By Raiders Rant

Yikes!!!

Nov 15, 2010 | 8:02 PM

Raiders Associate Coach and Assistant G.M. Steve Young commented on Saturday night's post-game show during 900 CKBI's Raider broadcast that he believes the team has hit rock bottom.

The team and its fan sure hope so. Three Portland power play goals and two shorthanded markers were the main ingredients in an 8-2 Winterhawk win at the Art Hauser Centre.

After a great start with early goals by Jonathan Parker and Mark McNeill the turning point came moments later. Shane Danyluk was stopped on a shorthanded breakaway that could have made it a 3-0 game, but the tables turned on a weird Winterhawk goal which bounced in off Raider defenseman Tyler Yaworski. Rookie goalie Eric Williams' night came to an end two sharp angle shots later and all of a sudden the best team in the West was up 3-2.

The Winterhawks went for the jugular in the second period with three power play goals and a back breaking shorthanded marker to go up 7-2 after two and finished off the home side with another shorthanded goal in the third, seconds after a Ryan Button blast rung off the post (Button has hit four posts in the past four games).

The Raiders have lost four in a row and 11 of their last 12 to sit five points out of a playoff spot with a tough three game trip through the Central division on next weekend's agenda (Friday in Lethbridge, Saturday in Kootenay and Sunday in Medicine Hat).

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It marks the third straight season that has been punctuated with an extended rough patch. In 2008-09 (which ended with the playoff spot tie-breaker loss to Edmonton) the Raiders had a ten game slide mostly through November. The 2009-10 campaign ended with just 5 wins in the team's last 17 games, most of which came in a frightful February.

A team that was outstanding at home last season (24 wins) is now three games below .500 (3-6-1-2). The main reason jumps out at you with two telling statistics. The power play at home just 10.5 per cent while giving up six shorthanded goals against and the penalty kill hovers at 68.5 per cent, both worst in the W.H.L. If the specialty teams were better the shots that would normally be stopped, the goal posts that have been hit (and there have been many) and the other near misses would not be nearly as significant.

Specialty teams have also been a major factor in the last four games. The power play is 0-for-it's last-19 and has surrendered three shorthanded goals. Meanwhile the penalty kill has given up nine goals on 20 chances.

The Raider coaching staff is not making any excuses, but injuries have been a major factor. The Raiders have lost 56 man games to injuries, including 25 combined, involving 20-year-old, co-captains Jordan Rowley and Nathan Deck. I don't care who you are … any team would be affected significantly from the losses of their top two point producing and puck moving defensemen who also wear letters. Ryan Button and James Bettauer have stepped up admirably but the offense from the backline just hasn't materialized from a defense corps that has scored just one goal (Bettauer has one goal and eight assists, Button no goals — four goal posts— and eight assists). Last season Rowley and Deck combined for 17 goals and 87 points.

The recent loss of Igor Revenko is another factor. He has sat out two full games with a mysterious mid-body injury. Igor says he felt something pop a week ago during the 5-1 loss to Swift Current at the Art Hauser Centre. He played the first period against Seattle and took a big hit to help set up Mark McNeill's first period goal, probably aggravating the problem which should be diagnosed with an M.R.I. on Tuesday. Although Igor's goal production (seven goals in 20 games) is down from the first half of last season, he is on a point a game pace and is tied for the team lead in plus-minus at +6 (Deck is also at +6).

So what now? We should find out Monday night during “face off” with Coach & G.M. Bruno Campese. You can catch the show on 900 CKBI and 900ckbi.com at 6 p.m.

dwilson@rawlco.com