A bird's eye view of the Raiders' bench during their 5-3 win over the Wheat Kings on March 22. (Keith Hershmiller/WHL)

By Jeff D’Andrea

When it rains, it pours

So, who’s left for the Raiders?

Mar 30, 2021 | 12:00 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders will be quite shorthanded for their matchup against the Brandon Wheat Kings at 4 p.m. today in the Regina Subway Hub Centre, especially at the forward position.

In their 4-0 loss on Monday to the Saskatoon Blades, star forward and the team’s leading scorer Ozzy Wiesblatt left the ice surface in obvious pain. He was ridden shoulder-first into the boards by Blades captain Chase Wouters in the third period, and headed straight to the tunnels in the Brandt Centre once he gained his footing.

Raiders forward Evan Herman was the first player to leave the game, after he got tangled up at the blueline on the penalty kill in the first period. Herman seemed wobbly after the collision as he finished his shift. He’s the Raiders third-leading scorer.

And rookie forward Logan Linklater was ejected from the game after butt-ending Blades forward Colton Dach—just lower than the midsection and higher than the thigh. Although the WHL has yet to announce a suspension or any supplementary discipline at the time of publishing, it’s very unlikely Linklater would be available to play for Tuesday’s game.

And before Monday’s game, Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt confirmed Kyle Crosbie left the team to return home for “personal reasons,” Crosbie has been removed from the roster.

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And all that was just from a devastating Monday.

Raiders forward Spencer Moe has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury. Keith Hershmiller/WHL

Before then, five-year veteran Spencer Moe has missed the last two games after absorbing a knee-on-knee check from Pats captain Logan Nihjoff, who was also ejected from the game.

If the Raiders aren’t able to get any of those forwards to return for the 4 p.m. Tuesday game, that leaves the Raiders with only nine forwards—Matthew Culling, Reece Vitelli, Michael Horon, Eric Pearce, Niall Crocker, Logan Danis, Tyson Laventure, Justin Nachbaur, and Dallyn Peekeekoot, the Prince Albert Minto that just signed with the Raiders and will make his debut this afternoon.

And it’s not like the Raiders can put in heaps of defencemen to make up the numbers either, as Raider captain Kaiden Guhle remains out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. Even after the Raiders called up Terrell Goldsmith and got him to clear all testing, isolation and health protocols to enter the bubble, they still only have seven total defencemen—with Nolan Allan, Adam McNutt, Tayem Gislason, Remy Aquilon, Graydon Gotaas and Landon Kosior being the other six.

Even in goal, the Raiders have been short. Max Paddock has not dressed for the past three games due to a lower-body injury. Carter Serhyenko has played in all of the last three games, because the Raiders have not been able to add anybody else.

The Raiders aren’t the only team that have gone through something similar during this Hub Centre season. When the Raiders took on the Swift Current Broncos on March 22, they had the opposite problem—dressing only four defencemen, but at least made up the numbers by playing 14 forwards and gave first-rounder Brady Birnie his WHL debut.

Keep a close eye on the Raiders’ lineup when they are introduced today. Catch Trevor Redden’s call of the game on CKBI radio.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW