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Raiders finally beat the Pats in emotional home opener

Sep 21, 2018 | 10:44 PM

On Friday, the Prince Albert Raiders did something they haven’t done in 728 days—beat the Regina Pats.

And did they ever make up for lost time with a 7-2 victory to kick off the regular season at the Art Hauser Centre—in front of their biggest home opener crowd (2,775) since the 2014-15 season.

“I guess you could say we were due,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid chuckled. “The odds were in our favour, I guess. It’s a new year and [the Pats] graduated a lot of players—they went for it last year. We like our team. We’re a fast team and it showed tonight.”

A guy not afraid to show his speed out there was Carson Miller, scoring a hat trick on Friday to lead the Raiders offensively. Just one game into the year, Miller has already tripled his goal total in 69 games a season ago.

He was coming off of a shoulder injury that required surgery, which affected his performance in more ways than one.  

“It didn’t allow him to have a summer of training so he came back and he wasn’t where he wanted to be or needed to be. He really just never caught up,” Habscheid said. “It was a tough year for him last year and we felt bad for him because he’s a good kid, he works hard, a good teammate. So it’s nice that he has a good start for us this year.”

But after the game, Miller wasn’t thinking about his hat trick—he was thinking about Adam Herold. The Raiders held a pre-game tribute for Herold, who was one of the 16 that died in the Humboldt Broncos crash.

“Words can’t really describe how much that means. I knew him pretty well personally and played against him growing up,” Miller said. “All the guys looked forward to having him in the dressing room this year and the part he could have played. It’s really just speechless in that sense, but we’re glad we did it tonight.”

Unlike Miller, Raiders forward Eric Pearce grew up playing on the same teams as Herold. They were also teammates on the Regina Pat Canadians two seasons ago, before Pearce made the jump up to the Raiders and Herold stuck around the Pat C’s to lead them as captain.

“Ever since the accident, I’ve always been playing for him,” Pearce said, who scored a goal in the Herold tribute game. “He’s always with me, everywhere I go. I’ve played with him since I don’t even know how young. I always play for him, because he doesn’t have the opportunity now. I want to play for him, and show what I can do.

Brook the rook scores in debut

Raiders forward Jakob Brook scored his WHL goal in his first WHL game—his first period in fact. With 1:30 remaining in the second period, Brook received a long stretch pass from Sean Montgomery and found the top left corner with a quick and accurate wrist shot.

“I didn’t really know what to do after I scored, I kinda blacked out,” Brook said. “It was just an unexplainable feeling.”

Before the game, Brook’s older brother Josh Brook signed an entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens. Josh is 19 years old and played the last three years with the Moose Jaw Warriors.

“It’s a pretty happy day to be a Brook right now,” Brook said. “I’m sure he had sent me a text too, and I sent him a text. We’re a really supportive family towards each other, and we’re proud of each other.”

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Brett Leason from Sean Montgomery and Justin Nachbaur, 4:37

2-0, Raiders, Jakob Brook from Sean Montgomery and Zack Hayes, 18:21

Second Period

3-0, Raiders, Carson Miller from Aliaksei Protas, 15:17

4-0, Raiders, Sergei Sapego from Spencer Moe and Cole Fonstad, 17:24

Third Period

4-1, Pats, Aaron Hyman from Nick Henry, 6:18

4-2, Pats, Duncan Pierce from Marco Creta and Austin Pratt, 11:13

5-2, Raiders, Carson Miller from Kody McDonald and Brett Leason (power play), 11:52

6-2, Raiders, Eric Pearce from Max Martin and Ozzy Wiesblatt, 18:05

7-2, Raiders, Carson Miller form Kody McDonald and Cole Fonstad (power play), 19:41

Goaltenders

Raiders: Ian Scott, 19-21

Pats: Max Paddock, 31-38

Kelly and Gregor watch

During Friday’s game, the Ottawa Senators announced that Parker Kelly will return to the Raiders on Saturday. Kelly played in the Sens’ 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, before his travels back to Saskatchewan.  

Kelly will join three other Raiders that have returned from NHL training camps/preseason action in captain Brayden Pachal (Calgary Flames), forward Cole Fonstad (Montreal Canadiens) and goaltender Ian Scott (Toronto Maple Leafs).

Noah Gregor remains the odd guy out.

Gregor survived the latest cuts and AHL-camp reassignment and remains on the Sharks’ now-44 man roster.

The Raiders acquired the rights from Gregor from the Victoria Royals on July 25. What the Raiders will have to give back to the Royals relies in part of if he reports to the Raiders or not.

Rematch in Regina

The Raiders will complete the home-and-home series against the Pats at the Brandt Centre on Saturday night.

Next weekend, they’ll have a busy three-in-three stretch. They’ll play Friday at home against the Medicine Hat Tigers, Saturday on the road against the Moose Jaw Warriors and back at the Art Hauser Centre on Sunday to face the Saskatoon Blades.

 

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW