Off Season

[Wildeyes]

well the Raiders resigned Marc for 4 more years. Dale Derkatch and Puff have their options years have been picked up. Just waiting on Bruno, Dave and Kelly

Any thoughts.

[mill rat]

well the Raiders resigned Marc for 4 more years. Dale Derkatch and Puff have their options years have been picked up. Just waiting on Bruno, Dave and Kelly

Any thoughts.

If Campese remains... I'll be spending my disposable income elsewhere. I'll drive to Saskatoon to watch junior hockey.

[Raider Believer]

If Campese remains... I'll be spending my disposable income elsewhere. I'll drive to Saskatoon to watch junior hockey.

no kidding

[Sttop]

If dale keeps his job of course Bruno keeps his job. The team Bruno iced this year was good enough to finish mid standings . The season hindged on Leon and if he came back . We had strong goaltending from 2 young goalies (which is new) morrissey , lange , warriner , guhle , stewart , and Anderlik is easily the best defence comming out of camp in a decade . Now Bruno could have brought in a more impact 19 year old euro forward but chose to go with a young and talented Stransky who we will be thankful for for the next 2 or 3 years. Add him to Leon , Hart , Gardiner , conroy , tkatch , leverton and gennero. I though our forwards were fine too. I did however hate the move that sent a hard working Brooks out and kept conroy. I believe this was the 3rd biggest problem with the team this year. Obviously the loss of lange and warriner was the other. Listen there isnt a person that reads this that wants the team to be playing next may more then i do . But i dont see what it hurts seeing how the youth that we have does . Also a goalie should be moved soon . Maybe at the draft? Young Scott has already got his Raider goalie gear.

[Raider Believer]

If dale keeps his job of course Bruno keeps his job. The team Bruno iced this year was good enough to finish mid standings . The season hindged on Leon and if he came back . We had strong goaltending from 2 young goalies (which is new) morrissey , lange , warriner , guhle , stewart , and Anderlik is easily the best defence comming out of camp in a decade . Now Bruno could have brought in a more impact 19 year old euro forward but chose to go with a young and talented Stransky who we will be thankful for for the next 2 or 3 years. Add him to Leon , Hart , Gardiner , conroy , tkatch , leverton and gennero. I though our forwards were fine too. I did however hate the move that sent a hard working Brooks out and kept conroy. I believe this was the 3rd biggest problem with the team this year. Obviously the loss of lange and warriner was the other. Listen there isnt a person that reads this that wants the team to be playing next may more then i do . But i dont see what it hurts seeing how the youth that we have does . Also a goalie should be moved soon . Maybe at the draft? Young Scott has already got his Raider goalie gear.

And you promised not to drink that funny colored Koolaid! The team was not good enough to finish mid standings or they would have! That rewriting of history really is stretching the imagination and credibility. I wouldn't be surprised to see Bruno jettisoned and Dertkatch or Habschied take the position. Or maybe that's just my wishful thinking.

[puckdad]

I agree with Stopp on his analysis of the season that could have been.
To me,this was a season of "what ifs":

What if:
Warner didn't decide to end his season & have shoulder surgery & Lange break his arm / wrist on the same day? You've got to think that both Bruno & Habscheid both aged a few years that day.
This had to have an effect on the whole dynamic of the Morrissey trade as well as the package of players & draft picks that they got for Leon. IMO they would have tried to add some more offense & scoring but instead had to try to replace both a tough stay-at-home d-man & a premier puck-moving d-man. Rather than some much-needed offensive firepower, they had to find some depth at defense (Grewal), some toughness & grit on the back end (Heffley) & some scoring from defense (Lees).

What if:
Leon had been drafted by Buffalo instead of Edmonton?
He would've been sent back to PA after 9 games & Bruno could have received a windfall return of draft choices & roster players that would have far exceeded what we got (Schmidli, Yorke, 1st('15), 4th('16), 4th (cond)('16/17)

What If:
Clouston had been let go after last year's 1st round sweep in the playoffs. I know that the mental midgets on the BOD justify it by saying we lost out to the eventual Memorial Cup Champions. They weren't quite smart enough to ask the more important question of why, in a year when we were "loading up" for a playoff run, we finished up in a playoff for 8th spot, instead of higher in the standings & a much more favorable match-up.

What if:
Brooks instead of Conroy. And what if the doublemint twins (Clouston/Campese) had bothered to ask the players who would be a better choice to keep as an OA? Instead Brooksy goes on to Spokane & scores at over a point per game & Conroy scored a goal. It should be noted that our other OA forward (Hart) had 49 points for the Raiders this year vs 56 in 50 games for Brooks.

What If:
Raider President wasn't such a controlling individual & put the interests of the team ahead of his own ego. His goal to have a defensive-oriented team has put the GM in a difficult position and Bruno has allowed himself to be manipulated into trying to implement this goal. McFee's statement a couple of years ago that "Offense Wins Games, Defense Wins Championships" was a quote stolen from legendary football coach Bear Bryant and has largely been discredited by every major sport. They've discovered & documented statistically that you simply can't win if you don't score. As a bonus, it's more exciting hockey to watch than a full trap every change of possession.

This thinking has polluted every aspect of the Raider Hockey Ops from deciding which coach to hire, and as a result what systems are played, what players are drafted, and what players get traded, along with who they are traded for.
This gets me thinking of how many players PA tried to fit into their "defense 1st" philosophy that went on to have stellar careers elsewhere in the Dub. A few that come to mind just recently are;
Cory Millette - put up about a point a game for Seattle. Had 4 points in 17 games for PA
Calder Brooks - 56 points in 50 games for Spokane - had 14 points in 35 games for PA last year
Gage Quinney - 31 points in 38 games for Kelowna - 15 points in 32 games for PA.
Todd Fiddler - had 88 points in 52 games last year for PG. 77 points in Spokane the year before that. In PA they insisted he play defensive hockey & he scored 10 points in 35 games before he was traded.
Interesting to note that we traded Fiddler to Spokane for their leading scorer at the time, Anthony Bardaro - pure offensive guy. Went from 74 points (combined - Spok/PA) to 57 points with PA in his 20-year-old season. Managed to turn a pure goal scorer into a guy who was unsure of his role and became a non-factor.
I'm getting too p'ed off to continue this list.

What If:
Schmidli had not broken his foot. He was scoring at a good clip & seemed to be enjoying himself on the ice.
Speaking of Schmidli, I think it's a little too coincidental that Hamilton traded away a player that suddenly is going to "play professional hockey in Switzerland" next year. If Bruno hadn't asked both Bruce Hamilton & Schmidli what his plans were following this season, he darn sure should have before trading for him. I also kind of find it hard to believe that Bruno advised him to turn pro & not return to the Raiders next year. Does this just ring false to anyone else? Makes me not believe anything else he says.

What If:
Sawyer Lange had not tried to come back too early from his injury? I know the team had a leadership void after the Morrissey trade, but he wasn't half the player he was before he was injured. It wasn't until the last 8 or 10 games of the season that he looked comfortable back on the ice or could even shoot the puck, pass or stick-handle. Coincidentally, that was when the Raiders went on a bit of a winning streak, but it was too late. I know the pressure to get an injured player back in the lineup is great, but Come 0n, you need the proper time to heal an injury like that.

What If:
Marcus Messier had not returned to Calgary due to his Father's illness? I don't know hat kind of point-producer he would have been here & we'll never know.

What If:
We built a team through the draft, as promised, instead of constantly trying to fill holes by trading? No team is successful with a revolving door of players coming & going. You can't develop any chemistry or consistency that way. Just a recipe for continued mediocrity.

What If:
??
I'd be interested in seeing what other "what ifs" you can come up with regarding this season

[Sttop]

What if the Raiders could see the talent that Parentau had and let him start his 17 year old year intead of grossly over paying for chevy ?

What if the raiders questioned why kelly mcrimmon would pay cory clouston not to coach his team ?

What if tim leonard was given the opportunity to coach instead of clouston ?

[Raider Believer]

What if the Raiders could see the talent that Parentau had and let him start his 17 year old year intead of grossly over paying for chevy ?

What if the raiders questioned why kelly mcrimmon would pay cory clouston not to coach his team ?

What if tim leonard was given the opportunity to coach instead of clouston ?

I love all these what ifs. However, many of them can be laid right at the feet of Bruno Campese. He is paid to make the judgement calls, and he's messed up with a lot of them. The BOD is complacent.

[Sttop]

I agree with Stopp on his analysis of the season that could have been.
To me,this was a season of "what ifs":

What if:
Warner didn't decide to end his season & have shoulder surgery & Lange break his arm / wrist on the same day? You've got to think that both Bruno & Habscheid both aged a few years that day.
This had to have an effect on the whole dynamic of the Morrissey trade as well as the package of players & draft picks that they got for Leon. IMO they would have tried to add some more offense & scoring but instead had to try to replace both a tough stay-at-home d-man & a premier puck-moving d-man. Rather than some much-needed offensive firepower, they had to find some depth at defense (Grewal), some toughness & grit on the back end (Heffley) & some scoring from defense (Lees).

What if:
Leon had been drafted by Buffalo instead of Edmonton?
He would've been sent back to PA after 9 games & Bruno could have received a windfall return of draft choices & roster players that would have far exceeded what we got (Schmidli, Yorke, 1st('15), 4th('16), 4th (cond)('16/17)

What If:
Clouston had been let go after last year's 1st round sweep in the playoffs. I know that the mental midgets on the BOD justify it by saying we lost out to the eventual Memorial Cup Champions. They weren't quite smart enough to ask the more important question of why, in a year when we were "loading up" for a playoff run, we finished up in a playoff for 8th spot, instead of higher in the standings & a much more favorable match-up.

What if:
Brooks instead of Conroy. And what if the doublemint twins (Clouston/Campese) had bothered to ask the players who would be a better choice to keep as an OA? Instead Brooksy goes on to Spokane & scores at over a point per game & Conroy scored a goal. It should be noted that our other OA forward (Hart) had 49 points for the Raiders this year vs 56 in 50 games for Brooks.

What If:
Raider President wasn't such a controlling individual & put the interests of the team ahead of his own ego. His goal to have a defensive-oriented team has put the GM in a difficult position and Bruno has allowed himself to be manipulated into trying to implement this goal. McFee's statement a couple of years ago that "Offense Wins Games, Defense Wins Championships" was a quote stolen from legendary football coach Bear Bryant and has largely been discredited by every major sport. They've discovered & documented statistically that you simply can't win if you don't score. As a bonus, it's more exciting hockey to watch than a full trap every change of possession.

This thinking has polluted every aspect of the Raider Hockey Ops from deciding which coach to hire, and as a result what systems are played, what players are drafted, and what players get traded, along with who they are traded for.
This gets me thinking of how many players PA tried to fit into their "defense 1st" philosophy that went on to have stellar careers elsewhere in the Dub. A few that come to mind just recently are;
Cory Millette - put up about a point a game for Seattle. Had 4 points in 17 games for PA
Calder Brooks - 56 points in 50 games for Spokane - had 14 points in 35 games for PA last year
Gage Quinney - 31 points in 38 games for Kelowna - 15 points in 32 games for PA.
Todd Fiddler - had 88 points in 52 games last year for PG. 77 points in Spokane the year before that. In PA they insisted he play defensive hockey & he scored 10 points in 35 games before he was traded.
Interesting to note that we traded Fiddler to Spokane for their leading scorer at the time, Anthony Bardaro - pure offensive guy. Went from 74 points (combined - Spok/PA) to 57 points with PA in his 20-year-old season. Managed to turn a pure goal scorer into a guy who was unsure of his role and became a non-factor.
I'm getting too p'ed off to continue this list.

What If:
Schmidli had not broken his foot. He was scoring at a good clip & seemed to be enjoying himself on the ice.
Speaking of Schmidli, I think it's a little too coincidental that Hamilton traded away a player that suddenly is going to "play professional hockey in Switzerland" next year. If Bruno hadn't asked both Bruce Hamilton & Schmidli what his plans were following this season, he darn sure should have before trading for him. I also kind of find it hard to believe that Bruno advised him to turn pro & not return to the Raiders next year. Does this just ring false to anyone else? Makes me not believe anything else he says.

What If:
Sawyer Lange had not tried to come back too early from his injury? I know the team had a leadership void after the Morrissey trade, but he wasn't half the player he was before he was injured. It wasn't until the last 8 or 10 games of the season that he looked comfortable back on the ice or could even shoot the puck, pass or stick-handle. Coincidentally, that was when the Raiders went on a bit of a winning streak, but it was too late. I know the pressure to get an injured player back in the lineup is great, but Come 0n, you need the proper time to heal an injury like that.

What If:
Marcus Messier had not returned to Calgary due to his Father's illness? I don't know hat kind of point-producer he would have been here & we'll never know.

What If:
We built a team through the draft, as promised, instead of constantly trying to fill holes by trading? No team is successful with a revolving door of players coming & going. You can't develop any chemistry or consistency that way. Just a recipe for continued mediocrity.

What If:
??
I'd be interested in seeing what other "what ifs" you can come up with regarding this season

A solid post . Another couple things . With Leon gone and the teams 1st line even leaning on defence first it chased conroy out of the lineup. Its just not his game. i found it a little suprising the Schmidli gave his full support to habschied after he was givem a 4 year deal. Saying he undoubtably was the man for the job. I guess its all in the past and we need to hope the raiders have a very strong draft this year with 3 picks in the top 30. Look for Fonstad out of Estevan to be our 1st pick in my opinion

[puckdad]

What if the Raiders could see the talent that Parentau had and let him start his 17 year old year intead of grossly over paying for chevy ?


What if the raiders questioned why kelly mcrimmon would pay cory clouston not to coach his team ?


What if tim leonard was given the opportunity to coach instead of clouston ?

Goaltender Talent:
Its funny, I thought that Bruno, having been a goaltender in his playing days, would have an edge over other GM's when it came to evaluating goalie talent. He did make a couple of stellar trades for some good goalies early on in his tenure as GM: Garrett Zemlak was excellent here for 2 seasons, as well as Luke Siemens as an OA. However, we've been cursed by less than stellar goaltending more often than not : The trade for 20-yr-old Cole Cheveldave would've gotten any other GM in this or any league fired immediately. The tandem of Holowenko/Lee Knight was a disaster, Jamie Tucker wouldn't even return to PA to fight for the spot as a 20-year old. Conversely, Eric Williams was deemed expendable & went on to play 2 1/2 seasons in Spokane as their starter. To add insult to injury, the Raiders could have listed Taran Kozun, a kid from Nipawin who was playing for the Mintos, had they bothered to attend a Midget AAA game in their own building. He only went on to replace Chevy as starter in Kamloops, then play 2 years as Seattle's starting goalie & candidate for league MVP. More recently, Telus Cup Winner Connor Ingram, also undrafted, could have been had for free, but was instead listed by Kamloops & was their starter in his rookie WHL season. Come to think of it, maybe Craig Bonner (Kamloops GM) knows more about goaltending than BC.

McCrimmon's thoughts on Clouston:
This is the one thing that bugs me more than any other Hockey Ops decision that has ever been made in the last dozen years. Due diligence on an incoming coach would have at least involved a phone call to KM to ask what the problem there was. The Red Flags were all over this one, including media reports. I've heard that McCrimmon was frank & honest in his reply, & Clouston was hired anyway. Got to think that there was some heavy-handed meddling from above on this one. Maybe that's why Bruno continues to keep his job - he's just the puppet & the President is pulling the strings. Of course, HE can't be fired. We are still experiencing the fall-out of that decision.


Leonard vs Clouston:
I think that financially, the team would be much better off had Leonard been allowed to coach. Would not have to bring in another coach and carry 2 salaries for 2/3 of the season. Maybe players would not have been requesting trades and just walking away from the team had we not ever had Clouston as a coach. And I think Tim would have squeezed a little more out of the players in terms of performance. He never was given a chance to provide any coaching input to the team. Saddest thing I've seen was watching Raider practices & Tim & Dave reduced to retrieving pucks. No wonder he quit - being asked to perform in a straight-jacket.

[Wildeyes]

apparently Marc was not paid a salary, only what he wanted was expenses. Raiders paid for a hotel and meals plus gas money for visits back home as a good faith gesture. Which is probably why we saw a 4 yr deal as a thank you also Marc fell in love with the fans and community of PA

[puckdad]

If this is true then I`m even more on board with Habby as coach. He is definitely the right man to try & right this ship - has a history of turning floundering teams around: Kamloops, a .500 team into a .750 team in 2 seasons, Kelowna, built into a perennial contender & a Memorial Cup Champion. Chilliwack - maybe not so much winning success there, but there were definite comparisons to the PA franchise in terms of loss of relevance in the community and difficulty recruiting & keeping players when he arrived as coach. He was responsible for recruiting and building a team that eventually moved to Victoria & lost in the playoffs this year to a very powerful Kelowna team. I hope he is given more input into player selection - especially in the upcoming bantam draft - to properly put his stamp on this team. Its going to take all of 4 years to see some success, given the weakness of the Raider`s 50 man PPL. Here`s to a strong draft this year, to begin (again) the rebuild.

[Dwight Schrute]

Any word on a decision on Bruno ?

[Wildeyes]

what the word on the street is that Bruno will be back for his option year then he is done after that Marc would pull double duty

[Sttop]

Looking at wehp list for final rankings he has Fonstad out of Estevan comming to the Raiders. He has the same scouting report as i would for him . Although i only seen him play once he seemed to be a perimeter player. Not physical and no fantastic speed but has always found a way to put up points. There was a big forward that raised to # 3 . Popovich who is a huge forward that wehp compares to a joe thornton type player. I'm guessing that Popovich will be selected at 3 where he was ranked. So if the rankings for the top 5 are correct it will look like this

1 Chiefs - Ty Smith
2 Hurricanes - Addison
3 Giants - Popovich
4 Warriors - Woo
5 Raiders - Fonstad

[Sttop]

I am hoping for Barteaux a manitoba defencemen and Wouters , a power forward from Lloyd with the next 2 picks.

[mill rat]

Jett Woo--easily the best name in the draft.

[Sttop]

Woo is easily the best name in hockey .. think of the pa announcer getting to celebrate goals he scores ... wooooooo ! like Ric Flair after a chest slap. I am happy that after not getting a franchise type forward since Gardiner we are getting 3 this year. Not that any are going to be strong on the puck like Draisaitl or Mcniell. But we did get 3 of the top 13 rated forwards comming into the draft.

[Raiderfan8]

Would it benefit Fonstad , Miller and the Raiders if the two played for the Mintos this year as 15 year olds? Hearing Fonstad is going to Moose Jaw and Miller to Yorkton. Any thoughts?

[walleye18]

Would it benefit Fonstad , Miller and the Raiders if the two played for the Mintos this year as 15 year olds? Hearing Fonstad is going to Moose Jaw and Miller to Yorkton. Any thoughts?

I heard this weekend that both of these players are going to Moose Jaw. They will get a tonne of icetime there, but absolutely no COACHING!!

[HockeyGuru]

Players are locked in their AAA spots as early as March 1st,well before the draft even takes place. Fonstad was committed to MJ a long time ago.Miller has not committed to anywhere as of yet is what I heard .He wants to see who will commit to older brother and who does a good job with player development .Tim Leonard has a reputation of winning with older guys and not being great for 15 year olds(except if they date his daughter).

[Dwight Schrute]

http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2015/05/12/canucks-sign-defensive-prospect-mackenzie-stewart/#__federated=1

[Raider Believer]

Players are locked in their AAA spots as early as March 1st,well before the draft even takes place. Fonstad was committed to MJ a long time ago.Miller has not committed to anywhere as of yet is what I heard .He wants to see who will commit to older brother and who does a good job with player development .Tim Leonard has a reputation of winning with older guys and not being great for 15 year olds(except if they date his daughter).

:D funny

[puckdad]

Congratulations to Stewie for signing with Vancouver.
3 years ago I would never have dreamed it would be possible for him to play in the WHL, let alone a crack at playing pro hockey. Goes to show what hard work, determination, and a coach (Dave Manson) who believes in you can do. It doesn't hurt to be 6'5" either, but there's lots of big guys who just don't learn & grow & develop as players like Stewie has. I like him more as a winger than a d-man, and loved watching the opposition defensemenn bail out on retrieving pucks when he was on the forecheck.
I went from dreading seeing him in the starting lineup to cheering him on for his willingness to jump in & defend his team-mates. The Raiders can certainly use his story to illustrate how a player listed or drafted to this franchise can develop into a professional calibre athlete.
Good luck in Utica, Stewie. Keep living the dream.