Friday 11 October 2019

Moe break out of rut, powers Raiders to 4-2 victory

Spencer Moe delivered a big two-goal night for the Raiders on Friday night.
    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Spencer Moe admitted he will play a little more free and easy going forward.
    On Friday, the 19-year-old right-winger potted his first two goals of the season including the winner to push his Prince Albert Raiders to a 4-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a WHL regular season contest at the Art Hauser Centre.
    Moe scored his winner with 4:51 to play in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and give the Raiders a 3-2 edge to the delight of 2,502 spectators in the building.
    His linemate in 18-year-old rookie centre Ilya Usau sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 17.2 seconds remaining in the third.
    Heading into Friday’s game, Moe had just two assists in the Raiders previous seven outings. He admitted he was gripping the stick a little too tightly.
The Raiders celebrate Spencer Moe’s first period goal.
    “It makes me relieved,” said Moe. “A lot of stress was building up on me.
    “I think with the two goals today it has kind of put me back to where I really wanted to be and how I really wanted to start the season.”
    Moe got out to a good start on Friday scoring at the 11:28 mark of the first period to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. Taking a setup pass from Usau, Moe blasted home his first of the year from the front of the Lethbridge goal.
    The speedy Calgary product said he really could feel the stress lift at that point in the game.
    “I could feel it off my back,” said Moe, who stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 170 pounds. “I felt a lot better.
    “Just the fact the first one was out, I was hungrier, and I felt a lot better.”
    Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid was pleased to see Moe break out of his rut.
Spencer Moe looks for an opening to score on a second period breakaway.
    “I was happy for him,” said Habscheid. “He has been snake bit a little bit.
    “The first couple of goals of the year, so he’ll skate a little bit lighter tomorrow.”
    The Raiders, who are rated fifth in the CHL Top 10 rankings, ultimately needed Moe to break through on the scoreboard, because Friday’s contest with the Hurricanes was a battle.
    Lethbridge evened things up at 1-1 just under two minutes later when 16-year-old rookie left-winger Ty Nash fired home a backdoor setup from linemate Justin Hall. 
    The tally was the first WHL career goal for Nash.
Spencer Moe had just two assists this season entering Friday’s game.
    Prince Albert went ahead 2-1 with 3:38 remaining in the second when overage star defenceman Zach wristed home a point shot through a screen.
    Overage defenceman Koletrane Wilson pulled the Hurricanes even at 2-2 with 5:39 to play in the third.
    Moe netted his second of the night and the winner to put the Raiders up 3-2 just 48 seconds after Wilson’s tally.
    On an offensive rush, Moe converted a set up pass from left-winger Cole Fonstad to break the 2-2 tie.
    “We were just doing a normal neutral zone transition there,” said Moe, who was stopped on a second period breakaway chance. “I kind of caught up to the middle there and gave it to Fonny (Fonstad) on the side.
    “I beat my checks up the ice, and he just gave it to me right in the middle. I just happen to find the back of the net there.”
Cole Fonstad had three assists for the Raiders.
    The line of Moe, Fonstad and Usau combined for seven points. Moe had his two goals, Fonstad had three assists, and Usau had a goal and an assist.
    Entering Friday’s game, Fonstad had a goal and two assists, while Usau had two goals and an assist. Both had appeared in all of the Raiders first seven games along with Moe.
    “We’re building chemistry,” said Moe of the line that was formed this season. “It’s been growing every game.
    “We’ve been playing pretty good, but we haven’t been producing a lot. In the past couple of games, we’ve been producing, which is a good thing to see.”
    Last season, Moe played in 66 regular season games for the Raiders posting nine goals, 24 assists and a plus-14 rating in the plus-minus department. He centred the Raiders third line and was often utilized as an energetic checker during the team’s run to winning the WHL championship.
    Moe knows that his role is a lot different this season, as the Raiders graduated a number of forwards from last season.
Ilya Usau had a goal and an assist for the Raiders on Friday.
    “I am a fourth-year guy on this team,” said Moe. “I am supposed to be one of the veteran guys that the younger guys and everyone can lean on.
    “That wasn’t a role for me last year, especially with the players that we had, but now it is on all the other guys, older guys’ shoulders there. We just have to step up our game.”
    Boston Bilous made 32 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. The Raiders won their third straight improving to 6-0-2.
    Bryan Thomson, who is a 17-year-old rookie netminder, turned away 21-of-24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hurricanes (3-3).
    Habscheid said the Hurricanes provided a big challenge for his side.
    “It was a struggle,” said Habscheid. “This game didn’t come easy.
The Raiders salute the Art Hauser Centre faithful after Friday’s win.
    “I thought Lethbridge worked hard. They played heavy. It was a good game for us to feel that, because we had to grind it out.
    “We had to find a way. We didn’t have our A-game for sure, but in the end, you have to find a way to win.”
    The Raiders return to action on Saturday when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors (5-2) at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
    The Hurricanes head to Saskatoon on Saturday to face the Blades (5-3-0-1) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
    Early on in the season, Moe likes the fact his Raiders will keep battling for a win no matter what challenges come their way.
    “We have a mindset now,” said Moe. “We’ve been through what happened last year winning a championship and knowing what it takes.
    “We’re hungry for it. We hate losing. It is something that will strive us for the rest of the season.”

Warriors add SFMAAAHL all-time great Howe to coaching staff


    The Moose Jaw Warriors turned a few heads in the hockey world on Friday with an outside the box coaching hire.
    The Warriors have added a Saskatchewan female hockey great to their coaching staff in Olivia Howe. Howe will be a coaching assistant with the team after serving as a guest coach during the club’s training camp.
    Howe will help out the Warriors with on ice practice sessions and being an “eye in the sky” during game days.
    It is believed Howe is the first female to be named to a WHL team’s main coaching staff. As an added bonus, the 25-year-old is a product of Moose Jaw as well.
    “It’s been really surprising the feedback and reaction I’ve got,” said Howe on a video interview posted on the Warriors Twitter page. “I’m really excited to start here.
    “It’s a great opportunity. Being from Moose Jaw, it’s just awesome.”
    In a video interview on the Warriors team website, Alan Miller, who is the club’s general manager, said Howe impressed during her stint as a guest coach. As a result, talks ensued with head coach Tim Hunter, associate coach Mark O’Leary and assistant coach Scott King about finding a way to keep Howe with the team.
    “She came in here, did a very good job and made a strong impression on our hockey staff and our coaching staff,” said Miller. “We wanted to find an opportunity to bring her on to our hockey staff.
    “Working with Mark O’Leary, Scott King and Tim Hunter, we’ve put together this job description and this position and this opportunity for Olivia to help our team. We believe that it is an exciting opportunity for her.
    “We think that she will do real well, and she is a great addition to our club.”
    Howe enjoyed the opportunity to work the Warriors training camp.
    “Alan (Miller) asked me to do the training camp, and it was really exciting,” said Howe. “I didn’t hesitate, obviously.
    “I just needed to get out there and be at this level of hockey working with the males out here. It has been really exciting. It is definitely a lot different coming from the female game, so there is a lot to learn.”
    Howe ripped up the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League for four seasons from 2008 to 2012 as a skilled forward with the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox. She became the circuit’s all-time leading scorer piling up 107 goals and 100 assists for 207 points in 106 regular season games.
    Howe helped the Hounds win the Esso Cup in 2011 as Canadian national female midget AAA hockey champions.
    She also attended Hockey Canada’s female under-18 selection camps in 2010 and 2011.
    Following her time with the Hounds, Howe, who stands 5-foot-10, joined the NCAA women’s ranks and became a star with the Clarkson University Golden Knights for four seasons from 2012 to 2016. She appeared in 152 overall games posting 42 goals and 58 assists.
    She helped the Golden Knights win their first NCAA title in 2014.
    After graduating from Clarkson, Howe returned to Wilcox to become an assistant coach with the Notre Dame Hounds team that played in the Junior Women’s Hockey League. She has scouted the women’s game for Neutral Zone, which is a hockey scouting news site that identifies and ranks prospects for the NCAA and U Sports.
    “It is great to have another perspective in the dressing room and in the coaches’ office – a female, who has played at the highest level in the NCAA and won a national championship,” said Hunter in a video interview on the Warriors website. “She is a real tall girl, so she has a real presence on the ice.
    “She speaks loudly to the players (and very) direct. She’s got a good message, and we are excited for her.”
    The Warriors fell 4-1 on home ice at Mosaic Place to the visiting Vancouver Giants on Friday night.
    Howe isn’t the first female coach to join the staff of a high level hockey team on the men’s side in Western Canada over the last few months.
    In July, Venla Hovi, a former star with the University of Manitoba Bisons women’s team and Finland’s national women’s team, joined the staff of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets as a hockey development coach. Hovi helped the Bisons win a U Sports national title in 2018 and Finland win a silver medal at this year’s women’s world hockey championships.

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