Raiders General Manager Curtis Hunt (left) and President Gord Broda present commemorative pucks to the three Raiders who played at the World Juniors this year. (Image Credit: Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

"I want to be a playoff team every year"

Raiders General Manager reflects on the season so far

Feb 26, 2026 | 4:00 PM

With only 11 games left, the Prince Albert Raiders are entering the final month of the regular season with a playoff spot secured and an East Division banner for the second year in a row.

That isn’t to say the Raiders don’t have challenges to face before the end of the season, as they continue to hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference, and sit four points back of first place in the league. 

Taking a moment to breathe and appreciate how far this team has come from last year, Raiders General Manager Curtis Hunt said it was hard to build expectations this year with so much change, but he’s happy with where the team sits late in the season.

“I want to be a playoff team every year, and I think we had some question marks going into the season on replacing some of the key players – 20-year-olds. We’d lost a lot of goals and points with graduating players, and so you’re cautiously optimistic when the season starts, and you just never know the development throughout the summer. I’ve said this a hundred times, it’s amazing to me how much these kids grow through a summer from 16 to 17 or 17 to 18.” 

The Raiders have learned a lot of lessons throughout the season by battling through tough travel schedules, defeating some of the best teams in the league, and losing to some they shouldn’t have. If there are any lessons left to learn, Hunt wants to see the team focus on consistency.

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“You see us typically have the ability to dominate at times without reward, so we’ll have 15 shots maybe and we haven’t scored yet, we haven’t given up much, and then we tend to add a little risk to our game just pushing, pushing, pushing for that goal, where I’d like to see us just eliminate that risk. There’s no need for us to play with risk unless you’re chasing a game in the last five minutes. If it takes 20 shots to crack the goalie, then let’s make sure we get 60 so we’re on the right track.” 

Whether it’s the returning players, new players from outside the organization, or the rookies, Hunt said each group has been impressive.

He explained it is easier to know what you’re getting with mid-season acquisitions like Maddix McCagherty, Brandon Gorzynski, and Braeden Cootes who are well established players, but it’s harder to judge others like Max Heise and Owen Corkish who came into the fold from the BCHL and a high school hockey league, respectively. That said, the new players on this year’s team are the product of a very competitive camp at the start of the season. 

“We want to design our camp to be competitive, but at the same time, we want our leaders to lead. We put our 15-year-olds into the camps, and our young kids have just got drafted, so they can see how our older guys stretch and prepare and then how they compete and how they communicate on the ice. It was a good camp, and it just flowed right into the season and I thought the coaches did a real good job of being organized early and not doing skill and flow, but getting right to the team game and the team structure, and it’s paid off very well for us.” 

When it comes to building a roster, this year saw another unique challenge with the NCAA opening things up for players from the CHL. Every team in the WHL has had at least one player commit to NCAA hockey, including former Raider Tomas Mrsic. Despite that, Hunt has had pretty consistent communication with him throughout the year. 

“I talked to Tomas by text and by voice call as well a couple times. I did speak to his agent as well. I had concerns for him. He’s playing 10 minutes a night… I don’t know the opportunities he’s getting every day, but I also don’t know the contractual status. We all assume, because we really don’t know, he’s getting paid. What does that contract look like? Do you have the freedom to walk away from it or not?” 

Hunt added Mrsic’s family felt it was best for him to hang in there.

“So, we wished them good luck, and we moved on, and I think it’s worked out good for us. I hope it works out good for him.” 

When NCAA scouts come to WHL games, Hunt said they aren’t speaking with the team staff about the players; the NCAA scouts are speaking directly to the players. And, after seeing players take the step from the WHL to NCAA earlier than they needed to this year, Hunt said it’s clearer to him that the WHL, and the CHL as a whole, is still the best development league in the world. 

“We don’t communicate with those guys because that’s not the goal. The goal isn’t to come here and springboard to NCAA. There’s a tweet about the draft list – who dominates the draft list in North America? Well, it’s the CHL.” 

Going back to the season at hand, Hunt has felt it has had the potential to be something special since the beginning.

“What I’ve loved about this group is that from day one, we came out of the gate, we played with pace, we played as a team, our game was predictable within the group, we found ways to come from behind and win. We found ways to win through special teams, whether it’s killing or power play, we scored throughout our lineup, and you get into October and the end of October or through the U.S. trip and then it’s like, we’re right there. We have an opportunity to maybe do something real special here this year.”

Raider fans can hear more of the conversation with Hunt, particularly about the returning players, rookies, and those who joined the team from outside the organization, during the intermissions of the games on Friday and Saturday.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com