-year-old rookie netminder for the Cougars. In 38 appearances in the regular season, Ravensberger posted a 26-4-2 record, a 2.46 goals against average, a .907 save percentage and six shutouts.

Star 20-year-old centre Gabe Klassen led the Winterhawks in regular season scoring with 106 points coming off 35 goals and 71 assists. James Stefan, Nate Danielson and Josh Davies give the Winterhawks explosive firepower up front.

Star 19-year-old defenceman Luca Cagnoni topped the WHL in defence scoring during the regular season with 90 points coming off 18 goals and 72 assists.

Jan Spunar, who is the Winterhawks star Czech import netminder, has had a stellar campaign. In 35 appearances in the regular season, he posted a 25-6-3 record, a 2.12 goals against average, a .913 save percentage and two shutouts.

Due to the distance between Prince George and Portland, the Western Conference Championship Series will be conducted in a two-three-two format. The Cougars host Games 1, 2, 6 and 7, while the Winterhawks host Games 3, 4 and 5.

Overall, this series has the potential to be an all-time classic.

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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Current Raiders/Blades rivalry in good spot for P.A. fans

The Raiders celebrate a goal during a game on October 20.

For the Prince Albert Raiders faithful, some of the best victories against the archrival Saskatoon Blades are underdog victories.

As the story of the 2023-24 WHL season plays out, the tale of the Raiders rivalry with the Blades appears to be clear for the current campaign. The Blades are the front runners sitting first overall in the Eastern Conference with a 23-8-2 record and are jockeying for top spot in the entire league with the Prince George Cougars. The Raiders are the underdogs currently holding a playoff spot sitting sixth overall in the Eastern Conference with a 17-15-0-2 mark.

For Raiders fans, this can be a sweet scenario. When the Blades are doing well, the Raiders followers have a tendency to see their Saskatoon rivals like the Dallas Cowboys and their owner Jerry Jones, when they were winning with their early 1990s swagger in the NFL.

When the Raiders beat the Blades in that situation, Raiders fans see that as a moment to remind the Blades and their supporters they might not be as good as their record says they are. For Raiders fans, the only other time victories over the Blades are sweeter is when they happen in the post-season.

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

Wong’s passing touch golden in Blades 5-3 victory

Cougars’ Heidt pots goal, assist in hometown area return

Trevor Wong had three assists for the Blades on Friday.

No one, but no one can share the puck like Trevor Wong.

The Saskatoon Blades captain’s passing touch was at another level on Friday night at the SaskTel Centre. With his Blades taking of the visiting Prince George Cougars in a heavyweight tilt type regular season contest early in the 2023-24 campaign, Wong dished out three beauty helpers to deliver the host side to 5-3 victory in front of an appreciative crowd of 4,516 spectators.

The win allowed the Blades to improve to 10-5, while the Cougars fell to 11-5.

A sizable contingent of spectators were decked out in Prince George #27 jerseys and were out to support Cougars star centre Riley Heidt, who is from the Saskatoon area. Heidt was able to pick up one goal and one assist in the setback for the visitors.

Riley Heidt had a goal and an assist for the Cougars.

The contest overall was an entertaining one that was played at a very fast pace. The Blades jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the 6:20 mark in the second causing the Cougars to basically swim upstream for the rest of the contest.

The hosts broke through on the scoreboard at the 6:10 mark of the opening frame shortly after the expiration of a power play. During a net scramble, Blades sturdy 20-year-old defenceman Charlie Wright pinched down from the point and popped home a loose puck at the right side of the Prince George net to give the hosts their 1-0 edge.

A short time after the Blades went ahead Heidt had a good chance to pull his side even. Heidt, who was selected in the second round and 64^th overall by the Minnesota Wild in the NHL Entry Draft held last June, moved in close to the left side of the Saskatoon goal. After receiving a cross ice pass, Heidt had a close in shot and rebound chance, but he was denied by Blades star netminder Austin Elliott.

The Blades celebrate a goal from Charlie Wright (#47).

With 76 seconds remaining in the first, the Blades pushed their advantage out to 2-0 on the first of the year from right-winger Misha Volotovskii. Volotovskii received a cross ice pass from Wong at the left side of the Prince George goal and fired home a shot past a sprawling Cougars netminder Ty Young.

The Cougars started the second period on a two-minute power play, and after they were unable to score, momentum shifted more in the Blades favour.

At the 4:13 mark of the second, Wong had the puck at the right side of the Prince George goal and passed the puck across the front of the net to left-winger Tyler Parr. 

Parr quickly wired home his second of the season to push the Blades advantage out to 3-0.

Misha Volotovskii had the Blades second goal on Friday.

Just over two minutes later, the Blades increased their comfortable lead to 4-0, when left-winger Rowan Calvert drove into the Prince George zone and wired home his first of the campaign.

Calvert’s goal chased Young out of the Prince George net having stopped 8-of-12 shots to take the setback in net for the visitors. Joshua Ravensbergen turned away 10-of-11 shots sent his way playing the rest of the contest in relief.

With 4:04 remaining in the second, the Cougars cracked on the scoreboard with a power-play goal coming from import defenceman Viliam Kmec. Kmec fired home a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle to cut the Blades lead to 4-1. Heidt picked up an assist on Kmec’s tally.

Egor Sidorov netted his 10th goal of the season on Friday.

The Cougars looked like they might make the game have a dramatic finish, when right-winger Oren Shtrom batted home a gritty tally at the right side of the Saskatoon net to cut the Blades lead to 4-2 with 6:37 remaining in the third.

The Blades proceeded to kill the visitor’s attempt to grab momentum just 10 seconds later, when their top line broke into the Prince George zone. 

Wong had the puck at the left side of the Prince George goal and passed the puck across of the face of the net to star import right-winger Egor Sidorov. 

Sidorov promptly buried his 10^th of the season to give the Blades a 5-2 advantage.

Tyler Parr had a goal for the Blades on Friday.

Heidt tallied for the Cougars on the power play with 1:32 remaining in the third to trim the Blades edge to 5-3. The goal stood up after a video review.

The Blades proceeded to hold off the Cougars for the final 98 seconds to seal the win.

Elliott stopped 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades.

The Cougars return to action on Saturday when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Blades get back at it on Sunday when they host the Regina Pats (4 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Blades salute their faithful at the SaskTel Centre at game’s end.

Friday clash between the Blades and Cougars left one wishing both teams were in the same conference. With how much skill the two sides have, it seems unfortunate they only meet once in a 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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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.