Raiders forward Ozzy Wiesblatt collides at centre ice with Warriors defenceman Denton Mateychuk. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D’Andrea

Raider hockey

‘We got schooled,’ Raiders’ Habscheid criticizes his forward group after loss to Warriors

Oct 15, 2021 | 9:53 PM

Friday’s game against the Moose Jaw Warriors may have been 1-1 until the 47-minute mark of the game, but Prince Albert Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said the game was never close.

After Friday’s 4-1 loss to the Warriors at the Art Hauser Centre, Habscheid wasn’t happy with his team’s efforts—especially with the 11 forwards that were dressed.

“It wasn’t a close game, not even close—we got schooled. I didn’t like our forward group one bit. Our [top] four D are as good as anybody in the league and we couldn’t get out of their end. That wasn’t on them,” Habscheid said. “Our forward groups, we tried to dangle and play slow, no pace, no forecheck— we were one-and-done. It was not good”

The lone goal came from Raiders forward Ozzy Wiesblatt, after he scored highlight reel wraparound while shorthanded to give the Raiders the early lead. Nolan Allan chipped the puck off the boards to a streaking Wiesblatt, who outwaited the challenging Warriors goaltender Carl Tetachuk and swung around the net to score.

“We just got to be better in all areas, it just comes down to our compete level. We weren’t competing at all today,” Wiesblatt said. “It starts with guys like me, I got to be a lot better.”

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As elated as the Art Hauser Centre crowd was at the time, that would be the only offence the Raiders would be able to muster throughout the night.

The Warriors thought they tied the game later in the first, but Jagger Firkus’ goal was disallowed due to the net’s moorings coming off just moments before the puck was shot into the net. The Warriors would get the tying goal anyway in the second period off the stick of Martin Rysavy, before the third-period onslaught.

Within a 2:17 span, the Warriors broke the game wide open with three goals. Brayden Yager poked the puck after Raiders goaltender Carter Serhyenko couldn’t find the rebound. Ryder Korczak and Denton Mateychuk quickly piled goals as well, taking advantage of Raider turnovers in their own zone.

The Raiders were outshot 33-14 in the contest, and fall to 1-5 on the year. The lone win of the season came Wednesday in a 3-2 win in Moose Jaw. After exacting revenge, the Warriors improve to 3-2.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Ozzy Wiesblatt from Nolan Allan, (shorthanded), 4:12

Disallowed goal Warriors’ goal, 8:28 into the period.

Second Period

1-1, Warriors, Martin Rysavy from Ryder Korczak, 7:37

Third Period

2-1, Warriors, Brayden Yager from Majid Kaddoura, 7:42

3-1, Warriors, Ryder Korczak from Robert Baco, 9:54

4-1, Warriors, Denton Mateychuk from Brayden Yager, 10:28

A LOT happened yesterday

If you took a hockey hiatus on Thursday, you missed a ton of news in Raider land.

First, the Raiders solved their overage overabundance—but at the expense of their most experienced player on their current roster. The Raiders traded Eric Pearce to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Pearce played 197 games with the Green and Gold after he was drafted by the team in 2016. The Raiders received a sixth-round pick from the Wheat Kings in return.

Then the Raiders did some more rejigging to their lineup, recalling Alex Mack and sending Ethan Ironside to the Kindersley Klippers of the SJHL and Tre Fouquette to the La Ronge Ice Wolves, also of the SJHL.

The Raiders also named their leadership group as well, letting Kaiden Guhle keep his captain’s ‘C’ and naming his assistants Ozzy Wiesblatt, Remy Aquilon, and Reece Vitelli.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Raiders found out in the afternoon that Sloan Stanick will be suspended for three games after being called for a goaltender interference major penalty in Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Warriors. Stanick served his first game of the ban on Friday.

Coming up next

The Raiders will stick at home for a contest against the Medicine Hat Tigers, Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders will then visit Medicine Hat on Oct. 22 for a rematch, before jetting over to Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes on Oct. 23. The Raiders will return home to the Art Hauser Centre on Oct. 29 to face the Brandon Wheat Kings.

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Jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW