It’s Overreaction Monday where we take a look at a story line from the weekend and … well overreact. While some good points will be made, these are meant to drive a particular narrative and have fun.
Overreaction of the week: The East Division is the Prince Albert Raiders to lose
We all knew the Prince Albert Raiders were going to be good this year. We did not know they were going to be this good. The Raiders have stormed out to a 12-1 start and are scoring at will right now.
Over the weekend, the Raiders hosted both the Calgary Hitmen and Spokane Chiefs and scored eight goals on each of them. The Chiefs are thought to be one of the contenders in the Western Conference and Prince Albert was up on them 5-0 before the game was 25 minutes old.
The lone loss for the Raiders was in the middle of their Alberta swing in early October when Reese Johnson scored with just over two minutes left to give Red Deer a 4-3 win at home.
Since that loss, the Raiders have only had an opponent get closer than four goals once (that is over five games).
In a reduced schedule, a fast start is even more important and the Raiders certainly have that. Games within your division are even more important as well and P.A. has won all five they have played within the East Division. Two of those wins are over the 8-3-1-0 Saskatoon Blades who sit right behind them in the standings.
Right now the Raiders not only lead the WHL in goals with 65, they also have had the fewest scored against them with 26.
That stat explains a lot about how the Raiders will be able to sustain this start.
They have a very balanced offense and are getting incredible defense and goaltending.
Brett Leason leads the league in scoring with 28 points. He has 77 shots, which is 21 more than any other player in the WHL. Leason was acquired from the Tri-City Americans just under a year ago for a third-round WHL Bantam Draft pick in 2018. He had a new life with the Raiders last year, potting 32 points in 54 games after totaling 19 points in 81 games over three years with the Americans.
He has nearly eclipsed that career best already this year.
Sean Montogmery is well on his way to having his best year by a long shot as well. The overage center has 18 points, which is just 11 points shy of the 29 he put up in 72 games last year. He has nine points in his last four games.
Sergei Sapego is another former Americans player who has found new life with P.A. He was claimed off of waivers last year. After putting up 17 points last year in 41 games, he already has 13 points this year. The six-foot, 177 pound import d-man is a play-maker who puts pressure on defenses by activating into the rush and always seeming to find an open man.
While those three have provided some unexpected production, the guy between the pipes is doing what many expected him to. That still does not mean that Ian Scott’s season so far does not deserve praise.
The 19-year-old netminder is 10-1 with a 1.64 GAA and 0.942 save percentage. These are both tops in the league by any goalie who has played in five or more games.
Scott struggled with an injury last year and had trouble with consistency. That is not the case this year. The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect has only allowed more than two goals just twice and never more than four goals in a game. It does not get much more consistent than that.
But can Prince Albert maintain this pace?
Well the fact that some of their most consistent players coming into this year have not quite broken through yet, seems to bode well for the rest of the year.
Cole Fonstad has 11 points in 13 games, but the play-making Montreal Canadiens prospect was over a point-a-game last year and should improve on that pace.
Parker Kelly has six goals and six assists in 12 games and has had many more opportunities to add to that.
Noah Gregor has 10 points in eight games and should have a huge overage year after unexpectedly being returned to the WHL by the San Jose Sharks.
Kody McDonald has played in just nine games after being slowed by an injury. Should he return healthy, that is another proven scorer in the fold.
If the Raiders can get their bigger names to start matching the output by the Leasons, Montgomerys and Sapegos on the team, they could be unstoppable.
While their surely will be the highs and lows for the Raiders like there is even for the best teams, they have the depth and talent throughout the lineup to capture their first division title since 1999.
That was the year they went 45-22-5 behind Scott Hartnell, Milan Kraft and Evan Lindsay. The franchise has not had a year where they have had more than 38 wins since. P.A. is already well on their way to besting that and taking home at least a regular season banner.
