The St. Albert Nektar Data Systems Raiders have turned the page on letting two wins slip away last weekend.
The results were ties of 2-2 against the Red Deer Chiefs and 3-3 against the Okotoks Oilers at Akinsdale Arena.
“We’re starting from scratch. We’ll wipe those off,” said defenceman Tye Pedersen. “Those two ties were rough, but the boys are kicking this week. We’re heading south and hopefully get four points and come home and start again.”
The Raiders (4-2-2) are in Calgary this weekend for games against the Royals (5-3) tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Stu Peppard Arena and the Northstars (4-3-1) Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Max Bell Arena.
“We’re treating them as must-win games because we know there is a cutoff time for the Mac’s so it’s an important time,” said defenceman Matt Offenberger of the Raiders qualifying for the Mac’s tournament in Calgary during the Christmas break as one of the top teams in the north division of the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.
“You also don’t want to leave it until the end of the year to try and get wins so it’s a big, big weekend to try and perform well and hopefully get four points and make strides as a team,” Offenberger added.
The Raiders are 1-1-2 against south division opponents.
“There are different players to focus on in either division but there is a lot of skill in the south and they seem to play really well structurally so it’s kind of a different challenge for us,” Offenberger said. “But against any team in the league, if we bring our A game we can definitely compete and beat them.”
The Raiders were victimized in the third period for the equalizers on the power play by Red Deer (5-2-1) and Okotoks (4-2-2).
“They were close games. We were right there with the best teams in the south so it was a good weekend overall for us to get points, but we blew two third-period leads and we could’ve been stronger in the third period,” Offenberger said. “We’re a good team when we play a lot of even strength so it was a discipline thing.”
Red Deer connected with the man advantage 40 seconds into the third period after pulling even at one on the power play in the middle frame.
Okotoks rallied with a pair of unanswered goals in the third with the Raiders on the penalty kill and the tying marker was scored with 5:40 remaining.
“We let them come back and that’s not what we should be doing,” Pedersen said of the two stalemates. “The PK wasn’t there this weekend but we’re working on it in practice and we’ll come back strong.”
The Raiders are a lukewarm 0-1-2 since the team’s last win, 3-2 against the host Sherwood Park Kings (0-7-1) Oct. 13.
“There is a whole other level that we can reach and I think we’ll hit that soon. We’re getting there for sure and it will be perfect,” said Pedersen, 16, a Grade 11 St. Albert Catholic High School student.
The first-year Raider and former midget 15 St. Albert Flyer picked up two assists against Okotoks and had one helper against Red Deer to raise his point totals to four in eight games.
“It’s been good. I’m happy as heck to be here and the boys are great boys,” said Pedersen, who is paired with Taige Harding on the blueline.
Offenberger, 17, chipped in with two assists against Okotoks for three points in eight games while partnered with Robert Kincaid, the team’s leading scorer with 10 points in eight games.
The Grade 12 St. Albert High student believes the Raiders are headed in the right direction despite the recent hiccup.
“We’re playing fast, we’re playing as a team well and I think we’ll continue to climb as the year goes on. It’s a good group of guys and we’re really looking forward to the rest of the regular season,” said Offenberger, who made the jump to the Raiders from the 2018 Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League champion St. Albert Source for Sports Crusaders.
ICE CHIPS: The 18-game AMHL Showcase Weekend starts Friday in St. Albert and the Raiders face off against the Calgary Buffaloes (5-3) at 7:15 p.m. Saturday and Calgary Flames (1-7) at 4:15 p.m. Sunday at Go Auto Arena.
St. Albert product Kye Buchanan has joined the Raiders after a four-game stint with the Lloydminster Bobcats in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
Buchanan, 17, is a six-foot-three forward who spent last season with the AMHL provincial champion Lethbridge Hurricanes and registered 10 goals and 18 points in 33 games and one assist in 12 playoff games.
The former midget 15 Flyer and bantam AAA St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabre produced two goals and one assist in seven games at the Telus Cup for the third-place Hurricanes.
A long-term injury to forward Logan McKinley in the 4-1 loss to the KC Pats (3-5) Oct. 14 prompted the Raiders to add Buchanan to the roster as the team will go with 21 players this season. McKinley, who had two goals in six games, is expected back in mid-January.
The Raiders continued their community involvement initiative this week by raking leaves for 20 lucky seniors.
