Colorado Raptors Pre-Season
Episode 1

The season 49 SMJHL season is slowly creeping up. Teams have drafted their future cores and have signed these guys to their entry-level contracts. Team training camps are all but the past as players begin to prepare for the long competitive season. General Managers have worked hard with all departments within the organization to sign free agents according to their weaknesses and strengths of their roster. Coaches have worked together to knit together what they believe is the best line-up they can ice to contend for the eventual grand prize, the Four Star Cup. The last task before this journey can begin for the management, players, and fans is the pre-season which after a long 50 games have finally concluded. Teams and players now have a better idea of where they are at to begin this season and know what they need to improve on to have a chance at glory. Today we will be looking at the Colorado Raptors and dissecting their pre-season results.

The Colorado Raptors are a team that focuses and specializes in winning face-offs as they have a team believe that the possession of a face-off could result in a difference-maker of a play for a game. They lead the league with a percentage of 52.07%. Bo Kane leads the way with 1231 face-offs taken and a very respectable winning percentage of 54.43%. Bo Kane centres the 2nd line, 2nd powerplay unit, and 2nd penalty kill unit. Ja'Aj Coitus-Wagg places second in face-offs taken with 1181 in total and a winning percentage of 56.73% which is the best within the league.  Ja'Aj Coitus-Wagg centres the top line, top powerplay unit, and top penalty kill unit. Up next is Jake Peralta who has taken 738 face-offs and has a winning percentage of 50.14%. He centres the 3rd line for the Colorado Raptors. Lastly, rookie Axel Caderoth who was selected 72nd OA in the 8th round of the S49 SMJHL draft who now centres the 4th line for the Raptors took 616 total face-offs with a winning percentage of 47.24%.

In 2019 the playstyle of being an aggressive hitting team or a "gritty" team is highly debated if has expired or not. Generally, the younger generation has fallen in love with the skill talent of the players in today's game, which is much higher than generations in the past, while also being aware of the physical and mental effects of the injuries caused by these hits. The older generation misses the aggressiveness of the older game and considers today's game "weak" and "sensitive". This has created a divide on which path a team should take to success. The Colorado Raptors are a very young team that is full of players who need time to progress which means the skill level of the team isn't up to par with the rest of the league. It's good to see the Colorado Raptors are aware of this and are attempting to compensate for the lack of skill with some gritty play which might hinder some skill of the opposing teams. The Colorado Raptors are third in the league for hits per game with 16.84. Sophomore blueliner, Derek Bohne Jr., leads the Raptors with 99 hits. Rookie, Axel Caderoth, trails him with 80 hits and then veteran Ja'Aj Coitus-Wagg follows him with 67 hits. The Colorado Raptors are 1 of two teams to have six players with over 60 hits.

While the Colorado Raptors have elected to play a more aggressive style of play this year, they have been smart about it. The Colorado Raptors are the least penalized team within the SMJHL this season with averaging 7.94 minutes per game. In contrast, the worst penalized team averages almost 10 minutes per game. Almost an entire powerplay more. Being a well-disciplined team can make or break games. Not taking penalties can get under the skin of the opposition which can result in them taking silly penalties and giving your powerplay a shot at converting a goal. It also obviously means you're down a man less which is always a positive thing. Rookie Henrik Lekberg Osterman was the least penalized player for the Colorado Raptors with only 6 PIM's. Then there is a three-way tie by Emeka Valentine-Okoli, Daniel Kuster, and Vorian Atreides with 8 PIM's.

Overall the Colorado Raptors struggled in the pre-season and the strengths were very minimal or non-existent. The team will have to come together in the regular season and work on the weaknesses defined in the next section if they would like to have some success this season and a chance at the Four Star Cup.

The Colorado Raptors offensive efforts throughout the pre-season were abysmal and that is being polite. They posted a league-low average of 2.58 goals per game which is over a goal worse than the league-best at 3.66. Leading the way for the Colorado Raptors on offence was veteran Ja'Aj Coitus-Wagg who posted 11 goals and 38 points. After him sophomore defenceman Derek Bohne Jr. posted an impressive 9 goals and 26 assists for 35 points. Third in points is then the SHL's 3rd OA pick in the S49 SHL draft, Bo Kane who potted 16 goals and 15 assists for 31 points. The Colorado Raptors only have four players who managed to put up 30 or more points. The entire team will need to be more productive from top to bottom if they want a chance at winning much this season.

The Colorado Raptors offensive woes have been stated which leaves no surprise that the team's shot totals are on the lower end. They averaged 23.82 shots a game while the league average is 25.59. The Colorado Raptors defensive game is very mid-pack as they have allowed 3.02 goals a game while the league average is 3.04. So not a bad place to be sitting with all things considered, however, the low goals-against total isn't due to their defensive play in allowing low shots as they have allowed the 2nd most averaging 27.36 per game. Knox Booth has done a tremendous job keeping the puck out of the net but the Colorado Raptors might want to tighten up as it's a long season and they don't want to wear Knox Booth down so he isn't effective come playoff time.

While the Colorado Raptors have played a very disciplined game throughout the pre-season it's probably for a very good reason as they have struggled mightily on the penalty kill. They had a penalty kill percentage of 77.17% which is the 2nd worst in the league. The league average is 79.73%. One way to look at this though is the fact that they haven't taken so many penalties could actually result in their kill percentage being lower as they don't have as many chances to really redeem their percentage if they go on a little bad run.

Overall the Colorado Raptors had a terrible pre-season and they will have A LOT to work on as a team to collectively improve. The Colorado Raptors are a very young team though so it's not so dark overall. They have 10 rookies slotted into their roster with other sophomore players in Bo Kane, Knox Booth, Derek Bohne Jr., Denver Wolfe, and Heat Siecker. The future looks bright.

1. Derek Bohne Jr. - 9 Goals, 26 Assists, 35 Points, 99 Hits
2. Knox Booth - 1332 saves, .893%
3. Ja'Aj Coitus-Wagg - 11 Goals, 27 Assists, 38 Points, +4, 56.73% face-offs