Family reasons have me at WHL rinks on sporadic basis

Barret Jackman in 2000 at the then Agridome.

It is true that life can come at you fast. 

On Friday, October 2, I was originally set to work the Saskatoon Blades WHL home contest at the SaskTel Centre. A family development that came up on Wednesday, September 30, has me out of all WHL rinks since that time. 

Due to dealing with a family matter, I won’t be in WHL rinks as much as I originally planned at the start of the current season, and I will be in WHL rinks on a sporadic basis for the foreseeable next few weeks. 

Coving WHL games live in the rink is my happy place. When I am with friends, I will talk about the development. Lots of my family members don’t do the public spotlight thing, so details of the development won’t be posted here. 

The WHL is an outstanding league, so I hope you all make it to games in any of the league centres. Looking forward to the day of getting back live in a WHL rink again and that includes going as a ticket buyer as a fun escape.

Tootoo battles McNeill

Jordin Tootoo of the Brandon Wheat Kings battles Grant McNeill of the Prince Albert Raiders in a game in February of 2003 at the Art Hauser Centre, which was still then known as the Comuniplex. These two are both great guys, and I loved how hard they competed.

Bedard fun to watch

Connor Bedard is seen in action at the Brandt Centre in the WHL Playoffs in April of 2023. At the moment, he is the best player I’ve seen in the 28 seasons I have covered the league.

McKenna provided thrills

Gavin McKenna is seen in action on the road at the Art Hauser Centre in the WHL Playoffs in April of 2025. McKenna has incredible vision when it comes to playmaking, which you are seeing currently as a rookie in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Raiders celebrate WHL title win in 2019

For those who were at the Art Hauser Centre on May 13, 2019, it was one of the greatest nights to be at the storied and historic rink. The Prince Albert Raiders celebrate winning the WHL title and hoisting the Ed Chynoweth Cup at the only home they’ve known after Dante Hannoun scored the overtime winner in Game 7 of the WHL Championship Series.

Blades goal celebration

The Saskatoon Blades celebrate a goal from Hunter Laing this past September 26 at the SaskTel Centre. At that point, I was rolling early covering my 28^th WHL season. Little did I know at that time, life would change for me in four days.

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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Expect Raiders to shake off sweep by Blades

Hayden Harsanyi (#6) shields the puck from Owen Corkish.

The silence of the Prince Albert Raiders fans at the SaskTel Centre conveyed the shock of what they saw.

Last Saturday, the Raiders dropped a 5-2 decision to the host Saskatoon Blades to fall to 1-3 with a third straight loss. That skid included dropping both ends of a home-and-home series to the Blades.

While the Raiders faithful are known for hijacking the atmosphere inside the Blades home rink making it feel like a Prince Albert home game, the roar of the Blades supporters was noticeable among the 7,379 spectators that turned out.

The Saskatoon marketing staff did their jobs ensuring there was a sizable turnout to support the host side, and it was obvious they enjoyed what they saw.

The surprise of the Raiders supporters regarding how the season started for their club is understandable. In 2025-26, the Raiders topped the East Division and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 52-10-5-1 mark. Going into the post-season, the Raiders were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

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

Laing on fire for Blades

Winger scores twice in win over Raiders, leads WHL in scoring

Hunter Laing (#27) celebrates his second of two goals on Saturday.

Hunter Laing has the proverbial chip on his shoulder and is on a mission in his final WHL campaign.

Over the summer, the 20-year-old Saskatoon Blades star right-winger saw the Calgary Flames allow his NHL signing rights to expire on June 1. Laing had been selected in the sixth round and 170^th overall by the Flames in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

After the Flames elected not to sign Laing, the skilled forward, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 210 pounds, was able to re-enter the NHL Entry Draft held this past June 26-27 in Buffalo. He went unselected there, which means he is a free agent when it comes to the professional level of the game.

Hunter Laing leads the WHL in scoring with nine points.

Returning to the Blades for his final season in the major junior ranks, Laing has started the young 2026-27 campaign on fire. In his first four games of the season, the Kelowna, B.C., product has taken the lead in the WHL scoring race with nine points coming off five goals and four assists.

On Saturday, Laing’s sweet hands were on display as he scored a pair of goals in the team’s regular season home opener before 7,379 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. Laing’s efforts allowed his Blades to post a 5-2 victory over their archrivals in the Prince Albert Raiders and also claim both games in a home-and-home series to improve to 2-1-1.

Following Saturday’s game, Laing said the fact he went unsigned by the Flames and is a professional free agent is in the back of his mind.

Hunter Laing is a free agent when it come to professional hockey.

“It obviously sucked when I found out,” said Laing. “I used that as motivation this summer, and it kind of helped me out doing the extra work and extra reps.

“It is definitely on my mind to prove people wrong this year, and that is what I’m going to keep doing.”

Just 19 seconds into Saturday’s game, Laing was attempting to give a spark to his team by engaging Raiders star 18-year-old right-winger Jonah Sivertson in a fight. Both are best known for their scoring and not for throwing punches.

The bout was a short one and kind of produced a moment where one could have a laugh. Sivertson threw an overhand right that missed and his momentum carried himself to the ground. Laing looked befuddled at the scene, and the officials jumped in to break things up.

Hunter Laing wants to prove he can play at the next level.

Sivertson and Laing were both given fighting majors for their efforts.

For the rest of the night, Laing showed what he is best known for, which is his sweet hands around the opposition net. With the two sides locked in a 1-1 tie at the 14:47 mark of the second, Laing picked up a rebound from a shot taken by Blades defenceman Jack Lavallee at the right side of the Prince Albert net.

Laing skillfully moved the puck around fallen Raiders star import netminder Michal Orsulak and tucked home a backhander to give the Blades a 2-1 lead.

With the Blades up 3-1 at the 6:36 mark of the third, Laing received a pass at the left side of the Raiders net from Blades star 18-year-old centre Cooper Williams while working on the power play. Laing toe dragged the puck around Orsulak putting it into the right side of the net to give the Blades a 4-1 lead.

Hunter Laing (#27) celebrates his first goal on Saturday.

“You’re always trying to contribute for the boys,” said Laing. “You’re trying to do what it takes to win, and you score goals in the crease.

“I’m a big guy. I love being in the crease, (because) that is where you score goals. I’m lucky they went in.”

Blades head coach Dan DaSilva said it has been noticeable how much Laing has increased the intensity in his game.

“He (Laing) is a big man,” said DaSilva. “He has got a great set of hands, and he is looking like he is really determined this year to take his game to the next level.

“He can finish absolutely. He is getting those goals around the net. He will still get his goals where he comes down the win and rips on top shelf too using his shot, but he just looks more determined to prove that he belongs at the next level next year.

Riley Boychuk scored to give the Raiders an early 1-0 lead.

“He is winning his puck battles, he is harder on pucks, he is more competitive, and obviously, he had a fight at the start of the game too to try and set the tone early. I really like where his game is at right now, and we need that to continue from him.”

At first, it looked like the Raiders were going to spoil things for the Blades in their home opener. Just 1:49 into the first, Raiders 18-year-old centre Riley Boychuk collected a rebound at the right side of the Blades net from a shot by linemate Owen Corkish and popped the puck home into an empty cage to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Prince Albert took that lead into the first intermission despite being outshot 11-6.

Just 1:52 into the second period, Blades import left-winger David Lewandowski brought the puck down the right wing and put a backhand pass across the face of the Raiders net to linemate in 19-year-old centre Hayden Harsanyi. Harsanyi converted the backdoor tap to even the score at 1-1.

Hayden Harsanyi (#6) keeps the puck from Owen Corkish.

After Laing put the Blades up 2-1 with his first tally of the contest, Lewandowski found the back of the net at the 2:23 mark of the third, when he collected a rebound at the right side of the Raiders net from a shot taken by 19-year-old import right-winger Hutzinger Kostantin to pop home his second of the campaign.

With his two-point effort on Saturday, Lewandowski now had two goals, two assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department. He returned to the Blades on Friday morning after attending training camp with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers to help his WHL side sweep the home-and-home series with the Raiders. Lewandowski said it was natural to jump right back into things with the Blades.

“It is not unusual,” said Lewandowski. “We have a lot of games here anyway, so it is just another day, another game and keep going.”

David Lewandowski had one goal and one assist for the Blades.

Following Laing’s second tally that put the Blades up 4-1, Raiders 17-year-old left-winger Connor Howe fired home a mid range shot on a power play to trim the Saskatoon advantage to 4-2 with 5:10 remaining in the third.

Blades 19-year-old left-winger Kazden Mathies rounded out the game’s scoring with the rare short-handed empty-net goal with 11.9 seconds remaining in the third.

So far this season, the Blades lead the WHL with 18 goals scored. Laing said the team has been playing with good chemistry having returned 12 players from last season and re-acquiring 20-year-old defenceman Tyrone Sobry in an off-season trade with the Prince George Cougars.

Kazden Mathies (#77) gets hugged by Brayden Klimpke after a goal.

“When you have a team with chemistry, it is always good,” said Laing. “You can play with anyone on this team, and we’re all good players.

“I think we can play all four lines and six-D. It is a good thing, and that makes a good team.”

Martin Psohlavec stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Michal Orsulak turned away 24-of-28 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders, who fell to 1-3.

The Raiders get back at it on Wednesday when they host the Red Deer Rebels (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Blades return to action on Friday when they host the Rebels (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

Before the Blades turn their attention to Rebels, Laing admitted his squad was going to take a little time enjoying beating the Raiders two straight after losing six-of-eight regular season meetings in 2025-26 and being swept in four straight in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in the 2026 WHL Playoffs.

Hunter Laing gives a souvenir stick to a young fan.

“The vibes are good,” said Laing. “You know, the boys love beating P.A.

“They’re our rivals, so it is always nice beating them. We owe them from last year still, so it was nice to get the win. We’re going to reset and focus for next week.”

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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“So what do you want to talk about?” – Raiders and Blades had it all on a feisty Friday

The Raiders and Blades engage in a game-ending scrum.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – You can always count on the Prince Albert Raiders and the Saskatoon Blades to come through with a classic rivalry game.

Friday night’s game at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre had pretty much everything you would come to expect from a clash of arch-enemies. There were saves, goals, punches thrown and of course some controversy.

The controversy came with 2:56 remaining in the third period when Raiders star Brandon Gorzynski was given a slashing minor with the combatants locked in a 2-2 tie. Gorzynski was given the infraction working his way into his own zone on the backcheck and made a move to swat the puck off the stick of Blades 19-year-old import rookie right-winger Yegor Gusev.

Brandon Gorzynski was victimized by a tough break penalty call.

Definitely from an overall Raiders perspective you could say the call was really chintzy. 

From a Blades perspective, you could lean into the argument that Gorzynski’s light stick swat was a slash, but a break was likely gained on that call. When you get a break, you never question it, and you never apologize if you get a win out of it.

That is exactly what happened. On the ensuing power play, Blades star left-winger David Lewandowski wired home a shot from the just off centre parallel to the top of the left faceoff circle for the goal that gave the visiting Blades a 3-2 victory before a mostly disgruntled standing room crowd of 2,819 spectators at the Raiders 2,580-seat home rink.

David Lewandowski delivered a winning goal for the Blades.

After Lewandowski’s tally, the Raiders nearly sent the game to overtime. With 28.7 seconds remaining in the third, Raiders standout centre Maddix McCagherty attempted a wraparound to an open left side of the Saskatoon net with Blades import rookie netminder Martin Psohlavec sprawled in his crease. Psohlavec managed to reach out his blocker to make a game-saving stop.

The 18-year-old product of Ostrov, Czechia, was mostly sensational in his WHL regular season debut making 26 saves to pick up the win in goal for the visitors, who improved to 1-1-1. Psohlavec returned to the Blades earlier this week after attending training camp activities with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. He had been at Blades training camp and took part in winning one pre-season game before departing to Philadelphia.

Maddix McCagherty almost had an equalizer.

When the final buzzer sounded on Friday, a huge scrum took part in the left corner of the Saskatoon zone, which also saw someone in the crowd throw a water bottle onto the ice.

After the officials separated the players on both sides, the Blades celebrated their win departing the ice surface to a series of boos, which is the norm when they pull off victories at the Hauser. During the three star selections, Psohlavec and Lewandowski, who returned to the Blades Friday morning after taking part in training camp activities with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, took polite small laps after being named the respective first and second stars in the building.

You were kind of expecting them to potentially embrace the WWE villain role like netminder Nolan Maier and feisty left-winger Riley McKay did in a Blades 3-2 victory at the Hauser way back on December 27, 2019. In that contest, Maier and McKay were the respective first and second stars in the building, and they went out making big laps of the ice surface with smiles on their faces applauding the booing crowd.

Martin Psohlavec made 26 saves to win his WHL regular season debut.

While Raiders fans can come away from the night saying they were robbed, the Blades were deserving of the victory. The hosts came out strong in the scoreless opening frame getting the first eight shots on goal and holding a 13-6 edge in that department after 20 minutes. Psohlavec made his presence felt in that frame making a number of robbery type stops.

Over the final two periods, objective persons would have to give the edge in play to the Blades, especially in the third frame when the visitors had a 16-7 edge in shots on goal. The Raiders controlled the game in the opening stanza and that control slipped out of their grasp in the second and third periods.

Connor Howe had a goal for the Raiders.

Even with that development, the scoring swung back and forth.

With exactly eight minutes remaining in the second, the Blades struck on the power play working on a two-man advantage. Working the puck on the point, Blades captain and star defenceman Brayden Klimpke fired a seeing-eye shot and the puck rebounded to Blades 19-year-old left-winger Kazden Mathies in front of the Prince Albert net.

Mathies put home a backhand shot to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

The Raiders would even the score at 1-1 working on a power play of their own. With 15.7 seconds remaining in the second, Raiders 17-year-old left-winger and fan favourite Connor Howe slipped home a point shot through a screen for the equalizer.

Jack Kachkowski had a positive-bounce goal for the Blades.

At the conclusion of the second, Howe engaged Blades 19-year-old defenceman Jack Kachkowski in a crowd-pleasing fight. The two players traded hard shots before Howe came through with rapid hard shots to bring Kachkowski down to the ice.

Just 2:02 into the third, the Raiders went ahead 2-1 thanks to a rookie mistake by Psohlavec. Raiders 17-year-old right-winger Ben Harvey got the puck in the right slot rushing towards the Blades net and Psohlavec came out to poke check him.

Psohlavec missed with the poke check, and Harvey curved around him and slid the puck into an empty Saskatoon cage to give the host’s their one-goal edge. For the longest time, it appeared that tally would be the Blades undoing.

Connor Howe and Jack Kachkowski go at it in a fight.

The visitors proceeded to benefit from a positive bounce with 6:01 remaining in the third. At that moment in the game, Kachkowski had the puck in the left corner of the Prince Albert zone and made a centering pass to the front of the Raiders net. The puck deflected off the skate of Raiders defenceman Hubert Clarke into the Prince Albert goal to force the contest into a 2-2 tie.

That set the stage for the dramatics inside the final three minutes of the third.

Import star netminder Michal Orsulak had a solid night making 29 saves taking the setback in goal for the Raiders (1-2).

The two teams go at it again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. That contest will be the regular season home opener for the Blades.

Martin Psohlavec, left, enjoys his first WHL regular season win.

Including the pre-season, Saturday’s game will mark the fifth time the Raiders and Blades have gone head-to-head this month. There will likely be more fireworks coming in that encounter that could exceed the pyrotechnics the Blades use in their pre-game festivities.

NOTES – Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald was absent from Friday’s game and will miss Saturday’s game in Saskatoon due to personal reasons. In McDonald’s absence, Raiders assistant coaches Cole Bell and Conor Yawney are assuming co-head coaching duties. The Raiders asked that McDonald’s privacy be respected at this time.

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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New season, new journey and opportunity for Raiders

Connor Howe celebrates scoring a goal for the Raiders.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - The slate is clean for the Prince Albert Raiders.

What happened last season was last season. The current 2026-27 campaign is a brand new journey.

The Raiders had a season to remember in 2025-26. They topped the East Division and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 52-10-5-1 mark. Going into the post-season, the Raiders were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

In the WHL Playoffs, Prince Albert won the Eastern Conference Championship Series in six games over the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Raiders then fell in five games in the WHL Championship Series to the Everett Silvertips.

The new season marks a new beginning for the Raiders.

“You’re always trying to write your own story,” said Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald. “This is a different group than it was last year.

“The nice thing about our returning guys is you learn from your experience. We have lots of guys in that dressing room with experience of playing in round three, Game 6 against Medicine Hat and playing in the finals against Everett here in Game 5. You lean on those experiences and those lessons that you’ve learned.

“They help teach the young guys in the next group coming in how to play and what is expected in certain situations. They’ve been in those pressure situations to lean on it and know what it feels like.”

Star netminder Michal Orsulak is a key returnee for the Raiders.

In the early stages of this season, the Raiders have started out with a 1-1 record. They downed the visiting Regina Pats 7-4 last Friday at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre.

One night later at the InnovationPlex in Swift Current, the Raiders fell 5-2. That contest was highlighted by a second period line brawl that saw the 10 skaters on the ice break off into five legitimate one-on-one fights. Last Monday, the WHL fined both the Raiders and Broncos $1,500 each for the brawl.

The Raiders could be involved with more rough stuff in their next two games, when they take on their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades (0-1-1) in a home-and-home series. 

The two sides go at it Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre and face each other again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. The Saturday clash will be the Blades regular season home opener.

The Raiders and Blades have already gone at it three times earlier this month in the pre-season with Prince Albert winning two of those encounters. Both sides will have some pretty good familiarity with each other.

Still, the Raiders enter the season with a number of key departures. At the conclusion of last season, they graduated one of their best 20-year-old groups in recent memory in captain Justice Christensen, centre Aiden Oiring and right-winger Brayden Dube.

Also gone are 19-year-old centre Braeden Cootes to the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, 20-year-old centre Max Heise and 18-year-old defenceman Daxon Rudolph – both- to the University of Denver Pioneers in the NCAA Division I ranks.

Darius Hordal is one of the Raiders new defencemen.

The Raiders do return 14 players from last season, and they will have all those returnees available when they face the Blades on Friday. On Tuesday, the Raiders got 19-year-old left-winger Brandon Gorzynski back from training camp activities with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. On Wednesday, 18-year-old right-winger Jonah Sivertson was returned to the Raiders after attending NHL training camp activities with the Vegas Golden Knights.

The rest of the returnees in the Raiders forward group include Maddix McCagherty, Ben Harvey, Evan Smith, Connor Howe, Riley Boychuk, import Alisher Sarkenov and Owen Corkish. The Raiders also return Benett Kelly, Hubert Clarke and Brock Cripps on the back end. Prince Albert brings back both goalies from a season ago in import and star Michal Orsulak and Steele Bass.

“Everyone is welcome, and I think we’re very good with just the vets speaking up to the new guys and the young guys,” said Howe, who has two goals and an assist in the Raiders first two games. “I think it is really good.

“We’ve got good leadership.”

The Raiders will be looking to newcomers like 16-year-old rookie right-winger Athens Shingoose and defencemen Liam Myhre and Darius Hordal to come through with contributions. Still, the Raiders will look to lean on their veterans who are back from last season.

“We have a lot of similar guys,” said Harvey, who has two goals and three assists in the Raiders first two games. “Our core is pretty similar from last year, and we’ve learned a lot off our success and off the loss at the end.

The Raiders enjoy their win last Friday at the Hauser.

“We want to take the things that we’ve learned and apply them this year and help teach the new guys the way it is to win and the winning culture we have 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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Raiders versus Tigers conference final could be epic

Daxon Rudolph (#10) and the Raiders are ready to face the Tigers.

It has the potential to be one of the most epic post-season series ever played in the history of the WHL.

The heavyweight showdown for the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series has materialized. The Prince Albert Raiders will take on the Medicine Hat Tigers. Game 1 of the series is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Raiders swept their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades in an Eastern Conference semifinal.

The Tigers, who are the defending WHL champions, finished second in the Eastern Conference, captured the Central Division title and finished third overall in the WHL with a 50-10-5-3 mark. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Tigers swept their division rivals the Calgary Hitmen in the other Eastern Conference semifinal.

Last year, the two sides met in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series that the Tigers took in a sweep on their way to winning the WHL title. While the Tigers were one of the circuit’s powerhouses last season, they were powered by lots of emotion playing for star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin, whose father, Derek, passed on the final day of the 2024-25 regular season.

Meneghin was playing for his father, and the Tigers were playing for him. They rode that to the team’s sixth WHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup tournament’s title game, where they fell 4-1 in the CHL championship contest to the London Knights on June 1, 2025 in Rimouski, Que.

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

Raiders series sweep victory would not be denied

Blades go down with big final battle in 5-3 defeat

The Raiders celebrate their series win over the Blades.

You have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good.

On Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre, the puck was taking all sorts of positive bounces for the Prince Albert Raiders in the first period in Game 4 of their best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against their archrivals in the host Saskatoon Blades. Thanks to three positive bounce goals, the Raiders surged ahead of the Blades 4-1 in the first period holding a 15-4 edge in shots on goal in Game 4 of a WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.

With the Raiders having built a 3-0 series lead in rather dominant fashion, it could have been easy for the Blades to pack it in after the three positive bounce goals went the Raiders way in the opening 20 minutes of Game 4 coming away with the thought that it is just not meant to happen for them.

Raiders fans celebrate their team’s series sweep.

The Blades battled back with their best two periods of the series cutting the Raiders lead to 4-3 in the second period. Star right-winger Hunter Laing and captain Tyler Parr fired home goals that got the host side back into the game.

Inside the final 70 seconds of the second, a puck from a battle along the left boards at centre ice came out to Raiders star centre Max Heise. Heise jetted into the Saskatoon zone on a rush down the left wing and wired a bullet shot short side to the top left corner of the Blades net to make the Raiders lead stand at 5-3 with 57.7 seconds to play in the frame. That tally, which was the first of the post-season for Heise, proved to be a dagger goal.

The two sides proceeded to skate to a stalemate in the third allowing that 5-3 score to hold up as the game’s final outcome. The Raiders swept the set 4-0 to advance to the Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time since 2019, when they last won the WHL title.

David Lewandowski reacts to the Blades season coming to an end.

At game’s end, the 6,361 spectators in the building, who were engaged with the contest all night, paid respects to both squads. The Raiders faithful, who were present in large numbers making just a 75 minute drive down Highway 11 to “The Bridge City,” celebrated the fact their squad was going to a conference final in what has been a memorable season.

The Blades faithful, which still made up the majority of the crowd, gave their team a rousing final salute. In the first round of the WHL Playoffs, the Blades pulled off an inspiring seven game series upset of the heavily favoured Edmonton Oil Kings to set up the rivalry series against the Raiders.

A quartet of Blades supporters take in post-game happenings.

Raiders captain Justice Christensen was pleased his squad got the win on Wednesday to advance to the WHL’s final four in the post-season.

“It means a lot,” said Christensen. “The guys battled hard tonight and are definitely enjoying it right now.

“We will move on here pretty quick, but enjoy it for the time being.”

With that noted, Christensen was part of the Raiders underdog squad that fell to the Blades in five games in the opening round of the WHL Playoffs in 2024, when the Blades finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings. The Blades went to the Eastern Conference final falling 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 at home to the Moose Jaw Warriors, who would move on to win the WHL title.

Rowan Calvert give a final salute to the SaskTel Centre crowd.

The Raiders star defenceman was happy his squad returned the favour to the Blades this season, when Prince Albert was favoured to beat the Saskatoon side.

“It was nice for sure to get that one and do it four,” said Christensen. “I definitely didn’t forget about that one in 2024.

“I had that in the back of my mind the whole time, so it was nice to get it done.”

Parr, who exhausted his WHL eligibility with Wednesday’s setback, was on the victorious side in the 2024 series with the Blades. He didn’t like being on the losing end of the series this time, but he enjoyed the fight his team put up.

“It sucks losing to the Raiders, but I’m super proud of this group over the year,” said Parr, who graduates from the team along with standout left-winger Rowan Calvert. “I am super proud of the effort against them.

The Raiders and Blades shake hands at the conclusion of Game 4.

“I am super proud of the effort in this series. We fought right to the end, so I’m super proud of the guys.”

The positive bounces for the Raiders started just 68 seconds into Wednesday’s contest. Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes had the puck below the icing line in the right corner of the Saskatoon zone. Cootes banked the puck off the back of Blades star netminder Evan Gardner into the Saskatoon net to put the visitors up 1-0.

Imports Alisher Sarkenov, left, and Elias Pul visit at game’s end.

A short time later, Blades star import left-winger David Lewandowski rang a shot off the post of the Prince Albert net.

Moments after that scoring chance, the Raiders would cash in on their second positive bounce. Raiders 16-year-old breakout rookie defenceman Brock Cripps banked a shot off teammate in 19-year-old standout left-winger Maddix McCagherty into the Saskatoon net to push the Raiders lead out to 2-0 at the 4:53 mark of the opening frame. McCagherty was actually being guarded well by sophomore defenceman Jack Kachkowski, when Prince Albert’s second goal banked home off the Raiders forward.

Members of the Raiders faithful salutes their team.

Just 79 seconds after that tally, Raiders standout rookie import defenceman Matyas Man fired home a shot from a sharp angle at the left side of the Saskatoon net to the top right corner of the Blades goal to make the Raiders lead sit at 3-0. The Blades immediately called a timeout to regroup after that tally.

The Blade proceeded to get a break just 38 seconds later, when Lewandowski put home an off-speed shot close to the blue-line along the right boards for his fourth of the post-season to trim the Raiders lead to 3-1. Lewandownski’s shot went through an inadvertent screen by a Raiders player skating through the play that blocked the visit of Prince Albert’s star import netminder Michal Orsulak.

Max Heise scored the Raiders fifth goal, and it was a big one.

Blades offensive-defenceman Brayden Klimpke would proceed to hit a goalpost setting the stage for the next big positive bounce for the Raiders.

With 2:57 remaining in the opening frame, Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph drove a shot on net that Gardner got a piece of. The puck proceeded to fall into the crease of the Saskatoon net and started to slowly creep towards the goal. Blades defenceman Jordan Martin went to play the puck and inadvertently poked it into his own net to make the Raiders advantage sit at 4-1.

“We were playing on them,” said Rudolph. “We were getting pucks in, getting behind them and playing a fast game, which is hard to play against.

“I think sometimes pucks can get bouncing when you’re rushing plays and things like that. I don’t really know what the reason is, but fortunate for us, we will take those bounces there in the first.”

Braeden Cootes had the Raiders first goal on Wednesday.

The Blades proceeded to battle back in the second period, where they outshot the Raiders 16-9. At the 11:39 mark of the frame, the Blades got a gritty goal as Laing found a loose puck around the Prince Albert net during a net scramble and popped it home to trim the Raiders lead to 4-2.

Just 2:51 later and working on a rare four-versus-three power play, Parr drove a mid range shot home through a screen from the front of the Prince Albert net to cut the Raiders lead to 4-3.

“The first wasn’t what we wanted at all obviously,” said Parr. “They came out pretty hard.

“We just kind of said, ‘This is it.’ It is time to get desperate. They’ve challenged us here, and it is how do we respond.

Brock Cripps (#12) works some creativity in the offensive zone.

“There was only one option, and that was to do everything we could to fight back into the game and we did that. It was a two-goal game, but a bounce here, a bounce there, it could have been tied. I’m just super proud of how we responded after the adversity in the first period, and I hope the guys can learn from that.”

Heise proceeded to pot his insurance goal with 57.7 seconds remaining in the second.

With about 13 minutes remaining in the third, Blades standout centre Hayden Harsanyi rang a shot off the crossbar of the Prince Albert net to further add to the total of bounces that did go in the direction of the host side.

The Raiders celebrate a goal from Maddix McCagherty (#17).

Orsulak stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Evan Gardner turned away 25 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades.

“I’m just really proud of our group, how we played,” said Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald. “I thought our start was absolutely tremendous as we got to our skating legs right away.

“Even the resilience throughout the game, the Blades pushed hard. That is a real scrappy team over there, and again, they didn’t go away and kept pushing us and again got the game close. We had to again buckle down and get back to our game.

“Give our guys a lot of credit, we got into that third period and really locked things down.”

Blades head coach Dan DaSilva was proud of how his club responded, when it looked like things were going to go south fast for his club in the opening frame.

Matyas Man scored the Raiders third goal on Wednesday.

“I thought that it (the game) was unfortunate the way it started,” said DaSilva. “I think our guys were excited, and they were ready to go.

“We had a couple of bad breaks early and got behind the eight ball right away. As we’ve seen all year long, there is no quit in our group. They used the timeout and the intermission to reset and get back to work.

“They played with so much pride in the last 40 minutes. They weren’t going to say die. I thought we had our best period of the series in the second period there.”

Going into this rivalry series, the Raiders were the favourites.

They finished first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and second overall in the league with a 52-10-5-1 record during the regular season. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the first round of the playoffs, Prince Albert eliminated the Red Deer Rebels, who were eighth in the Eastern Conference, in five games.

Daxon Rudolph netted the winning goal for the Raiders.

The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark. In the first round of the playoffs, they upset the Edmonton Oil Kings, who were third in the Eastern Conference and fifth overall in the WHL, in seven games taking Game 7 by a 3-2 score in overtime. In the seven games against the Oil Kings, the Blades played their best hockey of the 2025-26 campaign.

DaSilva was pleased his squad bowed out on a note where they battled hard in their Game 4 season ending loss to the Raiders in their Eastern Conference semifinal.

“It was our best game of the series,” said DaSilva. “We still came up short, hit a few posts, a couple of bad bounces.

The Blades celebrate a goal from captain Tyler Parr (#20).

“It is behind us now. I am just proud of the group, proud of the season and proud of everything that they gave. It is truly a pleasure to stand in front of that group and coach them every day.

“They are hard workers. They’re good human beings and good young men. We had a lot of fun this year.”

Before the playoffs started, expectations were high that the Raiders would face the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers in a heavyweight showdown in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference Championship Series. The Tigers finished second overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and third in the league’s overall standings at 50-10-5-3. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Tyler Parr ensures a young fan leaves with a big memory.

On Wednesday, the Tigers finished off the other Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in a 4-0 sweep posting a 5-2 victory over the Hitmen in Calgary in Game 4 of that set. The heavyweight showdown between the Raiders and the Tigers in the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series will happen with the schedule to be announced.

It is expected both clubs will have about eight off days between games as the two Western Conference semifinal series are still ongoing. The Tigers swept the Raiders in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series a year ago.

For now, the Raiders want to enjoy for a short time the fact they swept away their archrivals in the Blades and are now 5-4 in all-time post-season series between the two clubs.

The Blades give a final salute to their fans at the SaskTel Centre.

“It feels good, obviously,” said Rudolph. “We have a long, historic rivalry here against the Blades.

“To come out on top in this series is definitely big for us. It is just a super happy feeling right now and super happy to get it done.”

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The song in Saskatoon is “Go Raiders Go!”

Prince Albert set for sweep, sweep series victory over Blades

The Raiders enjoy the first of two goals from Braeden Cootes (#34).

It was fitting that “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers was playing at game’s end at the SaskTel Centre.

With how the host Saskatoon Blades had been fairing in their WHL Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders, the iconic country song might have been foreshadowing to the Saskatoon side that it was time to “know when to fold ’em.”

On Tuesday, the Raiders rolled to a 4-0 victory over the host Blades while also holding a 41-23 edge in shots on goal in Game 3 of the best-of-seven set played before 6,522 spectators. With the win, the Raiders take a 3-0 lead in the series where they have outscored the Blades 13-1 and held a 120-55 advantage in shots on goal. Prince Albert can close out the series in Game 4 on Wednesday, which is set for 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Braeden Cootes had a pair of goals and was a plus-two on Tuesday.

Dating back to the regular season, the Raiders have only given up one goal against the Blades in the last five head-to-head meetings between the two sides.

The last time the Blades scored an even-strength goal against the Raiders came back during a regular season clash on February 14 at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. 

In that contest, Blades captain Tyler Parr scored at the 7:42 mark of the second period to put the Blades up 4-2 in that game. The Raiders would rally back and take that contest 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout.

The Raiders faithful influtrated the SaskTel Centre on Tuesday.

The Raiders have won seven straight head-to-head games against the Blades including action in both the regular season and post-season. The Blades last victory over the Raiders came back on January 31 with a 4-0 triumph at the Hauser, where Blades star netminder Evan Gardner made 36 saves to post the shutout.

In the three post-season meetings between these two clubs, Gardner, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, has easily been the Blades best player posting a .907 save percentage. However, he can’t go out and score goals for his squad, and it becomes impossible to win hockey games if the skaters in front of the goalie don’t score any goals.

Blades G Evan Gardner pins Raiders LW Ben Harvey.

Gardner was great again on Tuesday. He turned away 37-of-40 shots to take the setback in goal for the Blades.

The Raiders final tally was an empty-net goal that was short-handed by 19-year-old centre Evan Smith with 30.3 seconds remaining in the third period.

The Blades came out to a good introduction and had some great support from their fans. They managed to get the first shot on goal of the contest.

Then at the 3:19 mark of the opening frame, Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube directed a shot-pass from the right corner of the Saskatoon zone to the crease of the Saskatoon net. Star linemate Brandon Gorzynski deflected home the puck to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead off their first shot on net.

Evan Gardner makes one of his 37 saves for the Blades.

That tally seemed to suck the enthusiasm of the Blades faithful out of the building.

The sizable contingent that came down from Prince Albert to support the Raiders was just getting started when it came to rocking all night. They did their best to turn the SaskTel Center into a home away from home for the Raiders.

The Raiders carried play through the rest of the first holding a 14-6 edge in shots on goal. The visitors also had a pair of power plays after their goal in the first 20 minutes, but Gardner proceeded to keep his team in the game.

The opening six minutes of the second period became the Braeden Cootes show. Just 64 seconds into the second, Raiders standout import rookie left-winger Alisher Sarkenov sprung Cootes into the Saskatoon zone on a breakaway. Cootes snuck a shot sick side through the right arm of Gardner to push the Raiders lead out to 2-0.

Michal Orsulak makes one of his 23 saves in his shutout win.

Just 4:42 later, Raiders standout 19-year-old import rookie defenceman Matyas Man pushed the puck up to Cootes allowing the skilled centre to break into the Saskatoon zone down the right wing. The Sherwood Park, Alta., product, who turned 19-years-old in February, deked wide around a Blades defenceman and from a sharp angle to the right of the Saskatoon goal, he fired home a shot to the top right corner of the net to make the Raiders advantage sit at 3-0.

Actually, Cootes was so good for the entire night that fans of the Vancouver Canucks will be hoping the centre will start next season on the NHL club’s main roster. Cootes has a signed entry-level contract with the Canucks.

The Blades proceeded to get a pair of power plays, and Blades star import right-winger David Lewandowski rang a shot off the post of the Prince Albert net near the end of the second power play.

Brandon Gorzynski scored the Raiders first goal on Tuesday.

With less than two minutes to play in the frame, Lewandowski had another big chance to hit the scoreboard, but Raiders import star rookie netminder Michal Orsulak pulled out a sweet glove stop to rob the skilled Blades forward.

Early in the third, Orsulak robbed Blades import left-winger Elias Pul with a left pad stop on a backhand shot. After that, it felt like the Blades were trying to work their way through quicksand to get back into the contest.

They ended up with a power-play chance shortly after Pul was stoned on his scoring chance when Raiders defenceman Linden Burrett was given a kneeing minor for a hit on Blades 17-year-old centre Ben Bowtell. Bowtell left the contest and didn’t return.

Brayden Dube had an assist on the Raiders first goal on Tuesday.

The Blades power play continued to be ineffective when it came to getting on the scoreboard.

That set the stage for Smith’s short-handed empty-net goal to close the proceedings on Tuesday.

Orsulak stopped all 23 shots he faced for his third shutout win of the post-season and second against the Blades in the WHL Playoffs. In the post-season series against the Blades, Orsulak has a 0.33 goals against average and a .982 save percentage.

Going into this rivalry series, the Raiders were the favourites.

They finished first in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and second overall in the league with a 52-10-5-1 record during the regular season. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. 

Evan Smith (#21) reacts to his empty-net short-handed goal.

In the first round of the playoffs, Prince Albert eliminated the Red Deer Rebels, who were eighth in the Eastern Conference, in five games.

The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark. In the first round of the playoffs, they upset the Edmonton Oil Kings, who were third in the Eastern Conference and fifth overall in the WHL, in seven games taking Game 7 by a 3-2 score in overtime. 

In the seven games against the Oil Kings, the Blades played their best hockey of the 2025-26 campaign.

Before the playoffs started, expectations were high that the Raiders would face the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers in a heavyweight showdown in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference Championship Series. 

The Raiders and Blades still engaged in a handful of scrums.

The Tigers finished second overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and third in the league’s overall standings at 50-10-5-3. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

They lead the other best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinal Series 3-0 against the Calgary Hitmen. Medicine Hat will try to close that series out in Game 4 on Wednesday in Calgary.

At the moment in the series between the Raiders and Blades, only the most optimistic of Blades fans would still hold belief that their team will keep their campaign alive at the conclusion of Game 4 on Wednesday. The thought process would be that the Raiders seven game winning streak in head-to-head contests between both sides including action in the regular season and post-season has to end at some time.

The Raiders begin celebrating their win on Tuesday.

For now, it is hard to imagine any outcome on Wednesday that doesn’t see a celebration amongst the Raiders faithful that will again be at the SaskTel Centre when Game 4 comes to a close.

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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