Zack Hayes battles with former Blade Kirby Dach at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Trevor Redden

Redden on the Raiders

Redden on the Raiders: Bartley on 19 years in P.A.; Raiders ready for Blades

Feb 28, 2020 | 2:00 PM

Despite having a whopping 10 matchups on the schedule during the 2019-20 regular season, it’s been two months since the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades met this year.

Back on Dec. 28, the Blades wrapped up a home-and-home holiday series with their second straight win, a 6-3 victory at SaskTel Centre.

Going back to Oct. 4, the Blades have won four in a row over the Raiders, starting with a 2-1 overtime win at the Art Hauser Centre, and followed by three straight bookending the Christmas break.

In the Raider room, the team is relishing the opportunity to see their rivals again.

“It’s a big two games against a good Saskatoon team. They play well against us, and [seem to] turn it on against us. We’ve got to make sure that we’re on our ‘A’ game, and all the boys are excited for this weekend,” captain Zack Hayes said.

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Since the last meeting, the Raiders have been playing their best hockey of the year going 11-2-0-3 in 16 games since the WHL trade deadline. This has been enough to keep the Raiders in top spot in the East Division, but there hasn’t been a lot of separation as the Raiders currently hold a three-point edge on second-place Brandon, although Prince Albert has a pair of games in hand.

Of course, the strong stretch since the trade deadline coincides with the addition of star goaltender Max Paddock.

“Having Paddy in net, he’s an unreal goaltender. It just brings that confidence into every game, it doesn’t matter if we’re playing Saskatoon, Brandon, or anybody. Just having him there in net brings confidence,” Hayes said.

On the other side, Saskatoon has been trending up as well with a record of 11-5-1-1 since the deadline. They’ve continued to put pressure on the teams ahead of them in the division, and currently trail third-place Winnipeg, who held first for several weeks in January, by just four points.

The Blades trail the Raiders by eight points and will look to close that gap in a playoff-style set of games this weekend.

The Raiders captain expects a heavy battle.

“[Saskatoon], they’ve got a couple good physical guys. But the way we’ve been playing lately, we’ve been playing physical,” Hayes said.

“And not just the bigger guys, everyone’s been chipping in. That’s what playoff hockey is. It doesn’t matter if you’re Spencer Moe or Justin Nachbaur, you’ve got to hit when the opportunity is there, and take the hit to make the play.”

Tonight, the Raiders and Blades open the weekend series in Saskatoon before shifting back to the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday night.

Puff on the Podcast

Since the 2001-02 season, Duane “Puff” Bartley has been a presence on the bench for the Prince Albert Raiders.

Serving as both athletic therapist and equipment manager (although those titles barely scratch the surface of what he does), Puff plays a key role in the day-to-day operations of the team.

This week he sat down with me for the Overtime Podcast from CKBI and explained his (unplanned) path to working in hockey.

Out of high school, Bartley went on a dual hockey/baseball scholarship to North Dakota State. He spent two years of junior college in Bottineau before moving on to Fargo for another four. After finishing his postsecondary schooling, Bartley found himself back home in Killarney, MB.

“I basically didn’t have anything on the go. I was sitting on the combine in Killarney, and the Midget AAA Wheat Kings team in Brandon gave me a call wanting to know what I was doing,” Bartley said.

“So I moved to Brandon, lived with my grandma, and did the AAA Wheat Kings for one year until an opportunity came in Kindersley [SJHL] which brought me to Saskatchewan.”

After four years working with the Kindersley Klippers, Bartley received a call from Donn Clark in August of 2001.

“This was the middle of August, training camp was in two weeks, and they were scrambling. My phone rings, I drive up to Kelvington, and oddly enough my interview was a coffee at the Kelvington Hotel with Donn and his mother,” Bartley recalled.

Within two days he was offered the job and made his way to Prince Albert later that week.

Nineteen years later, he remains a fixture with the Raiders.

Seven in 10

Just 11 games remain in the regular season for the Raiders, and seven of those will be played over the next 10 days.

This weekend, it’s a three-in-three schedule with a trip to Saskatoon Friday night followed by a home date against the Blades before Moose Jaw comes to town Sunday. Then it’s one day off before the Calgary Hitmen come to town to wrap up season series.

After two days off, the Raiders are back in action for another three in a row starting Friday at home against Brandon. The Raiders and Wheat Kings meet again in Manitoba on Saturday before carrying on to Winnipeg on Sunday.

With points at a premium when it comes to playoff positioning, the way the Raiders handle this tough stretch will be critical.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden