Raiders captain Justice Christensen lays a big hit on Rebels forward Sam Drancak during a game last year on January 18. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

big additions in tonight's lineup

Raiders start six game homestand against Rebels

Oct 4, 2025 | 8:30 AM

The Prince Albert Raiders are off to a hot start for the 2025-26 season with seven out of a possible eight points this season. After three games on the road, the Raiders now open a six game homestand that starts against the Red Deer Rebels.

The Raiders and the Rebels battled each other four times last year, and the Rebels picked up the first win in the series before the Raiders won the remaining four games. This year, the Raiders and Rebels will meet four times again.

While the Raiders are coming into the game rested with a 3-0-1 record (Wins-Losses-Overtime Losses), the Rebels were in Saskatoon Friday night where they lost 4-2, bringing them to a 1-3-0 record to start the year.

The Raiders roster will be nearly fully loaded for the first time this year with the return of Justice Christensen, the debut of Alisher Sarkenov, and the return of Matyas Man from an illness, but they will still be without Ethan Bibeau who started the season with an injury.

For the Rebels, their NHL prospects have all returned including Debden, Saskatchewan native Chase Wutzke who signed his entry level deal with the Minnesota Wild. On the same day, Jaxon Fuder also signed his entry level deal with the Dallas Stars as he made his return to the Rebels. Luke Vlooswyk and Matthew Gard also returned from Philadelphia Flyers camp.

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As special teams records start to separate in the early season, the Raiders powerplay finds themselves as the fifth best in the league so far at 35% with a powerplay goal in each game so far. However, the penalty kill is in the bottom four of the league at 66.7%.

In penalty kill numbers, there is a significant drip between the Raiders in the 20th spot in the league, and the Rebels in the 21st at 57.1%. The Rebels powerplay has been better though, sitting 15th in the league at 16%.

Coming into the game, their are four Raiders leading the team with five points. Aiden Oiring has a point in each game including the overtime winner in Brandon with 3G-2A, the same as linemate Brayden Dube. Daxon Rudolph has 2G-3A from the blueline, and Riley Boychuk has 0G-5A.

On the Rebels side, Beckett Hamilton leads the way with 1G-3A, followed by Talon Brigley and Keith McInnis each with 1G-2A. Former Swift Current Bronco Ty Coupland is the only Rebel with multiple goals this year at 2G-0A.

In goal, the Raiders have narrowed it down to two goaltenders after reassigning Steele Bass to Jr. A. Likely to start is Dimitri Fortin who has not played in front of the Art Hauser Centre crowd yet this year. Fortin’s lone game this year was a 3-2 overtime loss in Saskatoon where he posted a 0.864 save percentage. Michal Orsulak has played two games for the Raiders, winning both with a 0.902 save percentage.

The Rebels are likely to start Chase Wutzke in Prince Albert, who only played one game at the beginning of September and has the lone win for the Rebels. He posted a 0.889 save percentage in that game, stopping 16 of 18 shots faced. Peyton Shore started last night in Saskatoon, he’s played two games this year with a 0.864 save percentage.

The Raiders and Rebels will drop the puck at 7:00 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. You can listen in starting with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. on Brandt Raider Radio with Nick Nielsen on 900 CKBI.