Forward Reece Vitelli picked up with a goal and an assist in his home debut Friday night against the Regina. Tonight will be just his second home game in 10 games with the Raiders. (Mike Horn/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Trevor Redden

Redden on the Raiders

Redden on the Raiders: Passing the road test so far

Nov 8, 2019 | 3:00 PM

The road-tested Prince Albert Raiders are back at the Art Hauser Centre for a pair of games this weekend after playing eight of their last nine away from home.

In that span, the Raiders went 5-3-1, fueled by an impressive five-game winning streak that came to an end Wednesday night in Calgary.

The night before, Prince Albert extinguished the red-hot Edmonton Oil Kings, who sat atop the WHL standings having won their last seven in a row. It was an all-around performance with five goals for and only eight shots against through two periods. It ended as a 6-3 final for the visitors, who would then fall 4-2 against the Hitmen the next night.

Among some of the standout performances so far this season, one of the most impressive is the recent play of forward Spencer Moe.

Moe is over halfway toward his previous career high of 33 points in a season now with eight goals and 10 assists through eighteen games played. In his current five-game point streak that carries into Friday night’s action, Moe has six goals and four assists.

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He’s been a big part of the club’s recent success as the Raiders have climbed to number two in this week’s Kia CHL Top 10 rankings.

This weekend, the Raiders will look to get right back in the win column as they welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings and Red Deer Rebels to the Art Hauser Centre.

Before we turn the page to the week ahead, here’s a look back of some of the storylines of the week that was.

Ring ceremony

After the Raiders dispatched the Regina Pats by a 6-3 margin on Friday night all returning players, staff, and board members were presented with their championship rings from last season.

The rings were designed under the direction of last year’s leadership group, and feature a ton of incredible touches.

For me, without a doubt the most thoughtful components were the initials of Adam Herold and Ron Gunville, two key members of the organization that lost their lives in the year leading up to the title.

Herold was a promising prospect who lost in his life in the Humboldt bus crash, while Gunville was the Director of Player Personnel who had his fingerprints all over last year’s team and sadly lost his battle to cancer during the season. Kudos to Brayden Pachal, Parker Kelly, Sean Montgomery, Zack Hayes, and everybody else who made a point to include those two on the rings.

As for what the ring represents for the players, Marc Habscheid put it well after the game.

“I’m a big believer in having a little bit of swagger and confidence, but never, ever do you have arrogance,” Habscheid said.

“To be proud to be a champion and to wear a ring is proof of what you’ve done, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Vibrant Vitelli

Anybody who was on hand in the Ches Leach Lounge after the game Friday night or tuned in on the CKBI postgame show had to have picked up on the enthusiasm from forward Reece Vitelli after his first home game as a Raider.

After spending the first two years of his career in Everett, Vitelli was the key piece that came back to Prince Albert in exchange for Cole Fonstad. The Winnipeg native joined the club just in time to head back out west on the five-game US Division road trip, which he said was a great way to accelerate the adjustment process.

“It’s much easier starting off on a two-week road trip, bonding with the guys every day, having the long bus trips, and just being around the guys all the time definitely helps. It definitely brought me to express myself more in front of the guys and definitely made it easier for my first time here,” Vitelli said.

The speedy centre picked up one assist on the road, then made a big impression in front of the home crowd with a goal and an assist against the Pats.

“I had so much fun tonight. The crowd was amazing, and I couldn’t have had a better first [home] game as a Raider,” Vitelli said before acknowledging the first goal was a relief.

Vitelli has added a strong two-way game to the Raider lineup, with plenty of speed to burn, and he’s fit nicely into the team’s style of play.

Smith in the studio

Tuesday night in Edmonton, I was thrilled to be joined by Tyler Smith in the broadcast booth as he sat in as a colour commentator.

Smith is one of the survivors from the Humboldt crash, and is currently in his first year of the Radio and Television program at NAIT in Edmonton. My connection to Smith goes back to the 2015-16 season when his older brother Graydon played with the Lloydminster Bobcats of the AJHL, where I was the play-by-play announcer.

During the CKBI pregame show, Tyler shared his story of what led him to get into the broadcasting world.

“I figured junior hockey was good for that first little bit where I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, then obviously the accident happened. I went back for 10 games after that year to try it out again but unfortunately it just wasn’t working out,” Smith said.

“So now it was just more or less having to figure out what I wanted to do. After getting connected with Ryan Rishaug and some other local broadcasters, and doing Rogers Hometown Hockey with Ron MacLean, I received some good input and all the people I talked to said I did well on TV, so I kind of just said ‘Why not?’”

I told Tyler I saw him on Hometown Hockey and remembered being impressed by his composure on set. Once the game started, he was smooth as could be as a colour analyst even though it was his first time doing the job. I hope those listening enjoyed the job he did, and I’m looking forward to getting him back on next time the Raiders visit Edmonton.

World Under-17 Challenge

In Swift Current, Raider defenceman Nolan Allan and Canada Red will not be bringing home a medal after an overtime loss to Canada White on Thursday night in the tournament’s quarter-final.

Canada Red finished second in Group B during the round robin stage with a 2-1 record, but couldn’t find the last goal against the third seed from Group A. Canada Red will remain in Swift Current for a placement game on Saturday against Sweden.

Allan will return to the Raiders after the weekend, and should draw back into the lineup next Saturday in Regina.

This weekend

Tonight it’s the first meeting of the year between the Raiders and the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Picked by many to be among the top teams in the East Division this year, Brandon currently sits fourth in the East Division with 16 points which has them one point up on Moose Jaw and three back on Winnipeg.

Dave Lowry was brought in this offseason as the club’s new head coach, so there is likely an adjustment period with that, and the team is dealing with a couple big injuries with their two imports and Golden Knights draft picks on the shelf. Czech goaltender Jiri Patera is listed as day-to-day so could be re-joining his teammates at any point, while Finnish forward Marcus Kallionkieli remains weeks away.

Despite some injury trouble, the Wheat Kings have won three of their last four coming into Friday night.

On Saturday, the Raiders host the Red Deer Rebels for the first of four meetings this year.

The Rebels have a young lineup and have been struggling so far this year, sitting in fifth place in the Central Division with 12 points. Red Deer is three points up on sixth-place Swift Current, and seven points back of fourth-place Calgary.

Saturday’s game will be the conclusion of a season-long six-game road trip for the Rebels, who were forced out of the Centrium for an extended period this year. First, it was the 2019 Canadian Finals Rodeo which took place from Oct. 29 to Nov. 3, followed by the annual Agri-Trade Equipment Expo from Nov. 6 to Nov. 8.

Through four games on the trip, the Rebels are 1-3-0-0.

If you can’t make it to the rink, Martin Ring and I will have all the action on CKBI as always with pregame at 6:30 p.m. and puck drop at 7 p.m.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden