What now?

The Raider's open a seven game home stand Wednesday night against the Medicine Hat Tigers.

The immediate goal is snapping a five game losing streak. However having won only once in the last 12 games leaves the Raiders 14 points out of a playoff spot and only one point out of last overall.

To say the road back to playoff contention in an extremely competitive Eastern conference will be a long and rocky one is an understatement, but not impossible.

Many fans and message boarder's suggest why not go young now and have the baby faces gain valuable experience through the so-called school of hard knocks. The rationale being, if you are losing anyway why not build experience for the future.

This is a valid argument. However a panic stricken fire sale is not the answer. Trading experience for youth can be a tricky proposition and pulling the pin based on emotion is a recipe for potential disaster.

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This home stand is a perfect time to take stock internally, assess the depth within the team's 50-player protected list and gain knowledge of exactly who could be available from other WHL teams.

Word is there is very little tire kicking from WHL GM's, nor is much expected until after Christmas. By then it will be clear who the buyers and sellers will be.

As of today, 10 of 12 teams in the East and all 10 teams in the West are playoff contenders, meaning the Raiders and Lethbridge Hurricanes are the only potential sellers.

The Raiders will need to make up significant ground to move up from that status, so by the beginning of the second half of the season they could find themselves as one of very few sellers among a market of many potential buyers. In this case patience is a virtue.

Head coach Steve Young and his staff will continue to do all they can to prepare the team to succeed on the ice. Meanwhile, GM Bruno Campese will continue to work the phones and munch up miles to prepare for what could be a very busy trade deadline.

The next seven games will go a long way toward determining whether there will be a tweak to the roster, or a major overhaul.

dwilson@rawlco.com