Tuesday 9 October 2012

Red Hot Raiders Beat Hurricanes 4-1

LETHBRIDGE - Two goals in the second, one on the power play turned out to be the difference as the red hot Prince Albert Raider rolled into Lethbridge and rolled out with a 4-1 victory.

It didn't take long for the Hurricanes to get rolling in this game.  Just 21 seconds into the first period, Russ Maxwell knocked in the puck by Raiders goalie Luke Siemens to give Lethbridge a 1-0 lead.  It was Maxwell's 4th goal of the season and the first time in 7 games this year that the Canes have opened the scoring in a game.  The Raiders would get a few good chances to score as well, but Ty Rimmer was steady in goal for Lethbridge and managed to keep PA off the scoreboard.  The Canes took the 1-0 lead into the dressing room after one period.  The shots favoured the Raiders 12-8, but Lethbridge had 5 scoring chances on those 8 shots.

In the second, the Prince Albert Raiders would find the equalizer.  Mik Winther, in his first game in a while took a nice feed from behind the Canes goal and beat Ty Rimmer to tie the game at 1-1.  Before the midway point of the period, PA would take it's first lead of the game when Sawyer Lange hammered a point shot on the power play which got by Rimmer to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead.  The Raiders turned on the afterburners late in the period with a flurry of good chances, but couldn't add to their lead.  PA would take that 2-1 advantage into the dressing room after 40 minutes.  The shots favoured the Raiders 25-13.

In the third, Prince Albert would get a little breathing room.  Riley Guenther moved down the right side snapped a shot and beat Rimmer with a knuckle ball shot.  That gave PA a 3-1 lead and some insurance for the rest of the night.  Before the game would come to an end, the Raiders would ice it with an empty netter off the stick of Mark McNeill. That sealed it up and the Raiders would skate away with a 4-1 victory.  PA out shot Lethbridge 35-20.  The Raiders have now won 7 in a row and are 7-0-0-1 on the season.  The loss drops the Canes record to 2-5 on the season.  They've lost 3 games in a row.
Assistant Chris Chisamore said on the CJOC post game show that a 2-5 start is unacceptable for this team and they'll be working hard to prepare for Prince George on Friday.  The Canes power play continues to struggle, with only 4 goals on 34 chances so far this season.

Prior to this game against the Raiders, I asked Head Coach and GM Rich Preston about the importance of this home stand and really the next 4 to 5 weeks with 12 of the next 14 games at home.  His response was short and sweet: "Just one game at a time Pat, that's all we're thinking of right now.  We don't think long term."  Regardless, I feel this stretch of games is critical for this team heading up to the quarter point in the season.

NEXT UP

The Hurricanes will continue this six game how stand on Friday (Oct. 12) when they play host to the Prince George Cougars.  On Saturday the Saskatoon Blades roll into town.  Game time both nights is 7:00 pm (MDT).  The pre-game shows on CJOC at 6:30.

Thanks,
Pat

24 comments:

  1. I love how when we had 6 men on the ice, number 3 skated back to the bench as the play headed to the canes net. When he turned around he had to catch up to the play that tuned into a goal. Not saying they wouldn't have scored another time within the minute thirty but where is the effort?

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  2. The players are definately not to blame for the troubles we are having lately. We have the potential, I've seen plenty of plays that showed pure skill in the players.

    The problem is the main man behind the bench. The plays arent there, and the players look like they have to play the game individually.

    The powerplay and PK are excellent examples of this. Tonight, we could not set up anything on the PP. If we won the faceoff, we had control for about half a minute, then the rest of the time was trying to get set up in the zone. The PK took all of 18 seconds to prove the lack of set up we have.

    I feel sorry for these boys. They come to play but if they have no set plays, theres no way we are going to win. I really feel sorry for Rimmer, who tries his darndest every game to win, but just gets slaughtered in net. And players like Duke/Merkley/Pilon, who came to help develop their skills, but can't if they arent taught anything new.

    I'm scared Preston will make this team lose even more money this year and make the board have to sell the team. Can you imagine Lethbridge without a hockey team? I sure can't, but it's a possibility with this guy at the reins of this team...

    Jay

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  3. Generally speaking, I thought the Canes had a good effort tonight (in response to Anonymous). I can't speak to that play in particular though.

    But the game played out pretty much as I suspected it would. Meaning, the much smaller and MUCH younger Canes had trouble maintaining puck possession and getting second chances in front of the Raider net against the much bigger and MUCH older Raider team.

    The Canes definitely had some great scoring chances (no question) and it would've been nice to see them cash in on one of them right before the end of the 1st period. To go up 2-0 after one period would've certainly been a better result for their effort.

    But in the end, as opposed to "Coach" Preston's pregame comments, it's not a matter of simply "bearing down" or "finishing". The problem I see is the Canes' lack of size and lack of experienced forwards as the main culprit. This is a 19 year old league and when the Canes' best players are 16 and 17 years old, they just don't have much of a chance against bigger, older players. "Bearing down" isn't going to help a young 16 year old player after he has one scoring attempt and a 19 or 20 year old/6'4" defenceman takes care of the front of the net. It's one and done for the young Canes in front of the net.

    How did this team get younger than they were last year? (Oh right, Preston traded a 19 and a 20 year old forward right before training camp and replaced them with 16 year olds. Got it!).

    This is going to be a long haul and hard for a lot of fans to stomach. Not sure if the fan base has the patience for this? I feel bad for the players. It's got to be tough on them.

    Darren

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  4. In response to Jay.....the team may or may not be sold, but the only people to blame are those sitting on the Board of Directors. They not only hired Preston, but saw enough of his coaching abilities (and apparently liked them) to resign him to a 2-year extension at the beginning of the year.

    Darren

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  5. Agree with Jay(10:14) 100%.....
    The players are not to blame; they worked hard and more than anyone they WANT TO WIN.
    Sure, the players are small, but that's not the biggest problem at this stage......the team needs systems, leadership from effective coaches, and be learning,developing, and improving.
    Seems that the Canes are already 4 weeks behind other teams in building and growing in their hockey development.

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  6. Well said Jay and Darren. It was classic Canes once again as Darren mentioned, offensively trying to play a puck possession game in the corners in the offensive zone with their heads down trying to jam it through much bigger defense with points and others wide open. How many point shots did the Raiders get last night 10 -12 how many did the Canes get 1 or 2? That is just poor poor coaching and direction. The power play was inexcusable. The forwards could not get posession in the offensive zone and passes were way way to slow. Near the end of the game they finally had some chances when Johnston carried the puck in by himself. I dont think individually their is a 15 goal scorer from any forward and 2 of the the 4th line players last night could not crack a Junior A line up. The team needs excellent systems to create offense. If anyone actually has a chance to see what happens in Canes practices I am sure we would love to hear about it because the result offensivly of what they are doing right now is putrid to be kind. Scott

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  7. Teams are making moves now after they have seen the first 10 games of the year. Red Deer, Tri, Moose Jaw, Med Hat, Saskatoon have all made moves. Lethbridge needs to pull the trigger soon or this season is gone and probably so is the coaching staff. I can see them moving a Johnston or Hood for a goal scoring 20 year old and another forward and picks to upgrade up front. TD

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  8. Wow do I feel sorry for this team. I watched both benches during the timeouts and what a difference. PA coaches were talking or should I say coaching the whole time while our coaches never said a word to the players. The coaches other than possibly Chis don't seem to care and it is affecting the players. These young men have a dream to make it to the nhl and come here and have that dream taken away because of these coaches. I thought I had possible solution with no response so I will try again. Move Preston to the press box and Chis down as the head coach he could be in charge of goalies and d-men while Kab could be in charge of the forwards. This could work if the players like Chis and would not cost the team a bunch of money. Now as for the captain of this team once again where was he? I actually saw a PA defenceman with him in a headlock and there was no fight in Hood. Not to say he needed to fight the guy but he did not do anything. Oh and what about when Rimmer got run over and not a single guy did anything except skate away. Where the --------------- is the fight in this team. It is going to be a long season if something is not done soon. AJ

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  9. AJ, it was a 3-1 Game Hood fighting or fighting the guy who ran over RImmer (he actually tried to jump over him) was not the time if your are serious about winning that actually showed good disciplne. The bigger factor with Hood is that he can't produce and never has. His is a north - south 3rd line forward at best. He is invisible for the most part as many have said. Why he was made Captain is beyond me. Having said that I agree with TD a trade of Hood or Johnston is coming soon. The team needs to get some scoring upfront and NOW....Scott

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  10. I didn't comment on this last night, but in regards to the coaching staffs, I was watching both benches during the 3rd period "TV" timeout (for lack of a better word). The PA coach had out his whiteboard drawing up a play and had the 5 players going out for the faceoff huddled around him. He was very emphatic during the timeout about where he wanted his players to be and what he expected following the timeout. Preston, on the other hand paced up and down behind the Hurricane bench with his arms folded. He didn't talk to his coaches nor his players. Kabayama was talking to a couple of the players, but not the group who was going to take the upcoming faceoff. Those players were out of the ice, some kneeling some standing, but they weren't getting instruction about their positioning on the draw or instruction about what to do after the faceoff. It was very noticeable to me seeing this since the game was still only 3-1 with 8 minutes remaining.

    Another thing I noticed was later in the 3rd period, Rimmer was banging his stick on the ice to get the coaches attention as he was looking to leave the net for an extra forward. He banged and banged and banged. Preston couldn't have been less interested in what was going on. He finally looked over at Rimmer, but made no communication to him. I'm not who is running this show, but it doesn't seem to be Preston.

    Does Preston understand he is the HEAD coach?? Does he think that delegating his coaching duties to his assistants is a disservice to the players, fans and the organization in general?? This team can't continue to struggle on special teams and expect to make the playoffs. (Ya, I know..."PLAYOFFS?!!"). Things will have to change behind the bench in order for this to happen. I can't believe Doug Paisley and Alex Polycronopolis (sp?) thinks this or the brutal special teams is acceptable. These two were elected to the Board because of their hockey backgrounds. I hope they start getting the attention of the rest of the Board cause this ship is sinking fast and doesn't seem to have a captain.

    As for trading Johnson, we've all seen how the defence plays without him, so I don't like that idea. We have LOTS of draft picks and I'd like to see them move a high draft pick (and Hood) for an experienced 19 year old forward.

    Darren

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  11. Hey maybe we trade Hood for Buonassisi. Didn't most of you say keeping Hood and not Nick was the best move and also think Hood was the best choice for captain. I never said Hood needed to fight but holy crap actual act like you care.
    AJ

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  12. I will agree with AJ's idea about the best low-impact economic cost to the team by moving Preston into a full time GM role and let Chisamore take over full time coaching duties. SOMETHING has to be give. It can't keep going in this direction.

    Darren

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  13. Craig Button was in the building last night, I'd love to hear his take on it. First period was pretty solid but PA was much sharper in the 2nd and 3rd. Preston needed to take notes on how the Raiders got the pick out of the zone. That's exactly the kind of thing the Canes need to do to take advantage of their speed. But heaven forbid the skill guys actually get a chance to use their skill.

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  14. A collective "DITTO" to the comments posted thus far. The players are not to blame for the 2-5 record.
    It all boils down to coaching. These kids are being taught nothing new. (Preston's comment regarding using the old Hockey Canada drill book) proves that.
    How frustrating must it be for the players to watch other teams run systems against them, have powerplays that work because of schemes that have been taught.
    Unless I am completely off base, these kids are being taught zip! "Bear Down" is not a strategy.
    Like a lot of other hockey fans in this city, I too was very optomistic about this season because of the young talent and their skill level potential. But unless they are taught how, when, where to use it, then it is wasted.
    Last night you could see the frustration start to rear is ugly head. Rimmer, Maxwell, Galbraith all slamming their sticks for one reason or another....a pure sign of frustration.
    We lack, size and scoring. More size will help these young kids get to the net.
    Preston apparently said to Pat, that he does not look ahead on the schedule, just one game at a time. But....when I look down the schedule for the rest of the month we only play two teams that have as bad records as we do. Kambeitz with "Toon", watch him turn it up Saturday. Hurricanes 2-15-0-0 at the end of October? With the lack of systems, powerplays, a possibility! Yikes. Time to deal......but as most teams are improving, who is going to give up anything unless it is a problem child?
    I hope that I am wrong about all of this, but something tells me I am not.

    RJ

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  15. Time for a little "tongue in cheek" humor. The BMO rankings came out today which lists the top ten teams in the CHL. But they forgot the other BMO rankings. Beaten (by) Most Opponents.
    60th Sherbrooke -0,70,1 (.062) 59th Ottawa 67's -1,5,0,1 (.167) 58th
    Kootenay -1,4, (.200) 57th Everett
    -1,5,0,1 (.214) and tied for 56th
    Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Peterborough and Val D'or -2,5 (.286)

    Jules

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  16. Ha! Interesting stat "Jules"!

    Saskatoon is desperately trying to shore up their roster since they're hosting the Memorial Cup in the spring. They've made a few changes, just yesterday added Kambeitz and probably aren't done yet. This is why I was saying I don't want the Canes to be a part of the Memorial Cup bidding process because the Blades will be in last place for the next 3-4 years because of all the draft picks and prospects they've given up to be a competitive host team.

    So, I'd wager that Saskatoon won't be on Jules' list in a few weeks!

    Darren

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  17. Ok a bit of a change in direction but more stats. I keep hearing the board blaming the fans for the team losing money. So this is for them. Out of the 25 years as the Hurricanes 10 years at 500 or better and 15 under. B. Loucks was 500 or better 3 of his 4 years. M. Dyck was over 2 of his 3 years. R. Preston is 3 for 3 under. M. Dyck's last year 521 % Preston the next year 333 %. I realize and agree that Staysiuk was a terrible gm. but in this league the whole team changes every 2 or 3 years and this is Preston's 4 and the team is not getting any better. My question for the board is how is that the fans fault. I continue to buy my season ticket to support this team but it is extremely frustrating to watch them keep messing up. I wish I could spend 2 hours a night in a school gym with this team for the next 2 weeks because I am about 99 % sure they would be better than they are now. And I said gym because I have only been on skates once in the last 30 years. AJ

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  18. Really slow at work so here is more stats for the board. In the last 25 years or less here are a few teams winning or losing records. Swift 18 over and 7 under. Red Deer 11 over 9 under. Calgary 13 & 4. Med. Hat 16 & 9. Kootenai 13 & 1. Hurricanes 10 & 15. AJ

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  19. While we are doing statistics think about this. 7 games into the season, how many skaters on the team have more points than the goalie? Look at the over/under on that one. And think about the draft positions of some of the players above and below the "Rimmer" line.

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  20. The kids without points drafted high all had lots of points before they got here. Did they all become bad hockey players at the same time....

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  21. I thought Preston had done a good job as GM prior to this year, but moving Tot and Bouanissisi without making another move to bring in one or two 19 year olds who can play on the top two lines at the start of this year has proven to be a big mistake. It can still be corrected, but it sounds like he is content to put all the pressure on 16 and 17 year olds (when he states in his Global interviews that "we need more guys to show up". I was at the last game against PA. Trust me, the kids were trying their hardest. Watson, Merkley, Duke and Laurencelle were all pressing and skating. That's not the solution. He needs to get his head screwed on straight and bring in some size and experience.

    Darren

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  22. Is there a way that a public forum could be had so that these complaints could be brought before the board or at least get there reasoning for extending Preston Contract? Does Preston have dirty pictures of the board come on make the move and fire all the coaches and start new. Cut bait. think about it, we can't get much worse

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  23. Darren, I think the reason why Preston hasn't brought in more veteran players is that most of the WHL players have no-trade clauses. It's rarely mentioned by any team, but the asst GM brought it up during an interview last year. Whether it's 50% or 90% that have the clause, I have no idea.

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  24. "Clauses"? Clauses in what?? No WHL players are under contract to their WHL clubs and are tradeable at any time. There's no contracts in the Junior ranks, so not sure what you're talking about?????

    Darren

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