Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Despite a rare loss in their second game back following the holiday break, the Napanee Raiders find themselves in a great spot with two months to go in the PJHL Jr. C regular season.
Napanee lost for just the third time in 27 games on Friday, falling in heart-breaking fashion to the visiting Frankford Huskies at the SPC.
Coming out of the break, Raider head coach Ben Hagerman was asked to reflect on the season to date.
“The 16 in a row to start the year was not necessarily planned but we’ll take it,” said Hagerman, referring the team’s 16-0 start before taking its first loss on Nov. 18, a 3-2 loss to Picton. “We certainly worked hard to maintain that consistency and some things really went our way. Amazing goal tending and some timely goals and maybe caught some teams before they had their roster completely set. We were a little bit more ready. Then a little dose of reality into late November there with the two loses in a row but it was the best thing for us at the time. It regained some hunger and some fire and they ripped off seven in a row before the break. Pretty much the team is everything we planned for. We know we’ve got excellent goaltending, we know we’re a veteran group that nothing really frazzles us if we stay within our systems. It’s a mature group that doesn’t let anything get to them. I wouldn’t say necessarily that (24-3) was what I planned, but it’s a product of a lot of work and some good fortune, but more so guys buying into systems and gelling.”
Napanee’s Beckett Palmer-Stephen chases the bouncing puck around the Huskies net during Friday’s game at the SPC. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
Heading into tonight’s game in Campbellford, the Raiders have 13 games to play with an 11-point lead over the second place Amherstview Jets, while also holding two games in hand. Acknowledging that anything can happen down the stretch, the Raiders are in the driver’s seat when it comes to clinching the top seed heading into the playoffs. While that’s the goal, finishing with the most points doesn’t guarantee post-season success.
“We’re aware that everyone is back to centre in Game 1, whoever that opponent is at the time,” said Hagerman. “No matter who it’s going to be, literally any of the five teams in the division can beat us on any given night. We’re well aware of that. Everyone’s made some adds to their roster, essentially other than us. We know the teams we saw in October and not the same team we’re going to see in March. We’ve just got to continue to build our game, create a little more consistency on our power-play, continue to work on our defensive zone schemes, continue to work on our five-on-five offensive scoring game and be really consistency for a really long time and be really cohesive by the time the playoffs begin.”
The Schmalz Cup playoff format is still being finalized, but as of right now it appears as though it will follow a similar format to last year, where the final four teams compete in a tournament style championship.
“No matter how you slice it whether it’s the old format or the new format, there’s three very grueling tough series to get through before you get to that final four,” said Hagerman. “We’re just going to take it step-by-step. Whoever we face in that first round is going to be probably as good or better as the team we’ll face in the second round. That’s how good and deep our division is. We think that we’ve built a deep club that even if we are hit with an injury or two we can withstand that and our affiliated player list is fairly deep so we feel that we can plunk guys in as needed.”
Not lost on Hagerman is the fact 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the club’s first Schmalz Cup title over the Hanover Barons in 1993. Plans are currently in motion to bring that team together for a celebration prior to a regular season home game down the stretch. Adding another title, which would be the third overall for the franchise to match the one in 2019, would be an even better way to mark the occasion.
As they continue to build fine tune their team in hopes of a deep playoff run, Hageman noted the home crowds, which average over 300 people on any given Friday and saw over 400 last week, have been a huge boost.
“I think that run last year really created a lot of momentum coming into this year. People enjoyed watching us last spring and knew the team could be potentially even stronger this year so that brought them back,” said Hagerman. “All the kids that line up to talk to the guys and get pictures and get pucks it’s really cool. And I know it honestly helps us play better, it really does.”
Napanee will be back on the SPC Friday when they host the Port Hope Panthers. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.