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Gardiner off to a crazy start; Raiders crack CHL Top 10

Oct 22, 2015 | 6:08 AM

Reid Gardiner figured he’d have a good start to the Prince Albert Raiders season—but not this good.

Through his first 11 games with the Prince Albert Raiders this year, Gardiner had nine goals and 19 points, tied for third in the Western Hockey League in both categories.

“I obviously want to put some points on the board, that’s one biggest roles on the team is to score goals and contribute offensively—but I didn’t think I’d get this many points in this many games,” said Gardiner. “But once again, I have to deflect the success to my line mates. Simon Stransky had a 10-game point streak and Austin [Glover] has been playing really good hockey in the last six games on the road trip.

“They’re finding ways to get me the puck and [my shots] are going in.”

Stransky scored all four goals and 16 of his points in the first ten games of the season as he and Gardiner have teamed up for some pretty passing plays and are the Raiders 1-2 punch in terms of scoring. But Glover isn’t far behind as he’s third in team scoring with six goals and 13 points. Glover was the only goal scorer in their last game against the Kootenay Ice, scoring with 14 seconds left for a 1-0 victory on Oct. 17.

That win gave the Raiders their fourth straight win, all on the road during their west coast swing. The Raiders now sit at 8-2-0-1. On Wednesday, the Raiders cracked the CHL Top 10 weekly rankings for the first time this season, as they now have more wins than any other WHL team and a winning percentage of .773, the fourth best in the league.

“I think a big thing is not hoping to win, but expecting to win every night,” said Gardiner. “That’s part of the culture we’re changing around here, expecting to win every time we step on the ice.

“I think we got a good thing going here, the team really bonded on the hotels and on the bus. It was good to do it early on and get to know the young guys and the new guys and become a closer team.”

The next two games the Raiders have are against divisional opponents; Friday against the Moose Jaw Warriors on Pink in the Rink night at the Art Hauser Centre, and Sunday on the road against the Regina Pats.

After that, the Raiders have a three-game home swing starting on Wednesday against the Edmonton Oil Kings, Friday against the Victoria Royals and Saturday against the Swift Current Broncos. 

jdandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea