Did Raiders G Cheveldave absorb too much blame for Raiders’ season?

Clouston’s criticisms, much like this one, repeated throughout most of the season as Cheveldave’s numbers almost exactly the same. The Calgary-born goalie finished .892 save percentage and 3.57 goals against average, much below the heap of expectations put on him for his 20-year-old season.

The Raiders also paid a very high price to get Cheveldave, sending first round pick Jake Kryski (13th overall) in the 2013 WHL Draft to the Kamloops Blazers straight up for Cheveldave. Cheveldave had a 70-27-3-4 record in two years with the Blazers, with a 13-7 record in the playoffs.

Goaltending is very important for any hockey team. Many in the game would suggest it is the most important position, for good reason.

Clouston’s assessments were firm but fair, but he was also quick to praise Cheveldave during the postseason.

He was arguably the best Raider in the postseason and outplayed Edmonton Oil Kings goaltender Tristan Jarry through the first three games. Cheveldave had a .923 save percentage in the first three games of the series to Jarry’s .911, but yet, the Raiders were down 0-3 at that point. They had little fire left in Game 4 and were swept for the second straight time.

The Oil Kings were always going to be a tough beat. They’ve reached the last two WHL finals, winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup in 2012. The Oil Kings have also won the last three WHL Eastern Conference regular season titles.

Let’s look at how the Raiders put themselves into the 1-vs-8 series by just sneaking into the playoffs.

The losing streaks

Despite leading the WHL East Division at the end of November, the Raiders freefell deep out of a playoff spot after posted a 6-16-0-1 combined record in December and January.

The Raiders had losing streaks of seven-games and five-games, which accounted for 12 of those 16 losses.

In the five-game losing streak between Jan. 11-22, the Raiders simply could not buy a goal. In fact, they went 168:50 straight without scoring a goal, the longest goalless drought any Raiders team has ever gone through in the team’s history.

They scored five goals total in the skid and scored on just 2.8 per cent of their shots. Of course, the hockey gods weren’t kind to the Raiders forwards in that span—they hit more irons than Tiger Woods, ran into hot opposing goalies. But wins simply aren’t going to come with offensive stats like that.

In their seven-game skid, the Raiders scored 2.86 goals per game, well below their 3.38 season average.

But whenever the team did well during the season, their offence was absolutely dynamite.
The winning streaks

At one point in February, the Raiders were nine points out of the playoffs but made up for it with a dynamite late season run.

The team posted a Raiders’ 7-2 record in March (including the tie-breaker) to qualify for the playoffs. They scored 4.78 goals per game in that span, and had a crazy 14.2 shooting percentage.

Leon Draisaitl simply could not be stopped in that stretch, accounting for nine goals and 21 points in that nine-game stretch. He and linemate Collin Valcourt (15 points in the nine-game stretch) were named as back-to-back WHL Players of the Week.

Their save percentage during that stretch was a modest .891, despite the 7-2 run to earn the postseason spot. Nick McBride was got all seven of those win. Although he rallied late in the year to get to the playoffs, he lasted just 13:55 in Game 1 of the postseason before Cheveldave came in and gave the Raiders a chance to win.

To start the year, the Raiders won their first five games, their longest winning streak of the year. They averaged 5.6 goals per game during that span and didn’t score less than four goals in any of those games.

Big picture

The Raiders offence, as a whole, was inconsistent throughout the season. When they were on, the Raiders were very successful. When they struggled, the L’s piled up.

It’s hard to lump in the Raiders’ top-guns in that criticism though. Leon Draisaitl had 105 points on the year, in his NHL Draft eligible year no less. Josh Morrissey set the Raiders record for goals by a defenceman with 28, beating the previous record of 22 by Manny Viveiros in 1985-1986.

But the rest of the top-scorers were inconsistent. Mike Winther and Jayden Hart were set to have huge years as 19-year-old forwards for the Raiders, but had awful luck seasons full of injuries, suspensions and frustrations.

Hart missed 13 games on the year, three by suspension and had 42 points in the 59 games he did play. Even the games he did play, he battled through various ailments and always made sure icepacks were handy after games. Winther, who scored 32 goals in the 2011-2012 season with the Raiders, had a flurry of lower body injuries throughout the year as well.

He had just three goals in 18 games for the Raiders (14 points as well) before getting traded to the Calgary Hitmen in December.

The Raiders really counted on those two guys to have big years. Had both been healthy and able to give their best for the majority of the season, the Raiders might still be playing.

Cheveldave will be the first to tell you he’s a better goalie than what he showed for most of the season, and he could have helped the team more. But it is a team game, and the guys in front of him could have been better at important stretches of the season.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea

by Dropping the Mitts

Did Raiders G Cheveldave absorb too much blame for Raiders’ season?

paNOW Staff

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