The Raider radio broadcasting team on CKBI, colour commentator Martin Ring (left) and play-by-play announcer Trevor Redden hold up the Ed Chynoweth Cup after the Raiders won it on May 13, 2019. (Twitter/Martin Ring)

By Jeff D’Andrea

Redden ready for Regina

One day away from Raiders’ return to the ice

Mar 11, 2021 | 4:41 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders are officially one day away from starting what will be their most unusual season of hockey.

They will enter the season as the last team to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup, after doing so in 2019. But since it is still unclear if there will be an actual postseason this year, the Raiders may not necessarily have a chance to defend it.

If that wasn’t strange enough, they’re playing all their games in a Regina hub, during a global pandemic, and staying in a student dorm of a university they don’t actually go to.

Voice of the Raiders Trevor Redden talked to paNOW Thursday afternoon as he was making his way down to the University of Regina dormitories, which will be his home for the next two months.

Without any preseason action or even the ability to watch team skates, there isn’t much to go on in terms of making too many predictions. But Redden said that could be part of the beauty of this season.

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“The really exciting thing about it right now is there is so much unknown,” Redden said. “You kind of know on paper how the teams should stack up, but until you see it on the ice, I think there’s no way to expect how this is going to play out.”

The team will be ramped up and ready to go, as most of the players haven’t played a competitive hockey game for over a year when they finally take to the ice on Friday night against the Regina Pats.

“I think it’s going to be a ton of energy, a ton of excitement,” Redden said. “The execution might not be great, the guys might not have the same feel for the puck or for each other as they normally have—so it might be a little sloppy.”

Behind the scenes

Redden has packed for a ton of different road trips, the long playoff runs, the Memorial Cup, American, and B.C. division trips—but he’s never packed for anything like this. Redden will be staying at the student dorms but not with the Raiders as the teams will stay in their separate ‘bubbles.’ That’s something new to Redden, who has never stayed in a student dormitory before.

“It’s kind of like packing for a road trip, but you’re also throwing in cutting boards and pots and cleaning supplies and towels. It’s like a mini-move,” Redden said. “It’s a little bit strange, but I think it will be good once we get there. From what I’ve heard, the facilities are really good. The feedback from anyone in there has been really good so far, they’ve been looked after well. I’m excited to get in there and see what it’s all about.”

Other than his phone and all the electronic equipment he needs to broadcast over the radio on CKBI, Redden said the two most important things he brought were his running shoes and a few books.

“Hopefully we get some good weather and I can hopefully go for some walks and a run here or there to try and get outside a little bit,” Redden said. “I brought a stack of books to get through, as well. I’m not a big video game guy or anything like that, but I’ll try to get some reading done in there, too.”

Among his books are a few hockey-themed ones, like Clint Malarchuk’s The Crazy Game: How I Survived in the Crease and Beyond and Curtis Joseph’s Cujo: The Untold Story of My Life On and Off the Ice.

Tune in to Trevor Redden’s calls for every Raider game this season on CKBI and WHL Live.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW