By Jeff D’Andrea

Raiders youngsters not waiting in the wings, ready for Regina

Sep 23, 2016 | 10:00 AM

The time is now for the Prince Albert Raiders’ tremendous trio of young gun forwards.

Both of the Raiders’ first round selections in 2015, fifth overall Cole Fonstand and 21st overall Carson Miller, as well as 28th overall Spencer Moe, will all be in the lineup when the Raiders kick off their campaign this weekend.

The Raiders are scheduled to head down to the Brandt Centre to take on the Regina Pats on Friday, before both teams will head up to the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday.

“I think, right now, they’ll be in the lineup,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “They’re our future for sure, so we want to be careful with them. We don’t want to give them too much too soon and put them in positions of success.

“At the same time, we just don’t want them putting in time. I think they’re good enough players where they can add to our group and help us win.”

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There is a chance they’d all be playing on the same line, as well. All three of them practiced together as a line in Thursday’s practice, and have all played together in the preseason in both even strength situations and on the power play.

All of them ended the preseason with three points—Moe scored three goals and was tied for the Raider lead in that category. Miller found the back of the net twice while Fonstad had one goal.

Breaking Raids-Blades tradition

This will be the first time since the 2009-10 season that the Raiders haven’t started the season with a two-game series against the Saskatoon Blades. Instead, they’ll take on the Pats, who are widely regarded as the favourite to win the WHL Eastern Division.

According to a poll put up by the WHL, 81 per cent of broadcasters from the league’s markets voted the Pats would win the division. They were also ranked 10th overall in the opening CHL weekly rankings.

But like the Raiders, a lot of the Pats’ vets are still camping with NHL clubs. Adam Brooks (Toronto Maple Leafs), Sam Steel (Anaheim Ducks), Austin Wagner (Los Angeles Kings), Sergey Zborovskiy (New York Rangers), as well as former Raider prospect Connor Hobbs (Washington Capitals). The only Pat that has returned to the team so far is Filip Ahl from the Ottawa Senators.

“They’ve got a lot of guys away, so who they have back is going to change the dimensions and dynamics of their team,” Habscheid said. “We’re planning that every one of them will be back, but if they aren’t, they aren’t.

“They’re picked to be one of the best teams in the league and in their home opener [Friday], it will be a difficult place to play. But we’re not going in there to participate—we’re going in there to win.”

jdandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea