2013 Playoffs -- Round 1: Predictions and comments

[Wapitikev]

Raiders will outshoot the Rebels in every game but Bartosak will make us play 7 to close out the series. Raiders in 7.

Looking forward to the McNeill/Dumba rematch.

Heh.

-Wapitikev

[Wapitikev]

...and, according to the Raiders website, it looks like McBride will be with the team until the Raiders reach the end of their playoff run.

-Wapitikev

[hockeynut]

Nice to see the top players getting on the scoreboard and the ďman playing strong and if the raiders want to advance past the first round they will need get more physical i think the raiders have no problem scoring it just wearing down there opponents and have 4 lines going the top 3 lines seem to be clicking the 4 need to get physical santucci has been scratched the last few games he brings that type of game has speed and grit brings energy every shift raiders in 6

[RandyJackson]

I see that Med Hat took it to the Blades last night. What a shame.... Hopefully they can keep up the hard work and Lanigan stays on top of his game.

Let's hope that the team who faced the Blades last weekend shows up against Red Deer tonight. We need to pepper Bartosak right off the hop and get him down on his confidence if we're going to get past the Rebels.

[chalk_one_up]

I was glad they lost.

[puckdad]

I've watched all 4 regular season games vs the Rebels this year, and both playoff games. IMO PA has a slight advantage in overall skill level, but Red Deer has a relentless work ethic that the Raiders are unable to match. The real difference is in effectiveness of the teams' systems:

RD recognizes and easily breaks PA's trap, allowing them to enter the O-Zone with control of the puck & attack with a purpose. The Raiders are plagued by neutral zone turnovers and constantly fail to get pucks deep and pressure the Rebel defensemen.

Red Deer's Zone entries are consistently better. When they enter the zone 2-deep & drop pass, it has confused all 7 of the Raiders defense, resulted in 2 goals so far this series, and generates numerous high-quality scoring chances, especially if there's no weak-side help from a forward. Their persistence at the net has also produced 2 goals after the Raiders have assumed a covered puck will result in a whistle.
PA's zone entries usually result in a one & done shot from the perimeter, or the puck carrier slows to allow a team-mate to get to the net. He is often caught from behind by a back-checking forward while waiting for someone to come free for a pass. Almost never does the puck-carrier drive hard to the net and challenge the d-man to stop him. Makes it very easy on opposing defensemen.

PA's season-long insistence on quantity rather than quality of shots has been a big reason for their 2nd half collapse. Drifting a shot toward the net with no chance of scoring and no net presence is just conceding possession of the puck. Although both PA goals in Game 2 of this series came off lucky puck bounces, I would far rather rely on players working to generate high quality chances from high percentage locations than hope that a puck pinballs off something into the net. The fact is, this is playing right into Red Deer's defensive strengths, with their collapsing team defense and strong goaltending.

Special Teams - enough said.

It looks like the Raiders have a game plan and, for the most part, the players look like they're sticking to it. It just looks like the game plan is not working, and likely will not this year. Let's hope that on home ice, in front of a home crowd, with last change, the Raiders will play inspired hockey and generate a couple of wins this week to extend the series.

[hockeynut]

Well said i agree we need forwards to take that puck to the net rather than shoot from anywhere it would create more chances in front of net they also need to get more physical in the offensive zone causing turnovers rebels dman get out of there zone to easy players like braid and Conroy,Gardiner need to get on the dman they should put santucci in the lineup he brings that to the game would have the rebels dman looking over the shoulders and taking them of there game let the goal scores and let the grit soften the opponents

[RebelSoldier]

I think the problem with PA is that they think they can beat Patrik Bartosak with poor quality perimeter shots. This is not likely to be effective. He does not give up on any play.

The 2 goals scored by Prince Albert in this series have been the result of mental lapses by the Rebels defensemen and "lucky bounces".

Watching the vast majority of Rebels hockey games this season and both playoff games in the first 10 rows, I have really noticed that the quality of officials in this series is beyond sub-par. Yes the Rebels have "taken" the majority of penalties but the officials have missed many Prince Albert high sticks, hits where the face/head were the first point of contact and players leaving their feet to make the hit. Instead its Red Deer with 10 penalties to PA's 7 when it should more closely resemble 15 PA to 7 RD.

I wouldn't say now is the time to abandon a system put in place all season, but as mentioned the Rebels have recognized the system and found a way to counteract it. Tonight's game will basically be the deciding factor as to which way this series goes.

Best of luck to both teams regardless, I will be cheering on the Rebels though.

[chalk_one_up]

Go Rebels!

[Raider Believer]

Raiders will outshoot the Rebels in every game but Bartosak will make us play 7 to close out the series. Raiders in 7.

Looking forward to the McNeill/Dumba rematch.

Heh.

-Wapitikev

What a pathetic ending to the vaunted 5 year plan! And so much for your laughable predictions Wapitikev. Although I must give you kudos for being such a loyal (manic) fan. I will be interested to see if you are still such a loyal fan once Bruno is kicked out on his ass. And if he isn't given the boot, then PA deserves the mediocrity we have become accustomed to.

[XCHEKR]

What a pathetic ending to the vaunted 5 year plan! And so much for your laughable predictions Wapitikev. Although I must give you kudos for being such a loyal (manic) fan. I will be interested to see if you are still such a loyal fan once Bruno is kicked out on his ass. And if he isn't given the boot, then PA deserves the mediocrity we have become accustomed to.

You are "seriously" making remarks like that because someone has believed in a team??? Unbelievable!!!

[Raider Believer]

You are "seriously" making remarks like that because someone has believed in a team??? Unbelievable!!!

Unbelievable? What's unbelievable is the undeliverance from this team and the ridiculously blind support for Bruno and his band of incompetants.
XCHEKR, you and Wapitikev in particular, have run out of excuses. No matter what you say the results are overwhelmingly unimpressive. And honestly, I think anyone who supports Bruno now is fool. And XCHEKR, maybe you should be less worried about my remarks and give more thought and speculation to who might be pursuaded to come to PA's rescue, cause that's about the only hockey news that'll be coming out of PA for a while. :)

[XCHEKR]

Unbelievable? What's unbelievable is the undeliverance from this team and the ridiculously blind support for Bruno and his band of incompetants.
XCHEKR, you and Wapitikev in particular, have run out of excuses. No matter what you say the results are overwhelmingly unimpressive. And honestly, I think anyone who supports Bruno now is fool. And XCHEKR, maybe you should be less worried about my remarks and give more thought and speculation to who might be pursuaded to come to PA's rescue, cause that's about the only hockey news that'll be coming out of PA for a while. :)

Well....lets see hmmm > did you think they were achieving at the beginning of the year???

[Raider Believer]

Well....lets see hmmm > did you think they were achieving at the beginning of the year???

My comments were more along the lines of hoping that nothing happened to St. Luke. And it takes more than 30 games to rate a season. Just as it has taken 5 years to give Bruno a fair chance. And he has failed! And next year will be 'iffy' at best.

[chalk_one_up]

Mintos won 5-3 tonight and force a game 5 at the AHC on Friday. Might as well check out a local team still playing for something. Championship on the line.

Definite losses:
Bardaro
Siemens
Vandane

Potential Losses:
McNeill
Daae
Knutsen
Ruopp

and one of Morden/Busenius

Next season will be difficult. I will be glad to see Ruopp go.

[XCHEKR]

My comments were more along the lines of hoping that nothing happened to St. Luke. And it takes more than 30 games to rate a season. Just as it has taken 5 years to give Bruno a fair chance. And he has failed! And next year will be 'iffy' at best.

I never said you should only be looking at the first half:confused: .... I asked you that question to hear from you if you ever thought this team "ever" played well??? And you have no idea of the way I think so please refrain from commenting any further on my beliefs ..... maybe we should congratulate the winner tonight > they played very well and like a little army under coach Sutter!

[Wapitikev]

Nevemind Raider (un)Believer, X...he'll hate Bruno no matter how good the talent pool is on the team now or next year, or how much money the team makes at the box office (despite their on-ice troubles last year and this one) or how many points the team manages to get in the regular season.

And if Bruno is fired, he'll hate the next guy too, and every guy thereafter until the club wins 3 or four consecutive Mem cups.

It's actually funny that he cannot admit (and has to attack me for pointing out) that anything good has happened for the team in the last five years because he is blind to everything except his hatred of Bruno.

Giving Bruno credit for anything only makes him angry...so let him be.

Maybe this year the board will give RB what he's been screaming for since I joined...and then he can post that he "told us all" so.

If not, then we'll hear another year of the "Bruno has failed in every way" mantra.

-Wapitikev

[Wapitikev]

What a pathetic ending to the vaunted 5 year plan! And so much for your laughable predictions Wapitikev. Although I must give you kudos for being such a loyal (manic) fan. I will be interested to see if you are still such a loyal fan once Bruno is kicked out on his ass. And if he isn't given the boot, then PA deserves the mediocrity we have become accustomed to.I predicted at least 80 points this season based on stats and historical trends and they had 81.

Is that laughable?

I said Bartosak would be the reason RD would win at least three games...they won 4.

Is that laughable?

True the team didn't get the 85 points in the regular season that we agreed was "expected" (ie: we "wanted")

I "wanted" the Raiders to do better after Christmas.

I "wanted" the Raiders to beat Red Deer and thought that would take 7,

Laughable? Perhaps, but I didn't see you predicting a 4-game sweep, either.

I "wanted" players who would consistently go to the net (assuming they couldn't carry the puck there).

I wanted a Defense that took fewer stupid penalties and that stressed defense over offensive skill (I got 1/2 of that one).

I wanted offensive lines that didn't (seem to) change every 2nd or third game.

I wanted a power play that wasn't worse than last year.

I don't always get what I want.

The difference is that it doesn't blind me to anything good that happens while I am busy not getting what I want.

Keep smiling, RB!

...and for the record, I am a fan of the team. If a new GM materializes and the team does the same or only slightly better than during Bruno's time here then I will support the new guy just like I have Bruno.

Can you say the same?

-Wapitikev

[Sttop]

Red Deer was coached much better then the Raiders were. I know if i was coaching I would look at the Rebels and pick out there strength. Dumba was obviously playing every situation and over half the game. Tell me why the Raiders were not dumping the puck in his corner right from game 1 and putting him through the glass. The were more motivated and more willing to do what it took to win. They went into the scoring areas and it paid off. I was very disapointed with the effort put out tonight by the 2 big guns again tonight. Am I the only person that was pulling my hair out watching Vandane playing every 2nd shift ? And how about trying something different with the rosters after 3 loses ? I dont know maybe let the 3rd overall pick in the game. Looking back at some of the decisions even from training camp they should have been questioned.
1)Parentau deserved to make the Raiders but they wanted to get him in more games in AAA . There was no doubt he was WHL cabibre . It would have helped if the Raiders had a backup goalie to play 20 games this year and take some heat off Siemens who anyone could see wasent a shadow of the goalie he was before fatigued.
2) When Corbin didnt come back Bruno went to the bargain bin and found Vandane . At this time in the year it looked as though the Raiders would make a serious run this year. I would question any scouting staff that thought Vandane would help this team more then available 20's out there. I know I was disapointed when Underwood went from Regina to Red Deer for a mid round pick.
3) Any of the managment or scouting staff that watched Busenius and thought he was a upgrade on the backend . I like Hart but he in no way is worth Mcveigh, a 2nd and a good yound defencemen.

[Wapitikev]

Red Deer was coached much better then the Raiders were.Agree.


I know if i was coaching I would look at the Rebels and pick out there strength. Dumba was obviously playing every situation and over half the game. Tell me why the Raiders were not dumping the puck in his corner right from game 1 and putting him through the glass. Agree. There should have been multiple McNeill/Dumba rematches...still can't understand why PA wasn't much more physical in order to force mistakes they could then capitalize on. Some may suggest reffing kept them from doing so but if Morrissey can do it in game 3, with Wieler/Vetter on the ice, then there's no excuse.


They were more motivated and more willing to do what it took to win. They went into the scoring areas and it paid off.Agree...it was obvious from the first game that shooting from outside was not the way to beat Bartosak. Cannot understand why they didn't go to the net more when it seemed to work whenever they did it (last three PA goals of the series). This was a problem all year, though and one reason why the power play (all year) and second half scoring (fell by approx 33%), was so bad, IMHO.


I was very disapointed with the effort put out tonight by the 2 big guns again tonight.At least McNeil went to the net for the first goal...but not very often after that. He was more Justin Maylan tonight than Brandon Herrod.

Bardero was definitely playing well-below the level we saw against Saskatoon.


Am I the only person that was pulling my hair out watching Vandane playing every 2nd shift ?I also left the rink with less hair. I'll never like a defenseman that is defensively soft.


And how about trying something different with the rosters after 3 loses ? I dont know maybe let the 3rd overall pick in the game.Would it have made any difference? I'm satisfied to wait until next season. Good-on the GM and scouts who put him on the team in the first place, so we can complain about not seeing him.

Heh.


Looking back at some of the decisions even from training camp they should have been questioned.
1)Parentau deserved to make the Raiders but they wanted to get him in more games in AAA . There was no doubt he was WHL cabibre . It would have helped if the Raiders had a backup goalie to play 20 games this year and take some heat off Siemens who anyone could see wasent a shadow of the goalie he was before fatigued.Ok, but that assumes that you could play Siemens less than 66 games and keep him happy/focussed. Luke has always struck me as a guy that is only satisfied when he is playing all the time, no matter how stellar his backup is. Unless we wanted to switch our number one goalie after X-mas (and that worked soooo well for us last year), Siemens was still going to demand a majority of the starts.

Plus it is hard to deny that Parenteau has excelled playing for the Contacts.

I'm ok with this one.


2) When Corbin didnt come back Bruno went to the bargain bin and found Vandane . At this time in the year it looked as though the Raiders would make a serious run this year. I would question any scouting staff that thought Vandane would help this team more then available 20's out there. I know I was disapointed when Underwood went from Regina to Red Deer for a mid round pick.Hind-sight is 20/20 on this one...yes, Vandane is not Ruopp or Morrissey...but don't forget how awful Corbin was defensively...Vandane had more good games (and better stats) this year than Corbin did last year, despite our poor 2nd 1/2.

...but you can refer back to my previous comment about how much I like defensemen who have trouble defending.


3) Any of the managment or scouting staff that watched Busenius and thought he was a upgrade on the backend . I like Hart but he in no way is worth Mcveigh, a 2nd and a good yound defencemen.Agree that he did not deserve to be on the ice, let alone the 2nd D-pair. In fact his inability to defend compounded Vandane's defensive problems. Why on earth were they paired together?

Never really understood this trade, either. When it occurred, my thoughts were that we needed another Ruopp but instead acquired another Corbin. Since then, we've tried to make him better defensively and then scratched our heads that his offensive production has dropped off. Hmmn.

As far as what we paid for Busenius, it is a reflection of how overpriced the market for "good" defensemen was after x-mas.

The Jury's still out on Hart, for me.

If you are saying (in 2 and 3) that we should have given up more, early, and gotten better than Vandane, rather than trying to compensate by giving up so much for Busenius at X-mas, I'd be inclined to agree. One trade that someone must have felt didn't pan out good enough seemed to cause another, more expensive trade which, again, didn't pan out. Definitely a series of unfortunate events.

Bruno will be facing a similar problem again this fall...needing up to three 20yos from other clubs. Since the margin for error is so small on Defense, avoiding the bargain bin on those positions seems prudent. Of course, then, people will scream that we gave up waaay too much for those 20yos. :)

...and please focus on defensive d-men rather than offense-minded ones.

However, back to this season...Siemens and Conroy were both positive acquisitions, and a number of our drafted players project to be talented additions this fall, as does list-magic Gage Quinney. So, overall, I'm not sure that Vandane and Busenius, while disappointing, are enough of a short-term albatross to put the GM and the scouts in the lose-column as far as collecting talent goes.

-Wapitikev

[Sttop]

I would be offering Conroy up in a deal for a impact 20 year old in a second. Way over rated

[Wapitikev]

I would be offering Conroy up in a deal for a impact 20 year old in a second. Way over ratedWho wasn't overrated in the second half?

But it's hard to argue that something went right when the guy gets 1 point/game in the first 36 games.

And yes that sounds like a good trade...particularly since we have a glut of forwards with his talent but no 20yo.

-Wapitikev

[chalk_one_up]

Go Mintos

[Wapitikev]

Go MintosGo Contacts!

Actually, either one can win...the Raiders have prospects on both squads.

Heh.

-Wapitikev