KNIGHTS OWE PRONGER
By RYAN PYETTE, The London Free Press
The guy Adam Burish called “the biggest idiot in the (NHL)” is a major reason Kevin Raine is with the London Knights right now.
Raine grew up in the northwestern Ontario city of Dryden — the same hometown as notorious Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Chris Pronger, one of hockey’s nastiest players.
“He had a real influence on me,” the 17-year-old said. “I met him and talked to him about the OHL. I had never seen a game before I was drafted (in the seventh round last spring). I didn’t have any exposure to major junior hockey (except for a Western Hockey League game in Brandon when he was little). The furthest we went was Thunder Bay.
“But he (Pronger) went to the Peterborough Petes and he told me it worked out pretty well for him.”
It’s starting to work out all right for Raine too. He, along with Lambton Shores Predators teammates Ryan and Matt Rupert, helped the Knights end a long losing skid with a 4-3 shootout victory over the frustrated Kingston Frontenacs Sunday.
Ryan Rupert cued the comeback with a goal in his first OHL game. Unlike travel companion Raine, the 16-year-old twins from Grand Bend were exposed to plenty of OHL action growing up.
“The Hunters let us play a 2-1 forecheck with one guy high and I was able to separate their (d-man) from the puck and put it up and in,” Rupert said. “To score the first goal, it was pretty exciting, especially in front of all those people.
“It was a good feeling.”
Like many forwards on this Knights team, the twins are smaller and quick, but they have some Pronger-like qualities, too.
“They’re the real deal — they play with an edge, with a chip on their shoulders,” Lambton Shores co-owner and GM Roop Chanderdat said, “and we’ve had to talk to them about it. Ryan missed five games because of a fight. They’re leading the team in scoring. We can’t have them suspended.”
“We were told to cut down on the penalties and stay on the ice,” Ryan added. “Matt got in a fight last game (a 11-2 loss to St. Thomas) but he wasn’t suspended. And Raine’s been crushing guys out there.”
Would Burish, if he was in the Junior B ranks right now, call them idiots? That kind of opinion about Pronger doesn’t hold water in the north country.
“Guys are different off the ice than they are on it,” Raine said. “No one thinks of (Pronger) like that back home.”
Raine, just named the Preds’ captain, and the Ruperts practise in Forest twice a week and spend the rest of the time with the Knights. They’re going to school at Saunders in London.
“Mark (Knights GM Hunter) wanted us there so we could practise with the team,” Ryan said. “It’s been a lot of hockey but that’s what we wanted. Hopefully, we can play all 10 (of the OHL games they’re allowed on a B card, plus time during the world junior tournament).”
The Hunters are working a balancing act. They want the young guns in, but don’t want to sacrifice wins. If the veterans can’t step it up, the kids will see more minutes.
Raine has already played four games with London. He could be in line for more with Jarred Tinordi expected on the shelf for a week or two with a knee injury.
“This is where I want to be,” he said. “I’d rather be wearing No. 20 for the Knights than No. 6 in Forest.”
Chanderdat and the Preds, of course, are happy to have them on board. The Preds are still struggling in the standings, but holding their own in the development game.
“Before the driving situation got sorted out, I was bringing Kevin to the rink and he’s much more mature than his age,” Chanderdat said. “I’ve never seen a guy hit as hard and clean as he does. Sometimes, he gets penalties for it because of the sound it makes on the boards.
“They’re a big part of our team. Power play. Penalty kill. Raine plays over 20 minutes a game. And the Ruperts, they’re hockey players. You ask them what they did today and, if they weren’t practising, they say, ‘Playing road hockey’. They’re kids having fun.”
Monday, instead of shooting pucks, they were off with the Knights for some team-bonding paintball.
They’ve already peppered the London lineup with some needed enthusiasm.
And it looks increasingly like they’ll get a chance to start carving out their own OHL reputations sooner than later.
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