Braeden Cootes’s season lives to see another series.

On Wednesday night, the Prince Albert Raiders completed a four-game sweep of the Saskatoon Blades with a 5-3 victory, punching their ticket to the WHL Eastern Conference Championship. For the Blades, it puts an end to what they had hoped would be a Cinderella run after upsetting the Edmonton Oil Kings in seven games in the opening round. Unfortunately, they faced a strong Raiders team, which outscored them 18-4 in the series.

Now awaiting Cootes and the Raiders is a worthy opponent in the Medicine Hat Tigers, headlined by draft-eligible twin forwards Liam and Markus Ruck, along with defenceman Jonas Woo (younger brother of Jett).

Cootes has been a driving force behind Prince Albert’s playoff success. The Sherwood Park native opened the series with a two-assist performance in Game 1. After being held off the scoresheet in Game 2, he responded in a big way, posting three goals across Games 3 and 4 to help close out the series.

Just over a minute into Game 4, Cootes opened the scoring, collecting the puck at the side of the net and banking it off the goaltender to spark a fast start. The Raiders followed with two additional goals in the opening six minutes and never looked back, holding on for the 5-3 win.

Through nine playoff games, Cootes now co-leads the Raiders with five goals while sitting second in team scoring with 11 points. He has also been dominant in the faceoff circle, winning at a 57.1 percent clip through 126 draws.

Out west, Parker Alcos and the Kelowna Rockets completed an incredible comeback in Game 4 to stave off elimination. Down 3-0 midway through the third period, the Rockets scored three straight, including the game-tying goal with seven seconds to go, to push the game to overtime. Just minutes into the extra frame, Utah Mammoth prospect Tij Iginla scored to keep their season alive.

Whether they win or lose the series, the Rockets’ season is far from over. As hosts of this year’s Memorial Cup, Kelowna will face the WHL champion (or runner-up if Kelowna), along with representatives from the OHL and QMJHL, for the tournament in May.

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