Dec.15 vs. Brandon
HOCKEY TOWN NORTH NOTES: Last night the Prince Albert Raiders were edged 3-2 by the Kelowna Rockets on home ice, and have one win in their past 8 starts (1-6-0-1)…The Raiders have lost their past 4 straight on home ice-there last victory here was Nov.21, 4-1 over Swift Current…The Raiders record is 11-19-3-2 (4-11-2-1 at home, 7-8-1-1 on the road, 1-3 in overtime, 1-2 in shoot outs) for 27 points, 5th in the WHL Eastern Division…Last night the Rockets scored the lone first period goal 4 minutes into the game…The Raiders responded 6 and a half minutes into the second and it was 1-1 after forty minutes…The Rockets scored back to back power play goals just over 3 minutes apart early in the third to go up 3-1 before the Raiders rounded out the scoring with 4 and a half minutes go to in regulation time…The Rockets out shot the Raiders 35-21…When the Raiders lead after 2 periods they are 9-0-2-1, but when trailing after forty minutes are 0-14-0-1…The Raiders have 25 players on their roster including 3 twenty-year olds, 8 nineteen year-olds, 3 eighteen year-olds, 9 seventeen year-olds and 2 sixteen year-olds…The Raiders roster includes 10 first year WHL players.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Last night the Raiders did not score on the only power play chance they were awarded against the Rockets…On the season the Raiders have scored 28 power play goals in 158 tries (17.7 % – 14th best in the WHL)…On the road the Raiders have the 2nd best PP in the league (19/77=24.7%), but on home ice they are ranked #22 (9/81=11.1%)…The Rockets scored 2 power play goals in 8 chances last night including going 2/6 with the man advantage in the third period…The Raiders have surrendered power play goals against in 8 straight games…On the season the Raiders have surrendered 39 power play goals against in 192 chances (79.7% – 17th in the WHL)…The Raiders have scored 2 short handed goals and surrendered four short handed goals against.
UPCOMING GAMES: Tonight concludes the first half of the regular season for the Raiders…They return to action Dec.27 entertaining the Saskatoon Blades before heading to Red Deer Dec.29 and Edmonton Dec.30 to conclude 2007…The game in Edmonton will be broadcast, tape delayed, on Rogers Sportsnet.
VS. THE WHEAT KINGS: This is the second of 6 meetings this season between the Raiders and Wheat Kings with the Wheaties winning the first 5-4 in a shoot out here Nov.14…Last year the Raiders were 3-4-0-1 against the Wheat Kings – 3-1-0-0 in games played in PA and 0-3-0-1 in games played in Brandon…The Wheat Kings are in PA again Feb.10…The Raiders head to Brandon for games Jan.6, Feb.8 and Mar.12.
INJURY REPORT: Jeff May – Shoulder (3-4 weeks), Bryce Lamb – Wrist (1 week), Kyle Aschim – Concussion (week to week).
RAIDER REPORT: Ryan McDonald had both goals for the Raiders last night with assists to Matt Robertson, Tomas Voracek, Brandon Herrod and Ryan White…Steven Stanford suffered the loss in goal stopping 32 of the 35 shots he faced…Last night marked the first time that 17 year-old rookie Stanford has started back to back games this season after leading the Raiders to a 3-2 OT win in Prince George last Saturday…Justin Bernhardt was held off the score sheet last night after picking up 6 points in the previous two games…In the 6 games in December the former Rocket has 5 goals and 6 assists and 15 points in 17 games since being acquired Nov.1…Devon LeBlanc saw his three game goal scoring streak and four game point streak (3G, 2A) come to an end last night…White has assists in two straight games while Ashton Hewson saw his two game point streak come to an end…Stanford’s save percentage is .916, 6th best in the league…Dustin Butler is 11th in the league in save percentage (.908)…McDonald leads the team in scoring and has goals in 3 of the past 4 games after going 12 straight without a goal…Dustin Cameron has 15 points in 26 games after being acquired from Saskatoon Oct.7 and is within two points of setting a new career high for points in a season (18 established in 64 games in 06-07 with the Blades)…Andy Smith returned to the Raiders lineup last night for the first time since Oct.17, after missing 20 games with a knee injury…Smith was +1 last night…Team Captain Jeff May suffered a shoulder injury Nov.24 and is out 3-4 weeks…It is the first time in 4 and a half seasons with the Raiders that May has been injured…May has played 279 games with the Raiders over that time…May had 20 points in 25 games, including 19 assists and is tied for 19th overall in scoring by defencemen…Max Brandl is tied for 12th in first goals (4) and tied for 20th in the league in game winning goals (3)…Brandl is currently playing for Team Germany at the World Junior Championships “B Pool” in Germany…Brandl was the Player of the Game in their opening 7-1 win over Lithuania Sunday…Germany was 4-0 at the event heading into their final round robin game today against Austria…Brandl is expected to return to the Raiders Dec.27…15 year-old centre Ryan Harrison of Kelowna made his WHL debut for the Raiders in Kamloops last Friday…Harrison was the Raiders second round selection in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft… When Matt Robertson scores a goal the Raiders are 7-3-1-0…Brandon Herrod will play for Team West and Ryan Button for Team Pacific at the Under 17 World Challenge in London, Ontario Dec.29 – Jan.4…Both Bryce Lamb (wrist) and Kyle Aschim (concussion) have been out since late October…Zak Stebner was a scratch last night, out with the flu.
