Paddock shines in Raider debut, Culling the OT hero

Although it was a night of new things for Max Paddock.

A new team, a new uniform, a new fan base to play in, a new place to call home.

But the one thing that was oddly similar were his opponents. After beating the Prince George Cougars 5-4 in a shootout on Wednesday night while still a member of the Regina Pats, Paddock was moved to the Raiders on Thursday. Then beat those same Cougars on Friday in his Raider debut—2-1 in overtime.

Paddock went head to head with Cougars goaltender Taylor Gauthier both nights and came out ahead with the victory each time.

“It was for sure interesting. They are a hard team to play against and I give credit to [Gauthier], he played really well tonight. He played good in Regina as well,” Paddock said. “And the game went to overtime too, a shootout. They’re a tough team to play against, for sure.”

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Before the game started, Paddock received an extraordinarily warm ovation from the crowd when he was announced as the game’s starting goaltender. So much so that Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid joked about it after the game.

“When he got introduced, I had to check my notes because I thought it was Carey Price the way they cheered—the crowd was loud,” Habscheid said.

“It’s special to be shown that I’m appreciated here,” Paddock said. “It’s an exciting time for me to be back on a winning team.”

It was certainly a whirlwind of a time for Paddock. After the Thursday deal, he rushed to get everything ready and didn’t start moving

“I wasn’t able to move into my new billet house until around 1 this afternoon, so I was pretty much unpacking up until game time,” Paddock said. “But it’s a good life experience for me. Regina’s been home for me for the last four years, and I’m ready to start a new adventure.”

But as much of a whirlwind it was off the ice, Paddock went on to turn aside 20 of 21 pucks that went his way to give the Raiders the win in his debut.

Family affair

The Raiders didn’t do anything extra on the deadline day Friday, as they already made their big splash on Thursday by acquiring Paddock from the Pats in exchange for Jakob Brook, a second round and a conditional third round pick. The Pats announced that Brook will have surgery on his knee next Thursday, but is expected to play before the end of the season.

Making the trade even more interesting and unique was that Paddock was traded away by his uncle. Pats general manager John Paddock made the decision. John said he focused on the deal as a hockey move, and tried to not think about it past that.

“I don’t really let myself think about it, maybe to some extent, but I don’t think it was [different]… I think that’s the way it has to be,” John Paddock said during a media availability in Regina on Thursday. “It doesn’t mean that I don’t have feelings for him, it’s a little bit different with family. I texted my four daughters and said ‘I traded Max, but your inheritance is still in place.’”

“We kept it pretty fair, there wasn’t a family boost I guess. But at the rink he was my GM, and at home in the summer time, he’s my uncle,” Max said.

Paddock’s pads

One big and incredibly important question that should be on everybody’s minds was what is going to happen to Paddock’s pads? With the Pats this year, Paddock sported two sets of P.P.C.L.I pads, standing for the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. The Pats are named after that regiment, who were formed to fight in the First World War. It means a lot personally to Paddock, who grew up in Brandon, a quick drive away from the P.P.C.L.I’s 2nd Battalion.

But now that he’s switched teams, Paddock said he’ll eventually move on and get some new gear.

“I’m sure I’ll get a new set soon, but I love those pads. They meant a lot,” Paddock said. “There’s a deeper meaning behind them with it being a tribute to the military base that’s about 20 minutes from my hometown, so it meant a lot to me to be able to wear those. The infantry division there let me use the logo for the pads, they don’t let anybody else use it except for us. It was a nice gesture for them to let me use it, and I was really proud to wear those.”

OT winner for Culling

Matthew Culling sure picked a great time to get his first goal as a Prince Albert Raider. Culling scored the overtime winner, after Reece Vitelli tipped the puck out of a goal mouth scrum to the open Culling, who beat the almost-unbeatable Taylor Gauthier to end the game.

“It was a good play by Reece, my linemate, to poke it to me. It was just being there in the right moment and I’m glad it went in. It was awesome,” Culling said. “I hadn’t had one yet, so it was nice to get that off the back. There’s less pressure now.”

Deadline time

The Raiders didn’t do anything extra on the deadline day Friday, as they already made their big splash on Thursday by acquiring Paddock from the Pats in exchange for Jakob Brook, a second round and a conditional third round pick. The Pats announced that Brook will have surgery on his knee next Thursday, but is expected to play before the end of the season.

There were some deals that had some local flavour to them. The Cougars didn’t bring ex-Raider forward Rhett Rhinehart with them to the Art Hauser Centre on Friday, as they dealt him along with a third round pick to the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for Majid Kaddoura, Jayden Watson and a first rounder in 2020. They also acquired Jonny Hooker from the Brandon Wheat Kings, and he was thrust into the Cougars’ lineup on Friday.

And Prince Albert’s own Ethan Regnier was moved from the Swift Current Broncos to the Everett Silvertips. Regnier, who was the Broncos’ captain this year, was dealt along with Kasper Puutio to the ‘Tips for Martin Fasko-Rudas, Parker Hendren, a first round pick in 2020 and a second rounder in 2022.

Regnier led the Broncos in scoring before the trade, scoring nine goals and 21 points in 34 games in his 19-year-old season.

Top Prospects

Two players with local ties were named as assistant captains at the 2020 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

Raiders forward Ozzy Wiesblatt will wear the ‘A’ on Team Red, while Prince Albert’s Braden Schneider will do the same for Team White. Both are the only players from the WHL wearing letters in the game.

Scoring Summary

First Period

No scoring.

Second Period

No scoring.

Third Period

1-0, Raiders, Ilya Usau from Ozzy Wiesblatt, 0:13

1-1, Cougars, Jonny Hooker from Jack Sander and Ethan Samson (power play), 2:07

Overtime

2-1, Raiders, Matthew Culling from Zack Hayes and Reece Vitelli, 3:34

Looking ahead

The Raiders will take on the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders defeated the Oil Kings in their only meeting so far this year, a 6-3 victory on Nov. 5 at Rogers Place.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW