The four coaches vying for the 2019 Memorial Cup. (From left to right, Eric Veilleux, Halifax Mooseheads, Marc Habscheid, Prince Albert Raiders, Mario Pouliot, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, George Burnett, Guelph Storm. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D'Andrea

Memorial Cup coaches

Meeting the coaches

May 16, 2019 | 9:35 AM

As the Prince Albert Raiders get settled in Halifax for the 2019 Memorial Cup presented by Kia, they don’t know an awful lot about their opponents. So at the coaches’ conference on Thursday night, paNOW.com asked each of the coaches about the biggest strength and identity of their team.

Marc Habscheid, Prince Albert Raiders

Won WHL championship, in Game 7 OT against Vancouver Giants

Playoff record, 16-7. Regular season record, 54-10-2-2.

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“I use the word multi-dimensional a lot. When you get to this level, you have to be able to play different types of games because there’s different styles on every team. We try to play that. I think probably the strength in our group is the group. We’re fortunate to have extremely good hockey players, but we have better people. They care about one another, they care about their teammates more than they do about themselves. I think their closeness is our strength.”

Eric Veilleux, Halifax Mooseheads

Memorial Cup hosts, lost QMJHL championship to Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in six games

Playoff record, 14-8-1. Regular season record, 49-15-2-2.

Mooseheads enter the tournament as hosts, but proved themselves as they made it to the finals.

“When we skate, we usually give ourselves a chance to win. That allows us to, obviously, create scoring chances offensively and play well defensively. It’s probably that way for every team, but for us, there’s a big difference from when we stand still and when we skate. I hate coming back to it, but those last two games, we just didn’t do it. And we paid for it. We have six good ‘D’ that can skate well and move the puck well, and when we do, usually we give ourselves a chance to win.”

Mario Pouliot, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies

Won QMJHL Championship, in six games over the Halifax Mooseheads

Playoff record, 16-3-1. Regular season record, 59-8-0-1

Huskies finished the year as the only team to rank ahead of the Raiders in the CHL top 10 standings.

“I think our best strength is our team chemistry, because when you look closely at our lineup, we have 20 players out of 33 that were drafted by our head scouting department. All those kids grew up together, they developed together, and they know what it represents to play with the Huskies. They have a lot of character. At that time of the season, you have to be really both on both sides of the puck. We have depth, we have good goaltending and we have depth in the back end and up front too.”

George Burnett, Guelph Storm

Won OHL Championship, in six games over the Ottawa 67’s

Playoff record, 16-8. Regular season, 40-18-6-4.

The Storm came back from 3-0 and 3-1 series deficits these playoffs, then came back from 2-0 to beat the previously undefeated Ottawa 67’s to win the finals.

“Clearly, there’s nobody at this tournament that doesn’t have a good group of kids and quality character. I think our ability to have the puck is very important. I think our ability to move the puck and be versatile, and play different types of games, depending on what’s required at that particular moment. A lot has been said about our resiliency, I think that’s shown in our leadership.”

Raider schedule

The Raiders play the in the very first game of the tournament on Friday against the Halifax Mooseheads. They’ll then play the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Monday, and the Guelph Storm on Tuesday. All of the Raiders’ games start at 8 p.m. local time, or 5 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW