Fortin focusing on starting role

With two seasons spent as a backup goalie in the WHL, Dimitri Fortin is ready to grab the reigns. The Winnipeg, MB product backed up Jackson Unger on the Moose Jaw Warriors, winning a WHL Championship in 2023-24. After being traded to Prince Albert the following season, Fortin was again put into a backup role. Being a backup in Prince Albert wasn’t his fault in 2024-25 however, as it would be a large task to take away the starting job from WHL Goaltender of the Year Max Hildebrand.

Now heading into 2025-26, and with Hildebrand graduated from the league, Fortin thinks it is now his time.

“I’ve done my time as a backup, with a year in Moose Jaw and a year in PA,” he explained. “I’m ready for these games, and I’ll continue to work for it and support myself. I’m going to work my butt off to make sure I get the starters job.”

The job won’t be his for the taking, however. The Raiders added a goalie to their roster after drafting Michal Orsulak from Czechia in the 2025 CHL Import Draft. With Steele Bass coming to camp as a 17-year-old this season, he’ll be fighting for a spot on the team too.

“No matter where you are, there’s always a possibility to be a starter,” Fortin said. “But I think this year knowing I’ll be one of the vets coming back, it’s a training camp where I have to show to the coaches what I’ve got and how much better I’ve gotten. I’ve just been trying to perfect my game this summer, like the little details from last year. I want to take my game to a whole new level.”

Being from Winnipeg is a bonus for Fortin, as it’s also where Raiders’ goaltending coach Dan Ferguson is. Having the goalie coach from his own team is such an advantage for Fortin, as he explains the positives getting to train with Ferguson.

“I’ve got Fergy to train with, so I do my skating with him,” he said. “I think it’s huge not having two or three different people telling you different things. I’ve got Fergy over the summer and during the season, so I know I can trust him. Whatever we have to work on, we work on it together.”

Fortin wasn’t the only ex-champion on the Raiders last season. His teammate in Moose Jaw, Rilen Kovacevic, was acquired by the Raiders in January. Kovacevic roared alive in the playoffs, scoring six goals and tallying four assists. His performance is something Fortin describes as a valuable asset, having players who have won it all before.

“I think having that past experience is good,” Fortin said. “It was nice being in PA with Kov, who won it with me in Moose Jaw. I think having two guys who have gone all the way was sort of a confidence boost for the other guys, just knowing how far we could get. That helped us through the first round of the playoffs I think.”

While Fortin will have his sights set on the starting goalie position, he isn’t overlooking the rest of the team. He looked back at the core that the club had through the playoffs, and made specifically sure to acknowledge how promising the young talent on the team is.

“We have a young team and we have a good team too. We’ve got a lot of talent, obviously with a lot of returning rookies from last year. We had a really good core of rookies last season. Those guys are going to be huge again this year, and the new rookies will be good this year as well. Just having them at the end of last year was good for us, just getting to know them. But I think overall we have a really solid team.”