Nepean Raiders The Nepean Raiders are a Canadian Junior ice hockey team from Nepean , Ontario , Canada . They are a part of the Central Junior A 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 Nepean in 1972 . History . In only their third CJHL season in 1974 – 75 , the Raiders made it to the finals against the Smiths Falls Bears , only to lose the series in five games . Nepean notably lost back - to - back finals against the Pembroke Lumber Kings in 1977 and 1978 . In 1979 , Nepean lost the sudden - death game 7 to the Hawkesbury Hawks , who won the CJHL title at the Sportsplex . The 1980 – 81 Nepean Raiders had a cast for future NHL stars Steve Yzerman and Darren Pang , whose team lost to the Gloucester Rangers in the 1981 CJHL finals . Yzerman went on to play for the Peterborough Petes , while Pang played for the Ottawa 67 ' s . The Nepean Raiders fell on financial times , when the rest of the league was on the verge of bankruptcy with four other teams remaining in the league . The league was however saved after a meeting at the Talisman Hotel in Ottawa in 1984 . New blood was found in the Nepean Raiders with new ownership in June 1998 , as Gord Black purchased the team . In 1999 , Chris Byrne was hired as head coach and led the Nepean Raiders to their first finals in 22 years in 2003 , after a second - round defeat at the hands of the Ottawa Jr . Senators from a year before . Nepean would wreak revenge on the Ottawa Jr . Senators in five games to win their first - ever Art Bogart Cup title . Nepean lost the Fred Page Cup finals to the Lennoxville Cougars 4 – 0 . With a core of 13 returning players , the 2003 – 04 Nepean Raiders repeated their CJHL championship in 2004 over the Gloucester Rangers in seven games . The Raiders rallied from a 0 – 2 start at the Fred Page Cup , and defeated the Valleyfield Braves in the finals . Despite having a 2 - 0 start at the Royal Bank Cup , the Raiders lost their next two round - robin games , and lost the semi - finals to eventual RBC Cup champs Aurora Tigers . With less than a dozen returnees , the Nepean Raiders finished the 2004 - 05 season only losing 9 games and finishing on top of the CJHL . However , during the NHL lockout , fan base doubled in the CJHL . The Hawkesbury Hawks made it to the finals against the Nepean Raiders , and the Hawks received coaching advice and pointers from former Avalanche coach Bob Hartley , which helped the Hawks beat the Raiders in seven games for their first title since 1999 . In 2005 - 06 , Nepean built a strong rivalry with the Pembroke Lumber Kings . A rivalry in which has not developed between these two clubs since the 70s . With the Nepean Raiders down 3 games to 1 to the Brockville Braves , the Raiders climbed back to force game 7 , rallied back from a 2 - 0 deficit , tied the game . With less than 5 seconds to go in the game , Nepean ' s Matt Valois poked in the rebound to secure the series win for the Nepean Raiders , leaving the Brockville Braves paralyzed wonder what could have been . Nepean came back against the Pembroke Lumber Kings , being down 3 - 1 and winning game 7 by a score of 5 - 1 , but lost the finals to Hawkesbury . With the loss prior to the 2006 - 07 season of head coach Chris Byrne , who took a coaching position with the Ottawa 67 ' s , former Kanata Valley Lasers head coach Archie Mulligan to fill in the void . The Raiders finished 4th overall , and nearly avoided a first - round exit to the Orleans Blues . They won an easy series against Smiths Falls , but lost the finals to Pembroke in five games . The 2008 - 2009 season saw the Nepean Raiders return to the top of the CJHL regular - season standings with the help of former NHL defenseman Garry Galley . Nepean would end up losing in the CJHL Finals to the Pembroke Lumberkings in 6 games . Two players off that year ' s team were selected in the NHL Entry draft that summer : Jeremy Price was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 4th round and Ben Sexton was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 7th round . Nepean came into the 2009 - 10 season with high hopes of becoming a championship contender , but in December 2009 , the disagreements between new ownership and coaching staff resulted in the departure of Garry Galley . The team eventually found a replacement in Peter Goulet , who coached the Kingston Vees from the season before . The Raiders made the playoffs , but finished 6th and lost to the Cornwall Colts in six games . 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 . 2003 Fred Page Cup . CORNWALL , ONTARIO : Nepean punched its ticket to their first Fred Page Cup with a 4 games to 1 win over the Ottawa Jr . Senators . The Nepean Raiders and the Cornwall Colts were rivals in the last three seasons . Nepean dropped their first game 5 – 2 to the LHJAAAQ ' s Lennoxville Cougars , who were only playing in their first season . Nepean won their second game against the maritime representatives Charlottetown Abbies , that would help the Raiders solidify a berth in the semi - finals . Lennoxville earned a bye to the finals , despite a 7 – 5 loss to the Abbies . Cornwall and Nepean prepared for an all - league tilt on the final day of round robin . Cornwall won the game 3 – 2 in overtime , despite that the goal shouldn ' t have counted because there were too many men in the crease area . The Raiders boycotted the players - of - the - game ceremonies because Colts fans threw cups and snack wrappers into the Raiders bench moments after Cornwall scored the game - winner . The Raiders did re - match with Cornwall in the semi - finals . Cornwall forced overtime on a last - minute goal . Brian Ruckwald of Nepean scored the game - winner with a wrist shot that found its way past Cornwall goaltender Christian Boucher . 2004 Fred Page Cup . SALLEBERRY - DE - VALLEYFIELD , QUEBEC : Nepean got added support by acquiring Gloucester Rangers goaltender Mitch O ' Keefe , who ' s team was defeated in the finals by the Raiders in an exciting seven game series . O ' Keefe got his second chance with the Nepean Raiders . The opening game for the Nepean Raiders faced the Valleyfield Braves , who went on to win 4 - 0 , with the support of a sold - out crowd of Braves supporters . Nepean lost the second game to Saint - Eustache , and were in trouble of being eliminated . Luckily Campbelton lost to Valleyfield , and therefore Nepean had to win their last game against Campbelton , in which they did 3 - 1 . Nepean then would go on to upset the Saint - Eustache Gladiateurs ( ranked 5th in Canada ) 3 - 2 in the semi - finals . Raiders captain Brennan Sarazin missed two games of the tournament due to exams at Carleton University and having a bad case of laryngitis . Sarazin arrived just in time for the final three must win games including the championship game , in which Nepean won 4 - 0 . 2004 Royal Bank Cup . GRANDE - PRAIRIE , ALBERTA : The Nepean Raiders trailed 3 - 0 to the Nanaimo Clippers of the BCHL , before winning the game in double overtime as Raiders captain Brennan Sarazin netted the winner . The next day , the Raiders improved their record to 2 - 0 after a 2 - 1 win over the SJHL champions Kindersley Klippers . Chris Priolo scored for the Raiders twice . Nepean had a chance to improve their record to 3 - 0 against the Grande - Prairie Storm , but lost 4 - 2 . Nepean would lose their last round - robin game to the top - ranked Aurora Tigers 3 - 1 , despite that the Tigers lost to Grande - Prairie 4 - 2 earlier . Nepean looking to became the first CJHL team to make the Royal Bank Cup finals since its inception in 1996 . Nepean would lose a heart - breaker 7 - 2 , and Aurora would go on to win the Royal Bank Cup . Season - by - Season record . " Note : GP = Games Played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , OTL = Overtime Losses , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against " External links . < br clear = right >