Login

***39alaska39*** · 07-20-2018, 04:54 PM

The game of hockey comes from the far north, the frozen lands where each winter, the lakes, rivers, and ponds freeze becoming safe for travel and sport.

Most hockey players grow up playing on these ponds, the frozen lakes wherever they’re from. They dream of making it the SHL, hearing their name called at the draft and becoming a legend of the game. There is something special about playing the game outside, the open air, the snow, the way everything feels so natural around you.
As the SMJHL looks forward to its first ever outdoor game, people around the league find their thoughts harkening back to their youth, when they first stepped foot on an outdoor rink to experience the joy of hockey in its purest form.

SHBO is proud to present, 24/7: Raptors/Raiders, Road to the SMJHL Winter Classic.

For players of the Colorado Raptors, they too find themselves dreaming of their youth hockey days sometimes. A young team working to find their footing in the SMJHL, they too dream of being drafted to the SHL and becoming professional hockey players in the world’s best league. For many, they come from around the globe to battle for a chance to make it to the next level. The Raptors also find that they are one of the youngest teams in the SMJHL, with fourteen rookies cracking the opening night roster. While they aren’t the only team with an extremely young roster, they are feeling the growing pains more than most after a 1-3-2 start to the regular season.

Denver is a city that loves its sports teams. The city is well known for its diehard support of all its teams, and the Raptors are no exception. While the team hasn't experienced Four Star Cup success in over a decade, the organization is one of the highest attended teams in the league. The city comes out for their Raptors, win or lose, rain, snow or sun.

While the Raptors knew the season would be a tough grind, what they hadn’t expect was controversy, which came in the form of 4th Round Pick, Alex Winters. The young man from Pardubice, Czechoslovakia, along with Czechoslovakian teammates Mason Hudson of the Montreal Militia and Luke Thomason of the Vancouver Whalers, was accused by a reporter from SESPN of declaring for Czechoslovakia under less than legal methods. It was suggested that the three players had been tampered with by Czechoslovakian Federation head Cal McIntyre, who was alleged to have offered money, cars, houses, or even playing time to the young players and their families before they officially declared for the Czechs. While the IIHF Head Office cleared the Czechoslovakian Federation after a strenuous investigation, the stress of testifying before the IIHF Head Office in Zurich may have affected the young rookie.

“You know, I didn’t have the kind of preseason that I would have liked, just 11 points. But all that flying takes its toll. Plus being asked repeatedly if you’re lying is rough. My mom is Czech, she’s from Pardubice like me. My dad isn’t, he’s from Moose Jaw, up in Saskatchewan. That’s why my name is Winters. I get that it sounds suspicious, but it’s the truth,” Winters said, the frustration evident on his young face.

“I just wanna play hockey. That’s why my family sent me to North Indiana, that’s why I’m here in Colorado. I didn’t get paid to play until I got to the Raptors, my family doesn’t have a ton of cars or houses or whatever. It’s not true what they’re accusing me of.”

Luckily for Winters, the regular season offers an opportunity for that drama to be forgotten. The team is in Vancouver to play their local rivals, the Whalers, in the second half of a home and home. Colorado lost 4-3 the night before in a shootout. The team was able to take a positive away from that game despite the loss. The Raptors came back from an early 3-0 deficit, with goals from centers Zakhar Turakov, Winters and winger Gvidas Kazlauskas.

Head Coach Gary Giraffe spoke to the team in the locker room before warmups.

“Alright boys, gotta come out get a quick start here, come out flying. We know how they’re going to come at us, they did it yesterday. Let’s get the first goal, get out in front of it. Get some hits here, get the body on Skalbergs, Russo. Make them move the puck, make some mistakes. Let’s go here boys, Bergy’s line will start, ZBJ and MC3 start on the back.”

Yet tonight’s game is more of the same. Just three minutes into the game, a giveaway in the neutral zone quickly leads to a chance for Whalers winger Herb Robert, who picks up his own rebound, beating Scott Crawfling.

The team has their chances, hitting the post while Whalers goalie Greg Santos makes some truly great saves to keep the Whalers in the lead.
The Raptors weren’t able to tie up the game during the first. Midway through the second, Whalers defenseman Buck Maverick takes a hooking penalty, allowing for the Raptors’ fourth ranked powerplay to get a chance to even things up. Halfway through the powerplay, Vladimir Vaskov deflected Maui’s wrist shot passed Santos.

The remainder of regulation was a tense affair, the Raptors fighting an even battle with the Whalers, despite being barely out shot, 23-21.

“Remember what we talked about, keep on them. Move your feet!” Coach Giraffe spoke in the intermission before the overtime period, “We can win this, we’ve played well now let’s finish it off.”

Overtime turned the speed of the game back up, the teams racing up and down the ice as each team fights for the winners point, for the second night in a row. When push came to shove however, the result was the same two nights in a row. A turnover in the offensive zone led to a quick counter attack, which ended with Erik Skalbergs slamming home an overtime goal halfway through the extra period.

"That was a tough one, we had our chances and we really should have been able to pull that one out. Crawfling kept us in it and we just didn't do enough to back him up out there."

In what has become an all too often refrain for the team, they find themselves on the wrong end of a close defeat. Of the team’s six losses to this point in the season, all but one has been a one goal defeat. This is a team that feels that they’re right on the cusp of greatness, but for now, it’s onto the team plane. The Raptors have a four days at home, playing the Anchorage Armada and the Kelowna Knights before they leave for nine days on a four game road trip.

Next time on 24/7: Raptors/Raiders, Road to the SMJHL Winter Classic

Interviews with Raptors and Raiders players, inside the locker room, what SMJHL players do on their days off, and much more.

Word Count: 1000 something, not sure specifically

Alex Winters (retired)
Matej Winters (retired)
Dominik Winters
S45 Jesster Trophy Winner
Challenge Cup Winning Goal Club: S52

NH4JP · 07-21-2018, 12:00 AM

Cheers mate!

I Am a Coupon · 07-21-2018, 08:34 AM

Awesome article!

*Good_Ole_Kimmy* · 07-21-2018, 11:52 AM

Looking forward to the rest of the series!

Someguy9500 · 07-22-2018, 10:34 PM

O'Beefdip is back in the lineup this should be a fun series

Navigation

Extra Menu

About us