Prince Albert Raiders

The early days

The Raiders started in 1971 as one of the most successful Tier II franchises in Canada, playing in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). Prince Albert won the Tier II national championship, the Manitoba Centennial Trophy, four times in a six-year span from 1977 to 1982. While competing for the Manitoba Centennial Trophy, the Raiders competed against a few future OHL teams, the Guelph Platers and the Belleville Bulls. The Raiders also won 7 straight Anavet Cups between 1976 until 1982 against various champions of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.^[]

Terry Simpson was the team's coach for those six years in the SJHL. He stayed with the team for its first 4 years when it moved up to the WHL. The City of Prince Albert was granted a WHL expansion franchise for the 1982–83 season.^[]

1984–85 season

Three years later, the Raiders were the best team in the WHL. Led by team captain Dan Hodgson, the team achieved the best regular season record in the WHL of 58 wins, 11 losses and 3 ties. The Raiders defeated the Calgary Wranglers, Medicine Hat Tigers and the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL playoffs to win the WHL championship. Other notable members of the 1984–1985 team were; Tony Grenier, Dave Pasin, Pat Elynuik, Dave Manson, Ken Baumgartner, Dave Goertz and Emanuel Viveiros.^[]

The Raiders went on to compete for the 1985 Memorial Cup versus the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Verdun Junior Canadiens and the Shawinigan Cataractes. In a game that featured 108 minutes in penalties called, Prince Albert lost 6–2 to Shawinigan. The second game saw the Raiders beat Verdun 5 to 3 with 2 goals from defenceman Dave Goertz. In their third game, the Raiders defeated the Sault Ste. Marie 8 to 6, and Dan Hodgson had 5 assists in the match. The Raiders and Greyhounds would play each other again in the semi-finals, and Prince Albert would prevail again by a score of 8 to 3. The Raiders won the Memorial Cup and became CHL champions by defeating the Shawinigan Cataractes 6–1 in the final.

2018–19 season

The Raiders finished the 2018–19 WHL season with a 54–10–2–2 record, 112 points, clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the Western Hockey League. They defeated the Red Deer Rebels with a first round sweep, the Saskatoon Blades 4 games to 2, the Edmonton Oil Kings 4 games to 2, and finally the Vancouver Giants 4 games to 3, with a game seven overtime goal scored by Dante Hannoun to clinch the title on home ice. The Raiders claimed their second WHL Championship, and a berth in the 2019 Memorial Cup, where they failed to advance beyond the round-robin.^[]