By Jeff D'Andrea

Pair of Pat C products prod for P.A. positions

Aug 30, 2017 | 9:17 PM

As they fight for a spot on the Prince Albert Raiders in their first year of eligibility, prospects Adam Herold and Eric Pearce are coming off quite an eventful season.

Herold and Pearce were on the Regina Pat Canadians team that dominated the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League on the way to a provincial championship, and qualified for the Telus Cup nationals. They finished in fourth in the big dance, losing 4-1 in the bronze medal game to the Mississauga Rebels.

“I definitely learned a lot more than any year of hockey,” Pearce said. “Playing against the best teams, especially in the Telus Cup, it gave me a confidence boost with us being a top team all season and playing with good players.”

Not only was the calibre of the opponents good for development, but the sheer number of games was a lot larger for the two young men than in previous years.

That’s especially true in Herold’s case. Herold scored 19 points in 62 games total, including the Telus Cup, playoffs, regular season and making his WHL debut for the Raiders last year. That total is almost double the 34 games he appeared in during his previous season in bantam.

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“We played all the way until the start of May,” Herold said. “We had a really long season, played a lot of great games so it was a great experience. Especially through the playoffs and all the way to Telus, I grew a lot.”

As second round draft picks in the 2016 draft, both will be looking to make their WHL rookie seasons this year in their first year of eligibility—but it will be tough.

The Raiders could return as many as six defencemen from last year’s roster, not including their 2016 first round pick Rhett Rhinehart.

“I’m very excited,” Herold said of the opportunity. “I’m coming here hoping I can compete enough to stay all year, but we’ll see what happens.”

Pearce is facing a similar number crunch in the forward positions. The Raiders could return as many as 11 forwards from last year’s team.

Pearce worked on becoming more of a complete player with the Pat Canadians, playing a more defensive role on the team scored 10 goals and 24 points in 40 regular season games. Although that’s a far cry from the 51 goals he scored in bantam AA with the Regina Aces, Pearce feels a lot more prepared to play at the WHL level.

“I think I developed my game a lot more into a two-way game—that’s what they look for in the WHL,” Pearce said. “I can’t just be one-dimensional, I have to be an all-around player. I think I accomplished that this year.”

Team Yellow 3 Team Green 1

On Wednesday in the Raiders’ first rookie scrimmage of camp, Pearce’s Team Yellow beat Herold’s Team Green 3-1. Michael Clough scored the lone goal for Team Green in the first period, before Rhett Rhinehart tied it up in the second for Team Yellow, and Caden Joanis and Kiano Robinson team up for a pair in the third.

Camp continues until Saturday’s Intrasquad game. The Raiders will then take on the Saskatoon Blades in the Young Guns Game on Sunday, all at the Art Hauser Centre.

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW