Redden on the Raiders: Let the battle begin

“They’re a good team, they’ve played real well. Just look at their record, or ask them, they’re a good team,” Habscheid said.

“We saw some video of them, their coach made it real clear that they want to play us, so they’ve got us. We saw some more stuff where they were talking about how they didn’t get any love, and didn’t get enough attention, whatever that means. They’re a good team, they think they’re great, and hopefully that will make them happy that somebody is giving them attention. We’re just looking forward to the series.”

Asked if being the top seed coming into the round adds any extra pressure on the Raiders, Habscheid dismissed the notion.

“No. We’re just a bunch of guys. We don’t read too much of that stuff or get into it. We play our game and don’t talk about ourselves very much, who we play or who we want to play. Whoever we’re lined up against, we play them and try our best, stay humble, and respect our opponent,” he said.

It’s likely that special teams will play a big factor in the series as it typically does in the postseason. Throughout the regular season, the Raiders were first on the penalty kill across the league while Saskatoon was fifth. On the power play, Prince Albert was ninth while Saskatoon was tenth.

Habscheid felt that these areas were comparable between the two teams, but stressed the importance of staying out of the box.

“We like our special teams and we have to be on par, because they’re a team that draws a lot of penalties. They’re instructed to dive, and hopefully the league will look after that.”

In the regular season, Saskatoon tied with Portland for first in the WHL with 297 power play opportunities. Comparatively, the Raiders took to the man advantage 264 times.

While the puck hasn’t been dropped yet, the battle has begun.

Pounding the pavement

Including pre-season, tonight will mark the 13^th meeting of the year between the Raiders and the Blades.

The first tilt took place back on Aug. 30 at the Art Hauser Centre, and now over seven months later, they’ll open up a best-of-seven series. If the series were to go the distance, that would mean 19 games between the two teams in one season.

How’s that for building a rivalry?

Disciplinarians

Both the Raiders and Blades should have their full lineup available Friday night, but that isn’t the case elsewhere in the league.

Altogether, a total of 12 suspensions were handed out by the league in the first round of playoffs, surpassing the five first round suspensions, and six in total, handed out last season.

Prince Albert lost one player to suspension during round one as Brett Leason missed game three after a checking from behind major in game two.

The Victoria Royals will be starting the second round shorthanded as ex-Raider Kody McDonald and former Regina Pat Tanner Sidaway are both serving suspensions.

McDonald has served two games of his six game suspension for a match penalty assessed in Kamloops on March 27. He’ll be able to return for game five against Vancouver, if necessary. Sidaway will sit game one under supplemental discipline.

Sold out

As great as the atmosphere was in round one, it’s going to find a whole new level this weekend.

For the second time this year, we’ll see an official sellout in the Art Hauser Centre tonight, and only a handful of standing room tickets remain for Sunday’s game two. The only other sellout this year was the final home game of the regular season, also against Saskatoon.

It should make for a great weekend around the rink and create a huge home ice advantage. Once the series shifts venues, I’m sure we’ll see a great response from the Saskatoon fans at SaskTel Centre complemented by a significant travelling contingent from Prince Albert.

This one’s going to be fun.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden

by Trevor Redden

Redden on the Raiders: Let the battle begin

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