Raiders rookies ready for Regina

Crocker and Gotaas were the Raiders’ first two picks in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, with Crocker going 22^nd overall in the first round, and Gotaas in the second round at 44^th overall. They both attended Raiders’ camp last year and both enjoyed call-ups to the Raiders and practiced with them throughout the season.

“I was lucky enough to get called up to the Raiders a year ago for a couple weeks, the intensity in those practices were great,” Crocker said. “So I’m really looking forward to getting back on the ice with them.”

The layoffs might make players feel a little rusty, but Crocker doesn’t think he’ll have much of that this year. He was able to get a lot of ice with the Delta Hockey Academy he’s been apart of for the last few seasons.

Graydon Gotaas. (Lucas Chudleigh/Apollo Multimedia)

Gotaas even able to enter a game for the Raiders—the very last game the Raiders played before the WHL was shut down due to the pandemic—on March 8, 2020 in a 3-0 defeat to the Winnipeg ICE on the road.

“Last year, the experience was amazing. Just learning from the players and watching the speed of the game, it really helped improve your game. Having last year’s experience is going to happen a lot this year.”

But since that game, Gotaas said he bulked up in that year and is ready to show what he can do on the ice.

“I feel really prepared, actually. I put on 15 pounds of muscle so I’m definitely stronger than I was last year and I’m quicker than I was last year,” Gotaas said. “So I’m ready to get into things.”

If the name Gotaas sounds familiar to some knowledgeable Raider fans, that’s because of Graydon’s uncle Steve Gotaas. Steve joined the Raiders in their second-ever WHL season in 1983, before scoring 32 goals and 73 points during the Raiders’ 1985 Memorial Cup and WHL Championship season. Steve went on to play 49 games in the NHL across three years, scoring six goals and 15 points.

“He had lots of good stories about it, and he keeps referring back to how great of an organization it is and how it’s a great place to play,” Gotaas said, who added he got a congratulatory text from his uncle shortly after the Raiders drafted him.

The Raiders players are currently in the dorms at the University of Regina, in anticipation for their 24-game season starting on March 12 against the Regina Pats.

Crocker and Gotaas are two of five players ready to play their first full WHL season. The others are forward Logan Linklater, and defencemen Adam McNutt and Tayem Gislason.

On the other side of the coin, the Raiders’ three overagers will be goaltender Max Paddock and forwards Spencer Moe and Justin Nachbaur. Defenceman Kaiden Guhle will be the team’s captain.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW

by Jeff D’Andrea

Raiders rookies ready for Regina

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