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Raiders use option on Campese and Young, both will stay for one year

Mar 28, 2012 | 11:34 AM

Jeff D'Andrea

paNOW Staff

Prince Albert Raiders president Dale McFee announced Wednesday that the Raiders will exercise the options on general manager Bruno Campese and head coach Steve Young, keeping them on the staff for the 2012-2013 season.

But after the Raiders’ disappointing last place finish this past season and just one year to prove themselves, the pressure will be on Campese and Young to perform this year, and have a quick turn-around.

“It’s obviously the year to get it done,” said McFee. “I think you say that though, you gotta look at what we’ve done in the past few years and certainly we’ve evaluated where we did go wrong in the past year.

“You can’t throw the baby out of the bathwater, we rebuilt the organization here and it’s taken some time—several missed drafts among other things… but what we do have are the building blocks to do a turning of the ship and get it back in the right direction.”

According to the renewal of the contacts, Campese and Young are those building blocks moving forward, as well as Dave Manson, who was promoted to associate coach after joining the team as an assistant midway through last season, and Tim Leonard, who coached the Prince Albert Mintos to two Telus Cups and three league championships in the last seven years. Leonard will replace Craig Bedard, who has been an assistant with the team since 2007-2008.

With the promotion to Manson and the addition to Leonard, Campese feels confident in his coaching staff, and their abilities to lead their team back in the right direction after last year’s basement-dwelling season.

“We want to get back to developing a winning attitude. We were trending in the right direction this year but took a huge step back, it’s extremely disappointing and I’m still disappointed, as are other people in the organization,” said Campese. “We gotta find a way to continue on with the things we’re doing well, and we’ve certainly reviewed some of the areas we know have to be better like personnel and the way we play and those need to be implemented strongly this year.”

Under the advice of Campese, the board also exercised the option on Young’s contract. A lot of eyes will be on Young as this will be his first full-year as a head coach with the Raiders, as he was promoted from the associate coach position last November.

“I think at this level, the pressure’s always on,” said Young. “I think, when you’ve chosen to be in this industry, it’s day-to-day business. You can’t sit and worry about those things, my job is to get a winning product going—that’s our mandate.”

Dave Manson, who was added to the team as an assistant coach partway through last season Oct. 31, is being promoted to associate coach this season. Manson, who has a two-year contract as the associate coach, was previously an assistant with the Raiders from 2002-2009, and was a member of the Raiders as a player in their 1985 Memorial Cup Championship.

“Dave’s a real quality person and a real quality coach,” said Campese about Manson, who was in Chicago for a Blackhawks alumni event. “I think the players have embraced him and his input is very valuable. I think he has the personality and the wherewithal to work very closely as an associate coach to work with head coach Steve Young. They’re two different personalities and I think that’s important.”

Tim Leonard is the new addition to the Raiders coaching staff as an assistant. In just seven years as a head coach, Leonard lead the Mintos to back-to-back Telus Cup Championships in 2006-2007, three Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League championships and two Western Canadian championships.

After being with the Mintos for the last decade, seven as the head coach, Leonard said he’s excited for the opportunity to coach the WHL level for the first time.

“I think I’ve done what I can do in midget and was looking for another challenge and this one came up,” said Leonard. “I don’t have to leave, I basically have to move about eight steps across the hallway. I’m looking forward to it and I can hardly wait to get started.”

Duane Bartley, the athletic therapist, will retain his position as well.

All in all, McFee believes the Raiders now have a strong and diverse staff moving forward.

“We now have a group that has a tremendous work ethic, a group that hates to lose more than they like to win,” said McFee. “The diversity of this group brings academics, communication and knowledge of how to be a pro, knowledge of how to win and most importantly, knowledge of accountability on being that pillar that we are building on.”

jdandrea@panow.com