The visitors this evening to the Link Centre are the Raiders IHC. Over the years the Wildcats and the Raiders have enjoyed a rivalry due to the close competition they’ve been involved in during both Cup and League competitions. Although the two teams have been much further apart in league position in recent years the games between them are still close and very competitive. So far this season the results between the two sides are split, the Wildcats beat the Raiders in Swindon as part of the Autumn Cup competition but the Raiders took an overtime win in the league when both teams played at Rom Valley Way.
Just before Christmas the two teams were due to compete in a double header, the Wildcats took the first game on the Saturday with a 6-1 victory. However, the Raiders took the decision to cancel the game on the Sunday due to rising Covid cases, subsequently the EIHA punished the Raiders with a 3 point deduction and awarded the Wildcats the game 5-0.
Once more the Raiders are being led by Sean Easton, he is back for his 5th year in charge with the Essex based side and once more he has assembled a promising roster that will be competitive and a match for anyone on their night.
In goal there is a returning tandem, Ethan James is back again to be the starter and the young goalie will be looking to build on a promising start to his Raiders career. He will be backed up once more by the young Brad Windebank, the 19-year-old is good prospect and will be looking to learn all he can from his senior colleagues.
On the import front the Raiders have made two signings and both are returnees from the last NIHL season. Lukas Sladkovsky is back in Essex for his second full season and after a point per game return in year one he’ll be looking to improve upon this during his second term. The other player is Erik Piatak who is back in Raiders colours for his first full campaign after he joined midway through the 2019-20 season and during that year, he produced well over a point per game so it was an easy decision to get him back in.
On the blueline there are some key returnees and the biggest amongst these is Dan Scott who is back for his 3rd season with the Raiders, he is seen as one of the best defencemen in the league so will be a key leader for the Raider defensive corps this season. The other players re-signing for another season are alternate captain Sean Barry as well as Jack Cooper and Callum Wells. The one new signing of note within the defensive unit is Tom Relf who has joined from the Sheffield Steeldogs.
Up front things are much of a muchness and the main returnee is the club captain, Aaron Connolly, he is a leader within the team and on the scoreboard last season so the Raiders will be looking to him for more of the same. He will be ably backed up by a trio of young forwards who have all already displayed their point scoring potential in the NIHL; Brandon Ayliffe, Oliver Baldock and Jake Sylvester are all back and will be looking to post even better numbers than they’ve already done in their young careers.
The Raiders have some quality players and the team will pose a threat to the Wildcats if they’re not fully focussed right from the first whistle tonight.
