Raiders take big step playing full campaign in 2021-22

The Raiders get pumped up before their playoff game last Wednesday.

The Prince Albert Raiders’ biggest victory in the 2021-22 campaign might have been the fact everything felt normal by season’s end.

When the Raiders began the 2021-22 campaign, they were still traveling down an unknown highway that had some images of familiarity. After playing through a four-game pre-season schedule in September of 2021, the Raiders hosted the Regina Pats on October 1, 2021 at the Art Hauser Centre in the regular opener for both sides.

For the Raiders, they would be hosting their first regular season game since March 6, 2020, when they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic would proceed to get its grips on North America to go along with the rest of the world. The 2019-20 WHL campaign was officially brought to an end on March 12, 2020.

No WHL playoffs were held in 2020 or 2021, and the Memorial Cup tournament to crown a CHL champion was nixed in both of those years too.

Reece Vitelli led the Raiders with 51 points.

Teams in the WHL had an abbreviated 2020-21 campaign. The Raiders took part in 24 regular season games in 2020-21 playing in a bubble environment in Regina against the league’s other four teams located in Saskatchewan and two clubs from Manitoba.

When the Raiders stepped on the ice to play the Pats on October 1, 2021, no one was certain the 2021-22 campaign would be played to a conclusion. The Raiders raised a banner for finishing first in the WHL’s East Division before falling 3-1 to the Pats in that contest played before 2,578 spectators at the Raiders storied 2,580-seat home rink.

As far as first impressions went, fans in “Hockey Town North” had to note this wasn’t the same Raiders team they last saw in person hit the ice in 2019-20 that topped the East Division with a 36-18-6-4 record. This was definitely not the same Raiders that finished first in the WHL’s regular season standings in 2018-19 with a dominant 54-10-2-2 record and went on to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions in the post-season.

It was obvious the Raiders roster was in a transition type reload state. With that said, fans were just happy to have the chance to watch Raiders hockey at the Art Hauser Centre that night during the loss to the Pats.

There were no guarantees the Raiders would get in all their regular season games.

Ozzy Wiesblatt was a holdover from the 2018-19 WHL title winner.

Since March 12, 2020, it has been hard to almost impossible in some cases to grade how any team in the WHL has performed due to all the twists and turns and adjustments that had to be made due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For a two-week period at the start of this past January, positive COVID-19 tests caused major disruptions causing rescheduling that saw games go on for two weeks after the original April 3 end date of the regular season. The Winnipeg Ice and Brandon Wheat Kings also postponed a number of home games originally schedule in January and the first half of February due to capacity restrictions that were brought into Manitoba to combat COVID-19.

Still, the Raiders and the WHL were able to navigate all those hurdles to date. The Raiders played a completed 68 game regular season posting a 28-35-4-1 regular season record to finish eighth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and capture the conference’s final playoff berth.

Prince Albert proceeded to fall 4-1 in a best-of-seven first round series to the Winnipeg Ice, who finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 53-10-3-2 mark and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. The Raiders campaign ended with an 8-2 loss to the Ice in Game 5 of their series on Friday in Winnipeg.

Nolan Allan anchored the Raiders back end.

Credit goes to general manager Curtis Hunt and head coach Marc Habscheid and his coaching staff for their efforts ensured the Raiders remained a team that could make the post-season. In the process, Habscheid moved into fifth place on the WHL’s career head coaching regular season wins list current sitting with 582 victories.

Credit goes to business manager Michael Scissons and the office staff for fact the Raiders averaged 2,334 spectators over their 34 home regular season games and 2,605 spectators for the team’s two home playoff dates.

During the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Raiders office staffers took on unforeseen roles at various times to ensure there was a product on the ice and game days did happen.

At lot of good things happened on the ice for the team as well. The Raiders closed the regular season winning two straight must win games in order to qualify for the WHL Playoffs.

After star defenceman Kaiden Guhle was traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings on December 1, 2021, Nolan Allan, who was selected in the first round and 32^nd overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, assumed the role as the main force in the back end for the Raiders.

Landon Kosior, who is a 19-year-old veteran, broke out as an offensive defenceman collecting 45 points on 18 goals and 27 assists appearing in all the Raiders 68 regular season games.

Tikhon Chaika emerged as a legit solid starter.

Overage centre Reece Vitelli, who became the Raiders captain after Guhle was traded, had his most memorable season in the WHL. Vitelli topped the Raiders in scoring with 51 points coming off 25 goals and 26 assists, and all those statistical totals were career highs.

Overage defenceman Remy Aquilon provided a steady presence on the back end and posted career highs in goals (three), assists (24) and points (27).

Left-winger Evan Herman, who was playing through his 19-year-old campaign, showed he had a nose for the net leading the Raiders with 28 goals to go along with 19 assists appearing in all the Raiders 68 regular season games.

Rookie 18-year-old import netminder Tikhon Chaika, who is from Minsk, Belarus, emerged as a solid legit WHL starter. In 51 regular season appearances, Chaika posted a 22-21-4 record, a 2.79 goals against average, a .904 save percentage and three shutouts.

The Raiders do have a number of younger players that have the potential to take big steps in the future.

Do they have the roster that can win a WHL Championship or a Memorial Cup at the moment?

That answer to that is “no” for now. At the moment, those titles were still last awarded in 2019, and since March 12, 2020, no one could realistically determine when they would be awarded again.

The Raiders salute their fans at the Art Hauser Centre.

The immediate goal was to get on the ice and plan a complete campaign like the Raiders did.

Assuming world events don’t throw in any more curveballs, the steps to building a team capable of capturing the WHL and CHL titles can now start in a more honest fashion.

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Raiders stay alive with gutty 3-1 win over Ice

Winnipeg still leads WHL first round series 3-1

The Raiders celebrate Eric Johnston’s third period goal.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Is the dream alive like in 1979?

On Wednesday night at the Art Hauser Centre, the Prince Albert Raiders staved off elimination in the WHL Playoffs pulling out a gutty 3-1 victory at the Art Hauser Centre in Game 4 of their best-of-seven first round series against the Winnipeg Ice. Prince Albert’s victory trims the Ice’s lead in the series to 3-1.

Due to the Prince Albert win, the series now shifts back to Winnipeg for Game 5 on Friday set for 7 p.m. local time at the Wayne Fleming Arena.

With their triumph on Wednesday, the Raiders took the first step in trying to rally back from a 3-0 series deficit, which is something they have done once in team history back in their junior A days.

In the 1979 SJHL Playoffs, the Raiders trailed the junior A version of the Swift Current Broncos that existed at the time 3-0 in a best-of-seven second round series. The Raiders stormed back to take that series 4-3 and moved on to win the Centennial Cup as national junior A champions.

Eric Johnston scored the winning goal for the Raiders in Game 4.

Current Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid gave a smile when told about the historic note but pointed out that was a great chapter in team history written in a different time.

“That is ancient history for us,” said Habscheid, whose team received a warm standing ovation salute from the 2,568 spectators in attendance as the contest’s final seconds ticked away. “We’re just trying to win a game, and we’re just trying to win a shift and worry about that.

“We’re not going to Winnipeg to participate, so they get another home date. We’re going there to win. We have a little bit of momentum and believability, and when you have that, that is pretty powerful.”

Raiders RW Harrison Lodewyk, left, battles Ice RW Evan Friesen.

Habscheid’s Raiders face a loftier challenge than the junior A version of the club took on in 1979. Heading into the 1979 post-season, the Raiders topped the SJHL standings with a record of 44 wins, 13 losses and 3 ties.

Swift Current had the circuit’s second best record in that campaign with a 40-19-1 mark. Due to the fact the Raiders and the Broncos were both in the then North Division of the SJHL, the latest they could meet in the post-season was the second round of the SJHL Playoffs.

The current day major junior Raiders are massive underdogs in their series against the Ice. The Ice topped the WHL regular season standings with a 53-10-3-2 record, and they were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

Matthew Savoie sets to fire a shot on goal for the Ice. 

The Raiders squeaked into the WHL post-season taking eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with a 28-35-4-1 mark. One night earlier in Game 3 at the Hauser, the Ice romped to a 10-1 blowout victory over the host Raiders.

Habscheid was proud that his team put in the effort they did in Wednesday’s win to rebound from the drubbing they took one night earlier.

“It is the Raider way (you) find a way, character all the way,” said Habscheid, who sits fifth all-time on the WHL’s career regular season wins list. “We got shellacked last night, and guys came back and laid it on the line.

“We deserved to win.”

Tikhon Chaika made 26 saves for the Raiders in Game 4.

In Wednesday’s clash, both teams jumped out of the gate with an intense start that saw them play through a scoreless opening 20 minutes with the Ice holding a slim 9-8 edge in shots on goal.

Just over three minutes into the first, Raiders winger Sloan Stanick broke into the Winnipeg zone on a breakaway, but he was stoned by Ice star netminder Daniel Hauser.

Raiders rookie import netminder Tikhon Chaika came up big too for the Raiders in the opening frame. He stoned Ice star centre Matthew Savoie and star left-winger Mikey Milne on close in chances.

Daniel Hauser makes one of his 20 saves in goal for the Ice.

Savoie returned to the Ice lineup after being injured blocking a shot in the third period of his team’s 3-1 victory in Game 1 of the series last Friday in Winnipeg.

Along with those two saves, Chaika came up with a big glove robbery on a slot shot from Ice star 16-year-old centre Zachary Benson.

The Raiders opened the game’s scoring at the 1:53 mark of the second period, when overage defenceman Remy Aquilon blasted home a point shot through a screen for a 1-0 lead. Aquilon’s goal marked the first time in the series the Raiders held a lead.

Ozzy Wiesblatt sets to fire a shot on goal for the Raiders.

As the Ice pressed for the equalizer as the second frame moved on, both teams started trading firewagon chances over the final five minutes of the period. 

Chaika had to turn away Ice star centre Conor Geekie on a rush down the right-wing and stoned veteran Ice star right-winger Connor McClennon on a shot from the front of the Prince Albert goal off a three-on-one rush.

“I’m always trying to stay under control,” said Chaika. “I’m always focusing on the game and the puck, and I just don’t think about it. 

“After yesterday’s game, we just talk with everybody and decided to be ready today.”

Just 66 seconds into the second, Raiders defenceman Eric Johnston received a gift at the right wing boards in the Winnipeg zone as Ice defenceman Tanner Brown, who was behind his own goal, blindly passed the puck to the Prince Albert rearguard. 

Remy Aquilon had the Raiders first goal in Game 4.

Brown immediately tried to take up a defensive position in front of the Winnipeg net after the giveaway.

Johnston quickly fired the gift off Brown into the Winnipeg goal to push the host’s lead to 2-0.

“Going into the dressing room second intermission there, we just said we have to win a period here,” said Johnston. “Luckily, that one (his goal) went off their D-man, so a lucky goal there.

“The fans were definitely electric there and got the team a lot of momentum.”

After going up two goals, the Raiders really ground down the game defensively as the Ice held a slim 5-4 shots on goal advantage in the third period. 

The Ice celebrate a goal from Mikey Milne (#24).

Still, there were dramatics at the end of the frame.

The Ice received a power play with 2:58 remaining in the frame as Stanick was called for slashing. 

With Hauser pulled for an extra attacker, the Ice cashed in with a power-play goal with 69 seconds remaining in the third.

Geekie had the puck on the right wing, and he found Milne with a backdoor feed, and Milne potted his fourth goal of the post-season to cut the Raiders lead to 2-1.

With 49.3 seconds remaining in the third, Stanick iced the victory with an empty-net goal that rounded out the 3-1 final in favour of the Raiders. 

The fans at the Art Hauser Centre salute the Raiders.

Stanick’s tally went to a video review to determine if Raiders right-winger Evan Herman was offside, but the replay officials ruled that the tally was good.

Chaika stopped 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Hauser turned away 20-of-22 shots to take the setback in net for the Ice.

If the Raiders find a way to pull out Game 5 in Winnipeg, the series will return to the Art Hauser Centre for Game 6 on Sunday for a 6 p.m. start.

After the salute the Raiders received their Game 4 win wound down and after the time elapsed on the clock, Habscheid believes his players received an extra incentive to try and get another home post-season game.

The Raiders celebrate their Game 4 win on Wednesday.

“I think what is important for our guys is with 20 seconds left the whole building got up, and you could feel the energy of the crowd and the appreciation of the crowd for what these guys are doing and the effort that they are showing,” said Habscheid. “That gives them a lot of motivation to comeback for Game 6.”

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Blades’ Maier steals victory again in Prince Albert

Netminder makes 49 saves in 3-2 OT triumph

Blades G Nolan Maier keeps the hard charging Raiders at bay.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - You have to wonder when Nolan Maier will appear on the Prince Albert Police Service’s most wanted list, because he keeps robbing the Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre.

On Friday, the overage star netminder was in top form making 49 saves to keep his Saskatoon Blades in their WHL regular season clash with their archrivals in the host Prince Albert Raiders. In overtime with the two sides locked in a 2-2 draw, the Blades ensured Maier would get his 117^th career WHL regular season win.

After killing off a penalty to start the extra frame and the two sides playing four-versus-four hockey, Blades import right-winger Egor Sidorov wrapped home the winning goal with 2:20 remaining in the extra session to give the Blades a 3-2 victory. 

Blades G Nolan Maier covers the puck during a net scramble.

The results sent most of the 2,600 standing room crowd at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre home disappointed outside of the healthy contingent of Blades supporters who made their way up from “The Bridge City” for Friday’s contest.

Maier has won three out of his four starts at the Art Hauser Centre this season turning away 133-of-142 shots fired his way in those contests. He has traditionally played well in “Hockey Town North” throughout his WHL career.

Nolan Maier picked up his 117th career regular season victory.

The Yorkton, Sask., product said he has always gotten up for games in Prince Albert due everything that goes into the rivalry between the Raiders and the Blades, which includes getting a humourous kick out the Prince Albert fans that like to heckle him.

“I think it is just the rivalry,” said Maier, who stands 6-feet and weighs 172 pounds. “I think no matter who you are or how long you have been playing on either team you kind of get that feeling and that sense of the rivalry and that kind of hatred for each other.

“It is a really fun atmosphere to play in here. They (the Raiders fans) get intense and they get into it. You know it is going to be a fun game when you come down to P.A.

“It is always exciting.”

Nolan Maier makes one of his 49 saves on Friday night.

Maier, who is already the Blades franchise record holder for career regular season victories, became just the fifth goalie in the history of the WHL to reach 117 career regular season wins. He needs three more wins to equal the WHL record for career regular season victories of 120 held jointly by Corey Hirsch and Tyson Sexsmith.

Hirsch picked up his 120 victories playing four seasons with the Kamloops Blazers from 1988 to 1992. Sexsmith collected his 120 wins over five seasons with the Vancouver Giants from 2005 to 2009. He also had one non-decision relief appearance for the Medicine Hat Tigers late in the 2004-05 campaign.

Blades head coach Brennan Sonne said Maier played a huge role on the penalty kill forcing the Raiders to go 0-for-6 on the power play including a 59-second stretch where they had a five-on-three advantage. In the Raiders five previous outings before Friday’s game, they had gone 6-for-21 on the power play for a 28.6 per cent success rate.

Egor Sidorov (#19) wraps home the OT winner for the Blades.

Sonne said Maier was the reason his club killed off six power-play chances and got the win.

“I think P.A.’s power play the last five games was 28 per cent or something like that,” said Sonne, whose squad improved to 32-18-3-1 with the win. “They are dialled in right now.

“When you give up a five-on-three, a bunch of five-on-fours and a four-on-three, if you don’t get great goaltending they are going to go in the net. That is just the way it is against a power play like that. If not for him (Maier), this is a different story.”

Egor Sidorov, centre, celebrates his OT winner for the Blades.

After the two sides started the contest feeling each other out, the Raiders got buzzing in the Saskatoon zone when they got on the power play with 7:08 remaining in the frame. Just seconds into the power play, Raiders captain Reece Vitelli had a big chance to net the first goal of the contest, but he flipped the puck over top an open Saskatoon net.

A short time later, Maier robbed Raiders star right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt on a backdoor chance.

“He (Maier) has played well, but we’ve beat him too,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “We played OK tonight.

“We made some good plays and had some good chances and didn’t have a lot of puck luck around the net. All in all, I liked our game. We have nothing to complain about.”

A trio of Blades fans cheer their team’s OT winner.

In the midst of all the Raiders pressure, Saskatoon would be the first side to get on the scoreboard.

With 2:47 remaining in the first, Blades left-winger Vaughn Watterodt found a loose puck by the right side of the Prince Albert goal during a net scramble. He knocked the puck in the empty cage to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Just 2:18 into the second, the Raiders evened things up at 1-1, when centre Hayden Pakkala wired home a shot from the front of the Saskatoon goal for the equalizer.

Tikhon Chaika turned away 30 shots in goal for the Raiders.

At the 11:23 mark of the second, Pakkala netted his second of the contest to put the Raiders up 2-1. During furious action around the Saskatoon net, Pakkala got the puck alone in front of the goal and slid home the go-ahead tally past Maier.

Late in the second, the Raiders ended up on two power plays, but weren’t able to pot an insurance marking including playing with a five-on-three advantage for 59 seconds. Left-winger Keaton Sorensen had the best chance to score after the two-man advantage expired, but his close in shot was turned away by Maier.

With the Raiders holding a 2-1 edge going into the second intermission, Pakkala said he and his teammates were feeling positive vibes.

“We were really confident,” said Pakkala. “We had good energy in the room and good energy on the bench.

Hayden Pakkala (#11) scores twice for the Raiders on Friday.

“We definitely felt the rink too.”

At the 7:49 mark of the third, the Blades proficient power play ranked second in the WHL going into action on Friday came through at an opportune time. Blades overage star centre Tristen Robins had the puck by the right boards in the Prince Albert zone, and he found linemate Brandon Lisowsky open in the left slot.

Lisowsky quick blasted home his 31^st goal of the season to put the Blades on even terms with the Raiders at 2-2.

The Raiders thought they went ahead with 4:51 remaining in the third on a goal from overage defenceman Remy Aquilon. The Blades challenged that the Raiders were offside on the play, and video review determined Raiders centre Evan Herman was indeed offside on the rush into the Saskatoon zone where Aquilon’s goal was scored.

Cale Sanders had two assists for the Raiders on Friday.

“Obviously, it sucks,” said Raiders right-winger Cale Sanders, who had two assists on Friday night. “Emotions are high, and then all of a sudden they are so low.

“We just have to figure out a way to get back up high again and work off that.”

With 2:50 remaining in the third period, Robins was given a double minor for boarding for a hit he threw on Sanders. Robins’ double minor infraction will be reviewed automatically by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Raiders weren’t able to cash in during the four minutes of power play game that included the first 70 seconds of overtime.

That set up the dramatics on Sidorov’s winner.

Remy Aquilon thought he had a go-ahead goal in the third.

Tikhon Chaika turned away 30 shots to take the extra time setback in goal for the Raiders (22-28-3-1).

Maier said it was big for his side to find a way to get the comeback win especially with the way the Raiders carried play for a lot of the contest

“We’re trying to move up in the standings, and we’re trying to get home ice for playoffs,” said Maier. “We’re kind of getting ready to get on that roll before playoffs start.

“I think it was really huge for our group to kind of comeback and kind of stick with it and get the two points at the end of the night.”

Pakkala gave props to Maier for his stellar performance on Friday night.

“He (Maier) is a really good goalie,” said Pakkala. “He is really good with his glove.

Brandon Lisowsky scored the equalizer in the third for the Blades.

“It is tough to score on him.”

On the season, the Blades have won four of the seven total head-to-head games with the Raiders. The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre to conclude a home-and-home series.

Habscheid said all his side could do now was quickly regroup, but he took consolation in the fact his club got a standings point on Friday night.

“It is just a quick turnover,” said Habscheid. “Even though it is a rivalry, we’re interested in points.

The Blades celebrate their OT win on Friday night.

“We got one tonight. It would have been nice to get the other one.”

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 get the effort, Warriors get the win

Remy Aquilon (#7) and the Raiders fell 4-2 to the Warriors.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The effort is there, but the results aren’t.

On Saturday night before 2,274 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, head coach Marc Habscheid watched his host Prince Albert Raiders fall 4-2 to the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors. The veteran bench boss believes his players are putting in an effort to get a better result on the scoreboard.

At the moment, he said his club is going through a phase of making mistakes at inopportune times that end up being costly.

“The game is interesting,” said Habscheid. “There are parts in the schedule when you can’t score, and then there are parts in the schedule that you can’t help but to score.

Warriors LW Eric Alarie, left, and Raiders captain Reece Vitelli battle.

“Then your defence or your goaltending struggles or you’re taking bad penalties or whatever. There are just kind of ebbs and flows throughout the season, and right now we make a big mistake and it ends up in our net or we get a chance and we’ll hit a crossbar or something like that.

“That is kind of where we are at right now, so you rely on the experience and we just have to work our way through it.”

The Raiders got out to a tough start on Saturday when Warriors rookie defenceman Matthew Gallant opened the game’s scoring floating home a point shot through a screen at the 4:05 mark of the opening frame.

Josh Hoekstra scored a breakaway goal for the Warriors.

Late in the opening frame, the Raiders had a big chance to even things up, but sophomore right-winger Carson Latimer wired a shot off the post of the Moose Jaw goal.

With 66 second remaining in the first, the Warriors extended their edge to 2-0 on a breakaway goal from left-winger Josh Hoekstra, who turned 19-years-old on Saturday. Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus sprung Hoekstra on a breakaway with a stretch pass, and Hoekstra put home his third of the season stick side on Raiders import netminder Tikhon Chaika.

“They capitalized on their chances and we didn’t,” said Raiders 20-year-old defenceman Remy Aquilon. “It was just a tough start to the game.

The Warriors celebrate a goal from Josh Hoekstra, left.

“We have that inconsistency that we are having right now, and we are suffering from it. We just have to figure that out.”

At the 6:48 mark of the second, the two sides played two minutes of four-versus-four action with Warriors left-winger Riley Niven getting penalized for holding and Raiders star centre Ozzy Wiesblatt going off for roughing.

During that stretch of four-versus-four action, Warriors defenceman Maximus Wanner scored to give his side a 3-0 advantage and 19-year-old defenceman Trevor Thurston replied for the Raiders to cut Moose Jaw’s advantage to 3-1.

Thurston’s tally was his first with the Raiders, who acquired him in a trade on December 31, 2021.

Trevor Thurston scored the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

With 47.3 seconds remaining in the second, Firkus potted his 29^th goal of the season to give the Warriors a 4-1 advantage. Firkus had two assists to go with his tally for a three-point night.

Despite being down be three goals entering the third period, the Raiders didn’t go away.

At the 5:40 mark of the third, Raiders centre Evan Herman received a drop pass at the right wing boards from Latimer and wired home his 18^th goal of the season to cut the Warriors lead to 4-2.

Late in the third, the Raiders had a couple of other golden chances to get closer on the scoreboard. Raiders 17-year-old right winger Dallyn Peekeekoot was stopped at the doorstep of the Moose Jaw goal by Warriors overage netminder Carl Tetachuk.

Jagger Firkus had a goal and two assists for the Warriors.

Following that chance, Raiders captain Reece Vitelli fired a shot off the goalpost to put an exclamation point on the tough luck the Prince Albert side is having on the offensive end.

“The try was there,” said Habscheid. “I’m not going to complain when the try is there.

“Guys hit crossbars and sometimes they get up a couple and you can lose heart. The ice tilts, but our guys hung in there and rallied and stayed with it, didn’t lose heart and kept with it. You’d make an error, a big error and then it would end up in our net.

“That is where we are right now.”

Chaika turned away 26 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders (17-26-2-1). Tetachuk stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in net for the Warriors (29-17-3-2).

Evan Herman had the Raiders second goal on Saturday.

With the Raiders going through a reload type campaign, Habscheid said the team’s coaches have to continue to show trust in their players to keep their confidence up. He added if the effort keeps up the mistakes will get corrected and the positive results on the scoreboard will come.

“They try physically, and they try mentally,” said Habscheid. “We’re in a transition phase right now.

“They just have to be patient, keep their spirits up but still they have to be accountable. They have to try. They have to compete.

“They have to do it the Raider way, and for the most part, they do. Other than that, you are never going to accept losing, but guys will give you want the can.”

Dallyn Peekeekoot was stopped on a doorstep chance.

Aquilon said the players appreciate the fact that their coaches know the effort is there, but that he and his teammates still need to execute on the ice.

“It is good to know, but I mean it is on us at the end of the day,” said Aquilon. “We have to do what we have to do to win to win the games.

“I think we are not really executing the small things right, and we just have to figure that out.”

The Raiders return to action on Monday when they travel to Medicine Hat to face the Tigers. That contest starts a five-game road trip for the Prince Albert side.

The Warriors are off until Friday when they host the Swift Current Broncos (7 p.m., Mosaic Place).

Going forward, Aquilon his squad will continue to view every contest they are in as a must-win game.

“We go into every game like that,” said Aquilon. “I mean it is going to be harder on the road for sure.

The Warriors celebrate their victory on Saturday.

“We don’t have our home crowd behind us. We’ll have to use our team and rally up to win these games.”

NOTE - The Raiders wore throwback jerseys for Saturday’s game, with their old pirate logo. The Raiders jerseys with the pirate logo and star design were alternate uniforms during the period of time from about 1999 to 2001. 

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Victory falls through Raiders’ grasp again

Wheat Kings rally for 5-4 win after tiebreaking shootout

The Wheat Kings celebrate a shootout winner from Tyson Zimmer (#25).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders were lamenting the one that got away for a second straight game.

On Friday night playing before 2,234 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders held a 3-2 lead going into a third period. After the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings tied things up at 3-3, the Raiders got ahead 4-3 with 8:18 remaining in the third.

The Wheat Kings tied things up at 4-4 on a power play and proceeded to take the WHL regular season encounter 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout.

Brett Hyland had a goal and two assists for the Wheat Kings.

The Wheat Kings took the shootout 2-1 with right-winger Tyson Zimmer potting the winner in the third round.

In Prince Albert’s previous outing last Saturday, the Raiders led the Hurricanes in Lethbridge 3-2 going into the third period. The Hurricanes proceeded to score three goals inside the final six minutes of the third frame to prevail 5-3.

 “We deserved better,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, whose team’s record moved to 2-7-0-1. “We should have won.

“We should have won the last two games. We got one point out of four, so that is disappointing. A couple of goals they scored we probably gave it to them.

Kaiden Guhle had three assists for the Raiders.

“We made a couple of glaring errors, and it ended up in our net. We also need a save.”

Friday’s game started with Raiders star centre Ozzy Wiesblatt laying a big crowd pleasing hit on Wheat Kings captain Ridley Greig early in the first period.

The Raiders proceeded cash in on that energetic start going ahead 2-0 on goals from Remy Aquilon and Reece Vitelli.

Before the opening frame ended, the Wheat Kings answered back pulling even at 2-2 with goals coming from Zimmer and Belarusian import Zakhar Polshakov. Those tallies came 19 seconds apart from each other.

The host side got the only goal of the second period. At the 10:56 mark of the frame, Raiders right-winger Cale Sanders picked up a loose puck at the left side of Brandon net, and he put the puck home into an cage to give Prince Albert a 3-2 lead.

Remy Aquilon had two goals for the Raiders.

The hosts ran into penalty trouble to close out the second frame too. At the 12:11 mark of the second, Aquilon received a double minor for checking from behind for a hit he threw on Greig behind the Prince Albert net. Greig was helped off the ice and didn’t return.

The double minor by Aquilon will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Wheat Kings were unable to score on those chances with the man advantage.

With 2:53 to go in the second, Raiders 17-year-old left-winger Niall Crocker received a slashing minor, and Brandon was unable to score on that power play.

Nolan Ritchie had a goal for the Wheat Kings.

After the penalty expired, Crocker emerged from the penalty box and was sprung on a breakaway after receiving a stretch pass coming from the Raiders zone. Crocker ended up firing the shot wide of the Brandon goal.

“Our forwards have to score,” said Habscheid. “Everybody wants to score.

“You just have to play the right way.”

At the 4:38 mark of the third, Wheat Kings left-winger Brett Hyland scored to even the score at 3-3. Hyland had two assists to go along with his goal for a three-point night.

With 8:18 remaining in the third, Aquilon fired home a point shot for his second tally of the night to put the hosts up 4-3.

When it appeared the Raiders were going to close out the contest, rookie Belarusian import forward Vladislav Shilo took an untimely roughing penalty with 3:56 remaining the frame to put Brandon on the power play.

Niall Crocker eyes up a shot on a breakaway he would miss.

The Wheat Kings capitalized on this chance when left-winger Nolan Ritchie knocked home a rebound opportunity to even the score at 4-4 with 3:40 remaining in the frame.

Despite the fact Brandon tied the contest for a third time, Aquilon thought the players on his squad didn’t get emotionally down.

“The guys did a good job of keeping it up, especially the older guys trying to make sure to just shake it off,” said Aquilon. “It is definitely not the one we want to give up late in the third there.”

Before overtime came around, the Raiders were able to go on the power play, but failed to score. They were 0-for-5 with the man advantage in the contest.

Tyson Laventure had an assist and six shots for the Raiders.

“Obviously, special teams can win or lose you games,” said Raiders 18-year-old right-winger Tyson Laventure, who had an assists and six shots on goal in the setback. “Obviously, we went 0-for-5 which didn’t help.

“They got a goal on their power play, which ended up tying the game and giving them the win. We have to be better on the power play in the future for sure.”

The Raiders had a 4-1 edge in shots on goal through the scoreless three-on-three five-minute overtime period.

In the tiebreaking shootout, captain Kaiden Guhle scored for the Raiders, while Hylund and Zimmer responded for the Wheat Kings to give them the win.

Tikhon Chaika stopped 18 shots on goal over 65 minutes for the Raiders and one of three shooters in the shootout. Ethan Kruger turned away 33 shots on net over 65 minutes for the Wheat Kings (5-6) and two of three shooters in the shootout.

Ethan Kruger made 33 saves over 65 minutes for the Wheat Kings.

Guhle collected three assists and posted a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department for the Raiders in the setback.

These two teams go at it again on Saturday at Westoba Place in Brandon, Man., at 7 p.m. local time.

Laventure said his team needs take advantage of chances to close out games, when his squad has a lead in the third period.

“Obviously our last couple of games we’ve been going into the third period with the lead and having it with less than 10 minutes left,” said Laventure. “We just have to finish those off.

The Wheat Kings celebrate their win on Friday night.

“We can’t be giving up games in the last 10 to five minutes in the game. We have to look to close one out tomorrow.”

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