The average temperature during the winter months in Halifax, Nova Scotia hovers between 2C and -1C during the day and as low as -8C in the evenings. In Fahrenheit, that's 17F to 35F from December until the end of March; heading into April. This is relatively mild for a Canadian winter - but when you're playing on a struggling junior hockey team, those walks to the bus following another tough loss feel just a bit colder in the brisk Atlantic winter air. The Halifax Raiders have concluded a disappointing, albeit expected, Season 52 with just 18 wins and a firm hold of the 10th spot in the standings. Due to the SMJHL playoff structure, they'll see a few more games before hanging them up for the season but the disappointment of finishing in dead last should yield brighter days shortly due to the performance of some of their players this season.

The Raiders continued to get solid performances from their core players this season Abel Skinner, Thicc Cheezy, and Al Kayhall with all three finishing with 40 or more points. The big surprise was the line of Bjornoson Bjornosonson, rookie Lucas Hellqvist, and Indigo Trevino as all three had breakout seasons for the Raiders; Trevino and Hellqvist especially with their spots on the Goals and Rookie leaderboards, respectively. Trevino vyed for the Goals titles right up until the end, leading for a good part of the season as well as he eventually lost out to Kaarlo Kekkonen of the Detroit Falcons. Lucas Hellqvist was given a great opportunity on a very young Raiders squad to step into the Top 6 forward group in his first season. Expectations were low for the Raiders following a mass exodus to the SHL during the off-season, but Hellqvist did not let lowered expectations affect his game. 30 points and a potential Rookie of the Year nomination later, Lucas Hellqvist has solidified his spot in the Raiders' Top 6 heading into next season and will lead the charge for the next round of Raiders once Kayhall, Cheezy, and Trevino make the jump to the SHL.

350 words; started this before playoffs started, just submitting for media credit now.