Raiders president and governor Gord Broda displays publically for the first time a championship ring the Raiders won last season with this year's captain Zack Hayes, Friday at the Art Hauser Centre. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Put a ring on it

Raiders receive rings after a long but worth-it wait

Nov 1, 2019 | 11:15 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders’ championship rings came in just in time before Friday’s 6-3 win over the Regina Pats at the Art Hauser Centre.

Before the game, Raiders president and governor Gord Broda presented captain Zack Hayes with the first ring in a warmly received ovation.

Last year’s leadership group in Brayden Pachal and Parker Kelly had a lot of input is designing the ring, and Hayes couldn’t help but poke fun.

“It’s exciting. Kells and Pickle did a good job of designing those rings. I’m surprised they could with how many brain cells they got,” Hayes said. “Just kidding Kells, I love ya. They did a great job and we’re excited to finally get them tonight.”

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Behind Hayes, Spencer Moe is the second longest serving Raider currently on the team, having been with the team since the 2016-17 season. He’s played in 215 games, just eight behind Hayes.

“I have no words for it still,” Moe said. “But I remember [winning] it like it’s yesterday.”

It’s also a very special day for Curtis Hunt, who now has a Raiders championship ring both as a general manager for last year’s club, and as a player for the 1985 Raiders.

“Even getting invited to come back to get interviewed for the job and getting the job was special for me, just because this place gave me a chance to be able to experience this from a management perspective—it’s almost surreal at times. It’s so exciting,” said Hunt, who now has five total championship rings in his career. “I don’t look at them and say ‘oh, I like this one better’ because they’re both great, they take you to different places in your journey. It’s pretty cool, for lack of a better word. It’s pretty special to be a part of it as a player, and I’d say my role in the second one was a lot bigger than my role in the first ring.”

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid also added to his ring collection. He wants his players to know that it’s okay to wear them with pride.

“That’s why they play. Sometimes you wonder ‘oh jeez, let’s put them away because—’ no, these guys won. They’re champions. Be proud of it,” Habscheid said. “You don’t want to flaunt it, you want to respect other teams and do the right things. Never arrogance, but confidence and swagger is okay. It helps and gives you an advantage. The ring is a signal of that, the banners are a signal of that. Especially these guys, they got kicked around a few years ago. What goes around, comes around.”

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW