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Pair of disgruntled Prince Albert Raiders request trades
The Prince Albert Raiders are stealing some of the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ unappealing thunder. The Raiders have had two players – overage Dakota Conroy and 18-year-old Colton McCarthy – ask for trades in the past week following assistant coach Tim Leonard’s decision to leave the team for “personal reasons.”
First and foremost, it is important to point out that both Conroy and McCarthy were struggling to find the back of the net before they put in their trade requests. Conroy only had one goal and two points in 10 games after he netted 30 goals and 61 points in 66 contests the year before. He seemed to have problems adjusting to life after Leon Draisaitl in the Raiders’ offense. McCarthy, meanwhile, whom Prince Albert acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors in early Sept., never registered a single point throughout eight matches. It’s only logical to assume that their on-ice frustrations played into their decisions to ask for one-way tickets out of town.
Nonetheless, it seems a difference of opinion with head coach Cory Clouston played into the trade requests, especially Conroy since they have a history in 2011-12 in the Brandon Wheat Kings organization, and the departure of Leonard. This ultimately isn’t shocking as it’s no secret that one of the reasons Clouston was fired by the Wheat Kings after just one season was that he wasn’t well-liked in the dressing room. That, however, isn’t a slight at Clouston’s hockey smarts. Many, if not all, coaches don’t get along with some of their players regardless of whether they get results behind the bench or not. In Regina, for example, former head coach Pat Conacher had a split room with the Pats even though he was revered as one of the smartest men in the league.
Winning needs to occur in order to overlook things such as likability, though. The Raiders’ 4-6-0-0 start to the year combined with how they were swept by the Edmonton Oil Kings in the first round of playoffs last year doesn’t exactly do that. In addition, unless Draisaitl returns, it's hard to fathom how the Raiders could finish with an above-average record this year based on their roster.
The Raiders, of course, are claiming there is nothing to worry about in Prince Albert. GM Bruno Campese told Raiders play-by-play announcer Drew Wilson that they are isolated incidents.
“You take those in islolation” said Campese who points out they are two players with vastly differing roles. (PANow)
“The first guy that left (McCarthy), we knew he was going to be a role player. He obviously wanted more ice, more time and from an organizational standpoint it wasn’t deserved. He made a decision (to leave) and that’s fine.” With Conroy, a different situation, here is a player playing close to 18-to-20 minutes a night, playing 5-on-5 on one of our top two lines, power play, pk (penalty kill), having ample opportunity, but off to a very tough tough start and as a 20-year-old and a guy on our team being depended upon to produce, he’s had two points, 1 goal and 1 assist in 10 games. Obviously his rough start has weighed on him heavily.”
The timing of the incidents couldn't be any worse for Clouston and Campese. They are both on the last years of their contracts and seem hard-pressed to put together strong arguments on why they deserve extensions even when disregarding the dressing room issues. Moreover, the trade requests have sparked fan outrage on social media with the blame being put on the coach and architect.
The worst part of this situation for the organization is the effect it may have on the Raiders’ balance sheet. Prince Albert lost $262,680 last year and don't appear to be on pace to do any better this year as their attendance is down by 105 people a game from last season. It doesn’t seem like trade requests and an esteemed assistant coach stepping down will do them any favours in ticket sales. The Raiders aren’t in the conversation today of teams that could be on the move, but that could change two years from now unless they accumulate the funds for a new arena. The 43-year-old Art Hauser Centre isn't getting any younger.
Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen
