By Scott Petersen
Backed by the solid play and leadership of Centretown residents Dana Avery, Lyne Landry and Morag McPherson, the Ottawa Raiders are off to their quickest start in team history.
After three years of mediocrity in the National Women’s Hockey League, the Raiders have registered wins against the Montreal Wingstar and Le Cheyenne de la Metropole twice in their first three games of the season. Veteran players Avery, Landry and McPherson have been a large part of the team’s turnaround according to coach Doug Rollins.
“Those are three critical players to our team’s success,” he said. “Together (with the goaltender) they form the nucleus of our team and we build the rest of the team around them.”
In order to build this year’s club to better handle the highest league of women’s hockey in the world, the Raiders went through a facelift in the off-season. A greater emphasis on speed and skill led the team to add 10 rookies to the roster, matching the number of returning veterans.
“Once again, (Avery, Landry and McPherson) will be the source of leadership for the younger players and the rest of the club,” said Rollins of his team.
“I think we’ve really gelled and even though there is an age difference between the players, everyone has come together to start the season,” said Avery. At 28, she is the team’s captain this year.
“We’ve struggled in the past but winning our first two games has been a huge confidence booster and everyone is really excited about this season.”
So far, the combination of rookies and veterans has worked out well by balancing the team with more depth, speed and enthusiasm.
“The young players have brought a lot of energy to this team because they’re used to winning and have a winning attitude,” said Landry, an assistant captain.
“They help bring our team up to another level and everyone is feeding off each other’s energy.”
The added quickness and talent, especially at forward, has allowed the Raiders to take advantage of a new rule in the NWHL which eliminates the red line, allowing for longer passes and a greater emphasis on speed.
“Our coach tells us to use our speed and that’s our strength,” said McPherson, a quick-skating winger in her second year with the club. “We have to go hard and fast and use our speed to create opportunities.”
“We have a very fast, talented team that can use its speed to create turnovers and then score off those turnovers,” said Rollins. “If a team doesn’t respect our speed and talent, they’re going to get burned.”
This year, Avery’s fourth with the Raiders, she believes the team is better prepared to compete at the high level of play in the league and will be looking to improve on last year’s 11-25-4 record.
“We used to be in awe of the players we were playing against and that the younger players had grown up idolizing. We would look at the scoresheets before the games to see who was on the other team,” she said, referring to National Team members like Cassie Campbell who have played in the league. “Now we’re more confident in our abilities and how we can play.”
The increased confidence was apparent in the Raiders’ two big wins against divisional rivals Montreal and Le Cheyenne de la Metropole to start the season.
“I feel we were better than the two teams we played this year,” said Landry, in her third year as a defenceman with the team. “I really think we’re going to have our best year and we have a good shot at winning our conference.”
“First place isn’t out of the realm of possibility,” said Rollins.
“We know we can compete in this league and teams can’t come in and expect to get two easy points from us.”