Now in his third year with the Raiders, forward Justin Nachbaur has embraced the role as mentor whenever he heads back home to Cross Lake, MB.

By Trevor Redden

Redden on the Raiders

Redden on the Raiders: Nachbaur shows the way for Cross Lake kids

Dec 6, 2019 | 3:00 PM

Every two years in December, the Kelowna Rockets make their way through the East Division for a six-game swing right before the Christmas break.

This year, that trip starts in Prince Albert against the Raiders Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre, and the Rockets are bringing in some fortification.

Late Thursday night, Kelowna announced the acquisition of 20-year-old forward Matthew Wedman from the Seattle Thunderbirds in a blockbuster move that will certainly help bolster the lineup of the 2020 Memorial Cup hosts. In a corresponding move, the Rockets flipped 20-year-old Leif Mattson to Spokane in exchange for a third-round pick.

Wedman has championship experience with the Thunderbirds back in 2017, scored a career-high 40 goals as a 19-year-old last season leading to his name being called by Florida at the NHL Draft. He was named the captain in Seattle this fall. He’s a big, strong player with offensive upside and he’ll be a big addition in Kelowna when he makes his debut tonight.

The Rockets come into tonight’s game on a six-game point streak, with five wins and a shootout loss in that run, and sit in second place in the B.C. Division, four points back of Kamloops.

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This one should be an excellent showdown between two of the league’s top teams.

Shorthanded Raiders

You won’t hear any excuses coming out of the Raider locker room or coaches’ office, but there’s no doubt the lineup has taken a hit with the departure of league-leading scorer Aliaksei Protas and standout rookie Ilya Usau. Both players left the team this week to represent their home country of Belarus at the Division 1A World Junior Championships in Minsk.

Every team loves to see their players representing their countries so it’s not necessarily a “loss,” but it’s a lot of talent out of the roster.

In addition to those two, the status of 20-year-old forward Brayden Watts is in question after a lower body injury suffered in Swift Current on Saturday night.

Watts left the game in the second period and didn’t return, but as of Friday morning head coach Marc Habscheid said he’ll be a game time decision. He also said they dodged a bullet after the way things looked at the time.

If Watts isn’t able to go, the Raiders would be without three of the team’s top five point-producers, and two of the top eleven across the entire league. We’ll find out after warmup tonight if he’s ready or not.

Regardless, the Raiders have proven to be a resilient group, and will call on the next man (or men) up to get the job done.

Nachbaur on the podcast

One of the players that will be leaned on to play some big minutes in the coming weeks is 19-year-old forward Justin Nachbaur.

Nachbaur set a career high with 19 goals and 31 points in his sophomore season last year, and has been on a similar pace with 11 points in 27 games so far. This will be an opportunity for him to take another step as a go-to veteran forward.

Nachbaur joined me this week on the Overtime Podcast from CKBI, and talked about a number of subjects, including embracing the chance to be a role model in his hometown of Cross Lake, Manitoba. Cross Lake is a community with a population of approximately 8,000 people, located over 700 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

When the Raiders wrap up their pre-Christmas portion of the schedule, Nachbaur will load up his gear and head home to spend time with family and friends, and more than a couple trips to the local rink.

“Every time I go to the rink there’s a lot of little kids surrounding me, and it’s a really cool feeling,” Nachbaur said. “They ask us a bunch of questions, it really makes you feel like a rockstar. I just try to be a good role model and show them that if you do the right things in life you can go a long ways, but it’s really up to you. I came out of there…you’ve just got to have an open mind and work hard.”

Cross Lake is also home to Florida Panthers prospect Brady Keeper, who made the jump from the University of Maine to the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL this year. Keeper and his brother Anthony played together with Nachbaur on the OCN Blizzard in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League before Keeper moved on to the NCAA, and Nachbaur joined the Raiders.

Every December, Nachbaur and Keeper help with a two-day hockey school when they’re back home in Cross Lake on their Christmas break, but this year Keeper won’t be able to make it due to the demands of his professional schedule.

“I like being a role model for these kids. Whenever I talk to them you can see their eyes opening up and it’s a really good feeling to have. I just remember when I was a kid talking to my role models how I used to be, just listening,” Nachbaur said. “I just want to tell them the right thing, staying in school and stuff like that. It’s a big thing to say the right things to them so they can go down the road and make good decisions.”

Thanks to Nachbaur’s success in Prince Albert, he said Cross Lake has become a Raider hotbed in the middle of Manitoba.

“There’s usually a few kids wearing a Raider toque, there’s the odd kid with a jersey, and there’s always flags all over town so it’s really cool to see.”

Next up

After Friday’s date with the Rockets, the Raiders load the bus and head to Moose Jaw to face the Warriors on Saturday night.

This will be the third meeting of the year between the Raiders and Warriors, with Prince Albert taking both games by a combined score of 13-5.

Moose Jaw has been busy on the trade front, trading 20-year-old forward Jadon Joseph to Kelowna in exchange for a package of three players and a pick, and forward Carson Denomie to the Pats for forward Garrett Wright among other moves.

Moose Jaw enters the weekend on a seven-game skid, and currently sit fifth out of six teams in the East Division, ahead of Regina. The Warriors host Red Deer Friday night.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden