Nepean Raiders

Nepean Raiders
City Nepean, Ontario, Canada
League Central Canada Hockey League
Division Yzerman
Founded 1966
Home arena Nepean Sportsplex, Steve Yzerman Arena
Colours Red, Black, and White
              
Owner(s) Brian Altshuller
General manager vacant
Head coach vacant
Affiliate(s) Ottawa 67s (OHL)

The Nepean Raiders are a Canadian Junior ice hockey team from Nepean, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Central Canada 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 the Valley division of the Junior "B" League in 1966, switching over to the Central Junior Hockey League in 1972.

History

Nepean made the finals multiple times between 1972 and 1981. In the 1980s. Steve Yzerman and Darren Pang are still known for being the most-outstanding Raiders in the early era. The Raiders struggled in the 1980s and 1990s missing the playoffs multiple times, and set a season-record for the most-penalized CJHL team in 1995-96.

The Nepean Raiders were bought by businessman Gord Black in 1998, who changed the team identity. He hired Chris Byrne as the head coach in 1999-00, despite being only 24 years old, he proved to turn the Raiders organization around and changes paid off. In 2002, Byrne quit his day job and balanced both rolls as head coach and general manager for the team. Bryne's duel role paid off, as the Raiders managed to make the league finals for the first time since 1981, when Darren Pang and Steve Yzerman played for the Raiders. Nepean won their first-ever league championship in 2003, after defeating the Ottawa Junior Senators in five games.

Nepean would repeat as league champions the following year, after finishing first overall. The team also won the Fred Page Cup and finished as Royal Bank Cup semi-finalists during the 2003-04 campaign. The 2004-05 Nepean Raiders finished a strong season and boosted attendance at the same time with the NHL Lockout happening. However, the Raiders lost the finals to the Hawkesbury Hawks in 7 games in hard-fought series.

The 2005-06 season would be Chris Byrne's final season behind the Raiders bench as he accepted an assistant coaching position with the Ottawa 67's. He now works as a scout for the Los Angeles Kings. Archie Mulligan, the former coach and general manager of the Kanata Valley Lasers replaced Chris Byrne. The team slipped mid-way through the standings for the first time since 2000-01, but managed to make the league finals for the fifth season in a row. The 2007-08 season hopes collapsed as Archie Mulligan left the team abruptly in early November and forcing the team to hastly find a replacement. This created a mass exodus of players, and Nepean dropped to 6th overall and a first round playoff exit for the first time since 2000. Gord Black sold his Nepean Raiders to Arnie Vered and Brian Altshuller over the summer of 2008, even though the team was close to being sold to a group of Barrhaven residents and becoming community-owned. Altshuller got busy and spent money on renovations and new equipment and also treated the supporters to the old logo that was discontinued 10 years ago, but still used the pirate logo as an alternate. Altshuller hired CBC and former NHL Garry Galley as their head coach, but in the end the Nepean Raiders clinched top spot in the league for the first time since 2004-05, but lost to Pembroke in the finals.

December 2009 was the turning point for the Nepean Raiders as Garry Galley left the team over disagreements with management, and a similar fate from two years before unfolded. Peter Goulet was hired as a replacement and spent the next year's rebuilding the Nepean Raiders franchise and paid off in 2011-12 as they finished first overall, won the league championship, and became Fred Page Cup finalists.

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.

Season-by-Season record

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points 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 4-2 to Cornwall
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)
2015-16 62 23 33 5 1 156 198 50 4th of 6 Yzerman
10th of 12 CCHL 		DNQ

Championships

CJHL Bogart Cup Championships: 2003, 2004
Eastern Canadian Fred Page Cup Championships: 2004
CJAHL Royal Bank Cup Championships: None

Notable alumni

External links

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