The Second Half -- 2013-14

[hockeynut]

I agree thats what happened last year things were going good then the trades happened and the chemistry was gone went down hill from there and it happened again the team is lacking work ethic which i thought the new coach was strong on players are not giving a 100% knowing the will be right back out i was disappointed this summer when i heard the raiders released santucci i enjoyed watching him play always gave 100% was never given a chance looked him up hes playing jr hockey in the bchl has 19 goals 18 asst in 40 games i hope the raiders find a way to turn things around

[ELL]

Fire the assistant coach, must be his fault.

[shop2]

Time for a house keeping. Get rid of the trash Cory clueless can get out of here for good. Bruno should do the honourable thing and go back to the lower mainland where he wants to be anyway it's a shame what he has done with this club his 5 year plan has been a disaster. 1st round pick for a 20yr old jr B backup quality goalie is probably one of raiders all time worst trades. It ranks up there with leaving VN Impe unprotected in the expansion draft or Brule for Gauthier years ago there was a reason Cory Clueless got dumped in Brandon Where the hell is McFee to own up to his mess. I wish he would show the same concern with this team as he does with prisoners meal plans

[BillyBean]

Well.... The Raiders are 22-22-2-0 with 46 pts good for 9th spot in the Eastern Conference.

Back on October 15 of this year I questioned the early performance of the Raiders and how it related to the systems and direction of CC. I was mildly chastised (maybe rightly so) by Wapitikev for my opinions and was told that the sky was not falling. At that time Wapitikev predicted a 96 point season and East Division title for the Raiders based on the Raiders winning percentage. As much as I wanted him to be right for the Raiders sake, they would now have to win 25 of the remaining 26 games to achieve his predicted 96 point total.

There is no question in my mind that the Raiders have had the potential (even more so now with trade additions) to be a successful team.

I am interested in getting opinions as to what happened to get us to our current 9th place spot. Where do people think we will go in the next 26 games. This team was once ranked 2nd in the country but now has not been in the CHL top 10 in some time. What happened? Is coaching the issue? Is it the systems? Are these even to blame? Looking at Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna, Portland - what is a reasonable expectation for the Raiders with 26 games remaining.

Is the recent 3 game performance (topped off by a 7-0 loss to SC) indicative of CC having lost the team. Would a coaching change (giving it over to Leonard or Manson) lead to improvement this year? Is it a requirement in order to prevent further draft picks from failing to report to PA. Should a change have been implemented sooner?

[Sttop]

Imo clouston has lost the room. Yesterday in the paper he called out both goalies. McBride has not played in a game since Dec 13th . how can he be at fault for being rusty. Chevy has played a ton in the last 2 months so fatigue is prob a factor as well. But Cory had parentau called up and never let him see the ice. What does it hurt to give him a couple games. Worst case scenario he fails . best case he gives you another option. On a positive note I am very impressed with the work Manson has done with big mac. Imo he was one of the better dmen the last 2,games. In regards to coaching I would like to see Leonard running the game. Keep clouston behind the scenes for the year and bring in a young assistant coach. Maybe one of the alumni that is still around like seitsenen

[puckdad]

Goaltending has been an obvious issue. Wouldn't it be nice to go back in time and not have traded away Eric Williams to Spokane. With such a high price paid to acquire Cheveldave, the team was stuck with him despite his sub-par performance. Probably should've eaten some crow early in the year when the writing was on the wall that he wasn't the player he was built up to be. Maybe tried to salvage a mid-round pick or some type of return that didn't look like we traded a 1st round pick for nothing. It's not just that he's not making saves, it's the timing of the goals & type of momentum-sapping goals that are scored. You can see the energy just sucked out of the whole team. Almost like the Holowenko/Lee-Knight year.

Clouston remains an enigma to me. He was brought to this franchise to win the close games, and engineer a play-off team, despite the baggage he was purported to have from his time in Brandon. He obviously has an analytical hockey mind, and for someone who was reported to be not very media-friendly, he has offered some very insightful comments regarding the team and players and some informative interviews. His practices emphasize defensive structure & team play, and he's not afraid to whistle down a drill and have it run correctly, but he makes zero use of his assistant coaches. They are nothing more than glorified puck-retrievers, and I think the players sense that. There is no question whose team this is, for better or for worse. If you make a point of this being "your team", then you can take all the credit for it's success, but you also have to accept all the blame when the team performs poorly. While we admire "attention to detail" in a proven winner, it comes across as as controlling and stifling in a loser. I think there is likely an element of OCD in his personality that he's not able to control. That leads to the players doing strictly what they are told or coached to do on the ice, and afraid to do anything creative, spontaneous, or innovative with the puck. The team and its systems become completely predictable, and as they try harder to play that rigidly controlled & structured game that they are coached to do, they actually become easier to play against. They execute their systems better, but with less favorable results, because other teams can anticipate what they're going to do. Billy Bean questioned the team's systems, and whether they were a suitable complement to the individual & collective player's abilities. I don't necessarily agree that they are using the wrong systems, but good coaches allow for some individual play and creativity within the structure of their systems, and that is what is completely lacking right now.

I don't think that they will make a coaching change this season, but if they don't go on a run and make the playoffs, then it is very likely the end of the road in terms of ever coaching again in this league, or anywhere, for Cory Clouston. Likely the same scenario for Bruno, as he is the architect of this team. The next 2 months could very well determine the futures of at least 2 people, if not more.

[Wapitikev]

Well.... The Raiders are 22-22-2-0 with 46 pts good for 9th spot in the Eastern Conference.

Back on October 15 of this year I questioned the early performance of the Raiders and how it related to the systems and direction of CC. I was mildly chastised (maybe rightly so) by Wapitikev for my opinions and was told that the sky was not falling. At that time Wapitikev predicted a 96 point season and East Division title for the Raiders based on the Raiders winning percentage. As much as I wanted him to be right for the Raiders sake, they would now have to win 25 of the remaining 26 games to achieve his predicted 96 point total.

...

Please be accurate. On May 3rd I predicted that the Radiers would get at least 80 points this year. I reiterated that prediction on September 16th and also stated that 80 points could give them a chance at a Division banner.

My post on October 15th was simply multiplying the teams record, at that time, by 72 games. At no time did I say that I believed they would actually get 96 points...just that it was mathematically possible if they continued to play at that rate.

My point was that it was only 10 games in, and far too early to pass judgement on anything.

It is now 46 games in and is NOT too early to pass judgement on things...we just went .222 for the last 18 games. That's 1/4 of the season.

Something is obviously not going right...I leave it to others to decide what that is and what to do about it.

The players have to play the games. I sincerely hope that the players do what they need to do to turn their season around.

-Waptitkev

[Wapitikev]

...and 80 points would be .654 (or 17 wins) in the last 26 games.

-Wapitikev

[puckdad]

and 80 points would be .654 (or 17 wins) in the last 26 games.

I love that you're eternally optimistic & relentlessly positive. I suppose .654 is possible, but they've got that grinding US Road Trip in February. I'll still be cheering for the team come March 15 in Saskatoon. Hopefully long past that.

[Dwight Schrute]

Is it really a surprise anymore ?