By Trevor Redden

Redden on the Raiders: History making trip

Nov 30, 2018 | 10:40 AM

No matter what happens the rest of the way, the 2018-19 Prince Albert Raiders will be etched into the franchise record books.

Of course, that wouldn’t be much consolation if the team doesn’t find success in the playoffs this spring, but it’s been quite the run over the first couple months of the season.

Making history

With a 5-1 victory over the Kootenay ICE in Cranbrook on Saturday night, the Raiders broke a franchise record set in 1985-86 for consecutive victories with their 16th.

Three nights later in a 4-3 win in Red Deer, Prince Albert broke another franchise mark as they picked up their seventh straight victory on the road, besting the previous record of six which was also set in 1985-86.

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Brett Leason’s season-opening point streak has continued so far, and he now sits alone in the “internet era” [since game-by-game statistics became available in 1996] with the longest of its kind at 26 games. The previous mark was set by Jeremy Reich with the Swift Current Broncos in 1999. This is an unofficial record for season-opening streaks as is no documentation prior to 1996, and the official point-streak record for anytime is held by former Raider Jeff Nelson who found the scoresheet an incredible 56 straight games in the 1990-91 season.

As impressive as Leason has been this year, he’s not even halfway to that mark which is also a WHL all-time record.

Kelly on a tear, Wiesblatt heating up

It’s been a nice run for Parker Kelly lately, who seems to have found a home on the wing with Sean Montgomery and Brett Leason.

Kelly was hot out of the gate this year with eight points in his first six games but went through a bit of a production funk with just three points in a span of nine games from mid-October to mid-November. Now the Ottawa Senators prospect has points in six straight, with six goals and 12 points in that run. He also has goals in four straight heading into the weekend.

Speaking on the topic after Wednesday’s game, assistant coach Jeff Truitt said it’s good to see, but emphasized that Kelly brings a lot to the game whether the points are coming or not.

“Parker does such a great job with his energy and what he brings to the table. He’s hard on checks, he’s such an enthusiastic player, and it’s great to see him getting rewarded. He deserves to be on that line [with Sean Montgomery and Brett Leason] and he’s producing,” said Truitt.

Prince Albert scored 22 goals over their four-game Central Division swing so there were a lot of points to go around, but I liked what I saw from rookie Ozzy Wiesblatt.

Like any first-year player in the league, there will be ups and downs, but he’s had a lot of jump in his step over the past week and has been getting rewarded accordingly. Wiesblatt is riding a four-game point streak with two goals and two assists in that stretch.

World Junior announcements ahead

We already know that Sergei Sapego and Aliaksei Protas will be leaving the Raiders to join Team Belarus at the IIHF Division I U20 World Championship in Fussen, Germany, which runs from Dec 9 to 15. It’s too bad that Belarus lost to Denmark in the relegation round of last year’s tournament, as they won’t get to play on the big stage in Vancouver and Victoria this year. If Belarus earns their way back to the championship level via the upcoming tournament, Protas will almost certainly be a part of that group next year in the Czech Republic.

In addition to losing those two for a few weeks, it’s looking more and more likely that the Raiders will be missing at least one more player as Team Canada makes its camp announcement in the next week.

Appearing on Guy Flaming’s Pipeline Show podcast this week, junior hockey insider Sam Cosentino stated he thinks it’s a “guarantee” Brett Leason will not only be invited to selection camp, but he’ll be on the team as well. Considering Cosentino spent much of November with Hockey Canada’s management group during the CIBC Canada Russia series, his words hold a lot of weight.

As for Ian Scott, Cosentino believes he will certainly get an invite to selection camp and said “it’s a fight between Ian Scott and Matthew Villalta [Saulte Ste. Marie, OHL] for who backs up Michael Dipietro [Windsor Spitfires, OHL].”

Of course, things can always change, but these are exciting days ahead for the organization as the last Raider to represent Team Canada at the tournament was Josh Morrissey in 2013-14. If you’re interested in hearing more of Cosentino’s thoughts on Team Canada, click the link above to listen to the episode.

The week ahead

It’s a light weekend for the Raiders after the Central Division swing, with just one game on Saturday night in Regina against the Pats. Regina was part of a blockbuster trade with yesterday as they continue to rebuild after last year’s Memorial Cup run. Next week, the Raiders hit the road for their first trip of the year to Swift Current on Tuesday before a difficult three-in-three weekend which includes a home-and-home against Brandon followed by a Sunday trip to Saskatoon.

For fans wanting to get a look at this team [you should], you’ll have three opportunities here in Prince Albert before Christmas. The Raiders host the Wheat Kings on Dec. 8, the Oil Kings on Dec. 12, and then it’s the annual Teddy Bear Toss game against the Broncos on Dec. 15 before the teams break for Christmas.

trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden