Powerful Raiders winning respect
Prince Albert strong favourite for Memorial Cup
A disappointing 2016-17 season has helped turn the Prince Albert Raiders into the No. 1 club in the Canadian Hockey League.
The Raiders finished third last in the 22-team Western Hockey League that year and missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. They had two ninegame losing streaks en route to a 21-44-7 record and felt disrespected by the opposition.
But with eight of them still on the roster, the players haven’t forgotten about it and in 2018-19 Prince Albert has already surpassed its win total a third of the way into the season. The Raiders are riding a league-best 18-game winning streak after beating the Red Deer Rebels 4-3 on Tuesday.
“A few players that are on the team now were on that (2016-17) team, and there were some teams that were kind of insulting and kicked sand in our faces, and we remember that,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid.
If we get up on a team, we certainly don’t want to rub it in their faces. We’ve had that done and it’s not a lot of fun.
“We carry that with us, even this year, and we’ve talked about that. We’ve tried to lose the right way and win the right way now, too. We respect everyone we play against. If we get up on a team, we certainly don’t want to rub it in their faces. We’ve had that done and it’s not a lot of fun.”
The Raiders are 25-1-0 and have been ranked No. 1 in the 60-team CHL for seven weeks, with no other club being able to knock them off.
Prince Albert stands out as a front-runner for the Memorial Cup, but there are other potential contenders emerging from the Ontario and Quebec Major Junior hockey leagues, thanks to some other lengthy streaks.
The OHL’s Ottawa 67’s started the season 3-3-0, but have gone 18-0-4 since to pick up at least one point in 22 straight games.
Ottawa head coach Andre Tourigny said a number of things have led to the club’s rise to the top of the OHL standings and the No. 3 spot in the CHL rankings.
“First and foremost, it started last year with the fitness level, intensity, hard work and our leaders,” said Tourigny.
“I think that built up and the players arrived at camp and were ready to work.”
Right behind the 67’s at No. 4 in the CHL rankings are the surging London Knights, who are on a 14-0-1 run and now sit first in the OHL’s Western Conference.
Meanwhile, the QMJHL’s RouynNoranda Huskies are riding a 10game win streak and have risen to No. 2 in the CHL rankings.
While the last few weeks have been good to teams like Prince Albert, Ottawa, London and RouynNoranda, the same can’t be said about the Saint John Sea Dogs at the other end of the spectrum.
The youngest team in the country, with a large group of 16- and 17-year-old skaters, the Sea Dogs are in the midst of a 17-game losing streak — a team record — and sit 2-21-3 overall.
Their seven points tie them for the least amount among the 60 teams across the CHL with the OHL’s Flint Firebirds, who opened the season on a 17-game losing streak of their own and are 3-22-1 overall.