Nepean Raiders

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Nepean Raiders
CityNepean, Ontario, Canada
LeagueCentral Canada Hockey League
DivisionYzerman
Founded1966
Home arenaNepean Sportsplex, Steve Yzerman Arena
ColoursRed, Black, and White
     
Owner(s)Rob Kinghan, Sue Collis and Chris White (2024)
General managerLino Dixon (2024)
Head coachBrad Smyth (2024)
MediaCKDJ 107.9
AffiliateOttawa 67s (OHL)

The Nepean Raiders are a 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

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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 came under new ownership with Gord Black in 1998. Black had previously attempted to purchase the Ottawa 67's. Black introduced a new logo, similar to the one used by the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League, that was discontinued in 2014, with minor alterations. This logo was discontinued in 2009 when new ownership took over the Raiders organization, but still used as an alternate logo as the previous logo was revived.

In 2002–03, the Nepean Raiders broke a 22-year old championship appearance drought by winning the semi-finals against the Gloucester Rangers in 7 games. The Art Bogart Cup final was an easy task for the Raiders winning the series in 5 games against the Ottawa Junior Senators. At the Fred Page Cup in Cornwall, the Raiders finished 3rd and knocked off the hosts Cornwall Colts in the semi-finals, and lost the final to the Lennoxville Cougars.

The 2003–04 season saw 13 returning players poised to defend their championship season from before. The Raiders won a hard-fought series with the Gloucester Rangers, where game 7 was a nervous showdown where Nepean held on for a 1–0 win sending them to the Fred Page Cup in Valleyfield, Quebec. Nepean dropped the first 2 games to the Valleyfield Braves (4–0) and the Saint-Eustache Gladiateurs (6–4). Nepean and the Campbellton Tigers went into the final game winless, and Nepean won 3–1 to go to the semi-finals where they defeated Saint-Eustache 3–2 in double overtime. Nepean won the finals 4–0 against Valleyfield to earn a trip to the Royal Bank Cup in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Nepean won their first game 5–4 against the Nanaimo Clippers of the BCHL, where they rallied back from a 4–0 deficit to win in overtime. Nepean improved their record to 2–0 after winning 2–0 against the Kindersley Klippers of the SJHL. However, the Raiders dropped to 2–1 after losing to the hosts Grande Prairie Storm 4–2. Their final round robin contest came against the top-ranked Aurora Tigers of the OPJHL, losing 3–1. The same teams met in the semi-final, and Aurora won 7–2 thus making the Raiders the 5th different CCHL team to fail to make the national championship.

The 2004–05 season saw the Nepean Raiders finish strong, but the Art Bogart Cup finals saw an intense series against the Hawkesbury Hawks, who finished three spots behind the Raiders. Game 7 was played in a neutral venue, because the ice was removed from the Nepean Sportsplex, so game 7 was held at the Kanata Recreation Centre instead. A record was broke in this game for the fastest five goals in a playoff game as Hawkesbury won 6–1.

Nepean returned from a devastating finish from the 2004–05 season and used the 2005–06 season to rebuild. Although, the Raiders finished 3rd overall, they had to deal with the Brockville Braves, who were up 3–1 in the series and Nepean came back to force game 7. With the game tied 2–2, Raiders forward Matt Valois scored the winner with 5 seconds left in regulation to avoid sudden death overtime. The Pembroke Lumber Kings, who were ranked #1 nationally awaited to the Raiders, and this series saw the Lumber Kings up 3–1, and Nepean coming back to win in seven games. However, the Raiders re-matched against the Hawkesbury Hawks, but lost the series in 6 games.

The summer of 2006 saw head coach and general manager Chris Byrne leave the team to accept a coaching position with the Ottawa 67's. Afterwards, this led to Gord Black putting the team up for sale. A replacement was found with Archie Mulligan, who was once the coach for the Kanata Valley Lasers, who had an impressive resume with a 15-year stint with the Valley Lasers, and an appearance in two national championships. In the end, Nepean finished 4th overall and lose to the Pembroke Lumber Kings in the finals.

The 2007–08 season started off strangely, as Archie Mulligan left the team early in the season and scrambling for a replacement. The Raiders went through three coaches and lost the first quarter-finals series for the first time since 2000. Nepean came under new ownership over the summer with Arnie Vered and Brian Altshuller. CBC commentator Garry Galley was hired as head coach. Nepean finished 1st overall, and lost the finals to Pembroke in 5 games.

In December 2009, Garry Galley left the team abruptly over disagreements with upper management, leaving players demanding trades and wanting to be released.

The 2011–12 was a breakthrough for Nepean, as they finished 1st overall (second time under new ownership). However, they almost let the semi-final series slip out of their hands against the Pembroke Lumber Kings, who were up 3–1 and Nepean ultimately won the series in 7 games.

Nepean ended its nearly 20-year playoff streak in 2016 when the Raiders failed to make the playoffs since 1994–95. Goaltender Francois Marotte broke a league record for the most minutes played (3220) in one season.

Season-by-season record

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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 Colts
2013–14 62 27 24 - 11 189 225 65 7th CCHL Lost quarter-final 0–4 Bears
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
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 4 169 196 54 5th of 6 Yzerman
9th of 12 CCHL		 Did not qualify for playoffs
2018–19 62 12 47 3 0 123 272 27 6th of 6 Yzerman
12th of 12 CCHL		 Did not qualify for playoffs
2019–20 62 11 48 3 0 148 279 25 6th of 6 Yzerman
12th of 12 CCHL		 Did not qualify for playoffs
2020-21 Season cancelled due to covid-19 pandemic restrictions
2021–22 55 12 41 2 0 159 303 26 6th of 6 Yzerman
12th of 12 CCHL		 Did not qualify for playoffs
2022–23 55 12 39 1 3 138 262 28 6th of 6 Yzerman
11th of 12 CCHL		 Did not qualify for playoffs
2023–24 55 20 28 5 2 152 204 47 6th of 6 Yzerman
11th of 12 CCHL		 Did not qualify for playoffs

Fred Page Cup

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Eastern Canada Championships
MHL - QAAAJHL - CCHL - Host
Round robin play with 2nd vs 3rd in semi-final to advance against 1st in the finals.

Year Round Robin Record Standing Semifinal Gold Medal Game
2003 L, Lennoxville Cougars 2–5
W, Charlottetown Abbies 3–1
L, Campbellton Tigers 3–2		 1–2–0 3rd of 4 W, Cornwall Colts 3–2 L, Lennoxville Cougars 0–4
2004 L, Valleyfield Braves 0–4
L, St. Eustace Gladiators 4–6
W, Cornwall Colts 1–2		 1–2–0 3rd of 4 W, St. Eustace Gladiators 3–2 W, Valleyfield Braves 4–0
Fred Page Cup Champions
advance to Royal Bank Cup
2012 W, Princeville Titans 4–0
OTL, Kanata Stallions 1–2
L, Woodstock Slammers 2–3		 1–1–1 3rd of 4 W, Kanata Stallions 6–1 L, Woodstock Slammers 2–3

Royal Bank Cup

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CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dudley Hewitt Champions - Central, Fred Page Champions - Eastern, Western Canada Cup Champions - Western, Western Canada Cup - Runners Up and Host
Round robin play with top 4 in semi-final and winners to finals.

Year Round Robin Record Standing Semifinal Gold Medal Game
2004 2OTW, Nanaimo Clippers 4–3
W, Kindersley Klippers 2–1
L, Grande Prairie Storm 2–7
L, Aurora Tigers 1–3		 2–2 4th of 5 L, Aurora Tigers 2–7 n/a

Championships

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

Notable alumni

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