Oh how sweet it is – Huskies capture Canada West title

Dogs claim first conference championship since 2020

Justin Ball goes for a spin with the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

It was the spark that helped the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey Team surge to a Canada West championship.

On Sunday at Merlis Belsher Place, the Huskies found themselves in a scoreless deadlock in the third period with the Mount Royal University Cougars in a series deciding Game 3 of the Canada West Championship series. The Cougars had gotten the record crowd of 3,013 spectators at the Huskies state of the art rink to fall into a hush.

At the 10:09 mark of the frame, the Huskies got a rush that turned the game around. 

Vince Loschiavo scored the winning goal for the Huskies.

Second-year offensive defenceman Landon Kosior got the puck to fourth-year left-winger Chantz Petruic at the left side of his own blue-line. Petruic made seeing-eye pass up the centre of the ice to fifth-year right-winger Vince Loschiavo to spring him into the Mount Royal zone on a one-on-one rush.

Loschiavo jetted up the left wing, took a shot that deflected off the stick of Cougars defenceman Michael Ladyman into the Mount Royal net to put the Huskies up 1-0 and almost blow the roof off Merlis. That started a three-goal surge that allowed the Huskies to take the game 3-0. With the win, the Huskies claimed the best-of-three set 2-1 to capture their first conference crown since 2020.

Vince Loschiavo reacts to score at the 10:09 mark of the third period.

Both Huskies and the Cougars will play in the U Sports Championship Tournament – the David Johnston University Cup. It is slated to be held at TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario, from March 20 to 23, and it will be played in elite-eight format.

“I’m so happy for our guys,” said Huskies head coach Brandin Cote, who was named the Canada West Conference coach of the year this season. “They put in so much work.

“They bought in, and that is what good teams do. They are so close and so tight. We’re going to enjoy this, but we also got nationals to be ready for as well, so we’re not done yet.”

The Huskies celebrate a third period goal from Vince Loschiavo (#18).

The Huskies captured the Canada West title for the 19^th time in team history with 12 of those wins coming in the conference’s modern era that started in 1972.

For the first 40 minutes in Sunday’s game, it seemed like the Huskies were stuck in a mud bog. While they had their spurts of offence, the Cougars pinned the hosts in their own zone for extended stretches.

Mount Royal had a 12-4 edge in shots on goal after the first period and 24-11 advantage in the same department heading into the second intermission. While the Cougars had their chances, they couldn’t solve Huskies fourth-year netminder Roddy Ross, who claimed honours as the Canada West goaltender of the year for the current campaign.

Part of the crowd of 3,013 spectators cheer the Huskies first goal.

Kosior said Ross’s performance helped give the Huskies traction.

“Roddy (Ross) was making saves,” said Kosior. “I think that just gave us so much belief.

“We knew that he is not letting anything in. We just knew that we had to get one. Once we got it, it was all gas.”

Huskies second-year right-winger Keaton Sorensen thought his team’s effort was there for the first 40 minutes and the intensity of the contest was high. He said all his squad had to do was get a touch more composure.

Roddy Ross made 30 saves to pick up the shutout win on Sunday.

“We just took it period by period every five minutes,” said Sorensen. “Sometimes, we got revved up.

“We just got calm and collected. We just got it done today.”

The game’s momentum shifted drastically in the third when Loschiavo got the Huskies on the scoreboard. Kosior was pumped to see the rush that he started get finished off by Loschiavo.

“That was unbelievable,” said Kosior. “That was a feeling I won’t forget.

“We celebrated, and then knew there was nine minutes left or whatever it was. We had to refocus and finish the game out.”

Shane Farkas stopped 24-of-26 shots in goal for the Cougars.

Following Loschiavo’s goal, the Huskies got the puck deep in the Mount Royal often and were hard on the forecheck. That pressure resulted in a key insurance goal with 5:55 remaining in the third.

Cougars third-year defenceman Remy Aquilon had the puck deep in his zone, and he was forced to cough it up after he was floored by a big hit from Huskies fourth-year right winger Jarrett Penner. After the hit, the puck squirted to Huskies third-year centre Ethan Regnier, who was all alone in front of the Mount Royal net.

Regnier tucked a shot between the legs of Cougars netminder Shane Farkas to push the Huskies lead out to 2-0.

“Penn (Jarrett Penner) is my linemate there,” said Regnier. “He is always hard on the puck, so you always have to be ready.

Ethan Regnier scored the Huskies second goal on Sunday.

“You never know what is going to happen. It just came out to me. I tried to make a quick move, and luckily, it went in.”

Regnier was pumped his Huskies prevailed in Game 3 to capture the conference title.

“I’m pretty speechless,” said Regnier. “To do it in front of the crowd and the support we have here, it is awesome.”

With 1:16 remaining in the third, fourth-year defenceman Ty Prefontaine sealed the victory with an empty-net tally that rounded out the 3-0 final score.

Ross stopped all 30 shots sent his way to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Huskies. Farkas turned away 24-of-26 shots to take the setback in net for the Cougars.

During the regular season, the Huskies topped the Canada West standings with a 23-5 record, and they were rated second in the final U Sports Top 10 Rankings. 

The Huskies pour off their bench after winning the Canada West title.

The Cougars were second overall in Canada West at 22-6, and they were rated fourth in the final U Sports Top 10 Rankings.

Kosior was elated his squad claimed the conference title.

“It feels unreal,” said Kosior. “At the start of the year, this was our goal.

“To accomplish it, it is the best feeling in the world.”

Sorensen contributed some gritty minutes to help the Huskies cause. With 3:34 remaining in the third, he drew a tripping penalty from Cougars rookie right-winger Justin Lies that help keep the momentum on the Huskies side.

Ty Prefontaine (#9) reacts to getting his Canada West gold medal.

When the third period clock expired, Sorensen was over the moon excited about the fact his team won the conference title.

“It is awesome,” said Sorensen. “There is no better feeling than winning.

“It is just awesome. We have a great group of guys. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys.”

The 3,013 spectators the Huskies drew for Game 3 matched the record total they attracted for Game 2 of the series on Saturday at Merlis, which the Cougars claimed 2-1 in overtime. In the Huskies 6-3 victory in Game 1 of the series on Friday, 2,980 spectators packed into Merlis, which was the attendance record for the building until Games 2 and 3 of the series were played.

Landon Kosior raises the Dr. W.G. Hardy Trophy.

Kosior played before some lively crowds during his WHL career as a member of the Prince Albert Raiders at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in “Hockey Town North.” He loved how the Huskies faithful brought the noise and the energy in the Canada West final.

“The crowd has been amazing,” said Kosior. “It is unbelievable.

“I can’t even put it into words. We’re just so thankful with how good our crowd was.”

Now the Huskies turn their attention to trying to win their second U Sports championship in team history. Their lone U Sports title came from their legendary 1982-83 squad that was coached by Dave King and captained by Willie Desjardins.

Kosior said his squad is looking forward to what awaits then at the David Johnston University Cup.

The Huskies celebrate their Canada West title win on Sunday.

“We’re excited,” said Kosior. “We will celebrate this, and then, we will come back and be ready to go and be looking forward to nationals.”

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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Oil Kings big guns overpower Raiders in Game 3

The Oil Kings celebrate one of their goals in a 5-1 win on Tuesday.

    EDMONTON, Alta. – The Edmonton Oil Kings top line looked like they were auditioning for the 1980s Edmonton Oilers.

    The unit of captain Trey Fix-Wolansky, overage centre Vince Loschiavo and left-winger Quinn Benjafield combined for three goals and six assists to deliver the Oil Kings to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders on Tuesday in Game 3 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series.

    With the win before 6,807 spectators at Rogers Place, the Oil Kings took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. local time at Rogers Place.

    “I thought we were playing well and moving our feet and moving pucks quick,” said Loschiavo, who had a pair of goals and an assist. “That is when we are at our best is when we are playing fast.

    “I think we have to keep that going here, and we should have success. Right from the first period, I thought we were getting chances. A couple of them didn’t go in.

Vince Loschiavo had two goals and an assist for the Oil Kings.

    “In the second, we started to find our game and find the back of the net. It is good.”

    After a scoreless opening frame, the Oil Kings top line got rolling in the second period. Just 87 seconds into the frame, Benjafield sprung Loschiavo into the Prince Albert zone on a breakaway and he snapped home the opening tally to give the hosts a 1-0 edge.

    At the 9:48 of the second, Loschiavo and Fix-Wolansky set up offensive defenceman Conner McDonald on a backdoor feed on a tic-tack-toe passing play and McDonald buried a shot to give the Oil Kings a 2-0 advantage.

    Working on the power play, the Oil Kings big line struck again at the 14:48 mark of the second. Benjafield got the puck to Fix-Wolansky, who fed a beauty backdoor feed to Loschiavo.

Trey Fix-Wolansky had three assists for the Oil Kings.

    Loschiavo made no mistake burying his second goal of the contest to give Edmonton a 3-0 lead.

    “It was unreal,” said Fix-Wolansky, who had three assists on Tuesday. “We were clicking.

    “We found each other when we were open and banged a couple home.”

    The Oil Kings captain said his line had more room and opportunities to make plays on Tuesday skating at the Rogers Centre, which has a bigger ice surface than the Raiders home rink in the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

    “Coming back here, there is a little bit more time and space,” said Fix-Wolansky. “I think that worked to our advantage.

    “I think it was better for us tonight to able to make plays and have that time and space.”

Quinn Benjafield had two assists on Tuesday night.

    Having held the line of Fix-Wolansky, Loschiavo and Benjafield to one goal in the first two games of the series in Prince Albert, Raiders captain Brayden Pachal didn’t want to see them get rolling in Edmonton.

    “I think they got a couple of even strength goals,” said Pachal. “A lot of their offence has come off the power play.

    “Our penalty kill has to do a better job. Special teams again tonight, they won that battle. I think just forget about this one and move on for tomorrow.

    “We have to have that mindset that it is a must-win game tomorrow, and that is what we are looking to do tomorrow.”

    Sophomore defenceman Matthew Robertson scored on a point shot with 66 seconds remaining in the second to put the Oil Kings up 4-0.

    The Raiders managed to halt the bleeding with 0.2 seconds remaining in the second, when overage centre Sean Montgomery scored on the power play to cut the Oil Kings lead to 4-1.

Montgomery’s goal wasn’t able to trigger a Prince Albert comeback.

    Sophomore centre Josh Williams rounded out the scoring for Edmonton in the third with a power-play goal.

Brayden Pachal and the Raiders took one on the chin.

    Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer was pleased to see his top line have a special night.

    “It doesn’t matter what level you play at if your top line is not going to be going, you are not going to be going far,” said Lauer. “I thought today our guys were going.

    “It is big for the rest of the series. We don’t rely on them every night either. One thing that we’ve been able to do this year is get contributions from all four lines.

    “That is the biggest part of our team right now.”

    Ian Scott made 34 saves to take the loss in goal for the Raiders. Dylan Myskiw turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in net for the Oil Kings.

    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said his team looked off on Tuesday and wasn’t able to find an early traction point to get going.

    “We just looked tired a little bit,” said Habscheid. “I think first period we looked tired, second period and then for some reason at the start of the third we found our legs a little bit.

    “It is something we can draw off of. I think if we would have scored early that might have helped. It is amazing when you get a goal all of sudden you find your legs, and we didn’t find the goal.

Netminder Ian Scott makes one of his 34 saves in goal for the Raiders.

    “We had some good chances in the second, when they got up by one. We had some good chances, point blank chances to tie it. We didn’t and they went from there.”

    Prince Albert finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season posting a 54-10-2-2 record and was rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. As a result, the Raiders are pegged as favourites in the Eastern Conference final against Edmonton.

    The Oil Kings topped the Central Division and finished fifth overall in the WHL standings with a 42-18-4-4 mark, and they were an honourable mention in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Fix-Wolansky said the players on his team have developed a self-confidence that they can get the job done against the Raiders.

The Oil Kings celebrate their victory on Tuesday.

    “Everybody in that room believes in ourselves,” said Fix-Wolansky. “We believe in our team.

    “Other people might say we are the underdogs, but we don’t believe that one bit.”

    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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Series win over Blades readies Raiders for conference final

Prince Albert and Oil Kings set for Game 1 on Friday

The Raiders aim to give their fans more highs in their post-season journey.

     For head coach Marc Habscheid, adversity was good for the soul of his Prince Albert Raiders.
     Battling through adversity will help his team as it continues to march through the WHL playoffs. The Raiders are set to open the best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Championship series against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

    The Raiders are coming off downing their archrivals the Saskatoon Blades in six games in a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series.

    Before meeting the Blades, the Raiders were on an impressive march through the 2018-19 campaign.

Raiders fans have been packing and rocking the Art Hauser Centre.

    Prince Albert finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season posting a 54-10-2-2 record and was rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. The Raiders swept the Red Deer Rebels 4-0 in a best-of-seven first round series to set up a meeting with the Blades.

    Against the Blades, the Raiders won the first two games at home and dropped Games 3 and 4 on the road in Saskatoon. With the series tied 2-2, the Raiders rolled off a 6-1 victory in Game 5 in Prince Albert and sealed the series win with a 6-3 victory in Game 6 last Sunday at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

    Habscheid remembers talking with his team after falling 4-1 in Game 4 and telling them about the opportunity they had to change things when the momentum of the series was going against them.

The Raiders faithful give their team a huge advantage at home.

    “You know what, we want this,” said Habscheid. “This is good for us. We’re not going to win 6-1 all the time. We need to go through this.

    “We need to feel an upset stomach. We need to have sleepless nights. We need to feel that anxiety. That is what you have to do to win.”

    Habscheid said being tied 2-2 with the Raiders was particularly challenging due to the fact his Raiders felt they should have won Games 3 and 4 in Saskatoon. In those two games, Blades star netminder Nolan Maier turned away 69-of-70 shots to back his side to two wins.

    The Blades, who finished fourth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 45-15-8 record and were an honourable mention in the final CHL Top 10 rankings, took Game 3 of the series 1-0.

Dante Hannoun, left, leads the Raiders in post-season scoring.

    “If we plan on getting to where we want to go, we have to go through situations like that, and we did,” said Habscheid. “I think we responded in Game 5 and obviously (we were) real good (in Game 6).”

    In the conference final, the Raiders face the challenge of taking on another stubborn foe in the Oil Kings. The Oil Kings topped the Central Division and finished fifth overall in the WHL standings with a 42-18-4-4 mark, and they were an honourable mention in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

    Edmonton downed the Medicine Hat Tigers in a best-of-seven first round series in six games and swept the Calgary Hitmen 4-0 in the other WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series.

    The Oil Kings have been off since blanking the Hitmen 6-0 in Calgary on April 10.

Brett Leason topped the Raiders in regular season scoring.

    “Obviously, they got a little more rest that we did,” said Raiders captain Brayden Pachal. “We faced adversity that we haven’t so much in the regular season, so it was a good test for us.

    “We are looking forward to Edmonton.”

    Star right-winger Brett Leason led the Raiders in regular season scoring with 36 goals and 53 assists for 89 points, while posting a plus-55 rating in the plus-minus department.

    Overage star centre Noah Gregor was second in regular season scoring for the Raiders posting 43 goals and 45 assists for 88 points to go with a plus-49 rating.

    Captain Brayden Pachal put up the most points out of all the Raiders defenceman. The Estevan, Sask., product racked up 15 goals and 36 assists for 51 points.

    He topped the entire WHL in plus-minus with a plus-76 rating. Defensive partner Zack Hayes was second in the league in plus-minus with a plus-71 rating, while contributing three goals and 24 assists on the offensive end.

    Star netminder Ian Scott had a spectacular regular season posting a 38-8-3 record, a 1.83 goals against average, a .932 save percentage and a team record eight shutouts.
    The Raiders will be without physical forward Justin Nachbaur for Game 1 of the series with the Oil Kings, because he will be sitting out the second of a two-game league imposed suspension. Nachbaur received the suspension for getting an interference major and a game misconduct in the Raiders Game 5 win over the Blades.

Noah Gregor has been stellar for the Raiders all season.

    Overage centre Dante Hannoun leads the Raiders in post-season scoring with nine goals and five assists to go with a plus-seven rating. Hannoun said his Raiders are that much more ready for the rest of the post-season after their series win over the Blades.

    “They battled hard,” said Hannoun. “They pushed every game, and we pushed back.

“You have to give them credit.”

    Captain Trey Fix-Wolansky topped the Oil Kings in regular season scoring with 37 goals and 65 assists for 102 points, while posting a plus-36 rating in the plus-minus department.

    Overage centre Vince Loschiavo was second in team scoring with 37 goals and 25 assists for 62 points. He leads the Oil Kings in post-season scoring with five goals and five assists.

    Offensive-defenceman Conner McDonald topped all Edmonton blue-liners in scoring with 19 goals and 31 assists for 50 points to go with a plus-16 rating during the regular season.

Trey Fix-Wolansky will be looking to celebrate a number of Oil Kings goals.

    Dylan Myskiw carried the load as the Oil Kings starter in goal posting a 28-11-5 record, a 2.53 goals against average, a .914 save percentage and one shutout in regular season play.

    The Raiders and Oil Kings met four times in the regular season, and Prince Albert won three out of those four head-to-head encounters.

    “We’ve had a good series with Edmonton all season too,” said Raiders power forward Parker Kelly. “They are going to be another team that is going to try and push us to our limits.”

    The Raiders are appearing in the Eastern Conference final for the first time since falling to the Brandon Wheat Kings in seven games back in 2005, which is a playoff foray that is generally known in Prince Albert at “The Run.”

Parker Kelly is looking to push the Raiders even further in the playoffs.

    Pachal said “Hockey Town North” is jumping at the prospect as what is to come.

    “It is an amazing feeling,” said Pachal. “Obviously, small market P.A. hasn’t seen a team like this in a while.

    “It is fun to be back on the map. The city is buzzing all the time. It is definitely a fun and a tough rink to play in back at the Hauser.”

    Home ice advantage could prove to be big as the Raiders have yet to lose in five post-season games at home and were 28-4-2 at the Art Hauser Centre during the regular season.

    So far in the playoffs, attendance for Raiders home game hasn’t dipped below 3,000 at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. The last three Raiders home games were sellouts with 3,289 people turning out for each of those contests.

    Kelly said his club gets pumped up from the home ice atmosphere.

    “It is crazy,” said Kelly. “I’ve never see the rink like that in Game 5 (in the 6-1 win over the Blades).

The Raiders faithful will be ready to bring it in the conference final.

    “It was pretty crazy. It was three deep (on the concourse) and soldout. It is so fun to play in.

    “There is going to be a lot of fan support, and we are going to use that to our advantage.”

    The winner of the series between the Raiders and Oil Kings will take on the winner of the WHL’s Western Conference Championship series between the Vancouver Giants and Spokane Chiefs in the WHL final. The Giants finished second overall in the WHL at 48-15-3-2, while the Chiefs were eighth overall at 40-21-5-2.

Saskatoon/P.A. get Canada Russia Series games

The Blades and Raiders will each host a Canada Russia Series game.

    On Thursday, the CHL announced Saskatoon and Prince Albert will host the final two games of the CIBC Canada Russia series set for this coming November.

    The Canada Russia Series in an annual six-game event that is often used as a final evaluation point for Hockey Canada to determine its final list of invites for the final selection camp for Canada’s world junior team in December.

    In the series, a Russian national junior team will take on all-star teams from each of Canada’s three major junior leagues. The Russian team will face all-star teams from the QMJHL, OHL and the WHL twice each.

    The Saskatoon Blades will host the fifth game of the series on Nov. 13 at the SaskTel Centre. The Prince Albert Raiders will host the sixth and final game of the series on Nov. 14 at the Art Hauser Centre. The start times of the games are still to be determined.

    Saskatoon hosted games in this series on two previous occasions in 2005 and 2014. Prince Albert hosted this series on one other occasion back in 2008.

    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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Future bright for Sillinger with WHL’s Tigers

Medicine Hat still eliminated from playoffs in OT heartbreaker

Cole Sillinger turned heads in the WHL playoffs with the Tigers.

    MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – The month of March has been a whirlwind to say the least for Cole Sillinger.

    The 15-year-old Regina, Sask., product started the month trying to help his hometown Regina Pats Canadians win the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League championship after topping the circuit with a 33-7-2-2 record in the regular season. 

    In helping the Pats earn a first place finish, Sillinger, who is a skilled forward, led the SMAAAHL in scoring with 31 goals and 45 assists for 76 points in 39 regular season appearances.

    The Pat Canadians were eliminated in a best-of-five SMAAAHL semifinal series dropping a 5-2 decision in a series deciding Game 5 at home on March 20 to the Notre Dame Hounds. The Hounds moved on to with the SMAAAHL title for a second straight year.

Cole Sillinger (#44) drives a shot on goal for the Tigers.

    After the Pat Canadians season game to an end, Sillinger was called up to play for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL playoffs. He joined the Tigers on March 23 helping them earn a 2-1 victory in Game 1 of their best-of-seven first round series with the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Alberta capital.

    On Sunday, the Tigers season came to an end as they dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision in overtime before 2,872 spectators at the Canalta Centre to the visiting Oil Kings.

    Edmonton netted the winner at the 2:43 mark of the extra session when captain Trey Fix-Wolansky fed linemate Vince Loschiavo with a perfect pass on a two-on-one break and Loschiavo buried the game and series winner.

    While the ending of Sunday’s contest was obviously tough to take for Sillinger, he was thankful he played in all six of the Tigers post-season games. 

Cole Sillinger scored his first goal with the Tigers in the playoffs.

    He believes he can hit the ground running, when he joins the team next season as a 16-year-old rookie.

    “I can kind of get into a routine,” said Sillinger, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 173 pounds. “I can just come in here with lots of confidence and just know that I can play. That will be huge for me.”

    Sillinger comes to the Tigers as a highly touted prospect. The Tigers selected him in the first round and 11^th overall in last year’s WHL Bantam Draft.

    Of course, Sillinger’s father, Mike, played 17 seasons in the NHL from 1990-91 to 2008-09 with 12 different teams.

    As he wasn’t eligible to play full time in the WHL, Sillinger continued to lift his status with how he performed with the Pat Canadians. In leading the SMAAAHL in scoring, Sillinger collected a host of league awards.

Cole Sillinger, left, cuts to the net on an offensive rush for the Tigers.

    He was named the circuit’s most valuable player, rookie of the year, top forward and a first team all-star.

    In the final contest of the SMAAAHL regular season on Feb. 27, Sillinger score a short-handed overtime winning goal to give the Pat Canadians a 3-2 victory over the Blazers in Saskatoon to lock up first place in the league.

    While he played with the Pat Canadians, Sillinger was called up to play four regular season games with the Tigers, where he collected two assists.

Cole Sillinger jets up ice for the Tigers.

    In the WHL playoffs, Sillinger scored his first career goal netting the Tigers first tally in their 5-0 victory in Game 3 of their series with the Oil Kings last Tuesday in Medicine Hat.

    “It was just a huge goal for me, and I will remember it forever,” said Sillinger.

    Sillinger played significant minutes for the Tigers in the post-season, and Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston was pleased with how well Sillinger fit in.

    “He is a great player,” said Clouston. “He is a great kid.

    “He works hard. He is smart. He plays with confidence with the puck.

    “He understands how the game needs to be played. He was good for us in the games that we called him up.”

    Clouston was comfortable enough to call up Sillinger for a key regular season game at the Canalta Centre on March 9 against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. Sillinger finished that contest with a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department helping the Tigers pull out a 4-2 victory that really helped them get a lot closer to eventually clinching a playoff berth.  

Vince Loschiavo scored the OT winner for the Oil Kings.

    “It was great to see him score his first goal in the post-season,” said Clouston. “He has a bright future.”

    Sillinger said one of his biggest early hurdles in joining the Tigers for the WHL post-season was getting over the disappointment of the fact the Pat Canadians were eliminated from the SMAAAHL playoffs.

    “I was in the (Tigers) lineup, so I think I had to get that out of my head really quick,” said Sillinger. “I can’t sit on that loss (with the Pat Canadians).

    “I can’t wish that I was going to win a national championship with my midget team. I think that was just the biggest thing. I had to just get that out of my head and then just have the chance to extend my season with the Tigers and do something special with the guys.”

Captain James Hamblin scored a pair of goals for the Tigers.

    Sillinger believes he did a good job of quickly moving on to focus on what he needed to do to help the Tigers. He said he hasn’t even reflected on what it was like to win all the major individual awards he did with the SMAAAHL.

    “I can’t thank my teammates enough for those,” said Sillinger. “I haven’t really been thinking of those.

    “It has been all Tigers and all WHL and focusing on the Edmonton Oil Kings and focusing on what we have to do to win the series.”

    As for Sunday’s game, the Tigers fell behind 1-0 at the 4:09 mark of the first period, when Fix-Wolansky scored a short-handed goal with a backhand shot on a breakaway.

Captain Trey Fix-Wolansky celebrates his first period goal for the Oil Kings.

    Just 1:45 later, the Tigers evened things up at 1-1 on a goal from 17-year-old rookie left-winger Corson Hopwo.

    Early in the second, Tigers captain James Hamblin scored two goals 27 seconds apart from each other to put the hosts up 3-1.

    Just 25 seconds after that surge, Oil Kings defenceman Wyatt McLeod scored to cut the Tigers edge to 3-2.

    Offensive defenceman Conner McDonald netted the equalizer for the Oil Kings to force a 3-3 tie 31 seconds into the third period. That set the stage for Loschiavo to net the winner in overtime.

    Mads Sogaard made 33 saves to take the setback in goal for the Tigers. Todd Scott turned away 26 shots to pick up the win in net for the Oil Kings.

The fans at the Canalta Centre salute the Tigers.

    The result of Sunday’s game brought an end to the WHL careers of the Tigers overage players in Ryan Jevne, Dylan MacPherson and Linus Nassen.

    The Oil Kings finished first in the Central Division with a 42-18-4-4 record and were favoured to beat the Tigers, who placed fourth in the Central with a 35-27-4-2 mark.

    “I guess when you don’t win it is disappointing,” said Clouston. “I think we battled.

    “I think there were times where it looked like Edmonton was going to take the series right over early, but they didn’t. We were able to continue to battle. I’m proud of our effort and disappointed in the final outcome.”

The Tigers and Oil Kings engage in post-series handshakes.

    Sillinger said he learned how important it is to keep battling in the WHL playoffs no matter what was happening to his team.

    “One thing I am going to take away from it is just never give up,” said Sillinger. “That is one thing we did all series.

    “You can’t get too high with your emotions. You can’t get too low, when you are down. I think that is something that we did tonight.

    “I think that will be the biggest thing I’ll take away from the experience of playoffs.”

The Oil Kings celebrate their OT victory and first round series win.

    Edmonton advances to a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series to play the winner of the first round series between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Calgary Hitmen. 

    The series between the Hurricanes and Hitmen is tied 3-3 and will require a series-deciding Game 7 to be held on Tuesday in Lethbridge.

    Next season will be the Tigers 50^th anniversary campaign in the WHL, and Sillinger can’t wait to hit the ice for that unique season.

    “That will be something special,” said Sillinger. “We’ll for sure have high goals for that.

    “We’ll have lots of these guys back. We’ll be really hungry.”

Ridley could reach 4,000 games next season

Bob Ridley called his 3,935th game as the Tigers play-by-play voice.

    When the Medicine Hat Tigers play through their 50^th anniversary season in 2019-20, one of the biggest celebrations might revolve around Bob Ridley, who is the only play-by-play voice the team has ever had.

    Ridley, who will be 75-years-old during the 2019-20 campaign, is in position to call his 4,000^th game as the Tigers play-by-play voice next season.

    In the 49 campaigns the Tigers have played, Ridley has called 3,935 of the club’s 3,936 games. That tally includes action in the regular season, standings tiebreaker games, WHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament.

    Ridley has called 3,503 of the Tigers 3,504 regular season games, the one standings tiebreaker game the club has appeared in, all of their 411 games in the WHL playoffs and all 20 of their contests in the Memorial Cup.

    At the moment, the Tigers 65^th game in the upcoming regular season would be Ridley’s 4,000^th game.

    Of course, Ridley drove the Tigers team bus for most of that stretch.

    No one has called more games as the play-by-play voice of one hockey team at any level as Ridley has.

    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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Fix-Wolansky sparks Oil Kings victory over Raiders

Trey Fix-Wolansky (#27) blocks a shot for the Oil Kings.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Trey Fix-Wolansky kick started the Edmonton Oil Kings when they needed it.

    Trailing the host Prince Albert Raiders 3-2 in a WHL regular season game on Friday night, Fix-Wolansky put his superhero cape on. While working on a power-play, the Oil Kings captain fired home a shot from the slot to even things up at 3-3 with 1:35 to play in the frame.

    He proceeded to strike for his second goal of the night with 39 seconds remaining in the second period burying a close in feed from centre Liam Keeler to put the Oil Kings ahead 4-3. From that point, the Oil Kings skated away with a 6-3 victory before 2,509 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre.

    Following the game, Fix-Wolansky said his two goals at the end of the second proved to be the turning point of the contest.

Trey Fix-Wolansky had two goals on Friday for the Oil Kings.

    “I think those were huge,” said Fix-Wolansky, whose team improved to 28-15-4-4 to remain first in the Centre Division. “Everybody was playing well at that point.

    “I think a couple of things weren’t going our way. Getting those goals and getting the momentum back that was huge for our group.”

    The draft selection of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets said he was at the right place at the right time, especially on his second tally.

    “Keels (Liam Keeler) found me backdoor and made a great pass, and I just tried to bury it,” said Fix-Wolansky, who leads the Oil Kings in scoring with 27 goals and 52 assists for 79 points. “I got a lot of help on those goals.

Trey Fix-Wolansky celebrates his second goal on Friday.

    “It really wasn’t all myself. It was good for other guys to get involved as well.”

    The Raiders were playing their first game at home since downing the Calgary Hitmen 7-3 back on Jan. 12 and entered Friday’s game after posting a 4-1-0-1 record on an extended six-game road trip.

    The hosts got out to a good start, when left-winger Cole Fonstad opened the game’s scoring at the 12:41 of the first period converting a backdoor feed from linemate Noah Gregor.

    Edmonton jumped ahead 2-1 scoring the first two goals of the second with tallies coming off the sticks of 16-year-old centre Jalen Luypen and offensive-defenceman Conner McDonald.

    With under four minutes to play in the second, the Raiders jumped back out in front 3-2 scoring two goals in a span of 81 seconds. Fonstad netted his second of the night and 20^th of the season to tie things up at 2-2, and captain Brayden Pachal fired home his 13^th of the campaign to give the Raiders a one-goal lead.

Todd Scott made 39 saves in goal for the Oil Kings on Friday.

    That set the stage for Fix-Wolansky to change direction of the contest moments later.

    “We talk about coming off a long road trip, and I guess we fell into that,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, whose club fell to 41-7-0-2 but still remains first overall in the WHL. “Parents weekend for some reason we have a tough time with that, so we fell into that.

    “Having said that, that is one thing. You can definitely control compete level, and I didn’t like our compete level. I just that we were easy to play against tonight.

    “You can leave all that other stuff out. We decide whether we want to take a hit to make a play, whether we want to drive the net, whether we want to battle and we choose not to tonight, and we paid the price.”

Cole Fonstad had a pair of goals for the Raiders.

    Any hopes of a Raiders comeback were doused at the 5:09 mark of the third, when McDonald rocketed home a shot from the right side boards for his second goal of the night to put the visitors up 5-3.

    That goal chased Raiders starting goaltender Ian Scott from the game having made 22 saves on 27 shots. Boston Bilous turned away all four shots he faced playing the rest of the way in relief.

    Vince Loschiavo scored into an empty net with 3:24 remaining to round out the scoring for Edmonton.

    Todd Scott turned away 39 shots in goal for the Oil Kings.

    Fonstad said it was disappointing to see how things rounded out for his side in the Raiders first game at home in almost three weeks and with the fact most of the parents of the Prince Albert players were in town to watch Friday’s game.

    “You can’t have that many negatives in a game and expect a good outcome,” said Fonstad, whose Raiders return to action on Saturday at 7 p.m. against the Moose Jaw Warriors. “We have a lot stuff to kind of put behind us, and we have to be ready to work tomorrow, or else we’re not going to get the outcome we want again.

Vince Loschiavo scored an empty-net goal for the Oil Kings.

    “We always love playing here. I think everyone was excited. It is too bad.”

    The Oil Kings head to Saskatoon on Saturday to face the Blades at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Friday marked the first time in three meetings the Oil Kings were able to beat the Raiders this season. Fix-Wolansky was pleased his club could break through and beat the Raiders.

    “It was super nice,” said Fix-Wolansky. “I thought we played them well the last two games.

“To get the win in this one, that was huge for us.”

    After the dust settled from Friday’s encounter, Habscheid said the best thing for his side is the fact they have to hit the ice right away to host the Warriors on Saturday.

The Oil Kings celebrate their victory over the Raiders on Friday night.

    “We can compete better than that,” said Habscheid. “We have a good character group.

“They will be better tomorrow.”

    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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