Reece Vitelli made his Raider debut on Saturday night against his former team at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, WA. (Christopher Mast/Icon Sportswire)

By Trevor Redden

Redden on the Raiders

Redden on the Raiders: Masella right at home, Maple Leaf for Allan, WHL Cup update

Oct 25, 2019 | 5:01 PM

So far, the Prince Albert Raiders have covered approximately 2,500 of what will end up being a round trip of over 4,000 kilometres through the U.S. Division of the Western Hockey League and back home.

Coming into the trip, the Raiders were the class of the WHL with a 7-0-2 record through nine games. Now? They’ve hit the skids with a record of 0-2-1 through three games, bringing them to 7-2-3 overall.

As of Friday morning, the green and gold still hold top spot in the East Division with a two-point cushion on Saskatoon with two games in hand. That’s the benefit of such a hot start, is having some leeway to lose a few games without relinquishing position.

How has this swoon come to be?

In my opinion, only one of the three games played was a lacklustre showing, with the Raiders being beat in all aspects against the Seattle Thunderbirds in a 3-1 loss on Tuesday night. Despite the poor showing, the team was still within one goal in the dying minutes and had a chance to tie it, so if that’s as bad as it gets, I’ll take that all day.

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Saturday night in Everett was a terrific game all around, with the Raiders and Silvertips trading chances, stellar goaltending in each net from Boston Bilous and Dustin Wolf, and plenty of hostility between the two sides. Ozzy Wiesblatt was the hero for a short time with his tying goal in the final seconds to force overtime, but Michal Gut had the last laugh for Everett with the winning goal.

In Portland on Wednesday, the Raiders saw a couple mistakes wind up in the back of the net early to fall into a 2-0 deficit, but I liked what I saw from the visitors the rest of the way as they generated more than enough chances to find a win, but they weren’t able to find the back of the net.

Great job in that game by Carter Serhyenko coming on in relief after a couple tough bounces got past Boston Bilous, who had been outstanding all trip up to that point. Serhyenko locked it down, stopping all nine shots faced in the last half of the game, giving his team a chance.

It was also good to see Jakob Brook tuck away his first of the year on a feed from Reece Vitelli, who registered his first point as a Raider, and Tyson Laventure burying his first WHL goal even though it came once the game was all but over.

Altogether, the Raiders aren’t quite at the level they would like to be, but they’ve been right there in every game so far, and have an opportunity to finish strong this weekend in Tri City and Spokane.

Mass appeal

Jeremy Masella was my guest this week on the Overtime Podcast as we pitted in under the stands in the bowels of the Toyota Center in Kennewick, WA.

Masella was born in Montreal and raised in Phoenix, AZ, but his parents have recently moved to Everett, WA, which allowed him an opportunity to get home and see his family early on in the trip.

Among the topics discussed was his dominance on the team in the NHL 20 tournament on the bus and in the hotel.

“Easy to say that I’ve been the best NHL player on the team out of everybody so far,” Masella said.

Last week, Zack Hayes told me it was between him and Masella for who was the best, but Masella quickly dismissed that on Thursday.

“I think he beat me one time and I beat him seven or eight so I think by far I’m the best.”

Masella also talked about growing up in Phoenix, touching on a surprising number of players who have come out of the programs in that area and into the WHL. Current teammate Brayden Watts spent time with the Arizona Bobcats U16 program, and others include Hitmen captain Mark Kastelic, and Royals forward Kaid Oliver.

Of course, the biggest name to come out of Arizona is Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews, who Masella has skated with at times during the offseason back home.

“He probably exposed me a couple times but it’s fun to be out there with a guy like that, we’re all on the bench in awe of some of the things he does with the puck, he’s an unreal player. It’s cool to be able to say we’re from the same place,” Masella said.

The towering defenceman had nothing but good things to say about his time in Prince Albert, and said he wouldn’t trade last year’s experience for the world.

Allan sees Red

Raider defenceman Nolan Allan will be representing Canada Red at the upcoming World Under-17 Challenge, being held in Swift Current and Medicine Hat from Nov. 2 to 9.

This is the first opportunity for players to take part in the Hockey Canada program, with future events including the Hlinka Gretzky Tournament, the Under-18 World Championships, and the Under-20 World Junior Championships.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s every kid’s dream to play on the world junior team when you’re older, and this is the first step of achieving that goal so I’m really excited and can’t wait to get going,” Allan said.

The Davidson, SK native will have the opportunity to represent his country in his home province, a mere 240 kilometres away in Swift Current.

“I’m sure there will be a lot of friends and family there, it will be pretty exciting,” Allan said.

Canada Red features fellow WHLers Logan Stankoven [Kamloops], Conner Roulette [Seattle], Olen Zellweger [Everett], Kyle Masters [Red Deer], and Thomas Milic [Seattle].

Raiders at the WHL Cup

Four Raider prospects are currently representing their home provinces at the WHL Cup in Calgary, a tournament featuring the highest-rated under-16 players across the four western provinces.

The 2019 draft picks representing the Raiders at the tournament are Niall Crocker (22^nd overall, BC), Graydon Gotaas (44^th overall, AB), Tre Fouquette (74^th overall, SK), and Bryce Warkentine (132^nd overall, MB).

Through the first two days of the tournament, Crocker has a pair of goals and Warkentine has one.

The tournament will carry on through the weekend, wrapping up on Sunday afternoon.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden