Prince Albert Raiders (left to right) Landon Kosior and Matthew Culling celebrate after Culling scored the overtime winning goal to beat the Prince George Cougars on Jan. 10, 2020. Lucas Chudleigh/Apollo Multimedia

By Jeff D’Andrea

Staying at the dorms in their hometown

Raiders so close but yet so far away from friends and family

Mar 4, 2021 | 4:09 PM

While they gathered into Regina for the WHL East Division restart, the Prince Albert Raiders travelled in from all across Canada. Raiders rookie Niall Crocker made a 1,700 km journey from Delta, B.C. to the Regina. Justin Nachbaur had about a 14-hour drive ahead of him from his Cross Lake, Man.

But for three Regina-based Raiders, they had much shorter journeys.

Landon Kosior needed just five minutes to drive to the University of Regina student dorms where the Raiders are staying.

Landon Kosior skates when the Raiders had an outdoor practice at Crescent Acres on Jan. 22, 2020. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

And with all the COVID-19 protocols to reduce contact and keep players and staff safe from the virus, players are going to be kept separate from the public throughout the next two months of the season. That means Kosior will be about five minutes away from his family for the next nine weeks without being able to actually see them, without the assistance of an electronic device.

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“It’s definitely a weird feeling,” Kosior said “It’s my hometown, but I definitely won’t be able to have any fans or family members in the arena. It’s weird to be in a little dorm in your hometown, but I’m just glad we have a season.”

Kosior said he still calls his parents every night and is able to Facetime with all his friends.

Regina’s Matthew Culling is much in the same boat. He’s enjoyed having his family and friends watch him play games when his teams had gone to Regina, and be able to see them at various points on game days. But without that option, Culling said it’s still nice to know that they will be tuning in to each game.

“It’s going to be tough for sure. It’s nice to see them for support and whatnot, but I know they’ll be watching,” Culling said. “They have WHL Live, so they can watch every single game. That’s the best we can do right now.”

Matthew Culling. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

Culling, who played two years with the Regina Pat Canadians before starting his WHL career in 2018 as a call-up with the Edmonton Oil Kings, Culling said it is good for Regina to be selected as the hub city for the East Division.

“It’s pretty important and it’s pretty cool to be able for Regina to be able to host this and have all the accommodations that all the teams need in the hub here. It’s good for the city to show they can support this and do this for us.”

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW