Local talent fuels Raiders

Times Editor  

 

A handful of local players from Strathmore, Langdon and Wheatland County have fueled the Rockyview Raiders to an impressive 6-3-2 record to start the season.

The Chestermere-based team, which plays in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League, is coached by area resident Doug Thurston, who is excited with the team he has assembled.

“I’m very happy with the season so far,” said Thurston. “We’re sitting third in the league and we’re playing pretty solid. Our success has been our team play overall – we’re very hard to score against and we have two very, very good goaltenders, six solid D and then our (forward) lines are very conscientious playing in the defensive zone. We kind of score by committee and we’re pretty solid all the way through, so we don’t have too many weak spots. We’re pretty steady.”

The team, which consists of players born in 1997, has numerous players from the Strathmore, Langdon and Wheatland County.

According to Thurston, those players play a huge part of the Raiders success.

“We have strong support from the Strathmore area and Langdon,” said a beaming Thurston. “Langdon has grown, so we’re getting more and more players from that area – they’re gonna need a rink pretty soon. 

“We’ve been really happy with the (crop of local) players.”

Those players, mixed in with the rest of the roster, have formed a solid nucleus for the Raiders. According to Thurston, the team is very close and they play like ‘family.’

“The thing I find with the guys is their positive attitude,” said Thurston. “They’re willing to come and work hard … they listen to the coaches, they attempt to do what we ask of them on the ice and that’s all you can ask from any player.

“It is a real key to our success.”

It was a busy weekend for the Raiders, as they hosted the AMMHL 2012 Prospect Cup Nov. 15-18 in Chestermere, with some games being played at the Strathmore Family Centre.

“They are all 15-year-old kids in this tournament, so some of them will look to go to junior teams (next year),” said Thurston. “It’s an opportunity to get teams from the North Division, who we don’t play very often, to come down and play some of the South teams. It’s also an opportunity for the scouts to get a look at all the boys.

“We had some real good teams here … it was a great turnout.”

Despite not winning any of their round robin games, the Raiders played solid throughout the weekend and are looking to make a push going into the second half of their season.

The Raiders will resume their AMMHL schedule on Nov. 23 when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Chestermere Recreational Centre beginning at 7:15 p.m.