Oct.6 at Red Deer
HOCKEY TOWN NORTH NOTES: Last night the Raiders lost their second game on this 5 game in six nights road trip, 5-4 to the expansion Oil Kings in Edmonton, dropping their mark on the trip to 1-2…They started Tuesday with a 6-2 set back in Medicine Hat followed by a 2-1 win in Kootenay Wednesday…Wednesday’s win was their first road triumph since Feb.8 and ended a 13 game road winless streak, including playoffs…Last nights loss dropped the Raiders record to 2-4-1-0 (1-1-1-0 at home, 1-3-0-0 on the road, 0-1 in overtime) for 5 points, 4th in the WHL Eastern Division…Last night in Edmonton the Raiders opened the scoring on the power play six minutes into the game, only to see the Oil Kings tie it 5minutes later…The teams were tied 1-1 after both the first and second periods, setting the stage for a 7 goal third…The Raiders took the lead just over a minute into the third only to see Edmonton score goals 65 seconds apart to go up 3-2…The Oil Kings made it 4-2 just past the midway point of the third…PA would rally to score goals 47 seconds apart to tie the game with just under 7 minutes left in regulation time…Edmonton scored the winning goal, on the power play, with 3:43 left in the third…Edmonton out shot PA 27-25…The Raiders have surrendered 4 third period goals twice on this road trip-in Medicine Hat Tuesday and last night…Last year the Raiders finished fourth in the WHL East with a record of 27-39-3-3…In the play offs they were eliminated by the Brandon Wheat Kings in 5 games…In the 2007 pre-season the Raiders were 3-2-0-1…The Raiders have 26 players on their roster including 4 twenty-year olds, 6 nineteen year-olds, 6 eighteen year-olds, 8 seventeen year-olds and 2 sixteen year-olds…The Raiders roster includes 9 first year WHL players.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Last night the Raiders broke out of a slump on the power play scoring for the first time in four games with the man advantage going 1 for 2…They had gone 12 straight power play attempts without a goal…On the season they have scored 5 power play goals in 30 tries (16.7% – 15th in the league)…Edmonton scored 1 power play goal (the game winner) on 4 chances last night…The Raiders have surrendered at least one power play goal against in all 7 of their games this season…On the season the Raiders have surrendered 10 power play goals against in 49 chances (79.6% – 16th in the WHL)…The Raiders have scored 1 short handed goal.
UPCOMING GAMES: The Raiders conclude their trek through the Central Division tomorrow night in Lethbridge…They return home to host the Moose Jaw Warriors Friday to start another weekend of three games in three nights…They are in Regina one week from tonight, hosting the Rebels in PA Sunday, Oct.14…Their second and final 5 game in 6 night stretch this season comes from Feb.8-13.
VS. THE REBELS: This is the second of 5 meetings between the Raiders and Rebels this season after the Rebels edged the Raiders 2-1 in overtime in PA one week ago tonight…Last season the Raiders were 2-1-0-1 against the Rebels…At home the Raiders lost to Red Deer 6-3 Sept.27, then defeated the Rebels 2-1 Nov.24…PA won in Red Deer 4-3 in overtime Oct.7, then lost in a shoot out 3-2 Feb. 14…In the past five seasons the Raiders are 8-12-1-3 against Red Deer including a 2-8-0-1 record in Red Deer…The teams meet again Oct.14 back in PA…The Raiders are back in Red Deer Dec.29 with the final meeting between the teams in Prince Albert Jan.18.
INJURY REPORT: Andy Smith – Knee (week to week).
RAIDER REPORT: Bryce Lamb had 2 goals and 1 assist and Ryan McDonald a goal and 2 assists to lead the Raiders in scoring in Edmonton last night…Tomas Voracek with his first WHL goal had the other marker with additional assists to Matt Robertson (2), Ryan Button, Nathan Deck and Devon LeBlanc …The assist was Button’s first WHL point…LeBlanc has points (2G, 1A) in all three games on this road trip so far while McDonald has 5 goals in the past 5 games…Dustin Butler suffered the loss in goal stopping 22 of 26 shots he faced…McDonald (5G, 2A) has taken over the team lead in scoring from Mike Gauthier (5 assists) and Robertson (2G, 3A)…McDonald is tied for 5th in the league for most goals…Jeff May returned to the Raiders to start this road trip after skating with the Minnesota Wild and Houston Aeros (AHL)…May has played 259 WHL games all in a Raider uniform, including all 72 the past two regular seasons…Butler, Gauthier, May and John Flatters are the Raiders 20 year-olds at present – they have until Oct.11 to get down to the league limit (3)…Bruno Campese picked up his first WHL victory as a Head Coach Sept.26…Craig Bedard, Campese’s Assistant in Penticton (BCHL) the past three seasons has joined him behind the Raider bench…Raider Alumni David Manson is now in his 5th season as a Raiders Assistant Coach, but is not with the team on this trip as he is with his daughter at the Canadian Under 14 girls soccer championships in Newfoundland…Athletic Therapist Duane Bartley is in his 7th season with the Raiders…Flatters, Cody Vann, Kyle Aschim, Colin Scherger, David Aime and Andy Smith (knee injury) were the Raider scratches in Edmonton last night…Smith has missed the past five games…Former Raider Captain Kyle Chipchura has been named to the roster for the Montreal Canadiens to start the 2007-08 NHL season…Montreal plays in Toronto tonight…Chipchura was the Raiders Captain in 2005-06 and played 214 regular season games with the Raiders from 2002-06 totaling 165 points.
