The Prince Albert Raiders are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Founded in 1971 as a member of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, the Raiders have been members of the Western Hockey League since 1982. They play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference and host games at the Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders are two-time Ed Chynoweth Cup winners, and won the Memorial Cup as Canadian junior champions in 1985.
History
Founding and SJHL dynasty The Raiders were founded as a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) club in 1971, playing out of the newly constructed Prince Albert Communiplex, later renamed the Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders quickly established themselves as one of the most successful Tier II junior clubs in Canada. The team won seven consecutive Anavet Cups from 1976 to 1982, defeating Manitoba Junior Hockey League champions for the right to play for the national championship. Prince Albert went on to win the national championship, the Centennial Cup, four times between 1977 and 1982. In this era, the Raiders competed against a number of future Ontario Hockey League teams, including the Guelph Platers and the Belleville Bulls. The team's early success came under manager and coach Terry Simpson—former player James Patrick called the coach "synonymous with winning and competing"—and he remained coach when the team moved up to the top junior ranks by joining the WHL in 1982.
Joining the WHL The Raiders' first year in the WHL was a challenging one—the team finished last in the East Division and missed the playoffs. However, Dan Hodgson was named the league's rookie of the year, and the team rapidly improved under Simpson's guidance. The Raiders made the playoffs in their second season, and were a bona fide contender by their third year in the league, boasting a defensive star in Manny Viveiros and future National Hockey League players such as Dave Manson and Ken Baumgartner. Hodgson, now captain, finished second in the league in scoring in 1984–85, and helped pace the Raiders to 58 wins and the league's best regular season record. In the playoffs, the Raiders lost only one game en route to their first league championship, securing the President's Cup with a sweep of the Kamloops Blazers. The Raiders thus earned a spot in the 1985 Memorial Cup.
The Memorial Cup tournament also featured the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, the Verdun Junior Canadiens, and the Shawinigan Cataractes. In an opening game that featured 108 minutes in penalties, Prince Albert lost 6–2 to Shawinigan. The second game saw the Raiders beat Verdun 5–3 with 2 goals from defenceman Dave Goertz. In their third game, the Raiders defeated Sault Ste. Marie 8–6; 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 8–3. The Raiders became national champions by defeating the Cataractes 6–1 in the final. The Memorial Cup victory capped off a decade-long run in which the Raiders won five national championships.
The following season, the Raiders finished second overall before losing the Division Final in seven games to the Medicine Hat Tigers. Simpson won his second coach-of-the-year award, and then left the team to coach the New York Islanders, marking the end of an era. Simpson would return for a single season in 1989–90 before leaving again for the NHL.
Post-Simpson era The Raiders remained competitive for much of the next decade, including another four runs to the division playoff final between 1990 and 1996. However, despite boasting future NHL players such as Mike Modano, Shane Hnidy, Scott Hartnell, Kyle Chipchura, and Josh Morrissey, the next 22 seasons would see the Raiders win only four playoff series—and none between 2005 and 2019—missing the playoffs altogether eleven times.
Habscheid era Marc Habscheid joined the team as coach in 2014, and he worked to rebuild the team into a contender. That work paid off by 2018, when the Raiders began their most successful season in more than two decades. Led by Brett Leason, Noah Gregor, and Ian Scott, 2018–19 saw the Raiders put together their first 100-point season since 1995–96 and their best since 1984–85, securing their second Scotty Munro Trophy as regular season champions. They had a longer road in the playoffs than in 1985, culminating in a seven-game championship series against the Vancouver Giants, a series in which they led 3 games to 1. The Raiders won their second WHL title with a 3–2 game 7 overtime win over the Giants, with Dante Hannoun scoring the overtime winner. The win sent the Raiders to their second Memorial Cup tournament, where they were knocked out in the preliminary round.
Led by the team's first 18-year old captain in Kaiden Guhle, the Raiders had another strong season in 2019–20; however, with the team atop the East Division, the season was cut short and the playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ending the Raiders' hopes of repeating. The team participated in a shortened 2020–21 campaign featuring only East Division opponents. Due to the modified campaigns, the Raiders were the last team to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup at when the 2021–22 campaign began.
Logos and uniforms The Raiders originally wore green and yellow uniforms with a logo featuring a skating hockey player. From 1985 until the mid-1990s, the team adopted imagery featuring an Arab mascot wielding a scimitar. Although the team moved away from this look in 1996—adopting black as its primary colour and a new logo featuring a pirate's head—the Raiders stirred controversy in the twenty-first century by bringing back elements of branding from the era. In 2014, the team faced criticism for introducing a mascot that was a caricature of an Arab man; the team ultimately retired the mascot and would late introduce a parrot mascot in its place. In 2021, the team forced the WHL to apologize when it brought back its 1980s jerseys as a third-jersey; the move was called "insensitive and offensive".
The Raiders re-adopted green as the primary colour in 2013, and ditched the pirate logo in favour of a sword-and-shield logo featuring "PA" initials. A new third jersey introduced in 2022 paid homage to the pirate era.
Like many junior teams, the Raiders frequently adopt limited-edition and special-event jerseys. In 2024, the team temporarily re-branded as the Cobra Chickens, unveiling a new jersey featuring a Canada goose logo.
Championships
Memorial Cups 1985
Ed Chynoweth Cups 1985, 2019
Playoff Division/Conference Champions 1985, 2019, 2026
Scotty Munro Memorial Trophies 1985, 2019
Regular season Division Champions 1985, 1992, 1999, 2019, 2020, 2025, 2026
Centennial Cup Champions 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982
Abbott Cup Champions 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982
Anavet Cup Champions 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982
Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Champions 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982
WHL Championships 1984–85: Win, 4–0 vs Kamloops Blazers 2018–19: Win, 4–3 vs Vancouver Giants 2025–26: Loss, 1–4 vs Everett Silvertips
Memorial Cup finals 1985: Win, 6–1 vs Shawinigan Cataractes
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties OTL = Overtime losses Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish PlayoffsSaskatchewan Junior Hockey League1971–72 44 32 12 0 - 277 185 51 3rd SJHL Lost semifinal1972–73 48 33 15 0 - 284 202 48 1st SJHL NorthLost semifinal1973–74 50 35 15 0 - 228 204 70 1st SJHL Won League1974–75 58 39 19 0 - 351 210 78 1st SJHL NorthLost final1975–76 58 47 10 1 - 377 184 95 1st SJHL Won League, won Anavet Cup1976–77 60 45 14 1 - 392 242 91 1st SJHL NorthWon League, won Anavet Cup, won Centennial Cup1977–78 59 41 17 1 - 391 220 83 1st SJHL Won League, won Anavet Cup1978–79 60 44 13 3 - 405 221 91 1st SJHL Won League, won Anavet Cup, won Centennial Cup1979–80 60 45 14 1 - 381 197 91 1st SJHL Won League, won Anavet Cup1980–81 60 50 7 3 - 454 199 103 1st SJHL Won League, won Anavet Cup, won Centennial Cup1981–82 60 57 3 0 - - - 114 1st SJHL Won League, won Anavet Cup, won Centennial CupWestern Hockey League 1982–83 72 16 55 1 - 312 455 33 8th East Did not qualify 1983–84 72 41 29 2 - 411 357 84 5th East Lost in first round 1984–85 72 58 11 3 - 481 255 116 1st East Won championship and Memorial Cup 1985–86 72 52 17 3 - 424 257 107 2nd East Lost East Division final 1986–87 72 43 26 3 - 346 264 89 3rd East Lost East Division semifinal 1987–88 72 43 24 5 - 373 284 91 3rd East Lost East Division semifinal 1988–89 72 37 33 2 - 302 286 76 4th East Lost East Division quarterfinal 1989–90 72 38 33 1 - 302 286 77 2nd East Lost East Division final 1990–91 72 38 29 5 - 337 284 81 4th East Lost East Division quarterfinal 1991–92 72 50 20 2 - 356 261 102 1st East Lost East Division final 1992–93 72 25 42 5 - 252 317 55 9th East Did not qualify 1993–94 72 31 37 4 - 326 321 66 8th East Did not qualify 1994–95 72 44 26 2 - 308 267 90 2nd East Lost East Division final 1995–96 72 47 19 6 - 309 250 100 2nd East Lost Eastern Conference final 1996–97 72 29 34 9 - 235 262 67 5th East Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 1997–98 72 20 47 5 - 322 288 45 6th East Did not qualify 1998–99 72 45 22 5 - 288 213 95 1st East Lost Eastern Conference final 1999–00 72 26 33 6 7 221 257 65 4th East Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2000–01 72 18 47 3 4 204 348 43 6th East Did not qualify 2001–02 72 26 41 2 3 234 324 57 5th East Did not qualify 2002–03 72 27 37 3 5 185 258 62 5th East Did not qualify 2003–04 72 38 23 6 5 215 186 87 2nd East Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2004–05 72 31 32 5 4 185 191 71 3rd East Lost Eastern Conference final Season GP W L OTL SOL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs 2005–06 72 25 36 1 10 167 228 61 5th East Did not qualify 2006–07 72 27 39 3 3 203 266 60 4th East Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2007–08 72 26 42 3 2 196 248 57 6th East Did not qualify 2008–09 72 31 36 4 1 233 270 67 4th East Did not qualify 2009–10 72 32 35 3 2 229 249 69 5th East Did not qualify 2010–11 72 31 36 2 3 247 283 67 4th East Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2011–12 72 21 45 3 3 219 312 48 6th East Did not qualify 2012–13 72 37 28 3 4 234 233 81 2nd East Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2013–14 72 35 32 3 2 243 258 75 4th East Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2014–15 72 31 37 2 2 215 257 66 5th East Did not qualify 2015–16 72 38 26 7 1 222 223 84 2nd East Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2016–17 72 21 44 5 2 198 283 49 6th East Did not qualify 2017–18 72 32 27 9 4 245 250 77 5th East Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2018–19 68 54 10 2 2 307 156 112 1st East Won championship 2019–20 64 36 18 6 4 210 160 82 1st East Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2020–21 24 9 11 3 1 70 81 22 4th East No playoff held due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021–22 68 28 35 4 1 194 225 61 5th East Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2022–23 68 28 37 3 1 198 239 59 6th East Did not qualify 2023–24 68 31 32 2 3 215 221 67 4th East Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2024–25 68 39 23 5 1 253 228 84 1st East Lost Eastern Conference semifinal 2025–26 68 52 10 5 1 310 165 110 1st East Lost Final
Playoffs (SJHL) 1972 Lost semifinal Raiders defeated Weyburn Red Wings, 4–2 Melville Millionaires defeated Raiders, 4–2 1973 Lost semifinal Raiders defeated Yorkton Terriers, 4–1 Humboldt Broncos defeated Raiders, 4–0 1974 Won League, lost Anavet Cup Raiders defeated Humboldt Broncos, 4–0 Raiders defeated Saskatoon Olympics, 4–0 Raiders defeated Estevan Bruins, 4–1 (SJHL Champions) Selkirk Steelers (MJHL) defeated Raiders, 4–2 1975 Lost final Raiders defeated Saskatoon Olympics, 4–1 Raiders defeated Battleford Barons, 4–0 Swift Current Broncos defeated Raiders, 4–2 1976 Won League, won Anavet Cup, lost Abbott Cup Raiders defeated Battleford Barons, 4–0 Raiders defeated Swift Current Broncos, 4–0