Only six games into the regular season, the St. Albert Raiders have proven they contain a strong core on both sides of the puck.
With a decisive 6-1 win over the struggling Southside Athletic Club (SSAC) on Sunday, the midget AAA team added to its impressive tally of 30 goals and a league-low 11 against while going 4-1-1.
Although some coaches place an emphasis on league standings no matter the time of year, bench boss Sandro Pisani believes the start of the season is the time to build his team to get better, while the latter half is where points become more important.
“Our concern is to get better and better every day. We don’t worry about the standings until they mean something in February,” said Pisani.
Goals by Carter Proft and Joel Harden opened the scoring against the SSAC (3-3). Despite the early lead, Pisani said his team didn’t have the start to the game he was looking for.
“I thought we started slow and as the game progressed we got better.”
In the second period the Raiders were able to build their lead even more with a constant barrage of shots on SSAC goaltender Curtis Honey. After a storm of penalties and physicality demonstrated by both sides, the Raiders were able to capitalize on the chances that were awarded to them. Two blasts from Evan Warmington, who managed to raise his goal total to three, did some damage. Jayden Hart also added to the score sheet.
“We could have been more disciplined at times. It was a tough game to play behind the play but we have to learn to skate away from stuff like that,” said Pisani.
While the game was filled with a physical nature that might cause some teams to lose their course, Warmington felt the tempo brought his game to another level.
“I thought I played well. I put the puck on net and banged some bodies out there,” said Warmington. “It was rough, but I like it. I’m a big guy and I can handle it.”
The shot totals were 36-30 for the Raiders and the actual scoring chances were tilted heavily towards the home team.
“We had some good quality opportunities and for the most part we eliminated those from them,” said Pisani. “A lot of their shots were outside shots but I thought our goaltender made the saves he needed to make.”
The Raiders started the weekend with a 5-1 win over the KC Pats (4-2) at Bill Hunter Arena.
Their next game is tonight against the Maple Leafs (1-5). Faceoff is 7:45 p.m. at Londonderry Arena.
On Saturday at 2:30 p.m. the Lloydminster Bobcats (3-3) visit the Raiders at Akinsdale Arena.
