Prince Albert Raiders clinch berth in 2024 WHL Playoffs
The Prince Albert Raiders are locked and loaded.
Prince Albert clinched a berth in the 2024 WHL Playoffs by nature of a Calgary loss to Swift Current on March 22.
The team from Hockeytown North has kept calm in high-pressure, close matches all season.
More than a dozen of Prince Albert’s games have required overtime or a shootout.
They’re also among the stingiest clubs in the WHL, entering the night with the seventh-fewest goals-against (211).
Forward Sloan Stanick is having a career season and has passed 80 points for the first time, while Polish import Krzysztof Macias has caught fire, averaging a point per game in the new year.
Top 2024 NHL draft prospect Ryder Ritchie is also finding his form after a return from injury, putting up a goal and an assist in the playoff-clinching victory.
Between the pipes, Max Hildebrand earned Giuseppe WHL Goaltender of the Week honours after opening the season with a 28-save shutout against Moose Jaw.
In February, he won five of six starts to help Prince Albert go on a 7-3-0-0 heater to push for the playoffs.
The Raiders look to make some noise and chase the team’s third league championship when the puck drops on their first-round series against Saskatoon on March 28.