The Gold and Blue army are the heart and soul of the Raiders
With the announcement of the re-signing of Eric, Aaron, Brandon, Jack Cooper and Ethan just before last weekend the Raiders are pleased to get back into our traditional weekly “team news” routine. And it is time now for an addition to the squad as we seek to continue the growth in success of the team
The EIHA statement on the end of season competition is released as follows:- The 10 clubs of the NIHL National League and representatives of the EIHA have been having regular conference & Zoom calls to discuss the way forward for the League and Play Offs. Firstly, we’d like to pay tribute to all those people
Whilst we keep locked down (where we can) and safe there are a number of people asking about next season and the purchase of season tickets. Last season was the best yet for season ticket sales for the Raiders and seeing so many new fanatics join the fans we are expecting an uplift this season.
Jacob Ranson returns home for another season in the Gold and Blue
Raiders are happy to welcome back Current GB Under 18 international Callum Burnett for his fourth season Gold and Blue. Callum, the first player born in the 21st century to make a Raiders appearance, returns to the Gold and Blue having played in the Under 18 World Championships for Great Britain in both of the past two seasons making 9 appearances. He also played for England Under 19 in the annual challenge against Scotland last season.
Defenceman Callum made 19 appearances (tasking him to 79 appearances in total and 97th position in overall appearances) for the Raiders last season scoring five assists. In addition he made 23 appearances for Raiders 2 scoring four goals and 10 assists for 14 points. Callum also found time to make four appearances for Raiders Juniors Under 18 scoring twice.
Callum made his Raiders debut in an NIHL league game at Invicta in January 2017 and later that season scored his only Raiders 1 goal, the Raiders 4th goal in a 4-4 draw at Bracknell Hornets.
Callum started his junior career at Rom Valley Way but following the closure of the Romford rink, Callum moved to Slough Jets to progress through their junior ranks. In season 2017/18, Callum moved to Chelmsford making 11 appearances for Chelmsford Under 18 Mohawks, scoring four goals and eight assists for 12 points. Callum has also making appearances each year for South East in the Inter Regional Conference, captaining the team in 2018. Callum has also made 13 tournament appearances for Great Britain Under 16s, scoring twice with assists on two further goals.
23 year old forward Lukas Sladkovsky joins the Raiders having split last season between HC Orlova and HC Tabor both of whom play in Czech Division 3 scoring a total of 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points. Lukas is 6 foot 1 inch 187lb and shoots left handed.
Lukas played the majority of his junior career for Sparta Prague averaging a point a game at Under 16 and Under 18 levels. For their Under 20 team, Lukas made 53 appearances scoring 23 goals and 7 assists for 30 points.
Lukas also had a season in GMHL League in Ontario Canada for Bracebridge Phantoms scoring 21 goals and 27 assists for 48 points. In 2014/15 he had half a season in German NL2 for Landshut Under 19 averaging nearly 1.5 points per game and at Under 20 level scored 28 goals and 13 assists for 41 points in 21 appearances in Slovakia Under 20 Division 2.
Lukas’s senior career has seen him play for HC Slovan Usti nad Labem in Czech Division 2 and HC Decin in Czech 3 before a season playing in Federal Hockey League (FHL) splitting the season between North Shore Knights (in Canada), Watertown Wolves (USA) and Cornwall Nationals (Canada) making a total of 18 games scoring 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points.