By Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders ride the first half pendulum into the final weekend

Dec 18, 2015 | 5:47 AM

If you asked Raider brass three months ago how they would feel about heading into the final weekend of the first half of the 2015-16 season sitting second in the Eastern division, seven games above .500, you would probably get a happy Riverdance performance as a reaction.

However the team is battling through a three game losing streak and four straight losses at the Art Hauser Centre with the defending WHL champion Kelowna Rockets and division leading Brandon Wheat Kings coming to Prince Albert Friday and Saturday.

This team is capable of beating anyone on any given night, cases in point road wins in Lethbridge (against the highest scoring team in the league with the best home record), and Brandon (pegged as the preseason favorite to win the WHL title).

The Prince Albert posse produced some of the most exciting hockey we have seen in many years, such as the stunning 3-2 win over Calgary as Reid Gardiner scored twice in the final 90 seconds.  Goaltenders Rylan Parenteau and Ian Scott have already turned in highlight reel worth memorable performances and a couple both would like to forget.

Gardiner and defenseman Jesse Lees are having career years and sophomore Simon Stransky is making a case to be a first round selection in this summer’s NHL draft, while 16-year-old rookie Parker Kelly who was a 7th round bantam draft choice, scored his first goal in the WHL earlier this week and is already becoming a fan favorite.  Luke Coleman is also performing like someone older, bigger and stronger than a 17-year-old rookie.

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The Raiders got off to a great start and as recently as last week were 10 games above .500, but how they approach the latest round of adversity will go a long way toward determining how the team will perform in the second half, when defenses tighten up and intensity increases.

Head Coach Marc Habsceid told Tuesday night’s post game show audience on 900 CKBI after a heart breaking 5-4 loss to Lethbridge, a game they deserved to win, lessons learned from tough times like this are what makes championship teams and it appears the players are eager to learn.

Habscheid broke from the norm earlier this week with a 3-on-3 tournament instead of practice Monday and an outdoor session at Crescent Acres Wednesday, realizing that additional work on the forecheck, break outs, power play and penalty kill could be counter-productive.  

Even when the Raiders were rallying you could argue they weren’t firing on all cylinders but had enough powering the engine into the winners circle.

Youngsters like Scott, Kelly, Coleman and Voytech Budik will continue to improve. Veterans like Gardiner and Lees will remain consistent and Parenteau will steal a few more wins on his own, while players like Brendan Guhle and Matteo Gennaro who have had flashes of brilliance and are due to break out.

Junior hockey at the best of times for the best of teams is still a walk into the unknown, but based on the first half of the 2015-16 season the Prince Albert Raiders, regardless of the final outcome, will be fun to watch this winter and spring. 

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