Jeff Truitt has been in a coaching role with the Raiders for the last seven seasons. Ryan McDonald takes over as Interim Head Coach after five seasons as an assistant coach. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

McDonald named interim Head Coach

Truitt out, McDonald named Raiders Interim Head Coach

Mar 10, 2025 | 12:22 PM

With the Prince Albert Raiders showing some struggles as of late, the decision has been made to cut ties with Head Coach Jeff Truitt and promote Assistant Coach Ryan McDonald into the role as Interim Head Coach.

“This was a decision not made lightly,” said General Manager Curtis Hunt in a statement made earlier today. “We are appreciative of all the work Jeff has done, from our championship team to today. We wish him the best of luck as he moves forward.”

Truitt has been in a coaching role with the Raiders for the last seven years, serving as an Assistant Coach during the 2018-19 championship season in his first year, all before taking over Head Coaching duties in 2022-23.

In his three years as Head Coach, the Raiders are 84-78-5-3 in 183 games. This season the Raiders are 25-18-5-0 with Truitt behind the bench.

Ryan McDonald takes over duties as the Interim Head Coach after a stint earlier this season in that same role. With Truitt gone during most of January, McDonald was at the helm for 15 games where the Raiders played some of their best hockey of the season, going 10-4-0-1 in 15 games.

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Since Truitt’s return to the team at the end of January, the Raiders have went 9-6-2-0 in the 17 games since his return and have worked their way into the top spot of the East Division, but more recently have only won one of their last six games.