The Prince Albert Raiders might have gone winless at the recent Mastercard Memorial Cup in Halifax, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort by the two local players on the team.
Defenceman Brayden Pachal was the captain of the Raiders and forward Cole Fonstad had a productive tournament. One of Fonstad or Pachal was in on all six of Prince Albert’s goals.
The Raiders opened the tournament with a 4-1 loss to the host Halifax Mooseheads. Noah Gregor had the Raiders only goal. It came midway through the second period, and Fonstad recorded an assist.
Halifax scored twice in the first period and killed off three Raiders penalties in the opening frame.
It wouldn’t be the only time Fonstad and Gregor would be in on a goal together at the tournament.
The second game saw the Estevan players stand out against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Fonstad and Pachal scored five minutes apart in the first period to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead. The Huskies eventually took a 3-2 advantage, but the Raiders responded to tie the game at threes, as Fonstad assisted on a goal by Gregor.
The Huskies scored three times in the final five minutes of the third to pull away.
Prince Albert’s tournament came to an end in a 5-2 loss to the Guelph Storm. The two teams traded goals in the first period, with Pachal assisting on both goals. The Storm tallied twice in the second and once in the third to eliminate the Raiders.
The Huskies defeated the host Mooseheads 4-2 in the Memorial Cup final.
