The St. Albert Raiders are shifting into overdrive in the north division pennant race as winners of eight in a row while unbeaten in 15 games.
The midget AAA hockey team is now within striking distance of the front-running Canadian Athletic Club with a game in hand trailing by two points.
“It’s been a big push. We were down significantly to the CAC team. They really pulled away at the start but we made it a goal to try and catch them,” said captain Brendan Kallis.
The Jan. 18 showdown between the Raiders (14-4-7) and CAC (17-6-3) at Bill Hunter Arena will help determine who is number one in the north.
“I know all the guys in the room are thinking about that game for sure because that will be the biggest movement for first place,” Kallis said.
The Raiders have been firing on all cylinders after their last loss, 5-3 to the Grande Prairie Storm (11-9-5) Oct. 26 at Akinsdale Arena.
“Once we caught our stride 15 games ago we’ve been an unstoppable force in the league,” Kallis said. “There’s lots of good vibes going through the room right now. Everyone is positive and it’s very good for the team.”
Kallis, 17, pointed to the 2-2 draw against the Hurricanes (9-9-9) in Lethbridge on Nov. 16 as the turning point in the season. The stalwart defenceman scored the equalizer with 8:50 to play and the Raiders have gone on to string eight victories together.
“In that game I felt we rallied together as a team towards a common goal, which would’ve been to make it to the Mac’s tournament. Unfortunately we didn’t make it but I think that’s where it really started where everybody was working towards a common goal and we’ve seen that ever since,” Kallis said. “Our team buy-in is incredible right now.”
The 12th win in 15 games for the Raiders was Sunday’s 6-1 decision against the Calgary Buffaloes (15-7-4), the south division leaders who finished 2-2 at the Mac’s.
“It’s definitely a huge win. After the break we’ve taken off right where we left off. You can have this huge streak before Christmas and be the hottest team in the league but it doesn’t really mean anything unless you do it after Christmas,” Kallis said. “We wanted to prove not only to ourselves but the community that we would’ve been able to do damage at the Mac’s tournament. We wanted to show that to the Buffaloes, who did really well in the Mac’s tournament. We kind of had something to prove to the hockey community that we probably deserved to be there.”
The Raiders pulled away from the Buffaloes after Ryan Peckford, Brayden Nicholetts (power play) and Ryan Cox scored during a 5:53-minute span in the first frame.
The Buffaloes replied in the middle frame but the Raiders closed out the period with goals by Nicholetts, Jaedon Leslie and Ian Mitchell’s first of the season. Nick Sutter assisted on two of the three markers.
A brouhaha with 3:14 to play in the aftermath of Nicholetts’ check to the head double minor resulted in a rash of misconducts to both teams.
A pair of Buffaloes combined for 20 saves and Ethan Crotty (4-2-2, 3.14 GAA) stopped 25 shots as the Raiders improved to 7-3-3 on home ice.
Not in the lineup was the Parker AuCoin, an offensive whiz with 19 goals and 35 points in 24 games.
“We don’t have just two or three guys where the other team can put out one line and try and shut us down. We get scoring from all four of our lines as well as six of our D,” said Kallis of the highest-scoring north division team with 107 goals.
The six-foot-two, 185-pound Kallis leads all defencemen on the team in goals with four and is second in points with 15.
Last season the former captain of the midget 15 St. Albert Flyers recorded three goals and eight assists in 34 games for the north division finalists.
The Raiders have nine games remaining before the playoffs, starting Saturday against the KC Pats (5-17-2) at 2:45 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena.
Sunday the Raiders visit the Lloydminster Bobcats (13-9-3) at 2 p.m.
“I don’t think we have to change too much before the playoffs but everybody definitely has to keep on board and contribute what they can do,” said Kallis, a Grade 12 St. Albert Catholic High School student who is property of the Drayton Valley Thunder in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
