Max Heise battles for a faceoff against Oil Kings centreman Miroslav Holinka during the October 18 matchup. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Big weekend at home

Weekend preview: Raiders at full power heading into weekend double header with Swift Current and Edmonton

Jan 9, 2026 | 11:34 AM

With a blockbuster move to acquire Braeden Cootes, two other roster moves ahead of the Thursday trade deadline, and the return of Matyas Man and Michal Orsulak from Team Czechia’s silver medal winning team at the World Juniors, the Prince Albert Raiders will finally have their full roster together this weekend when they play host to the Swift Current Broncos on Friday and the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday.

The Raiders start the weekend as the second place team in the Eastern Conference, still one point behind Medicine Hat for that top spot, and tied with Edmonton although the Raiders still have two extra games left on their schedule.

Before getting into the matchups, it should be noted that the Raiders have moved on from goaltender Dimitri Fortin. On the year, Fortin had a record of 13-2-1 (Wins-Losses-Overtime Losses), and a 0.883 save percentage.

Fortin had the starter’s role during Orsulak’s departure for the World Juniors, and Fortin played in six games during that time. In those six games, Fortin went 5-1-0 with a 0.873 save percentage. Fortin is yet to be reassigned, but his rights in the MJHL were last with the Steinbach Pistons.

The Raiders are coming into the weekend rested, having not played since a 5-2 win in Regina on Saturday. That extended the Raiders win streak to five games, including another win over Regina 9-2, 8-0 and 7-1 wins over Swift Current, and an 8-3 win over Kelowna before Christmas.

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Looking at the Raiders special teams, the powerplay continues to stay hot at 30.1per cent and third in the league, while the Raiders penalty kill sits just below the middle at 12th in the league at 76.7 per cent.

There’s a tie for the top spot in Raiders scoring now between Aiden Oiring with 16G-25A-41P on the year and Riley Boychuk with 8G-33A-41P. There’s also a tie for the third between Brandon Gorzynski and Daxon Rudolph who have identical 17G-23A-40P stat lines.

Coming into the weekend, there are five Raiders with points in consecutive games:

• Daxon Rudolph has a career high 12 game point streak going with 10G-12A in that time
• Brayden Dube is coming off his first career hat trick and has 8G-6A in his last nine games
• Brandon Gorzynski has 6G-9A in his last eight games, and 4G-7A in his six games as a Raider
• Aiden Oiring has 3G-6A in his last five games
• Max Heise has 3G-5A in his last four games, and has 1G-1A in each of his last three games

In goal, the Raiders will be happy to welcome back Michal Orsulak from the World Juniors. On the year, Orsulak has a 10-3-3 record, a 0.908 save percentage, a league best 2.34 goals against average, and two shutouts on the year.

With the departure of Fortin, that means Steele Bass will be backing things up for the rest of the season. In the WHL, Bass is a perfect 4-0-0 on the year with a 0.916 save percentage and one shutout. If you add in his SJHL numbers with the Battlefords North Stars this season, Bass’ record comes to 8-3-2, his save percentage to 0.922.

Friday vs. Swift Current

During the season series with the Broncos, the Raiders have dominated. The Raiders have shut the Broncos out three times this year and outscored them 31-9 in five contests, going a perfect 5-0 in that time. Those wins came 4-0 at home Oct. 24, 5-0 in Swift Current Oct. 25, 7-4 in Swift Current Dec. 12, 7-1 in Swift Current Dec. 27, and their most recent meeting back in Prince Albert where the Raiders won 8-0 on Dec. 29.

The Broncos are coming into the weekend as the last place team in the league, five points behind the next closest team. Most recently, the Broncos lost on Wednesday 6-4 to Edmonton, but before that they won 7-4 over Lethbridge to snap a 14-game losing skid.

On special teams the Broncos have the league’s 16th ranked powerplay 20.2%. Their penalty kill however is the worst in the league at 67.8%.

Before the trade deadline, Noah Kosick lead the Broncos in scoring with 34 points. Now that he’s been traded to Seattle, Zach Pantelakis leads the Broncos in scoring with 11G-10A-21P, tied with Hudson Darby with 8G-13A-21P. There’s a three way tie for third between Josh McGregor with 3G-17A-20P, and both Anthony Wilson and Jace McFaul with 7G-13A-20P.

As for who’s been hot for the Broncos, there are six active streaks coming into the weekend for them:

• Trae Wilke is at 4G-2A in his last three games, scoring two points in each
• Hudson Darby has 1G-3A in his last two games
• Carter Moen has 0G-3A in his last two games
• Sawyer Dingman has 1G-3A in his last two games
• Jaxen Gauchier 1G-2A in his last two games
• Zach Pantelakis 2G-0A in his last two games

Finally, in goal, the Broncos no longer have the services of 20-year-old Joey Rocha after he went to the SJHL. That leaves the Broncos with Aiden Eskit with a record of 0-9-1, a 0.859 save percentage, and a 5.39 goals against average. Archer Cooke is the other goaltender the Broncos are rolling with, and he has a record of 1-2-1 along with a 0.863 save percentage and a 4.25 goals against average.

Saturday vs. Edmonton

Saturday’s matchup against the Oil Kings is a big one, but a different one. Edmonton made three trades during trade deadline week, and two others upon the return from the Christmas break, and with the season series tied between the Raiders and Oil Kings, Saturday promises to be a big test for the Raiders.

Edmonton is tied with Prince Albert for the second place spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 27-7-4. In the season series, the Oil Kings won the first game in overtime 3-2 in Prince Albert on Oct. 18, but the Raiders got it back in Edmonton on Dec. 7 when the Raiders won 4-3 in overtime.

As of late, the Oil Kings are coming off of a 6-4 win over Swift Current on Wednesday. That caps off a six game winning streak with a 5-3 win over Seattle, 5-1 over Red Deer, and 7-1 and 5-2 both over Lethbridge, and 3-2 over Red Deer again. Going back one more game makes it a seven game point streak for the Oil Kings with a 3-2 overtime loss to Lethbridge.

The Oil Kings are in Saskatoon on Friday before playing the Raiders on Saturday.

Looking at the special teams, their powerplay is surprisingly low at 20.1%, good for 17th in the league. Meanwhile their penalty kill is sitting fourth in the league at 81.8%, and they’re tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with eight.

Leading the Oil Kings in scoring is Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick and World Juniors silver medalist Miroslav Holinka with 25G-32A-57P. Next is Lukas Sawchyn with 18G-35A-53P, and then the newly acquired Carter Sotheran takes the third spot with 6G-32A-38P.

Coming into the weekend, seven different Oil Kings have points in consecutive games.

• Miroslav Holinka has 11G-8A in his last nine games, including a hat trick.
• Lukas Sawchyn has 6G-10A in his last seven games
• Landon Hanson has 2G-5A in his last four games
• Andrew O’Neill has 2G-3A in his last four games
• Gavin Hodnett has 3G-4A in his last three games
• Carter Sotheran has 1G-2A in his last three games. In his first game with the Oil Kings after being acquired from the Portland Winterhawks, Sotheran had one assist
• Dylan Dean has 0G-3A in his last two games

Finally in goal for the Oil Kings is the duo of Ethan Simcoe and Parker Snell. Simcoe has played three more games and has a record of 15-3-3, a 0.897 save percentage, and a 2.72 save percentage. Snell is 12-4-1 on the year, a 0.896 save percentage, a 2.68 goals against average, and Snell has the only shutout of the year for the Oil Kings.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com