Raiders welcome Warriors for opener

The Prince Albert Raiders return to the ice tonight in their first regular season game against the Moose Jaw Warriors. 

Newly-crowned alternate captain Parker Kelly will not be with the team on opening night as he remains in camp with the Ottawa Senators. Both Jordy Stallard (Winnipeg Jets) and Vojtech Budik (Buffalo Sabres) came back to the Raiders after training camps Thursday. He is the leading returning scorer from last season after a 43 point breakout campaign a year ago. Aside from Kelly, Curtis Miske (43 points), and Stallard (37 points) are the leading offensive returnees.

Defenseman Max Martin impressed a year ago with 26 points in 50 games with Prince Albert last season, and will be a key part of the offence this year. Martin missed training camp and the first three pre-season games recovering from offseason surgery, but returned to the lineup last weekend fully healthy. The Raiders return a strong contingent of six full-time defencemen from last season.

Goaltender Ian Scott, who just returned to P.A. after participating in training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs, will be expected to be a workhorse in net all year long. Nicholas Sanders and Curtis Meger also remain with the team, giving the Raiders options behind Scott.

From veterans to rookie players, Brock Sottile, Eric Pearce, Justin Nachbaur, and Tyler Lowe will all be making their WHL regular season debut when they first take the ice with the Raiders this season.

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After a turbulent start to the season last year, the Raiders settled in after the Jan. 10 trade deadline and finished the season 13-13-4. Every team in the Western Hockey League that finished with a record at or above .500 was in the playoffs, meaning the Raiders performed at a playoff-worthy rate over the last 30 games of the season.

The game starts tonight at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre, broadast on 900 CKBI starts 6:40 p.m.

trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nedderrovert