By Trevor Redden

Redden on the Raiders: 20-year-olds savour second season

Mar 23, 2018 | 12:00 PM

It’s one last kick at the can for over-age forwards Curtis Miske, Jordy Stallard, and Regan Nagy as the Raiders enter the 2018 WHL playoffs.

Between the three, there is a combined playoff experience of 58 games played, 11 goals scored, and 25 points. Nagy leads the way with 29 games played as a member of the Victoria Royals, and said he’s happy to bring his experience to Prince Albert.

“We made the playoffs every year I was there which was nice. I got pretty lucky to be on a team like that. You can’t take that kind of stuff for granted, so I definitely got a lot of experience, got to play in some really big games, so I try to share as much knowledge as I can with these guys and try to help them out as much as I can,” said Nagy.

As a member of the Calgary Hitmen, Stallard played in 22 postseason games including a trip to the East Final in his rookie season against his hometown Brandon Wheat Kings. This year, the Jets prospect says there’s a unique feeling around the Art Hauser Centre.

“Talking with other guys, I don’t think we’ve been part of such a tight-knit group,” said Stallard. “We’ve got one goal in mind; we know that we’re the underdogs coming into this first series here, but we’ve got every belief that we can beat these guys.”

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The Raiders kick off round one against the Moose Jaw Warriors Friday night, the team with the best regular season record in the WHL. While the matchup may seem like to a mismatch to some, Miske said when it comes to playoffs, every team is on equal footing.

“All you’ve got to do is get in. We’re coming in as the eighth seed but that doesn’t matter. Every team has the same opportunity here so we’re all really excited,” said Miske ahead of his first trip to the playoffs as a member of the Raiders.

Hunt working the balancing act

Ahead of the January trade deadline, while certain teams like Regina, Swift Current, and Moose Jaw were creating an arms race with major acquisitions, other teams like Brandon and Prince George were taking advantage of sky-high prices, selling veteran players for high-end picks and prospects.

With the Raiders hovering near the playoff boundary, General Manager Curtis Hunt decided to add to his group, bringing in 20-year-old forward Regan Nagy, 19-year-old forward Kody McDonald, 18-year-old defenceman Jeremy Masella, and 17-year-old defenceman Konrad Belcourt.

The logic was simple: Hunt felt the team was only a couple improvements away from being a bona fide playoff team that could compete with the best in the increasingly-difficult East Division. Furthermore, the Raiders were in a position of strength with extra picks acquired in recent years, leaving them able to bring in players without sacrificing the future.

That point was amplified at the end of the regular season, as the Raiders found out they would not only be in the playoffs this year but would still have the third overall pick in the upcoming bantam draft, acquired from the Prince George Cougars in the Brendan Guhle trade last season.

“I didn’t want to leave us in any kind of [draft pick] deficit moving forward, because then what happens is you get three or four years down the road and you’re looking at the guy you would have had, and you say, ‘oh he would fit perfectly in our lineup’. Again, it comes back to development, maybe a little bit of luck, some good management, and some great work by Ronny Gunville and his staff as well,” Hunt said.

Ready for the storm

Maybe it’s fitting the forecast is calling for high winds and blowing snow on Friday, the same day the storm that is the WHL playoffs begins in earnest.

Now that the Raiders have found their way into the playoffs after the 72-game regular season, they are one of 16 teams battling for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, with each team on equal footing. Looking back at the route to this point, you can spot a couple things that should help prepare Prince Albert for the postseason.

First, they showed their ability to deliver in crunch time as they went 9-0-0-2 over an 11-game stretch with their season hanging in the balance to clinch the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Second, exactly half of Prince Albert’s games this season were decided by one goal, tied with the Seattle Thunderbirds for the most in the WHL. This is a team used to playing in tightly-contested games, which is exactly what you can expect this time of year.

For those wanting to get out to Moose Jaw to catch a game, you can hop on the Raider fan bus for game two. Otherwise, you can catch every minute as always on 900 CKBI.

trevor_redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden