Raiders goaltender Ian Scott was under siege for most of Games 3 and 4 against the Saskatoon Blades, being pressured here by Eric Florchuk. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders Replay

Raiders Replay; reliving some of the biggest wins during the Raiders playoffs

Apr 10, 2020 | 8:00 AM

On CKBI, we’re reliving three important games during the Prince Albert Raiders’ run to the 2019 Ed Chynoweth Cup on our new program called ‘Raider Replay.’ On Friday at 7 p.m., we’ll re-run Game 5 of the second-round series against the Saskatoon Blades, originally broadcasted on April 12, 2019.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Western Hockey League was forced to cancel both its regular season and its playoffs.

Voice of the Raiders Trevor Redden said Raiders Replay could do a big part in filling that sports-less void we’re all living in now.

“We were all expecting a nice run of Raider playoff hockey, as was everybody else,” Redden said. “But once that got taken away, we thought ‘what better time to go back and relive some of those moments from last year.’”

So, let’s activate the flux capacitor, hop into the DeLorean go back to a time where nobody’s health was at risk when they headed to a crowded hockey rink. What a wonderful time that was.

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After a clean sweep of the Red Deer Rebels and two big, sell-out wins at the Art Hauser Centre over the Saskatoon Blades, the Raiders started the playoffs 6-0. But the Blades’ club Nolan Maier handed the Raiders their first two pieces of adversity of the postseason. Maier made 69 of 70 shots in total to shutout the Raiders in Game 3 and beat the Raiders 4-1 on Game 4.

“It’s easy for guys to say after the fact that, ‘oh, we were confident the whole time. We knew eventually we’d start scoring on Maier.’ You can say that after you win, but that’s exactly what they were saying in the moment,” Redden said.

The Raiders fed off adversity like this throughout the series and used it to become a stronger team.

“I just told them, ‘you know what? We want this. This is good for us,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said after the Blades series. “We’re not going to win 6-1 all the time. We need to go through this. We need to feel an upset stomach. We need to have sleepless nights. We need to feel that anxiety. That’s what you got to do to win. We went through that.”

Tensions were quite high on both benches. Habscheid took almost every opportunity a microphone was in his general direction to accuse the Blades of diving and embellishing every hit and every near high stick. Blades head coach Mitch Love returned the favour by accusing the Raiders of headhunting.

The tension was felt in the crowds too. Raider fans said they got beer and macaroni thrown on them during Game 4. Remember that?

That sets up a crucial Game 5 at the Hauser.

Tune in at 7 p.m. on CKBI for the complete rebroadcast of what was a special game. Voice of the Raiders Trevor Redden will pop in during the intermissions with some new commentary, looking back on the game with some previously unheard notes. Catch Redden’s and colour commentator Marty Ring’s call on CKBI tonight.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW