Raiders forward Evan Herman is dragged down by Pats defenceman Layton Feist and draws a penalty shot. Pats goaltender made a blocker save on Herman during the attempt. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D’Andrea

Doing that Hockey once again

Raiders return to the Art Hauser Centre after 574 days, look to rebound in Regina after narrow loss

Oct 1, 2021 | 10:38 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders wanted to celebrate the return of WHL regular season hockey back to the Art Hauser Centre after the most boring 574 hockey-less days for Raider fans. They unveiled new, snazzy jerseys for the occasion. They even hung a banner, after winning the 2020 WHL East Division (more on that below).

The only thing they didn’t celebrate was the final score. Connor Bedard made sure that was the case, as he scored two goals to lead his Regina Pats to a 3-1 victory.

But although the Raiders will still be searching for their first win of the 2021-22 season, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said it was great to be back playing hockey in a rink with people in it.

“Sometimes in life, you take things for granted. You don’t really appreciate it until it gets taken away, and it got taken away from us for a year and a half,” Habscheid said. “Everyone, whether it be the players, the staff, the coaches, the fans, everybody realizes that it’s pretty special to be here.”

As for the result itself, the Raiders were hemmed in their own zone at times, were outshot 39-22. They did have some opportunities, like when Evan Herman drew a penalty shot but was denied by Kieper’s blocker in the second period. Or when Ethan Ironside hit the… iron. Or when Hayden Pakkala was denied right in front of the net in the first.

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Habscheid said he wasn’t overly critical in his post-game messaging to his team, especially with the notable absences of three NHL first-round picks (Kaiden Guhle, Ozzy Wiesblatt and Nolan Allan), and the omissions of Reece Vitelli (returning from the Arizona Coyotes) and Tyson Laventure (upper body injury).

“There’s 67 more games, it’s a long season. We did some things we need to work on and we did some good things, too. Different team, I think everybody understands,” Habscheid said. “There’s a lot of new faces, and a lot faces away, so we just have to keep doing it the Raider way. We hung another banner which we’re proud of. We have the blueprint, we just have to stay with it.”

The Raiders’ lone goal came from Keaton Sorensen, who made his Raider regular-season debut. Sorensen was set up by Cale Sanders and Hayden Pakkala, who were both also playing their first game in Green and Gold. Sorensen was able to cut in on goal, shift to his backhand and calmly put the puck between the legs of Pats goaltender Matthew Kieper.

“It felt really good. We had a good shift there. We took care of the defensive zone and we got rewarded,” Sorensen said. “Got a nice pass by Sandy there and had enough luck on the finish.”

Carter Serhyenko was quite busy, making 36 saves on 39 shots. Matthew Kieper made 21 saves on 22 shots for the Pats.

Regina Pats’ Tanner Howe and Prince Alber Raiders’ Ethan Ironside get tangled up in an all-Prince Albert affair. Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff

Howe you now? Good and you?

Friday’s game was Tanner Howe’s first WHL regular-season game in the Art Hauser Centre against his hometown Raiders.

And it was eventful, as Howe got a few exchanges with fellow Prince Albert product Ethan Ironside. At one point in the second period, Ironside checked Howe into the boards. After Howe gave Ironside a forearm shimmy in retaliation, Ironside dragged Howe down to the ice on top of him.

Then later in the frame, Howe almost gave the Pats a third goal, but the puck bounced off of his stick as he went to attempt a backhanded shot on an empty cage. The play went the other way and Ethan

Howe appeared in eight games for the Pats in the Subway Hub Centre season for the Pats, including in a 4-3 Pats victory against the Raiders at the Brandt Centre.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Pats, Connor Bedard from Zack Smith and Ryker Evans, 5:37

2-0, Pats, Drew Englot from Ryker Evans, 18:24

Second Period

2-1, Raiders, Keaton Sorensen from Cale Sanders and Hayden Pakkala, 11:33

Third Period

3-1, Pats, Connor Bedard from Stanislav Svozil, 11:16

The Raiders hung their 2020 WHL East Division banner on Friday at the Art Hauser Centre. Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff

2020 WHL East Division

Hey, remember when the Prince Albert Raiders won the 2020 WHL East Division? No, you don’t? Because that’s exactly when the world started to fall apart; and you were more worried about finding hand sanitizer, or a roll of toilet paper, or trying to decide if it was safe to go outside? That’s understandable, but the Raiders actually did win the division in 2020 and were poised to make a deep playoff run for the second year in a row. Friday’s game was the first time the Raiders got to celebrate that fact and hang the banner at the Art Hauser Centre.

Up next

Both teams will have a rematch on Saturday, 1 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. Habscheid said the bus is leaving at 6:45 a.m. so the Raiders can make the early start, but said motivation likely won’t be a factor as the game will be broadcasted nationally on CBC.

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jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW