By John MacNeil /

Seven games into their 72-game season, the Prince Albert Raiders shuffled the deck and made multiple roster moves Oct. 5 to try to strengthen their back end.

Most notably, the Raiders traded 19-year-old goaltender Steven Stanford to the Saskatoon Blades and handed the starting job to overager Garrett Zemlak.

“Zemmer has competed hard,” said Raiders coach and general manager Bruno Campese. “Nothing has been given to him. He’s battled his way. We think he’s matured. We think he’s gotten better.

“He’s certainly earned more starts. It’s tough to deny him starts when a player has played 
so well.”

Zemlak’s strong performances in September victories over the Brandon Wheat Kings, Swift Current Broncos and Saskatoon came while the Raiders’ anticipated No. 1 goalie, Stanford, was trying to regain his form after an unscheduled layoff.

Stanford took a shot to the neck during a late pre-season game against Saskatoon, and after a couple of nights in hospital, he was ordered to remain off the ice for 10 days. He bounced back in late September, but had mixed results in two starts against the Edmonton Oil Kings and Regina Pats. He was pulled from his last game as a Raider – a 9-3 loss to Regina in Jordan Eberle’s return to the WHL.

Stanford said his extended inactivity hurt his chances of playing well and nailing down the top job with Prince Albert.

“Coming back from an injury is always tough and you’re usually going to have a slow start,” he said. “I think that’s what happened. Hopefully, I can have a fresh, new start with the Blades here and come out fine.”

Stanford, a Calgary native in his third WHL season, won his first start with Saskatoon as the visiting Blades defeated the Red Deer Rebels 6-3. He picked up the shutout Oct. 18 as Saskatoon blanked the Edmonton Oil 
Kings 4-0.

Although he was surprised the Raiders traded him to an East Division rival, Stanford looked forward to partnering with 18-year-old Adam Morrison to form “a great tandem” 
in Saskatoon.

The Blades acquired Stanford in exchange for defencemen Brendon Wall, 19, and Tyler Yaworski, 17. As part of the same deal, Prince Albert gained a fourth-round bantam draft pick and gave Saskatoon a sixth-
round selection.

The Raiders believe Wall can fit into their lineup as a top-four defenceman and provide relief for workhorses Ryan Button, Nathan Deck and Jordan Rowley.

Yaworski, a 6-3 rookie who likes to play physically, joined the Raiders from the Alberta midget AAA Sherwood Park Kings, after opening the season in the WHL with the Blades.

With the arrival of two new blueliners, the Raiders said goodbye to 20-year-old defenceman Patrick Kozyra as they settled on Zemlak and forwards Dustin Cameron and Craig McCallum as the team’s overagers.

Kozyra promptly signed with the Dauphin Kings, the Manitoba club that will host the Royal Bank Cup national junior A championship in May.

The Raiders made a separate trade to land 19-year-old goaltender Dalyn Flette from the Wheat Kings. Prince Albert gave up a seventh-round draft pick that becomes a fifth-rounder if Flette is still a Raider on Dec. 1.

To make room for Flette, the Raiders cut 17-year-old goaltending prospect Jacob Edwards, who returned home and joined the junior A Calgary Royals.

RAIDERS NOTES
After winning four of their first eight games, the Raiders went 1-4 on an October road swing through the U.S. Division.