By Jeff D'Andrea

‘Great Scott!’ Raiders newest pick ‘speechless’ after being drafted

May 1, 2014 | 6:21 PM

Although the Prince Albert Raiders had shown a ton of interest in goaltender Ian Scott throughout the year, he still couldn’t immediately process the fact the Raiders picked him ninth overall in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft.

“At first, I was speechless, maybe a little queasy. I didn’t know what to think at the moment,” said Scott Thursday in a phone call from his native Calgary. “Then it just came to me that this is what I worked for this entire year.

“I felt pretty accomplished.”

The fact that he is a Raider is an accomplishment in itself. The ninth overall selection the team used to take Scott is the highest pick used in the WHL Bantam Draft to select a goalie since Carey Price was chosen seventh overall to the Tri-City Americans in 2002. Price won a gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics with Team Canada, and is the current starting goaltender of the Montreal Canadiens.

“I didn’t know it was Carey Price, but I knew I was the top (goaltender picked) for a while,” said Scott. “I look up to Carey Price, so that’s pretty cool.”

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Although Scott wasn’t overly surprised the Raiders picked him, much of the hockey world was because of all the talent the team already boasts in goal.

Current goaltender Nick McBride went on a late season 7-1 rally to help get the Raiders into the postseason in his 16-year-old rookie year. Prospect Rylan Parenteau posted a .927 save percentage and 2.72 goals against average as a 17-year-old rookie for the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings.

But despite their already present prowess between the pipes, Raiders general manager Bruno Campese believes that Scott could be very valuable to the Raiders.

“We just drafted an exceptional goalie and I don’t think you can never have too many good goalies—they’re at a premium” said Campese, a former goaltender himself who played nine years of professional hockey in Europe. “We’ve been in a situation the last several years where we’ve had to use high draft picks to get goalies because it was never really a priority in our organization.”

That’s true as last year, the Raiders traded away first round pick Jake Kryski to the Kamloops Blazers for Cole Cheveldave. The year before, they traded a third and fourth round pick for Luke Siemens from the Moose Jaw Warriors. In 2010, the Raiders gave up a second round pick to the Vancouver Giants for Jamie Tucker.

The Raiders certainly won’t be needing to trade for a goaltender for quite a while, in fact they may move one at some point for forwards. Should Scott be worthy of a WHL spot in his first eligible year as a 16-year-old, McBride will be 18-years-old and Parenteau will still be eligible at 19-years-old. Campese said the team will cross that bridge when they get there.

The team may look for forwards in the future, as they have only chosen one forward in the top three rounds in their last three draft classes. That’s Matteo Gennaro, picked 41st overall in 2012. The Raiders haven’t picked a forward in the first round since they chose Reid Gardiner eighth overall in 2011.

“We’re trying to build our team from the net out and we do think we’ve got some good younger forwards, Matteo being one of them, but some other good young forwards coming into our system,” said Campese. “We do feel that one of the things that we wanted to make sure is that we support our goaltenders with some quality defencemen.

“As far as the forwards, there’s more quantity of forwards than any other position… I think we’ve liked the forwards that we’ve picked up and they can contribute to our team at a later date.”

Raiders 2014 WHL Draft results

First round; 9th overall

Ian Scott, G, Calgary, 6’2, 164 pounds
Calgary Northstar Sabres (AMBHL) – 6-15-1, 3.12 goals against, .917 save percentage

Third round; 52nd overall

Cody Thompson, D, Killarney, MB, 6’3, 190 pounds
Southwest Cougars (WBAAA) – 29 games, 8 goals, 11 assists, 19 points

Fourth round; 74th overall

Josh Maser, F, Penticton, BC, 6’, 185 pounds
Pentiction Vees (Tier II) – 61 games, 72 goals, 55 assists, 127 points

Fifth round; 96th overall

Ty Prefontaine, D, Saskatoon, 6’3, 165 pounds
Saskatoon Maniacs (SBAAHL) – 26 games, 6 goals, 14 assists, 20 points

Sixth round; 127th overall

Ashton Heidt, D, Saskatoon, 5’11, 157 pounds
Saskatoon Stallions (SBAAHL) – 23 games, 3 goals, 13 assists, 16 points

Seventh round; 141st overall

Parker Kelly, F, Camrose, Alta., 5’7, 140 pounds
Camrose Vikings (AMBHL) – 31 games, 35 goals, 23 assist, 58 points

Eighth round; 162nd overall

Chris Monden, F, Calgary, 5’11, 178 pounds
Calgary Flames (AMBHL) – 30 games, 19 goals, 19 assists, 38 points

Ninth round; 184th overall

Zackary Hayes, D, Calgary, 6’1, 201 pounds
Calgary Northstar Sabres (AMBHL) – 33 games, 5 goals, 11 assists, 16 points

Ninth round; 194th overall

Sam Huff, F, Maple Grove, MN, 5’11, 170 pounds
Maple Grove HS (Minnesota High School) – 25 games, 8 goals, 14 assists, 22 points

Tenth round; 206th overall

Keeven Daniels-Webb, F, 6’5.5, 172 pounds
Interlake Lightning (WBAAA) – 27 games, 9 goals, 15 assists, 24 points

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea