Nepean Raiders

Nepean Raiders
City:	Nepean, Ontario
League:	Central Hockey League
Division:	Yzerman
Founded:	1972
Home Arena:	Steve Yzerman Arena
Colors:	Red, Black, Grey, and White
General Manager:	Randy Watt
Head Coach:	Darcy Findlay

The Nepean Raiders are a Canadian Junior ice hockey team from Nepean, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Central Junior A Hockey League. The town of Nepean was granted expansion after the Cornwall Royals and the Hull Hawks left the CJHL for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Raiders started their operations in Nepean in 1972.

History

In only their third CJHL season in 1974–75, the Raiders made it to the finals against the Smiths Falls Bears, only to lose the series in five games. Nepean notably lost back-to-back finals against the Pembroke Lumber Kings in 1977 and 1978. In 1979, Nepean lost the sudden-death game 7 to the Hawkesbury Hawks, who won the CJHL title at the Sportsplex. The 1980–81 Nepean Raiders had a cast for future NHL stars Steve Yzerman and Darren Pang, whose team lost to the Gloucester Rangers in the 1981 CJHL finals. Yzerman went on to play for the Peterborough Petes, while Pang played for the Ottawa 67's. The Nepean Raiders fell on financial times, when the rest of the league was on the verge of bankruptcy with four other teams remaining in the league. The league was however saved after a meeting at the Talisman Hotel in Ottawa in 1984.

New blood was found in the Nepean Raiders with new ownership in June 1998, as Gord Black purchased the team. In 1999, Chris Byrne was hired as head coach and led the Nepean Raiders to their first finals in 22 years in 2003, after a second-round defeat at the hands of the Ottawa Jr. Senators from a year before. Nepean would wreak revenge on the Ottawa Jr. Senators in five games to win their first-ever Art Bogart Cup title. Nepean lost the Fred Page Cup finals to the Lennoxville Cougars 4–0. With a core of 13 returning players, the 2003–04 Nepean Raiders repeated their CJHL championship in 2004 over the Gloucester Rangers in seven games. The Raiders rallied from a 0–2 start at the Fred Page Cup, and defeated the Valleyfield Braves in the finals. Despite having a 2-0 start at the Royal Bank Cup, the Raiders lost their next two round-robin games, and lost the semi-finals to eventual RBC Cup champs Aurora Tigers.

With less than a dozen returnees, the Nepean Raiders finished the 2004-05 season only losing 9 games and finishing on top of the CJHL. However, during the NHL lockout, fan base doubled in the CJHL. The Hawkesbury Hawks made it to the finals against the Nepean Raiders, and the Hawks received coaching advice and pointers from former Avalanche coach Bob Hartley, which helped the Hawks beat the Raiders in seven games for their first title since 1999.

In 2005-06, Nepean built a strong rivalry with the Pembroke Lumber Kings. A rivalry in which has not developed between these two clubs since the 70s. With the Nepean Raiders down 3 games to 1 to the Brockville Braves, the Raiders climbed back to force game 7, rallied back from a 2-0 deficit, tied the game. With less than 5 seconds to go in the game, Nepean's Matt Valois poked in the rebound to secure the series win for the Nepean Raiders, leaving the Brockville Braves paralyzed wonder what could have been. Nepean came back against the Pembroke Lumber Kings, being down 3-1 and winning game 7 by a score of 5-1, but lost the finals to Hawkesbury.

With the loss prior to the 2006-07 season of head coach Chris Byrne, who took a coaching position with the Ottawa 67's, former Kanata Valley Lasers head coach Archie Mulligan to fill in the void. The Raiders finished 4th overall, and nearly avoided a first-round exit to the Orleans Blues. They won an easy series against Smiths Falls, but lost the finals to Pembroke in five games.

The 2008-2009 season saw the Nepean Raiders return to the top of the CJHL regular-season standings with the help of former NHL defenseman Garry Galley. Nepean would end up losing in the CJHL Finals to the Pembroke Lumberkings in 6 games. Two players off that year's team were selected in the NHL Entry draft that summer: Jeremy Price was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 4th round and Ben Sexton was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 7th round.

Nepean came into the 2009-10 season with high hopes of becoming a championship contender, but in December 2009, the disagreements between new ownership and coaching staff resulted in the departure of Garry Galley. The team eventually found a replacement in Peter Goulet, who coached the Kingston Vees from the season before. The Raiders made the playoffs, but finished 6th and lost to the Cornwall Colts in six games.

The 2012-13 season saw the Raiders attempting to repeat as league champions against the Cornwall Colts in a rematch from the 2012 finals, but lost the series in 6 games. The 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons resulted in the Raiders being swept in the first round of the playoffs. The 2015-16 season marked the first time since 1994-95, that the Nepean Raiders last missed the playoffs. Possibly one of the longest playoff streaks in Central Canada Hockey League history.

2003 Fred Page Cup

Lennoxville Cougars 5 Nepean Raiders 2

Nepean Raiders 3 Charlottetown Abbies 1

Cornwall Colts 3 Nepean Raiders 2 (OT)

Nepean Raiders 3 Cornwall Colts 2 (2OT) semi-finals

Lennoxville Cougars 4 Nepean Raiders 0 championship game

CORNWALL, ONTARIO: Nepean punched its ticket to their first Fred Page Cup with a 4 games to 1 win over the Ottawa Jr. Senators. The Nepean Raiders and the Cornwall Colts were rivals in the last three seasons. Nepean dropped their first game 5–2 to the LHJAAAQ's Lennoxville Cougars, who were only playing in their first season. Nepean won their second game against the maritime representatives Charlottetown Abbies, that would help the Raiders solidify a berth in the semi-finals. Lennoxville earned a bye to the finals, despite a 7–5 loss to the Abbies. Cornwall and Nepean prepared for an all-league tilt on the final day of round robin. Cornwall won the game 3–2 in overtime, despite that the goal shouldn't have counted because there were too many men in the crease area. The Raiders boycotted the players-of-the-game ceremonies because Colts fans threw cups and snack wrappers into the Raiders bench moments after Cornwall scored the game-winner. The Raiders did re-match with Cornwall in the semi-finals. Cornwall forced overtime on a last-minute goal. Brian Ruckwald of Nepean scored the game-winner with a wrist shot that found its way past Cornwall goaltender Christian Boucher.

2004 Fred Page Cup

Valleyfield Braves 4 Nepean Raiders 0

Saint-Eustache Gladiateurs 6 Nepean Raiders 4

Nepean Raiders 3 Campbelton Tigers 1

Nepean Raiders 3 Saint-Eustache Gladiateurs 2 (2OT) semi-finals

Nepean Raiders 4 Valleyfield Braves 0 championship

SALLEBERRY-DE-VALLEYFIELD, QUEBEC: Nepean got added support by acquiring Gloucester Rangers goaltender Mitch O'Keefe, who's team was defeated in the finals by the Raiders in an exciting seven game series. O'Keefe got his second chance with the Nepean Raiders. The opening game for the Nepean Raiders faced the Valleyfield Braves, who went on to win 4-0, with the support of a sold-out crowd of Braves supporters. Nepean lost the second game to Saint-Eustache, and were in trouble of being eliminated. Luckily Campbelton lost to Valleyfield, and therefore Nepean had to win their last game against Campbelton, in which they did 3-1. Nepean then would go on to upset the Saint-Eustache Gladiateurs (ranked 5th in Canada) 3-2 in the semi-finals. Raiders captain Brennan Sarazin missed two games of the tournament due to exams at Carleton University and having a bad case of laryngitis. Sarazin arrived just in time for the final three must win games including the championship game, in which Nepean won 4-0.

2004 Royal Bank Cup

Logo until 2010.

Nepean Raiders 4 Nanaimo Clippers 3 (2OT)

Nepean Raiders 2 Kindersley Klippers 1

Grande Prairie Storm 4 Nepean Raiders 2

Aurora Tigers 3 Nepean Raiders 1

Aurora Tigers 7 Nepean Raiders 2 semi-finals

GRANDE-PRAIRIE, ALBERTA: The Nepean Raiders trailed 3-0 to the Nanaimo Clippers of the BCHL, before winning the game in double overtime as Raiders captain Brennan Sarazin netted the winner. The next day, the Raiders improved their record to 2-0 after a 2-1 win over the SJHL champions Kindersley Klippers. Chris Priolo scored for the Raiders twice. Nepean had a chance to improve their record to 3-0 against the Grande-Prairie Storm, but lost 4-2. Nepean would lose their last round-robin game to the top-ranked Aurora Tigers 3-1, despite that the Tigers lost to Grande-Prairie 4-2 earlier. Nepean looking to became the first CJHL team to make the Royal Bank Cup finals since its inception in 1996. Nepean would lose a heart-breaker 7-2, and Aurora would go on to win the Royal Bank Cup.

Season-by-Season record

Season	GP	W	L	T	OL	GF	GA	Pts	Finish	Playoffs
1972-73	55	22	32	1	-	214	268	45	5th CJHL
1973-74	50	26	18	6	-	287	236	58	2nd CJHL
1974-75	50	23	17	10	-	254	216	54	4th CJHL
1975-76	50	16	27	7	-	186	240	39	5th CJHL
1976-77	50	28	13	9	-	263	193	65	1st CJHL
1977-78	48	24	20	4	-	258	205	52	3rd CJHL
1978-79	48	36	10	2	-	305	187	74	1st CJHL	Lost final 4-3 to Hawkesbury
1979-80	50	25	22	3	-	312	260	53	3rd CJHL
1980-81	50	29	13	8	-	281	206	66	1st CJHL
1981-82	50	21	22	7	-	253	260	51	4th CJHL
1982-83	50	12	31	7	-	194	258	31	7th CJHL
1983-84	54	28	17	9	-	278	251	65	1st CJHL
1984-85	54	20	30	2	2	226	286	44	5th CJHL
1985-86	60	36	21	2	1	302	251	75	3rd CJHL
1986-87	52	30	21	1	0	266	207	61	2nd CJHL
1987-88	56	29	17	5	5	249	246	68	4th CJHL
1988-89	55	25	30	0	0	216	262	50	7th CJHL
1989-90	55	19	33	2	1	228	274	41	7th CJHL
1990-91	55	25	23	3	4	242	236	57	5th CJHL
1991-92	57	26	23	1	6	274	261	59	6th CJHL
1992-93	57	32	19	3	3	285	258	70	4th CJHL
1993-94	57	31	21	2	3	306	290	67	4th CJHL
1994-95	54	10	38	4	2	214	326	26	10th CJHL	Out of Playoffs
1995-96	54	14	35	5	0	220	315	33	5th in Yzerman	Out of Playoffs
1996-97	53	27	23	3	0	232	223	57	4th in Yzerman	Lost quarter-finals 4-1 to Smiths Falls
1997-98	56	20	23	13	10	180	180	63	4th in Yzerman	Lost quarter-finals 4-1 to Brockville
1998-99	54	31	21	2	0	202	194	64	3rd in Yzerman	Lost semi-final 4-1 to Hawkesbury
1999-00	56	33	20	3	0	245	239	69	2nd in Yzerman	Lost quarter-final 4-1 to Kanata
2000-01	55	26	19	10	0	222	186	63	3rd in Yzerman	Lost semi-final 4-0 to Cornwall
2001-02	55	34	11	10	0	263	174	78	2nd	Lost semi-final 4-2 to Ottawa
2002-03	55	32	17	6	2	227	185	72	1st in Yzerman	Won league 4-1 over Ottawa
2003-04	55	37	14	3	1	229	144	78	1st	Won league 4-3 over Gloucester
2004-05	57	42	9	3	3	225	131	90	1st	Lost final 4-3 to Hawkesbury
2005-06	59	37	16	3	3	231	174	80	2nd in Yzerman	Lost final 4-2 to Hawkesbury
2006-07	55	26	21	6	2	178	165	60	3rd in Yzerman	Lost final 4-1 to Pembroke
2007-08	60	32	23	3	2	233	203	69	5th CJHL	Lost quarter-final 4-2 to Brockville
2008-09	60	42	12	-	6	261	145	90	1st CJHL	Lost final 4-2 to Pembroke
2009-10	62	33	26	-	3	250	217	69	6th CJHL	Lost Quarter-final
2010-11	62	27	25	-	10	207	227	64	6th CCHL	Lost Quarter-final 4-3 to Brockville
2011-12	62	46	11	-	5	269	159	97	1st CCHL	Won League 4-3 over Cornwall
2012-13	62	38	20	-	4	235	182	80	4th CCHL	Lost Final 4-2 to Cornwall
2013-14	62	27	24	-	11	189	225	65	7th CCHL	Lost Quarter-final 0-4 Smiths Falls
2014-15	62	23	35	-	4	169	215	50	4th of 6 Yzerman 10th of 12 CCHL	Won Prelim. Round 2-1 (Bears) Lost Quarter-final 0-4 (Canadians)
Season	GP	W	L	T	OL	GF	GA	Pts	Finish	Playoffs
2015-16	62	23	33	5	1	156	198	50	4th of 6 Yzerman 10th of 12 CCHL	DNQ
2016-17	62	24	33	5	0	171	222	53	2nd of 6 Yzerman 8th of 12 CCHL	Lost Quarter-final 1-4 (Canadians)
2017-18	62	24	32	2	4	170	201	54	5th of 6 Yzerman 10th of 12 CCHL	Did Not Qualify
2018-19	62	12	47	3	0	123	272	27	6th Yzerman	Did not qualify
2019-20	62	11	48	-	3	148	279	25	6th Yzerman	Did not qualify
2020-21	League only played training games due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021-22	55	12	41	2	0	159	303	26	6th Yzerman	Did not qualify
2022-23	55	12	39	1	3	138	262	28	6th Yzerman	Did not qualify
2023-24	55	20	28	5	2	152	204	47	6th Yzerman	Did not qualify

Championships

CJHL Bogart Cup Championships: 2003, 2004

Eastern Canadian Fred Page Cup Championships: 2004

CJAHL Royal Bank Cup Championships: None

Notable alumni

• Adrian Aucoin
• Jamie Baker
• Jeff Chychrun
• Grant Clitsome
• Rob Dopson
• Mike Eastwood
• Mike Eaves
• Stew Gavin
• Mike Meeker
• Tyler Moss
• Darren Pang
• Mark Paterson
• Dan Ratushny
• Keith Redmond
• Joe Reekie
• Travis Scott
• Larry Skinner
• Doug Smith
• Aaron Ward
• Steve Yzerman

External links

• Nepean Raiders Webpage