Raiders goaltender Max Paddock and defenceman Kaiden Guhle, defend Royals forward Tarun Fizer on a rush. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Shots! Shots! Shots!

Raiders don’t give up shots, a welcome but weird change for new goalie Paddock

Jan 30, 2020 | 1:45 PM

If there’s one thing former Regina Pat goaltender Max Paddock has been used to in his career, it’s facing a lot of shots.

But that’s going to change now that he’s settled in with the Prince Albert Raiders.

Paddock only faced 17 shots on Wednesday in a 3-0 victory over the Victoria Royals, his first shutout since wearing the Raiders’ shield and sword crest. But that the least amount of shots he’s ever faced through an entire game in his four-plus year career. It’s also just the second time in his WHL career that he’s faced less than 20 shots.

“Anytime you get a shutout, it feels good, especially to get that first one out of the way. Those are always difficult games, eight shots after the second so it’s kind of tough to get into it,” Paddock said. “But the guys did a good job of limiting the shots to the outside.”

This year, the Raiders have been the best team in terms of limiting shots against. They’re surrendering just 25.35 per game, almost two less than any other team, and 8.61 less shots per contest than Paddock’s old Pats (33.96, ranked 17^th). That adds up over the course of a full 68-game season, the Raiders are on pace to face 585.48 less shots than the Pats.

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Although less shots seems like a good thing, it can be a weird change for a goalie. Paddock was forced to be on high alert when getting peppered in Regina. This year, he’s had nine games where he’s faced 40 shots or more, and 22 above 30 shots. But here in Prince Albert, he’ll have to do well on some nights just to stay focused.

“It’s a tough adjustment. In Regina, I was used to getting close to 35-40 shots a night,” Paddock said. “It’s a little bit of an adjustment, but it’s always better the less shots you face.

“You don’t try to change much, stay focused in the play and try to stop the puck behind the net, anyway you can touch it,” Paddock added. “Try to communicate with the defencemen and try to keep your head in the game.”

For Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, limited shots and keeping a clean defensive zone in front of his goalies was a trademark of the 2004 Memorial Cup he won with the Kelowna Rockets. Kelly Guard, the Raiders’ goaltending coach, was Habscheid’s starter back then and joked that Guard could coach Max on dealing with very few shots.

“Guardo’s the king of that, getting less shots in junior hockey,” Habscheid said with a smile. “He’ll learn that from Guardo on how to deal with that I guess.”

In terms of the success that the Raiders have had in shot deterrence, Habscheid just boils it down to his players coming together a unit.

“That’s part of being a team. When you play good team defence, then everyone’s on the same page,” Habscheid said. “No matter what structure you use, you’re going to have some success. Obviously, we have some really good players which helps.”

The Raiders and their shot erasing defence will be likely be tested on Friday, when the high-powered Lethbridge Hurricanes come to town. World Junior standouts in golden Canadians Dylan Cozens, Calen Addison and Slovakian Oliver Okuliar are on the team, as well as WHL leading point scorer among defencemen in Alex Cotton.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW