Funds raised from the tournament go to the Raider’s Education Fund, but it also serves as the first chance for fans to interact with the returning players this year. Each one is assigned to play with a different group.
Scissons said having the players return to Prince Albert over the last week has livened things up around the Raiders’ office.
“The days get long, I’m not going to lie… when you work for a hockey team and there’s no hockey, no players. There is some good time to regroup and plan and review, but those days quickly come to an end, and you miss seeing the guys every day. Their energy, their youthfulness, they make everyone a little bit more energetic every day and whatever we do every day and the hours we work in the office and what the coaches put in, it is all for what these kids can bring to our community and what they can do on the ice.”
After the Raiders won their playoff series last year – the first one since 2019 – and, with the amount of talent returning to the team this year with the likes of Justice Christensen and Aiden Oiring, Scissons said there is already a lot of excitement throughout the community leading into the season.
“All summer we’ve seen the excitement for this year’s Raider club. It started with the hiring of Ryan McDonald [as head coach], removing that interim tag, everyone’s excited about that. Our season tickets, where every organization in sports seems to be going down in season tickets [sales], ours remain steady or even up. It’s such an exciting time. We feel the excitement in the city for Raider hockey. Last year we saw in the playoffs and we think this year at the start is just going to be a continuation of that. So, it’s going to be a tremendous season we believe for Raider hockey and we can’t wait to get it going.”
The Raiders now get set to go for what promises to be a competitive camp this year. It starts today and runs until the Sunday. The Green and White game takes place at 11 a.m on Monday. Admission is a donation to the food bank. After that, the Raiders will play six pre-season games starting on Tuesday, Sept.2 in Saskatoon.
They will have one more event before the start of the season to have the fans and players interact during the Raiders Run on Sunday, Sept. 7.
Then, the regular season begins at home with the Raiders raising their East Division banner against the Saskatoon Blades on Friday, Sept. 19.
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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com
