Former Raiders play-by-play voice enjoying being a fan during playoff run

Once Dante Hanoun’s game winning goal hit the twine, Redden captured the moment with these final words:

“…and the boys of 85 no longer stand alone, a new generation just brought the cup home for the second time in franchise history!”

While it wasn’t common practice for him, Redden said he had the line prepared in advance.

“I would love to say that I just thought of it in the moment, but no. Before Game 5 or 6, it kind of occurred to me that there’s potentially a chance that there’s going to be a moment where, if you flub it or you’re not sure what to say, it’s going to haunt you forever because it’s going to be on the highlight reels everywhere. I didn’t want to script things too much, I wanted to be as authentic and reactionary as I could be, but for a moment like that, I thought I should have something kind of ready.”

The series leading up to the final in 2019 were another big part of the story. Just like this year, the Raiders in 2019 met the Saskatoon Blades in the second round. Unlike this year, the Raiders dominated the season series, but the playoffs were a different story.

“The Saskatoon series, that one was incredible… Game one, it wasn’t even close. It was looking like the series might be a sweep, but Saskatoon took the punch and they got on their feet, played a close game in game two, lost it. Then it was a Nolan Meyer show for games three and four down in Saskatoon. All of a sudden we had a series 2-2 through four, and everybody’s on edge because the Raiders hadn’t been pushed that much throughout the year.”

From there, Game 5 saw the Raiders dominate, and Game 6 the series came to an end. That lead to a tense round three against Edmonton, and then of course the final against Vancouver.

Getting ready to call that series against Vancouver, Redden sees it as a mirror image of what’s happening here in 2026. The Giants and Raiders were the top two teams in the league that year when they met in the regular season in January, just like the Raiders and Silvertips this year, but the results were the opposite.

“Vancouver came out and played a great game and beat the Raiders, I want to say it was 2 to 1 (3-1 with an empty netter), that regular season game. So it probably planted a little seed that this team’s nothing to mess with. Bowen Byram was in his draft year at 17 and was phenomenal, kind of the type of impact that Rudolph is having this year, led the league in points that playoff just like Rudolph’s doing right now.”

While Redden has been watching the 2026 run, he admits that he hasn’t paid as close attention to the team this year compared to when he was on the road with the group in 2019. That said, he’s noticed two things similar between the two squads: the depth, and the relentless pressure the teams put on opponents.

“I think the two things that are very similar are just the depth of the two teams, they’re not the teams that are led by that bonafide NHL top 10 draft pick. I think that 19 team was a very heavy physical team, they maybe had a little bit of that edge to them, but this team (2026) just is so workman-like. They just shift after shift, line after line, they get out there.”

Redden added, “I think there’s more similarities than differences just in the way that they can roll the lines and battle, but I do think that 19 team was maybe a little more top-heavy, focused on the top six. This team, it seems line one through four, like other teams are in trouble no matter who’s on the ice against this Raiders group.”

The current Raiders are down 2-1 in their WHL Final series to the Everett Silvertips heading into Game 4 at the Art Hauser Centre on Wednesday.

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Nick.Nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Former Raiders play-by-play voice enjoying being a fan during playoff run

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