Every point counts for the St. Albert Nektar Data Systems Raiders.
Sunday’s 2-2 draw with the Calgary Buffaloes marked the fifth game out of eight in November the Raiders recorded points while going 3-3-2.
“We’re doing good right now. We’re rolling and we want to keep rolling into playoffs,” said centre Tyson Greenway of the Raiders (7-7-4), tied for third in the north division of the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.
Greenway struck twice in Calgary as the Raiders salvaged a point after settling for a 4-4 result the day before against the host Red Deer Chiefs.
“It’s good for us to get a point in that game. It gives us another point in the standings and keeps us going as a team,” said Greenway, who fired the equalizer on the penalty kill at 6:13 of the third.
The Raiders and Canadian Athletic Club (7-6-4) are one point back of the second-place Grande Peace Storm (8-7-3) while trailing the division-leading Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (12-6) by six before the St. Albert squad plays the Southside Athletic Club (6-11) today at 5 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena.
Sunday the Raiders host the Sherwood Park Kings (5-11-2) at 1:15 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
“We’re hoping to get four points out of this weekend,” said netminder Andreai Proctor-Ramirez. “We’re going to stick to the game plans the coach gives us. We’ve got to play as a team and play our roles and use each other to get the wins.”
The Raiders, a shoe-in for the 41st annual Mac’s Midget AAA World Invitational Tournament as one of the top teams in the north, are 3-5-4 against south division teams and 2-4-2 on the road after last weekend’s results.
“We’ve come a long way compared to when we had our Showcase in St. Albert,” said Proctor-Ramirez of the 6-1 loss to the Buffaloes (11-4-3) and 3-1 win against the Calgary Flames (5-11-2) during the 18-game AMHL Showcase Weekend in early November.
“We’re staying with teams. There are no blowouts. We’ve been competing,” Proctor-Ramirez added. “We’re finding ways to score. We’re getting pucks on net and every opportunity we try and capitalize on them. Even weird shots seem to go in.”
Greenway’s shorthanded effort against the Buffaloes, a goal scorer’s goal, was set up by Mathieu Gautier.
“Gaut made a really nice play to intercept a pass and sent me on a B-way and I shot it bottom corner,” said Greenway, who was making a rare appearance on the penalty kill as head coach Jack Redlick played a hunch in deploying the first-year midget with the Raiders scrambling to pull even on the scoreboard.
Greenway also opened the scoring 13 seconds into the match.
“We were getting pucks to the net and we ended up getting a nice bounce our way and I was able to shoot it in quick off the goalie's back,” said Greenway, who was flanked by Brad Adams and Ethan Whillans throughout the weekend series.
Greenway, 15, and forward Jaxon Dube cracked the Raiders’ lineup as graduates of the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres.
“It’s an awesome experience to play on this team. I think this is the best group of players I've had ever in my hockey career,” said Greenway, captain of the 2018 Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League provincial finalists.
Greenway is the second-highest goal scorer on the Raiders with six behind Eric Perneel’s 10 after posting 21 goals and 47 points in 34 regular-season games with the Sabres.
“I have to use my size and my speed more in this league because everybody is bigger, stronger and faster. I have to move my feet and use my body to make plays for my teammates,” said the Grade 11 St. Albert Catholic High School student.
Proctor-Ramirez, 16, is another promising newcomer to the Raiders after spending last season with the Lloydminster Bobcats of the AMHL. Sunday’s stalemate was the fourth start in a row for the Stony Plain resident and Grade 11 Memorial Composite High School student.
“I started off pretty good and then kind of hit a little rough patch during our Showcase letting in five goals (on 24 shots in 36 minutes in the 6-1 loss to the Buffaloes) and since then I’ve tried to bounce back and things have been working out for me. My goalie coach is also helping me a lot trying to stay more calm in the net and it’s been helping me," said Proctor-Ramirez, 5-3-3 with the Raiders with a 2.89 GAA and .903 save percentage after going 6-12-2 with a 4.22 GAA and .889 save percentage with the lowly Bobcats (8-25-2).
“I just try and make myself look big. Obviously I’m not a big guy at five foot eight, there’s not really much there, but I’m competing for the puck all the time and as hard as I can and that’s how I try and make up for my lack of size. I’m battling for that puck because I don’t want it to go in the net,” said the goalie for the 2016-17 Yale Hockey Academy Bantam Prep team in Abbotsford, B.C.
Proctor-Ramirez registered 28 saves against the Chiefs (12-2-4) but is still beating himself up over the tying marker with 1:49 to play.
“It was all my fault that fourth goal,” he said of the two-on-one scoring play after Perneel and Whillans potted goals less than two minutes apart in the third to give the Raiders the lead. “We should’ve had that game so that was on me.”
His game-high 32 saves was the difference against the Buffaloes.
“We didn’t get as many shots (15) as we wanted to, but we battled through it and we capitalized on the opportunities. Greenway scored two great goals and we got it done and came out with one point.”
ICE CHIPS: Defenceman Robert Kincaid, the leading scorer on the Raiders with 15 assists and 17 points, celebrated his first goal in the Alberta Junior Hockey league in his first game with the Camrose Kodiaks, a power-play tally in the first period of Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Calgary Canucks in Camrose.
