A farewell to Reece and Remy

It’s a sentiment that was echoed by fellow overager Remy Aquilon. Like Vitelli, Aquilon was in the team’s leadership group as an assistant captain, and also played his last game after closing out his 20-year-old season.

“The coaching identity is huge in winning, but also winning in life. You learn how to have swagger, be confident in yourself and believe in yourself. That’s one thing I learned,” Aquilon said.

Aquilon figured that out pretty quickly, as he was able to crack the WHL as an undrafted player with the Victoria Royals, playing seven games in the 2017-18 season before getting in 50 games the next year, and joining the Raiders for the 2019-20 year.

“It’s sort of surreal. I always dreamed of getting to the WHL,” he said. “Going through the draft and getting undrafted, I didn’t know if it was an opportunity. But I kept working and earned it. I think it was just surreal to make it here and have a full four years.”

As much as those lessons are about life and can be put into action in the classroom, in their careers, among family and friends, the Raiders were still able to put those lessons into their hockey as well, mostly on how to play as a team and how to support each other. They came together throughout the season when nobody else thought they could—even after they traded former first overall pick Kaiden Guhle midway through the season to his hometown Edmonton Oil Kings.

“Throughout the whole year, we were counted out a lot. Coming into the year, nobody picked us as a playoff team. Once we traded Kaiden away, that really took a shot at us. Everybody thought we couldn’t make it, but we never took that to heart,” Vitelli said. “We came together as a team. It came down to the last game, the last two games actually, and we stuck together and found a way. That’s all I can say about our group, we always find a way and always build off each other. The belief in the room is unbelievable. The stuff we were able to do was amazing.”

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Jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW

by Jeff D’Andrea

A farewell to Reece and Remy

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