Raiders forward Dante Hannoun gets a step on both Jeff De Wit and Brett Davis. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Big 50

Raiders get their 50th win, in playoff-like fashion over RD

Mar 1, 2019 | 10:36 PM

With their tight 2-1 shootout victory over the Red Deer Rebels Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre, the Prince Albert Raiders won their 50^th game of the season.

That’s just the fourth time in Raiders’ history that they’ve hit the half-century mark in wins. None of the players on the Raiders current roster were born the last time the franchise reached that milestone, as it was back in the 1991-92 season.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Raiders captain Brayden Pachal, who himself was born in 1999. “We’ve grown as a group and we knew we had a special group coming into this season. We set our expectations high and we just got to keep going into playoffs.”

Considering the Western Hockey League cut back the amount of games played for each team from 72 games to 68 this year, which makes getting that 50^th win even tough.

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“I’m pretty happy, 50 wins in a 68-game schedule is not easy. And we still have a few games to go. I’m proud of the guys,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said.

As of press time, the win also puts the Raiders one point away from clinching the Scott Munro Memorial Trophy for finishing first place in the Western Hockey League regular season. The Raiders can get it themselves in any of their seven remaining games, or wait for either the Everett Silvertips or the Vancouver Giants to lose a point.

But more importantly than that, the Rebels gave the Raiders a very playoff-like atmosphere Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre. The Rebels are fighting for their playoff lives, currently in the top wildcard spot with 68 points but are battling with Calgary, Medicine Hat and Brandon for position.

The Raiders, who are running out of things to play for, are looking ahead to playoffs and want to simulate that heading in.

“It’s huge. To get that intensity and to get a little banged up going into playoffs is huge for us,” Pachal said. “It prepares you massively for the playoff games. Everything goes up another notch in playoffs. This is just a taste of what’s to come.”

Clarkie goes on the wall

Before the game, the Raiders inducted former player, coach and general manager Donn Clark into the team’s Wall of Honour. Under Clark, the Raiders reached the conference finals in the 2004-05 season—no Raiders team has gone that far since.

Clark wasn’t able to attend the ceremony as he is currently battling cancer, but his Toronto Maple Leaf great brother Wendel Clark came to accept the award on his behalf.

“It’s a huge honour. He loved his time here,” Wendel said. “He was a player, coach, GM. He did a lot of different roles in a lot of years here in Prince Albert. He loved the area and the team and the building. I’m just here representing him for the award. The team, a great honour that they did to present it to my brother. I know it will mean a lot to him.”

Before the game, Wendel got a tour of the Art Hauser Centre. Seeing as he played his major junior hockey with the Saskatoon Blades from 1983-85, he had some mixed feelings about it.

“It’s a little different for me, a Saskatoon Blades guy. That green dressing room down there, I was getting the hives I think,” Wendel laughed, before extending an olive branch. “P.A. has a great team this year, it’s fun to see. You want those rivalries here in Saskatchewan, the teams being good and the games meaning something.”

Prince Albert’s Peter Anholt, who’s the current general manager of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, coached the Raiders under Donn Clark during his tenure and reached out on Twitter to congratulate him.

Not in the lineup

Raiders defenceman Max Martin sat out his fifth straight game with an upper body injury. He’s been listed as day-to-day. Habscheid said that Martin was ruled out for Saturday’s game against the Moose Jaw Warriors but he’s “closer” to returning to the lineup.

Raiders forward Parker Kelly served his second of a three-game suspension, after a boarding major against the Wheat Kings on Feb. 23. He’ll complete his sentence, so to speak, on Saturday and will be eligible to play on Tuesday at home against the Swift Current Broncos.

Scoring Summary

First Period

No scoring.

Second Period

No scoring.

Third Period

1-0, Raiders, Noah Gregor from Dante Hannoun (power play), 9:29

1-1, Rebels, Brandon Hagel from Cameron Hausinger, 14:21

Overtime

No scoring.

Shootout

Shootout winner, Dante Hannoun

All divisional games from here on in

The seven remaining regular season games for the Raiders will be against WHL East Division opponents, starting on Saturday on the road against the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Then the Raiders will play three straight games against the Swift Current Broncos, at the Hauser for both March 5 and 8, and on the road on March 10. The Raiders will then close out the regular season with a home-and-home series against the Saskatoon Blades March 15 and 16.

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW