Us Road Trip

[Wildeyes]

Not a bad road trip so far for the raiders
4 out of 6 points and a close game against portland hopefully this team has turned the corner and will play some great hockey

[the voice]

Big test tonight. Will have to be a tight defensive game and take advantage of any scoring chances. Sounds cliche, but will have to be a team effort. Definite improvements all over. All 4 lines will need to start scoring as we can't rely on our D to score against top end teams..they'll be busy taking care of our end.

[AMSRocker]

Looking forward to seeing the Raiders once more! Kind of treat to see the Eastern teams as we only see your boys every other year.
The AMS have almost hit full stride. Almost. Still working on getting the timing of some quick pass/shots down but over all we are very happy with how the AMS are playing!

[puckdad]

Einstein's definition of Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Putting best power forward on the point for the power play over and over seems to match this definition. Another shortie was the difference in the game.
Raiders played even with a very good Tri-Cities team 5 on 5. They once again lost the special teams match-up, and took a number of bad penalties that killed any momentum they had.

[nohockey]

i agree with 15 seconds left were trying to get a goal and we win the draw back to the point and we lose the puck up the boards from are best forward who should be in front of the net where that d men would of put the puck. how long bruno give the euro a chance to prove himself? first line , power play, stupid penalties!! hmmm

[TalkHockey]

Tonight can make or break this trip. Big game for confidence!
Did anyone else watch the last game and feel that while the penalties called on us were deserving, they let a ton slide for the americans? Penalties should have been even. The trip on McNeil which turned into a penalty against us was the most obvious call.
While Yaworski's play is much better than last year someone needs to tell him to stay out of the box. The leader in penalties on any team is typically the guy who fights. Yaworski rarely fights and takes way to many stick infractions for my liking. Taking a penalty that results in a goal during a 1 goal game is a real back breaker.
I would like to see Mcneil, Herrod and Maylan up front on the pp with 2 players who play defense actually on the point.
Our goalies are looking sharp although our last 2 loss' were 1 goal games in which each goalie took turns on a give away. Need to work on when to and not to play the puck.

[puckdad]

Dead on with your comments. Even the TC announcers thought there should have been a penalty call on the McNeill trip, and it took away a scoring chance. Dinging 3 off the post was pure bad luck. Another inch on those shots and raiders would have tied or led the game. 2 more players I would include with those taking bad penalties at critical times are Vanscourt and Knutsen. A little more discipline in 2 close games (Moose Jaw, Tri-City), and Raiders could have had another 4 points. Looking forward to tonight's game. Vanscourt should know this team real well and it would be great to see him have another big game. It will be interesting if Luke Lee-Knight plays against the Raiders.
I really hope they re-evaluate their power play after this trip. Its almost to our advantage to not have penalties called on the opposition. Did you see the 30 seconds of TC pressure on our "Power Play" just prior to their shorthanded goal? Mark McNeill does many things extremely well, but quarterbacking the power play is not one of them. Watching him retreat 200 feet from the opposing goal and lugging the puck up ice while 4 others stand between the blue lines makes me cringe. Lets go back to the drawing board and come up with something more effective. Put players in position where they have the highest chance of succeeding, not forcing them to play in unfamiliar positions.

[Sttop]

The answer to the powerplay quarter back is not in this dressing room. If the Raiders want to compete this year they must go out and find a legitimate #1 defencemen. Morrissey will be very good and in my opinion but can not be pushed into this already. Antoine Corbin may have the best shot from the point in the League and should have been out there to take the last shot .

[TalkHockey]

the score in tonight's game does not show how we played. Should have been 7-2 if not for Williams.
As I posted earlier, yaworski taking penalties that are not related to being rough but more so lazy.
I guess coach thought the answer to the PP was to swap McNeil for Herrod....stupid and the pp looked brutal again.
Far to many times we were hemmed in our own zone. Half the time this is related to defensemen not bouncing it off the glass and out but instead trying to get fancy with the puck which lead to turn overs.
Have to give props to Spokane, they worked hard from start to finish.
The second line only had a couple shifts in the second after looking sharp in the first. Not sure what happened there.

On the positive....we picked up a point.

[puckdad]

Williams was excellent tonite. 2 lucky goals, one a pin-balling deflection and another scored from the corner. The score flattered the Raiders as the Chiefs had tons of opportunities and controlled much of the play, including long stretches with the Raiders pinned in their own end and unable to clear, except by icing the puck.
Both Raider goals were on great passes that led to break-aways.
3 Raider "power plays" in the 3rd were out-shot by a margin of 2 to 1.
Top guys were played so much they had nothing left. Not a lot of recovery time for them until tomorrow night's game in Kootenay. The team needs to share the load a bit more and save them for later in games. Took a 2-1 lead to the 3rd, but ended up losing in OT.
Williams earned them a point tonight.

[TalkHockey]

I can't even watch the last few minutes. Yaworski costs this team game in and game out yet never see's any discipline in terms of loss of ice time.
Takes 2 penalties tonight away from the puck + 1 brutal cross check missed by the refs.
We are always hemmed in our own zone because the d are still trying to be individual heros. I will give them credit as they look great from every aspect other than being on the offensive side in our own zone. This is such a simple lesson the coach could teach them and we would be a great team.
Other than that, the guys looked as good as they could as it was obvious they were tired. Didnt see enough on the controversial second goal to really give an opinion (Kootney doesnt have a replay system)

[ELL]

Prince Albert was certainly tired in the third. However as a Kootenay fan I thought PA has the potential to be one of the best teams in the east this year. Well coached with good goaltending. I have no doubt they will easily make the playoffs.

[Sttop]

I can't even watch the last few minutes. Yaworski costs this team game in and game out yet never see's any discipline in terms of loss of ice time.
Takes 2 penalties tonight away from the puck + 1 brutal cross check missed by the refs.
We are always hemmed in our own zone because the d are still trying to be individual heros. I will give them credit as they look great from every aspect other than being on the offensive side in our own zone. This is such a simple lesson the coach could teach them and we would be a great team.
Other than that, the guys looked as good as they could as it was obvious they were tired. Didnt see enough on the controversial second goal to really give an opinion (Kootney doesnt have a replay system)

I would give them praise for playing a great game after 4 games in 5 nights and a ton of travel . There are so many positives from the road trip. Sure they did come back with a loosing record, but just from watching them play we can see that the Raiders can skate and have the skill to play with the best teams out there. This is not the start of the season that the Raiders wanted to have , but they are a much better team then the record suggest. As far as Tyler Yaworski , I really think he does a fantastic job. He has had two terrible calls called at terrible times but without him the Raiders loose a great, and physical shut down defencemen. Start bringing up some positives guys, the goaltending has been leaps and bounds better then most have seen in Prince Albert. Eric Williams has bounced back from a rough first couple games and is playing terrific. And there is not a fan of the WHL who scouted Cole Holewenko as well as the scouts of the Raiders , What a find he is. Keep your chins up guys the Raiders are finally a good team to watch.

[TalkHockey]

8 penalties in 6 games is not acceptable.
A number of slashing, couple hooking, embellishment and cross check to head are different than roughing or fighting in the sense they off set or are questionable.
I already gave him credit on his defensive play however it is important to realize that many of his good plays are from pinching or cheating which works out and looks good. When it doesnt work out he resorts to hooking or slashing a player who just got bye him as he is in recovery mode.
This team does not need any hero's on D. Our offense is capable of putting up big numbers but is spending too much time in our own zone as the D get to fancy.
I am optimistic about the season as I think the issues they have could easily be fixed.