Prince Albert's Oli Chenier (left) and Brandon's Dominik Petr (right) fight for the puck during a 2023-24 matchup. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Wheat Kings and Broncos

Raiders roster bolstered ahead of weekend matchups

Sep 27, 2024 | 10:06 AM

After starting the season with an overtime loss at home and a win on the road, the Prince Albert Raiders will have a different looking roster heading into their second weekend of 2024-25. They will have a tough test to find their first win at home when they welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday before heading to Swift Current on Saturday to take on the Broncos.

Starting with the roster moves, the Raiders have nearly everyone back from their respective NHL camps and as a result have had to send some players back to their respective AAA teams. Two defencemen, 2008 born Benett Kelly and 2007 born Ryan Gower, have been reassigned to their respective AAA teams. Kelly played in both games for the Raiders while Gower did not make it into the lineup.

Bolstering the Raiders lineup is three returnees from NHL camps. Lukas Dragicevic returns from the Seattle Kraken camp after playing one preseason game against the Calgary Flames where Dragicevic’s Kraken lost 6-1. In that game, Dragicevic was credited with three hits and a shot on goal. During the NHL Prospects Challenge, Dragicevic got into games against the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights, and Dragicevic was earned an assist on one of the goals against the Avalanche prospects as well as dropped the gloves in a fight.

Also getting into a preseason game and now returning was Tomas Mrsic with the St. Louis Blues. He played in the first ever NHL game for the Utah Hockey Club where Utah won 5-3, and with limited stat keeping in that game the only mark on the scoresheet for him was a single shot on goal. Mrsic got into the Propsects Challenge with the Blues where he got into games with the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild.

The final player returning from NHL camps is defenceman Norwin Panocha, who was with the Buffalo Sabres. While he didn’t get into any preseason games this season, he did play for the Sabres last year against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-2 loss where Panocha went +1. He took part in the Sabres portion of the Prospects Challenge taking on teams made of prospects from the Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

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With the returns of Dragicevic and Panocha specifically, the two 2005 born defenceman add some much needed experience to an otherwise inexperienced defence core, which is part of the reason why the Raiders added 2004 born Cedricson Okitundu into the lineup. Tomas Mrsic’s return along with the already returned Niall Crocker from Ottawa Senators camp gives the Raiders almost their entire lineup back other than Krzysztof Macias who is still away at camp with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, the affiliate to the NHL champion Florida Panthers.

Moving on to the competition the Raiders will face this weekend, the Raiders first welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings to town Friday night. Brandon opened the weekend with two dominant wins over the same two teams the Raiders played opening weekend, 5-2 over the Moose Jaw Warriors at home, and then 5-1 over the Regina Pats the next night.

In those two games, the Wheat Kings went 2/7 on the powerplay and outshot their opponents in every period but one, shots totaling 88-50 across the two games. Their penalty kill went 4/6 with both goals allowed against Regina.

In goal, 18 year old Ethan Eskit was in net for both games the Wheat Kings played, stopping 47 of 50 shots faced for a .940 save percentage across the two games.

The biggest star to watch out for was third year Wheat King Roger McQueen who opened the scoring with four goals, one on the powerplay and another on an empty net, in the first game of the season, and he added two assists on the powerplay in the second game with Regina for a league leading six points to start the season (tied with Tyler Parr of the Saskatoon Blades). Wheat Kings captain Quinn Mantei also managed four assists in opening weekend.

As for Saturday’s opponent, the Raiders played two games against the Swift Current Broncos during the preseason, with the Raiders losing the first game on the road 5-2 before winning at home 6-1 two nights later. The Broncos started their regular season with two games against the Saskatoon Blades, losing both games 4-1 and 9-3.

The Broncos were outshot 78-47 in those two games against Saskatoon, and have given up at least a goal in every period of play so far. The Broncos have been good on the powerplay where they have scored on 3 out of 5 chances so far, but their penalty kill struggled a bit going 3/6.

20-year-old Reid Dyck got the start in both games for the Broncos, but was pulled ahead of the third period in their second game. Dyck posted 55 saves on 64 shots, good for a .859 save percentage. 19-year-old Joey Rocha came in for the third period in the Broncos 9-3 loss, stopping 10 of 13 shots faced.

Leading the Broncos offensively through the two games was 19-year-old and fourth year Bronco Grayson Burzynski, who had three assists spread out across the two games. Rylan Gould was the only Bronco with two goals during opening weekend.

Finally looking at the Raiders, they lost 3-2 in overtime to the Regina Pats on opening day at home before heading to Moose Jaw the next night and taking a 6-4 win, picking up three of a possible four points out of the two games. In both games, the Raiders outshot their opponents

On special teams, the Raiders powerplay struggled by numbers, missing on their first five chances before scoring on their sixth to go 1/7, but with the chances generated and the puck movement the Raiders had through those chances made their powerplay look much more affective, and Oli Chenier’s goal at the end of the game with Moose Jaw came as the player was leaving the box. On the penalty kill, the Raiders gave up 4 goals on 9 attempts. The Raiders enter their second weekend of the season as the second most penalized team with 29 minutes, second only to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Niall Crocker and Oli Chenier lead the Raiders in points with three. Crocker scored the first goal of the season for the Raiders and had an assist on opening night, and he added another assist the second night, while Chenier had all three of his points in the same night to make sure the Raiders got past the Warriors with a late goal to take the lead and another that served as the game winner.

The Raiders will drop the puck against the Brandon Wheat Kings at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday at 7:00pm, you’ll be able to listen to the game on 900 CKBI. On Saturday, the Raiders will be in Swift Current to play the Broncos at 7:00pm, and the game will be broadcast on Beach Radio 101.5.

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Nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com