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| Reid Gardiner celebrates after scoring a goal for the Raiders. |
Reid Gardiner is having a lot more fun playing in the WHL
this season.
Now in his fourth full season with the Prince Albert
Raiders, the 19-year-old right-winger has enjoyed the fact his club is battling
amongst the league’s best. As the league wrapped up play to go into the
Christmas break, the Raiders have surprised posting a 20-11-2-1 record to sit
two points back of the Brandon Wheat Kings (21-11-1-2) for first in the WHL’s
East Division and fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.
Actually, the Raiders, who have relied on a strong work
ethic and an attention to detail, are only five points shy of first place in
the Eastern Conference trailing another surprise team in the Lethbridge
Hurricanes (24-11).
When the season started, the Raiders, who missed the
playoffs last season with a 31-37-2-2 mark, were expected to battle for a
playoff spot at best. At times, they have sat first overall in the Eastern
Conference and the East Division. First place in the East Division was supposed
to be conceded to the Wheat Kings, so Gardiner is pretty pleased his team is in
the mix.
“It is obviously a lot more fun,” said Gardiner. “Nobody
likes losing obviously. It is not very fun.
“To kind of be in the top five or six in the east is a
pretty good feeling for our group. I think we have a good group. We’ve got a
close team, and that has helped kind of propel us kind up in the standings.”
The Humboldt, Sask., product, who has always had good
offensive skill, is also having what might be his best campaign in the league.
Having appeared in all of the Raiders 34 games, he has posted 20 goals, 26
assists and so far a career best plus-15 in the plus-minus department.
In his first two seasons, the Raiders had decent records posting
a 37-28-3-4 mark in 2012-13 and a 35-32-3-2 record in 2013-14, when the club
needed to down the Red Deer Rebels in a tiebreaking game to make the
post-season. The Green, White and Gold were swept out of the post-season in
both of those campaigns.
Gardiner said there has been a better overall atmosphere
with the team this season compared to past campaigns that he played with the
club.
“I think just changing the culture of our group and the
overall attitude of playing in Prince Albert,” said Gardiner, who is the Raiders scoring leader. “I think back in
the late 80s and early 90s it was a kind of a dynasty like team.
“P.A. is a hockey town. I think lots of guys had a sour
taste in their mouths coming into this year after not making playoffs last
year. Everybody made a point of working hard over the summer and coming in with
the right attitude. Things have worked out thus far.”
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| Reid Gardiner (#19) breaks up ice with Raiders teammate Vojtech Budik. |
Habscheid said the key to his the Raiders strong start so
far is the fact the players have stayed focused on the present.
“In this league, it is a day to day thing,” said Habscheid.
“You look at it overall, and you never want to be satisfied.
“There are ebbs and flows throughout the season, and you
just have to look at realistically and not get too high or too low. Overall, we
are OK.”
The Raiders signed Habscheid to a four year contract
extension in the off-season and brought in Curtis Hunt, who was a former player
on the clubs 1984-85 Memorial Cup championship
team, as general manager on a four-year contract after former GM Bruno
Campese and the club mutually parted ways.
Habscheid and Hunt have combined with associate coach Dave
Manson, who was also a player on the Raiders Memorial Cup winner and a veteran
coach with the club, to make the Art Hauser Centre a good place to be for the
players. Habscheid, who is a former player with the Saskatoon Blades, and
Manson also had lengthy playing careers in the NHL.
Gardiner said the additions of Habscheid and Hunt have been
big for the team.
“They are willing to put their time in with us and make us
better people and players,” said Gardiner. “It is definitely a benefit to us to
have former players coaching us, and being a general manager for sure.
“I think it was a smart move by the organization to sign
Marc Habscheid for another four years and Curtis Hunt for four years.”
The Raiders return to action on Sunday, when they host their
archrivals the Blades at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
Blades aim to make second half waves
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| Right-winger Ryan Graham, right, sets a screen in the offensive zone. |
The overage right-winger wants to push his Saskatoon Blades
back into the post-season after a two-year absence. The Blades finished last in
the entire WHL each of the past two campaigns after hosting the Memorial Cup in
2013. After the 2013 Memorial Cup wrapped up, the Blades have been going
through an extensive rebuild phase.
They went into the Christmas break of the current campaign
with a 13-17-3 record to sit ninth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and
two points back of the Edmonton Oil Kings (14-19-3) of the conference’s final
playoff berth with three games in hand.
Gay was pretty aware of the opportunity that was before his
club.
“You have to keep it in the back of your mind,” said Gay, who has 11 goals and 22 assists in 31 games.
“If you totally let go from it, you are not going to have a very good start of
the second half.
“It is a time to relax. It is time to let go and have some
fun, obviously. You have to be able to come back in the second half and be
ready for a tough second half of the season.”
After jumping out to a 7-4-3 start, the Blades hit a slide
starting on Nov. 15. They proceeded to go 3-12 from that date before winning
three of their last four contests before the Christmas break.
With the Blades having the youngest roster in the league, a
November skid could have been expected, because that is the time the grind of
the season kicks in. That grind is always a challenge for any young player to
adjust to.
Often during the losing stretch, the Blades would give the
first goal and not be able to rally.
With that in mind, Saskatoon gained a nice boost after
rallying from a 2-0 deficit to beat the league leading and defending WHL
champion Kelowna Rockets 5-3 in the last contest before the break on Dec. 19.
“We didn’t allow it to affect us,” said Blades head coach
and general manager Bob Woods. “I thought our older guys kind of took charge
and led by example.”
Gay was happy to see the down
stretch come to an end, and he can’t wait to get the second half going.
“It is definitely frustrating to find a way out of it,” said
Gay. “Right now, it is going well.
“We need to have a good Christmas break, have some fun, but
when we get back on Boxing Day it is time to get back to work.”
Merry Christmas to everyone
I hope all the readers out there have a Merry Christmas and
a happy new year, and I also a big thank-you to you all for stopping by here to
read my posts.
I hope everyone was able to spend some quality time with
friends and family. I have been able to enjoy a couple of sizable family
gatherings in the Saskatoon area.
While it has been for me to live in a centre with a large
number of family members, I do miss being in Medicine Hat for the holiday
season having lived there for 10 years from 2004 to 2014. One of the highlights
was always attending the late night Christmas Eve mass at St. Patrick’s Roman
Catholic Church. It always felt like those nights were magical.
Wherever you are, I hope you all were able to enjoy the
annual traditions you partake in over the holiday season. Have a great one.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
