Jan. 15 vs. Vancouver
HOCKEY TOWN NORTH NOTES: The Prince Albert Raiders broke out a three game losing streak Saturday night with a 5-1 win over the Blades in Saskatoon, also halting a three game road losing streak, there longest of the season…Friday the Raiders opened the weekend with a 5-3 home ice loss to the Blades…The Raiders record stands at 15-25-3-2 (6-14-2-1 at home, 9-11-1-1 on the road, 1-3 in overtime, 1-2 in shoot outs) for 35 points, 10th in the WHL Eastern Conference, four points behind 9th place Edmonton…Including overtime, shoot outs and games with an empty net goal scored against them, the Raiders have lost 16 contests by 1 goal this season…Saturday in Saskatoon the Raiders opened the scoring 11 minutes into the game and led 1-0 after the first…They erupted for 3 goals in the middle frame to take a 4-0 lead after the middle frame…Saskatoon got on the board early in the third with the Raiders rounding out the scoring…Shots on goal were even 29-29…When the Raiders lead after 2 periods they are 13-0-2-1, but when trailing after forty minutes are 0-19-0-1…The Raiders have 23 players on their roster including 2 twenty-year olds, 7 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: Saturday in Saskatoon the Raiders did not score on 4 power play chances against the Blades…On the season the Raiders have scored 34 power play goals in 195 tries (17.4 % – tied 17th best in the WHL)…On the road the Raiders have the 2nd best PP in the league (21/92=22.8%), but on home ice they are ranked #22 (13/103=12.6%)…The Blades scored their only goal Saturday on the power play going 1/6…On the season the Raiders have surrendered 51 power play goals against in 232 chances (78.0% – 18th in the WHL)…The Raiders have scored 3 short handed goals and surrendered eight short handed goals against.
UPCOMING GAMES: This is the 10th game in a stretch in the schedule in which the Raiders play 13 games in 24 days and the beginning of three games in four nights to conclude their busiest part of the 07-08 season…Tomorrow night the Raiders venture to Moose Jaw and host Red Deer Friday…Saturday they are back in Moose Jaw…Next week the Raiders start their tour of the United States Division visiting Kootenay on their way through to the US Jan.28.
VS. THE GIANTS: This is the only meeting of the season between the Raiders and defending Memorial Cup Champion Vancouver Giants…This is the ninth time the Raiders have played the Giants since Vancouver joined the WHL in 2001-02…Last year the Raider lost 4-1 in their only meeting, in Vancouver Jan.27…The Raiders have won 6 of the previous 8 meetings (3-0-0-0 in PA, 3-2-0-0 in Vancouver).
INJURY REPORT: Bryce Lamb – Mononucleosis (week to week).
RAIDER REPORT: Justin Bernhardt had a goal and three assists while Matt Robertson had 2 goals nad an assist to lead the Raiders in Saskatoon Saturday…Andy Smith and Brandon Herrod had the other goals with additional assists to Ryan McDonald, James Dobrowolski, Blaine Tendler and Ashton Hewson…Steven Stanford picked up with the win in goal stopping 28 of 29 shots he faced…Robertson (19G, 19A) has moved into a tie for the team lead in scoring with McDonald (18G, 20A)…Robertson has 2 goals and 4 assists in the past two games while McDonald has assists in back to back games and Hewson (1G, 1A) has picked up points in two straight outings…Dustin Butler is tied for 19th in the league in save percentage (.902)…Max Brandl is tied for 7th in the league in first goals (5) and is 2nd among rookies for power play goals (7)…Last week the Raiders were busy before the Jan. 10 Trade Deadline… They dealt 20 year-old defenceman Jeff May to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for a 2nd round draft pick, 16 year-old Robbie Ciolfi and 15 year-old Brent Martin…May played in 281 WHL games, all with the Raiders over 4 and a half seasons…The Raiders also dealt 19 year-old right winger Ryan DePape to the Regina Pats in exchange for 19 year-old centre Jared Jagow (#19) and the Pats 3rd round bantam pick… DePape played 237 WHL games, all with the Raiders, the past 3 and a half seasons…Jagow and Smith both hail from Rosetown, Saskatchewan…PA dealt 19 year-old defenceman Zach Sim to the Kootenay Ice for their 5th round bantam pick…They also dealt the WHL playing rights of 19 year-old forward Brent Ottmann to the Kelowna Rockets for a conditional draft pick…However Ottmann has chose not to report to the Rockets making the deal null and void…With the moves 20 year-old defenseman Ryan White has been named Captain of the team with the Assistants Jordan Trach, Robertson and Hewson…Bryce Lamb has been out the past 31 games, since Oct.23…He suffered a broken wrist, which is healed, but Lamb is now out indefinitely with mononucleosis…Yesterday Team President Dale McFee announced the Raiders have relieved General Manager Donn Clark of his duties with the organization…Head Coach Bruno Campese will take over as the General Manager through the remainder of the 2007-08 season…Clark had been with the Raiders since the 2000-01 season, in his second term with the organization…Campese was named the 11th coach in the history of the team June 21, 2007 after being the Coach and Director of Hockey Operations of the Penticton Vees from 2004-07 winning the Interior Division Championship in 2006 and regular season titles in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
