Harrison Lodewyk (#29) potted two goals, including the game-winning goal (pictured) against the Spokane Chiefs on Nov. 10, 2023. (Larry Brunt/Spokane Chiefs)

By Nick Nielsen

Final homegame before roadswing

Roster moves for Raiders ahead of faceoff with Chiefs

Oct 9, 2024 | 10:30 AM

With the bus scheduled to leave the Art Hauser Centre directly following Wednesday’s game against the Spokane Chiefs, the Prince Albert Raiders have made a few roster moves leading into the action. Along with the addition of Krzysztof Macias, the Raiders have two other moves following up.

It was announced Tuesday that the Raiders have released 20-year-old defenceman Cedricson Okitundu after Macias returned to the team to bring the Raiders back down to three overage players. Okitundu played a total of four games for the Raiders.

With the loss of a defenceman, the Raiders are bringing back 2008-born defenceman Benett Kelly, who started the season with the Raiders. Originally drafted by the Raiders 27th overall in the 2023 WHL Draft, Kelly played two games to start the season with the Raiders. He was then sent back to Calgary with the Calgary International Hockey Academy in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) where he played just a single game before his return to the Raiders.

Earlier in the week, the Raiders also released 19-year-old German defenceman Norwin Panocha and made a trade for another 19-year-old defenceman in Czechia import Vojtech Vochvest from the Prince George Cougars.

READ MORE: Raiders acquire Vochvest from Prince George, release Panocha

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As for the Raiders opponent, they take on the Spokane Chiefs for the second game in an eight-game stretch where the Raiders play teams they won’t meet again this year. While the Raiders get set to start their own road trip with five games in B.C. starting on Saturday, the Chiefs are starting their own road trip when they arrive in Prince Albert.

Coming into Wednesday, the Chiefs are 5-1-0-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL) to start the season and come into town on a four-game winning streak, and their 27 goals scored is second in the league only behind the Saskatoon Blades and good enough for a 4.5 goals per game average. The Raiders meanwhile come in at 1-2-2-0 to start the year with 15 goals scored so far, good for 3.0 goals per game.

On the man advantage, the Raiders powerplay got a bump in their last game after Tomas Mrsic scored twice on the powerplay, bringing them up to 14th in the league at an even 20% on the man advantage. Spokane sits at 32% on the powerplay for 5th in the league, 1.3% of the league lead.

On the penalty kill, the Raiders come in with the edge at an even 76% despite having one of the most active penalty kills in the year to start the season with 76 PIMs total. Spokane sits just behind the Raiders at 75% on the penalty kill with 102 PIMs.

Leading the Raiders in scoring is Aiden Oiring with 1G-6A-7P to start the season, and his recent connection with Tomas Mrsic has brought the St. Louis Blues draft pick into the tie for second in team scoring with 3G-1A-4P. Niall Crocker and Lukas Dragicevic both have four points on the season as well.

The Chiefs will bring WHL leading scorer Shea Van Olm to the Art Hauser Centre with 7G-6A-13P in his six games. Owen Martin sits second with 3G-4A-7P to start the year, followed by Mathis Preston, Berkly Catton, Brayden Crampton, and Chase Harrington all with six points.

As for the goaltending matchup, Cowan Dawson has played three games for the Chiefs to start the year with a 0.932% save percentage backed up by rookie Carter Esler who boasts a 0.914%. For the Raiders, Max Hildebrand comes in with the highlight of the week in the WHL for a save he made during Friday’s match with the Everett Silvertips. Hildebrand’s 0.904% save percentage doesn’t showcase how good he’s been in the first five games he’s played, and in the one game rookie Cooper Anderson was pulled after the second period.

T

is scheduled for 7:00pm, you can join Nick Nielsen to listen to tonight’s action on 900 CKBI with the pregame show starting at 6:30pm on Brandt Raider Radio.

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Nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com