The Raiders were able to pick up a pair of wins on home ice, and are now tasked with continuing that momentum in Saskatoon. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Trevor Redden

Game Three

‘That crosses the line’: Habscheid responds to Love’s accusations

Apr 9, 2019 | 1:19 PM

On Monday, Saskatoon Blades head coach Mitch Love met with the media at SaskTel Centre discussing a number of topics, including accusations toward the Raiders of targeting Saskatoon players’ heads through two games of the series.

Love implied comments from Raiders’ Head Coach Marc Habscheid prior to the series suggesting the Blades embellish penalties have impacted the officiating so far.

Habscheid responded to the comments on Tuesday ahead of game three, saying player safety is a critical issue that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“You know what? This is all fun and games, but it comes to a bigger issue. The fact that he’s questioning the integrity of our league about player safety, that crosses the line. I did not think that was an appropriate comment,” Habscheid said.

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In addition to concerns about the league being questioned, Habscheid had some other thoughts on Love’s comments.

“By the looks of it he probably missed a clip that’s been going all over Twitter of [Blades forward Riley] McKay spearing [Raiders forward Dante] Hannoun in the face multiple times, but yeah I listened to it. It was quite something. It was seven minutes, it brought a tear to my eye,” Habscheid said.

“It was quite something to say the least, almost humorous, but people are smarter than that. All that really did for us was make us more determined and it really galvanized our group, so thanks for that.”

Ultimately, the veteran coach said he believes this is all gamesmanship and will have no bearing on what happens in the coming games in Saskatoon.

“That’s just a weak ploy to try to change the narrative. He’ll probably start yelling at me from his bench too just to add to it, so whatever, we don’t care,” Habscheid said.

Following a pair of victories at home over the weekend, the Raiders have a chance to extend the series lead to 3-0 in game three on Tuesday night.

Players impressed with support

Both games in Prince Albert on the weekend were official sellouts of the Art Hauser Centre, with a listed attendance of 3,289 in the building.

On Monday, that support continued as the community came out in droves, lining Gary Anderson Way, Sixth Avenue, and Marquis Drive to cheer on the Raiders as the team bus rolled out to Saskatoon.

Acquired by the Raiders in January, Hannoun said this is a whole new experience for him.

“I’ve never seen anything like that. Honestly there was a lot more than I expected, it means a lot. When your community comes out to support like that it means a lot to us and it’s helpful,” Hannoun said.

Now in his second year in Prince Albert, forward Eric Pearce said he’s never found himself in that kind of a traffic jam.

“It was awesome to see all the people come out. I never knew a five-minute drive in P.A. could take half an hour, but it was really cool, I’ve never experienced something like that before. I hope we can have one of those again.”

The puck drops on game three at 7 p.m. Marty Ring and I will have the call on CKBI with a comprehensive pre-game show beginning at 6 p.m.

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trevor_redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden