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Local man hosts Raiders for backyard shinny

Dec 12, 2018 | 11:00 AM

The Prince Albert Raiders reconnected with the sport they play so passionately, at its simplest and most enjoyable form on Dec. 9.

The team was hosted by P.A. local Kelly Taylor, who told paNOW he recently completed his backyard rink, and wanted to give the team a chance to have some fun with the community, while enjoying the good old hockey game in its most Canadian fashion.

“I was watching some NHL guys talk about how no matter what age you are, playing on a pond is the way hockey is meant to be played,” Taylor said. “I’m lucky enough to have this pond and know some of the Raiders so I asked if they wanted to come out.

“It was just a great night. I think at one point we counted 82 people out there, we had a bunch of people on the ice, and we had a fire going with hotdogs. It was just so fun.”

Taylor noted his sons are involved with youth hockey programs, and their teams were also involved in the evening.

“When I was tucking in my son for bed that night he told me he wanted his hockey jersey to be a certain number because that’s his favourite Raider, and I think that was just what the night was all about,” Taylor said.

The Raiders are among the best teams in their league, and are known for their hard work on and off the ice, but according to Raider defenceman Brayden Pachal the night was simply a way to reconnect with the sport.

“It was just a get out into the community type of thing to have some fun,” said Pachal. “I think it brought us back to our younger years of playing on outdoor rinks and took us back to our roots. And I’m sure the younger kids that were there look up to us the way we used to look up to junior players in our hometowns.”

Pachal added the Raiders will continue doing community involvement events similar to this, as the entire team feels it’s important to stay connected.

The backyard rink was crowded from 4 p.m. until late in the night.

“It was just really cool to see my kids get that type of interaction with these guys,” Taylor said. “They may not realize it at the time how much of an impact they have on a little kid, but they really did. I know my kids love going to Raider games but now they’ve got favourite guys they played shinny with so now they are just going to be that much more into it.”

 

brady.bateman@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TheDigitalBirdy