There’s been no place like home for the Jr. Raiders since they moved to Okotoks.
The confines of the Pason Centennial Arena have been more than friendly to the Raiders, so when the Alberta Jr. A Lacrosse League team had to move its seventh and deciding league final game, with the Calgary Mountaineers on Aug. 14, to Indus the team was left a little miffed.
“It certainly hasn’t worked out the best for us,” said Raiders president David Fehr on the venue being unavailable after Aug. 13 as the ice was put in. “They pretty much follow their policies and practices and we certainly don’t expect them to change them for us, but I really don’t think there is as much give and take as there should be.”
Fehr stopped short of using the venue change as an excuse for the Game 7, 16-11 loss to Calgary.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining that had nothing to do with us losing,” Fehr said. “But there is a reason why you have home and away games, you have your home games at your home arena.
“I have to hand it to the Mountaineers they were better than us in this tournament.”
Fehr was adamant the game would have gone differently at Centennial Arena.
“There’s nobody in our program past or present who wouldn’t agree with that comment,” Fehr said. “The arena staff is just great, we love it there.”
The Raiders were perfect in the playoffs in Okotoks with five wins and posted six victories and one overtime loss in the regular season. They were 9-1 at Centennial Arena in 2011.
Fehr, also the general manager of the Raiders, said his roster is built to suit the larger dimensions of Centennial Arena.
“We’re a very quick team, transition team and when we’ve got room to run other teams can’t keep up with us in the province,” Fehr said. “The old Boston Bruins used to play in a little barn in the old Gardens and they built their team around that arena.
“I’ve built a team around that arena the way we’ve drafted.”
Donna Racette, the client services team leader for the Town of Okotoks, said the schedule for Centennial Arena’s lacrosse user groups was set in December.
“With the lacrosse users we met Dec. 7 and at that time we get the requests and the needs from them,” Racette said. “Based on that and other special events and requests the dates are given out then as to when the ice would be taken out and the availability for the floor.” The floor is shared by the Jr. Raiders, Sr. Raiders, Jr. B Tier II Okotoks Ice, Senior C Okotoks Erratic as well as with women’s and junior teams.
Racette said the floor is pretty well reserved for the Raiders, as the only team with a schedule running into early August, to end the season.
Preparations for the ice to be put in at Centennial Arena, an eight to 10 day process, began on Aug. 13, the day before the league final.
“For this last series they were aware the last day is Aug. 12,” Racette said of the Raiders. “The other series was done July 29 so they had until Aug. 12 to schedule that other series, it was their choice to schedule Game 7 after the 12th.
“The AA Oilers conditioning camp, the Junior A Oilers camp are booked in and planned and once those dates are set it’s very difficult to change them.”
Racette said it’s especially challenging to accommodate a last minute request for a date change. The ice has been in at both the Piper and Murray arenas since July.
“It depends how much notice is given,” she said. “Within a week? No. It’s very difficult because you’re managing three different arena schedules.”
The Alberta Jr. A Lacrosse League playoffs were delayed by four days due to an investigation by the Canadian Lacrosse Association into the Raiders’ violation of the maximum number of import players rule.
Raiders head coach Daryl Haynes said the rink availability at Centennial Arena would likely have been a foregone conclusion if not for the delay.
“Had it started a week earlier we would probably not have had this issue,” he said. “We would have been more comfortable playing in that arena.”
The reaction from Raiders players on the venue change was mixed.
Veteran Raider Aaron Tackaberry said playing in Indus was not a huge disadvantage.
“It was hard, but we still feel like with it being it in Indus it was our home barn,” Tackaberry said. “That’s where we won our Alberta finals two years ago, Brett (Baron), myself and Cam Copland. So we were using that as a motivating factor.”
Copland said the Raiders have grown accustomed to the larger dimensions at their home floor.
“I think it was a very big disadvantage,” Copland said. “At home we already beat them three times and we’re used to a bigger floor.”
