The Raiders kicked off a brand new season by taking three of a possible four points from the Saskatoon Blades. This week, they carry on with two more divisional games against Regina and Winnipeg. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Trevor Redden

Redden on the Raiders

Watts arrives, divisional battles continue, Fonstad reflects

Sep 27, 2019 | 11:00 AM

After a mostly successful opening weekend, the fine-tuning continued this week for the Prince Albert Raiders.

On Tuesday, the team announced the acquisition of 20-year-old forward Brayden Watts from the Vancouver Giants in exchange for a 2021 fifth-round pick in the bantam draft. Watts of course was a key part of the Giants team that fell in overtime of game seven against the Raiders in May’s WHL Championship and will now see the other side of that matchup firsthand.

Jeff D’Andrea was at the Art Hauser Centre on Thursday to chat with Watts before practice.

As for what that means for the still-evolving 20-year-old situation in Prince Albert? I have no idea.

Defenceman Zack Hayes has made the move from the Anaheim Ducks to their AHL affiliate San Diego Gulls this week in time for a pre-season contest against the Ontario Reign on Thursday. The Gulls open their regular season next Friday, so maybe we will learn by then whether Hayes is being sent back to Prince Albert or if he’s making the jump to pro hockey.

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Speaking with General Manager Curtis Hunt on Tuesday after the trade, he said the move was made to add veteran leadership to the forward group in the form of a speedy forward with a lot of offensive upside and an already sound defensive game. If Hayes is to sign and stay at the professional level, then the Raiders are set with Watts, Max Martin, and Jeremy Masella as the team’s three overagers. If Hayes returns, Hunt said the team will deal with that situation when the time comes.

First impressions

As could be expected, the first couple games of the season were sluggish and sloppy at times, but two close games against a rival team provided plenty of excitement for fans in Prince Albert and Saskatoon.

While many of the faces have changed on either side of the battle, the style of play felt very familiar.

Under the guidance of Marc Habscheid, Jeff Truitt, and Dan Gendur, the Raiders played with their signature blend of tempo and physicality, most noticeably on Friday night with some big hits by the likes of Justin Nachbaur and Braydon Clark. Without the firepower of players like Brett Leason, Noah Gregor, Parker Kelly, and Dante Hannoun in the lineup, Prince Albert was still able to push the pace at times and stress Saskatoon’s defence in transition.

On the other side, especially on Saturday night, we saw the Blades employing a tight-checking defensive style that limited offensive opportunities for Prince Albert. Mitch Love and company will once again have a stingy team, but the question now is who will provide the offence after the trade of Ryan Hughes this week and Kirby Dach remaining with the Chicago Blackhawks for the time being.

With eight games still to play between these two teams, Raider fans will get a good look at the development of both sides in this rivalry.

Habscheid named to Canada/Russia staff

News came out on Friday that Marc Habscheid and Regina Pats bench boss Dave Struch would be assistant coaches to Mitch Love for Team WHL in the upcoming CIBC Canada/Russia Series, which will take place in Saskatoon on Nov. 13 and in Prince Albert on Nov. 14.

During last spring’s second-round matchup between the Raiders and Blades, there was no shortage of animosity between the two head coaches, fuelling speculation that this could be a prickly relationship between the two when the time comes to work together.

Asked about sharing the bench with a rival, Habscheid was quick to point out Love’s success, and said he was looking forward to the opportunity.

“He’s going to be an assistant coach at the World Juniors, and good for him, he’s done a great job here. You know, you fight tooth and nail to win, but we’re in the entertainment business. We’re all trying to win, you do what you can to win, but he’s done a good job and congratulations to him.”

Outside the Blades’ room, Love had nothing but good things to say about his counterpart.

“I’m excited. It’s a great opportunity, and I’m honoured to get that opportunity from the Western Hockey League,” Love said. “I respect the heck out of Marc and Dave Struch and I’m really looking forward to working with them.”

Tickets for the games in Saskatoon and Prince Albert are still available.

Flying Fonstad

This week, Cole Fonstad was my guest on the Overtime podcast, a weekly sit down with a member of the Raiders organization.

In an interview with me, Cole was very gracious with his time and covered a lot of topics, but one of my favourites was his memory of Dante Hannoun’s overtime winner.

“I remember looking at the clock and I was like ‘oh no, we can’t go to the second overtime’ and I was just sitting on the bench, I think I was staring at my feet then I looked up just in time. I saw it go backdoor and thought ‘this is it’ and that’s all I really remember. I remember trying to get over the boards and it took me a couple seconds, then seeing the video I had a pretty good vertical down the ice. I got a couple good jumps in, that was pretty fun,” Fonstad said with a chuckle as he recalled the crowning moment of last year’s championship season.

The video doesn’t lie.

You can also get caught up on the latest episodes of Face Off on CKBI here.

Up next

Two more divisional games this weekend as the Raiders continue to get in the groove of the new season.

Friday night, a trip to Regina to take on the Pats, who are looking to take a step forward after entering into a rebuild last season. The Pats have returned the majority of their lineup, and are led by three strong 20-year-olds in Austin Pratt, Robbie Holmes, and Dawson Holt. Regina split their opening weekend against Moose Jaw, and will be looking to make a statement on home ice against the defending champs.

On Saturday, it’s the Raiders’ first look at the Winnipeg ICE who will be making their first trip to the Art Hauser Centre. After relocating from Cranbrook this offseason, the ICE kicked off the Battle of Manitoba with a split against the Brandon Wheat Kings last weekend. Although they remain without Peyton Krebs, the Vegas Golden Knights first-round pick who suffered an offseason injury, the ICE are loaded with young talent like draft-eligible forward Connor McClennon, 16-year-old defender Carson Lambos, and potentially the highly touted 15-year-old Matthew Savoie. The St. Albert native was denied a request for exceptional status that would have allowed him to join the ICE full-time as an underage player but appeared in both contests for Winnipeg on the weekend, and may stick with the team for their three-game Saskatchewan swing.

As always, you can catch every minute of the action on CKBI, with puck drop at 7 p.m. and pre-game hitting the air at 6:30 p.m. both nights.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden