https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/tag/mike-modano/ Unapologetically P.A. Mon, 25 May 2026 17:48:21 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://media.chl.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/48/2026/03/13222146/512-150x150.png https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/tag/mike-modano/ 32 32 https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/one-last-look-at-the-2025-26-raiders-season Mon, 25 May 2026 17:48:21 +0000 Kyle Kosowan https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/one-last-look-at-the-2025-26-raiders-season Nick Nielsen- What a season. Over the course of the last week, I have had a ton of friends, family, and fellow Raider fans asking me about the year and how it went, and I keep coming back to a quote that a fellow broadcaster said to me ahead of the WHL Finals: “There’s 11 teams in either conference fighting to make the finals every year, so you’re lucky if you get to call a final in 11 years. You’re getting to do it in your second.” While there’s still a bitter taste from how the season ended, what a privilege it was to tell the story of the 2025-26 Prince Albert Raiders. What a special group of people to come together to and earn a championship opportunity. “Extremely proud of our group,” said Raiders Head Coach Ryan McDonald. “They worked extremely hard from day one, and again didn’t relent and continued to push right till that last game.” Looking back to the start of the season, expectations were high in Prince Albert, but not so much around the rest of the league. The Raiders came into this season having lost their 2025 WHL Goaltender of the Year, leading scorer, and half of their defensive core from the East Division Champion Raiders of last year. A lot of people had the Raiders fighting for the top spot in the East Division against the likes of Saskatoon and Brandon, but not dominating the East Division like they did. Here in Prince Albert though, Raider fans were excited. All summer felt like this was building up off the momentum at the end of 2025, and with some surprises in camp like invite Owen Corkish, the two Czech members of the Raiders being ready for the World Juniors, and young prospects including the likes of local boy Connor Howe coming to camp further ahead in their development than expected, the tone was set early for a great year ahead. “When I look back at camp, the presence from day one was just absolutely phenomenal. They put their work boots on, they worked every single day tirelessly throughout the year, continued to get better. As we continued to have success, they continued to fall in love with the details and habits and execute them every single day and weren’t worried about the outcome, they worried about the process.” While the last three games in the Art Hauser Centre finished with the wrong result for Raiders fans, there are still a slew of memories made on the ice from this past season. The early November U.S. road swing where the Raiders went 5-1-1. Returning the favour from last year and beating Vancouver 6-0 on home ice. The four-game stretch at the end of December that saw the Raiders average eight goals per game. The ceremony honouring Michal Orsulak, Matyas Man, and Braeden Cootes for what they did at the World Juniors. Shutting out the Blades at even strength for over 19 periods of hockey. Two more banners to add to the rafters. The fifth 50-win season in franchise history. This year was full of great memories, and despite that bitter taste from the finals still in the mouths of the players during exit interviews, McDonald said by the end of the meetings players all left talking about the great moments from 2025-26 season. “Extremely positive. Guys are heartbroken for what we weren’t able to achieve, but again, when they sat back and looked at it, just extremely proud of the accomplishments of what we were able to accomplish throughout the season.” What you don’t hear about are the stories off the ice. The post-warmups nod from Riley Boychuk on the bench before he headed back down the tunnel into the dressing room. The sprinting to the bus after a longer than expected Ferris Wheel ride in Seattle. The singing of Happy Birthday in a crowded Rosetown Dairy Queen. The way every team meal had someone sitting next to someone they hadn’t sat next to before. This team had a special way of making you feel like you’re just as important to their group as the teammates beside them, and I think it’s fair to say that fans felt that closeness as well. They say history is written by the victors, and so the Prince Albert Raiders of 2025-26 will not be the heroes of this year’s WHL story. But here in Prince Albert, this team will always be heroes. I’ll end things off with a look at next season, and where our players are set to go. All of this below is pure speculation and does not reflect any intentions from the Raiders coaching staff, the organization, or the players themselves. Everything below is either my own opinion, speculation I’ve seen online or heard from other members of the media, or fact stated by a release. 20-year-olds moving on (2005): Justice Christensen

• Currently joining the Grand Rapids Griffins in their AHL playoff run. Christensen has signed his AHL entry level deal, and will play with the Griffins next year.

Brayden Dube

• Committed to Bemidji State University in NCAA Div. I, where he will join former Raider Max Hildebrand.

Aiden Oiring

• Committed to the University of Nebraska-Omaha in NCAA Div. I, the same place where Christensen had committed before signing in the AHL.

Next year’s 20-year-olds (2006): Max Heise

• Has made his commitment to play his next season at Michigan State University in NCAA Div. I, but online speculation started to surface that he could be instead returning to the WHL next year.

Maddix McCagherty

• Has not made a commitment for next season.

Evan Smith

• Has made a commitment to play with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in NCAA Div. I, but his commitment does not specify whether he is committed to play in the NCAA next season or after his 20-year-old season.

Matyas Man

• Has not made a commitment for next season. Ranked 176th overall in the NHL Central Scouting final rankings list among North American skaters.

Linden Burrett

• Just like Smith, Burrett also has a commitment to play for the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in NCAA Div. I, but his commitment does not specify whether he is committed to play in the NCAA next season or after his 20-year-old season.

Next year’s 19-year-olds (2007): Alisher Sarkenov

• Ranked 149th overall in the NHL Central Scouting final rankings list among North American skaters.

Brandon Gorzynski

• Likely to spend preseason with the Dallas Stars, but has also made a commitment back in July of 2025 to his hometown University of Arizona in NCAA Div. I. His commitment does not specify whether or not he will play there next season, or at the end of his WHL career.

Owen Corkish

• Has made a commitment for the 2028-29 season to the University of St. Thomas in NCAA Div. I. Expect him to return to the Raiders next season.

Braeden Cootes

• Was the first 18-year-old to play a regular season game for the Vancouver Canucks since Petr Nedved in 1990-91, and Cootes played three games at the NHL level before being sent back down. Cootes will likely start the season with the Canucks again, and with newly adjusted rules to allow NHL teams to assign one 19-year-old player to their AHL affiliate, Cootes has possibly played his last game as a Raider.

Hubert Clarke

• Showed in one playoff game that he’s ready to step into a full-time role with the Raiders.

Michal Orsulak

• Ranked second overall in the NHL Central Scouting final rankings list among North American goaltenders.

Next year’s 18-year-olds (2008): Riley Boychuk

• Ranked 162nd overall in the NHL Central Scouting final rankings list among North American skaters.

Jonah Sivertson

• Ranked 53rd overall in the NHL Central Scouting final rankings list among North American skaters.

Benett Kelly

• Ranked 107th overall in the NHL Central Scouting final rankings list among North American skaters.

Daxon Rudolph

• Ranked fifth in the NHL Central Scouting final rankings list among North American skaters. Rudolph will likely start the season in the NHL this year, and depending on where he’s drafted, could even see an extended look during the regular season.

Steele Bass

• Likely to return next season, and could be ready to split more time with Orsulak next season.

Next year’s 17-year-olds (2009): Ben Harvey

• A bigger and stronger Ben Harvey should scare a lot of teams next year. At 16-years-old, Harvey played first line minutes at times during the year, and scored big goals during the playoffs playing lower down in the lineup.

Liam Myhre

• Joined the Raiders as an extra defenceman during the playoffs. Played one game this year with the Raiders, and three the season prior as a 15-year-old.

Brock Cripps

• Played some big minutes during the playoffs and showed that he will be an elite defenceman in this league.

Connor Howe

• Often the Raiders 13th forward during the playoffs last year, but will be ready for a big step forward next year.

Kyle Obobaifo

• Joined the Raiders as an extra forward during the playoffs after losing in the AEHL U18 semi finals, after winning the championship last year.

Next year’s 16-year-olds (2010): Athens Shingoose

• Last year’s 16th overall pick joined the Raiders for part of the playoffs this year. In his first year of U18, Shingoose posted 15G-16A-31P in 30 games with the RINK Hockey Academy Winnipeg Prep team in the CSSHL.

Walker Bergen

• Last year’s 39th overall pick posted 5G-12A-17P in 44 games as a defenceman with the Warman Wildcats U18 AAA team.

The Raiders drafted nine other players during the 2025 prospects draft that all have a chance at earning their spot.]]> https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/raiders-mourn-the-passing-of-mark-odnokon Mon, 25 May 2026 15:24:19 +0000 Kyle Kosowan https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/raiders-mourn-the-passing-of-mark-odnokon https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/heart-soul-and-knuckles-of-the-raiders Fri, 22 May 2026 15:12:15 +0000 Kyle Kosowan https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/heart-soul-and-knuckles-of-the-raiders https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/a-o-one-of-the-most-reliable-centres-in-the-whl Thu, 21 May 2026 15:32:04 +0000 Kyle Kosowan https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/a-o-one-of-the-most-reliable-centres-in-the-whl https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/four-seasons-of-dube-dooby-do Wed, 20 May 2026 17:14:04 +0000 Kyle Kosowan https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/four-seasons-of-dube-dooby-do https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/a-letter-from-the-christensen-family Tue, 19 May 2026 18:42:49 +0000 Kyle Kosowan https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/a-letter-from-the-christensen-family Following the end of his WHL Career, Justice Christensen's mother Vanessa sat down and penned this letter to the fans of the Raiders and the City of Prince Albert:  As Justice’s time in Prince Albert comes to an end, I’ve been trying to find the right words—and honestly, I’m not sure there are enough to truly explain what this place has meant to our family over the last four years. Prince Albert welcomed Justice with open arms and somehow embraced Todd and I right along with him. Over time, this city stopped feeling like a place we travelled to… and started feeling like home. Through every season, every high and low, every long bus ride, every packed arena, every send off and welcome home, every heartbreak and celebration, this community wrapped around our family with kindness, support, and love in ways we will never be able to properly thank you for. Curtis—thank you for giving Justice a chance. We always believed he could prove every team that passed on him wrong… he just needed someone willing to open the door. You did that. You believed in him when others didn’t, and that changed the course of his life—and ours. As parents, there is nothing more emotional than watching someone else see the potential in your child and give them the opportunity to become who they were meant to be. I may not have made him tall, but I sure tried to make him tough 🤣. We will forever be grateful to you and the entire Raiders organization for believing in him and giving him a place to grow, succeed, and become the young man he is today. To all the coaches thank you for all the time, patience, support, and encouragement you gave Justice throughout these past four years. You taught so much more than just hockey — you taught confidence, teamwork, discipline, and how to keep pushing himself to improve every day. Your guidance and dedication made such a huge impact, and will always be remembered. Thank you for making this such a special experience and for being such great role models. To Justice’s billet family, the Beres—Chris and Chelsey there truly are not enough words. Thank you for loving him like your own, for opening your home and your hearts to him, and for taking care of him through some of the most important years of his life. You celebrated him on the good days, lifted him up on the hard ones, and gave him stability when we couldn’t physically be there. As a mom, handing your child over to another family is one of the hardest things imaginable—but you made it easier every single day. Knowing he was safe, cared for, and loved gave us a peace I can never fully explain. Sawyer, Beckett, and Boston — watching the three of you grow over these years has been such a special part of this journey. We loved celebrating your accomplishments, the big moments and the little ones, and Justice even attended his very first dance recital. 🥰 You made him laugh, gave him a sense of purpose, and yes… sometimes drove him a little crazy too. But more than anything, you gave him something truly special — a sister and two brothers. You all became family to us, and that is something we will carry in our hearts forever. 💚 To the fans—hockey can be such an emotional roller-coaster, and somehow this community always found a way to make us feel seen, supported, and cared for. I can’t name you all, but the support you show these boys—and us as parents—is something truly rare. The hugs at the rink, the high fives, the cheers from the stands, the bracelets, the baking, the conversations in passing, the kind messages after games, the encouragement during hard stretches, even the offers of a place to stay… those moments mattered more than you probably realize. Thank you for making every trip to PA feel special. A few special shout outs: Jordan for the pre-game hugs, Gloria for all the special treats and texts, Roger, Ann, and Darcy for the cabbage rolls and supper invites, Lynn and Cole for the hugs, smiles, and kindness 😍 And to Mitch and Ashley, Kim, Roger, Brooklyn, and Caitlin — thank you for the friendship, the memories, the laughs, the drinks, the moonshine peaches, and the marathon karaoke night that we’ll never forget. We truly hope this is not goodbye, but just the beginning of many more laughs, fun, and unforgettable memories together for years to come. 💚 To the team staff—especially those we’re lucky enough now to call friends—Kim, Mike, Cliff, Odette, Nick, Kyle, Gritty, Puff, Benny, Nikki (Todd’s private bartender 😉) and so many others behind the scenes… thank you. Thank you for the things nobody sees. For the long hours at the rink, the care you give these boys, the laughs during stressful moments, the shoulders to lean on, fun community events, and the friendships that grew from all of it. Some of my favourite memories from these four years have nothing to do with hockey itself, and everything to do with the people who make the Raiders the special team they are. 💚 I know I haven’t named everyone—otherwise this post would never end—but please know how much every single one of you has meant to us over these past four years. I also want to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge bus driver Al you travelled many miles sometimes in adverse weather conditions with precious cargo and every single time you got our boys there and home safely.  You became part of the team family, and we appreciate you more than words can express. ❤️ To the other player parents—what a special bond this crazy hockey life creates. The endless texts, the shared nerves, pacing the rink together, the superstitions, the laughs until we cried, the actual tears we cried, the meals, the drinks, the road trips, and all the moments in between… there is something so comforting about being surrounded by people who just get it. Thank you for becoming part of our lives and for making these years so much more meaningful. Leaving Prince Albert doesn’t just feel like leaving a hockey team. It feels like leaving family. It feels like leaving home. And if I’m being honest, a part of all three of our hearts will probably always stay here. Thank you, Prince Albert, for giving our family so much more than hockey. You gave us friendships, memories, love, and a place that will forever feel like home. No matter where life takes Justice, a piece of him will always belong here. And a piece of Prince Albert will always belong to us. 💚 🫶- Love Vanessa, Todd, and Justice]]> https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/a-thank-you-to-the-20s Tue, 19 May 2026 17:02:15 +0000 Kyle Kosowan https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/a-thank-you-to-the-20s https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/raiders-fall-to-silvertips-in-five-games-in-whl-championship-series Sat, 16 May 2026 04:25:04 +0000 Kyle Kosowan https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/raiders-fall-to-silvertips-in-five-games-in-whl-championship-series https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/game-notes-game-five-vs-everett Fri, 15 May 2026 19:33:16 +0000 Kyle Kosowan https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/game-notes-game-five-vs-everett GAME NOTES]]> https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/game-preview-whl-championship-series-game-four-vs-everett Fri, 15 May 2026 15:00:21 +0000 Kyle Kosowan https://chl.ca/whl-raiders/article/game-preview-whl-championship-series-game-four-vs-everett SETTING IT UP: The season is on the line tonight for the Prince Albert Raiders. The Everett Silvertips took a 3-1 series stranglehold on the WHL Championship Series Presented by Nutrien on Wednesday. The Silvertips broke a 1-1 tie game late in the second period of game four and never looked back, as they won by a 5-2 final. Everett has scored first in all four games so far in the series. 2025-26 HEAD TO HEAD (REGULAR SEASON): November 11, 2025 @ Everett: Raiders win 4-1 RAIDERS WIN SEASON SERIES 1-0 PLAYOFF RECORDS: Prince Albert: 13-6, Goals For: 77, Goals Against: 50 Everett: 15-2, Goals For: 75, Goals Against: 34 WELCOME BACK BRANDON: After missing nine games due to injury, Brandon Gorzynski made his return to the lineup one to remember in game four. The 18-year-old forward scored with 10:07 left in the second period, which tied the game at that point. In 12 games in the 2026 playoffs, Gorzynski has five goals and four assists for nine points. THE CONTROVERSY: Prince Albert had back to back goals disallowed in the third period of game four. Benett Kelly thought he tied the game, but the official had blown the whistle right before he scored, even though the puck was still loose. Moments later, Owen Corkish had a goal disallowed after Evan Smith had pushed a Silvertips defenceman into Anders Miller, causing goaltender interference. To finish off the script, Shea Busch scored shortly after, putting the Tips up 4-2, and putting the game out of reach for Prince Albert. SPECIAL TEAMS STRUGGLES: If the Raiders want to bring the series back to Everett for game six, the powerplay HAS to start clicking. Prince Albert is 1/12 over the last two games, and went 0/6 in game four. UP NEXT: If the Raiders win tonight, game six will be Sunday night in Everett. If game seven is necessary, it will be on Monday night at Angel of the Winds Arena.]]>