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| Jake Missura (#3) chats with Brandon Gorzynski and Justice Christensen. |
One of the facts on life in the WHL is teams will capitalize on an area you can take advantage of in an opponent and keep doing it again and again and again until you pick up the win. That type of development becomes larger in a best-of-seven post-season series.
That is becoming evident in the best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs between the Raiders and the Rebels. The Raiders lead the series 2-0 with Games 3 and 4 to be hosted Tuesday and Wednesday respectively at the Merchant Crane Centrum in Red Deer.
During the regular season, the Raiders topped the Eastern Conference and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.
At this point in their development, they are an experienced and more veteran team that also has a youthful contingent who are proving to be special players. The steady veterans include 20-year-olds in captain Justice Christensen, Brayden Dube and Aiden Oiring along with Braeden Cootes, Brandon Gorzynski, Maddix McCagherty and Linden Burrett.
The youngsters who are playing beyond their age include Daxon Rudolph, Brock Cripps, Ben Harvey, Connor Howe and netminder Steele Bass. On Monday, the 16-year-old Cripps was named the WHL’s rookie of the week for posting two goals, two assists and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department in Prince Albert’s victories in Games 1 and 2 of the series at the Art Hauser Centre.
This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.
