Raiders forward Aiden Oiring faces off with Hitmen forward Connor Hvidston during the February 15 matchup between the Raiders and Hitmen last year. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Long road trip looming

Weekend Preview: Raiders host Hitmen and Warriors for final games of homestand

Oct 31, 2025 | 12:00 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders are the last team remaining in the WHL without a loss in regulation, and they’re also gearing up for a seven-game road swing that will take them through the United States.

Before the Raiders head out on the road, they’ll host two home games this weekend, starting with the Calgary Hitmen and finishing with the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Coming into the weekend, the Raiders record of 9-0-2-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL) has the Raiders ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, but first in the WHL power rankings this week, and eighth in the CHL rankings. With points in all 11 games so far, the Raiders are on a two-game winning streak after shutting out the Swift Current Broncos twice in one weekend.

The Raiders will also be without Head Coach Ryan McDonald, and 16-year-olds Brock Cripps and Ben Harvey, who have departed for the U17 World Hockey Challenge in Truro, Nova Scotia, starting on Sunday.

Friday vs. Calgary

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The Calgary Hitmen come into the weekend ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 8-3-1-0. Most recently, the Hitmen earned a 4-3 shootout win over the Red Deer Rebels on Wednesday to extend their win streak to four games (other wins over Edmonton, Red Deer, and Spokane), and their point streak to five games, thanks to an overtime loss to Lethbridge.

The Hitmen would normally mean the return of former Raider Harrison Lodewyk, but he will be serving the second game of a suspension and won’t be in the lineup in his return to the Hauser.

Starting with the special teams battle, the Raiders seem to have figured out their power play woes before they became an issue, going 3/4 on Saturday in Swift Current. The Raiders power play is third in the league at 30.9%, and their penalty kill is sixth in the league at 82.9%.

As for the Hitmen, their power play is near the bottom of the league at an even 16%, while their penalty kill is second in the league at 87.9%.

On to players to watch, the top spot in the Raiders scoring department has been a revolving door early this year, with Brayden Dube currently holding the top spot at 5G-10A-15P. From there, Aiden Oiring has 6G-8A-14P, which ties him with Riley Boychuk at 2G-12A-14P.

Boychuk still has the longest streak on the team with a point in all 11 games so far this season. Max Heise is next with 1G-2A in his last three games. In the last two games, captain Justice Christensen has 0G-3A, and Brayden Dube has 1G-3A.

The Hitmen have also been scoring by committee, with six players all over 10 points on the year. They’re led by 20-year-old Ethan Moore with 3G-9A-12P, followed by a tie for second between Russian forward Andrei Molgachev with 7G-4A-11P and Lodewyk with 2G-9A-11P.

There are only two active point streaks on the Hitmen roster right now: Ethan Moore with 1G-5A in his last six games, and Wyatt Pisarczyk with 1G-1A in his last two. Of note, though, the Hitmen have won each of their last three games by one goal, and have had seven different goal scorers on eight goals.

In net, the two Raiders netminders had identical weekends with 18 save shutouts over the Swift Current Broncos. Michal Orsulak has the best goals against average (1.79) and most shutouts (2) in the league with a record of 4-0-1-0 and a 0.918 save percentage, and Dimitri Fortin’s 2.19 goals against average is fifth in the league with one shutout, a 4-0-1-0 record, and a 0.902 save percentage.

The Hitmen have relied on Eric Tu a little more this year, with a 4-1-1-0 record this year and a league-best 0.937 save percentage, including one shutout this year. Backing him up is Aiden Hesse, who has a 2-1-0-0 record and a 0.870 save percentage.

Saturday vs. Moose Jaw

On to Saturday’s matchup, the last home game the Raiders will play for the next three weeks will see the Raiders host the Moose Jaw Warriors for the first matchup this season. Currently holding a record of 7-6-1-0, the Warriors will host the Regina Pats on Friday night before the Warriors come to Prince Albert on Saturday.

Before that, though, the Warriors are coming off an 8-4 loss in Brandon to the Wheat Kings on Sunday. Earlier that week, the Warriors had home wins over Lethbridge and Red Deer, and a Saturday loss at home to Saskatoon.

Moose Jaw’s power play has been strong with a 26.9% efficiency rating, good for sixth in the league coming into the weekend. Their penalty kill, on the other hand, has struggled a bit, sitting 17th in the league at 70.8%.

The Warriors have scored the most goals in the WHL at 64 coming into the weekend, and as a result, they have a lot of high-scoring players. The top three are Landen McFadden with 5G-11A-16P, followed by Lynden Lakovic with 11G-3A-14P, and Pavel McKenzie with 4G-9A-13P.

In goal, Matthew Hutchinson has played in 10 games for the Warriors this year. He holds a record a 5-4-0-0 record and a save percentage of 0.864. Backing up has been Kyle Jones, who has still entered into nine games this year with a 2-2-1-0 record and a 0.873 save percentage.

The Raiders will first host the Calgary Hitmen Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre, with puck drop at 7:00 p.m. The Brandt Raider Radio broadcast starts at 6:30 p.m. on 900 CKBI.

On Saturday, the Raiders host the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7:00 p.m. again in the Art Hauser Centre, but Saturday’s Brandt Raider Radio broadcast will be moved to 101.5 FM Beach Radio with the pregame show starting at 6:30 p.m.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com