By Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders Record Breakers

Montgomery breaks Raider record; Raiders roll ‘Wranglers’ at Corral

Feb 8, 2019 | 11:11 PM

“No better place to do it.”

In front of his friends and family in his hometown, Prince Albert Raiders forward Sean Montgomery got to officially set a Raiders’ franchise record at the Calgary Corral on Friday. Montgomery became the all-time Raiders leader in games played with 331 when he took to the ice in the Raiders’ 8-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen the Calgary Wranglers as part of the old Corral Series.

“It is pretty cool,” Montgomery said, who got an assist in the game. “Especially coming in when I was 16, I definitely didn’t think that was going to happen. But here we are now.

“It was one of those things, that if I get it, I get it. But it’s really cool to have,” Montgomery said. “I’m pretty excited to do it in front of my friends and family in my hometown.”

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Montgomery has gotten to this record breaking position by being incredibly durable. Friday’s game is Montgomery’s 154^th straight appearance for the Raiders. He hasn’t missed a game since Jan. 11, 2016.

In fact, Montgomery has only missed 10 games in his career—seven on those coming in his first year at a 16-year-old rookie back in the 2014-15 season.

This year has easily been Montgomery’s best of the five. He’s on pace to more than double his previous career highs, already with 21 goals and 49 points in 53 games played. He’s also +39 and has won 640 faceoffs.

“He’s really worked on his game,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “He’s played a lot for us ever since I was here. He’s played a lot of penalty killing, he’s a responsible guy and plays both ends of the rink. But probably one area that we wanted to get better at was the offensive side, and he’s really worked on it.

“The way we play has evolved, and he’s bought into that faster game now. He really moves now and he’s one of the quicker guys in the league. That’s a tribute to him keeping on working on his game, and letting his play do the talking.”

Raiders 8 Wranglers 2

The Raiders completed the season sweep over the Wranglers, with an 8-2 victory Friday night at the Calgary Corral. All of them have been decisive Raider wins, as all three previous meeting were four-goal P.A. victories.

For Calgary, Friday’s game wrapped up their three Corral Series games, as they bid farewell to the historic hockey hotbed in Cowtown. The Calgary Hitmen re-branded themselves as the old Calgary Wranglers, who were in the WHL from 1978-87. The Raiders followed suit with a set of retro jerseys.

Cole Fonstad had a monster two-goal, five-point night for the Raiders. Noah Gregor had his second career hat trick, while also adding a helper. Dante Hannoun had a goal and an assist, while Eric Pearce and Sergei Sapego also scored for the Raiders.

Scary moment

Halfway through the first period, Calgary goaltender Jack McNaughton left the net to clear the puck away from the oncoming Brett Leason. Both collided heavily, and both did not finish the game as a result.

Leason has been a huge part of the Raiders, leading them in points with 78 and is now tied for the team lead with 33 goals alongside Noah Gregor.

Carl Stankowski was forced to come back into the game for the Hitmen. Stankowski hadn’t played a game since Nov. 23. He surrendered six goals on 38 shots in relief.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Dante Hannoun from Noah Gregor and Cole Fonstad (power play), 7:33

2-0, Raiders, Cole Fonstad from Aliaksei Protas and Sean Montgomery, 8:37

Second Period

3-0, Raiders, Noah Gregor from Cole Fonstad, 3:12

4-0, Raiders, Sergei Sapego from Parker Kelly and Dante Hannoun, 3:33

4-1, Hitmen, Riley Stotts from James Malm, 16:20

Third Period

5-1, Raiders, Cole Fonstad from Brayden Pachal and Spencer Moe, 3:37

6-1, Raiders, Eric Pearce from Jakob Brook, 3:52

7-1, Raiders, Noah Gregor from Cole Fonstad and Brayden Pachal, 9:35

8-1, Raiders, Noah Gregor from Ozzy Wiesblatt, 14:21

8-2, Hitmen, James Malm (penalty shot), 17:03

Two more on the trip

The Raiders will play the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday and the Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday before returning home on Friday to play the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW