Preseason is now upon us

By Drew Wilson

Twetnty-eight players have emerged from the marathon better known as training camp and now the Raiders prepare for Thursday's preseason opener at home against Regina.

And a marathon is was especially for the 11-rookies who are still around. They endured eight full 60-minute games (add another five minutes due to overtime in the intersquad game) in less than five days. The fact that Gage Quinney (groin) was the lone injury among the newbies is a testiment to the kind of shape they were in when they reported.

Darcy Zaharichick was one of the sleepers from day one. The 17-year old Edmonton area boy got us all looking at our lineup sheets when he scored two goals on one shift curing rookie camp and sure didn't look out of place while skating on a line with veterans during main camp. He is someone to watch in preseason.

The battle for the back-up netminding position was always going to be a duel between Ryan Parenteau and Nick McBride and whoever emerged would not be a big surprise. The 17-year-old Parenteau struggled while McBride appeared to gain poise and confidence. The 16-year-old capped that off by stopping all 18 shots he faced in the intersquad game, locking down the number-2 job.

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Meanwhile Cheveldave looked excellent from day one and made his first hilite reel save (although there were no cameras rolling) in the first period of the intersquad game, robbing Spencer Meyer with a glove snag while lying flat on his back in the crease.

Speaking of Meyer, the 17-year-old forward obviously spent hours in the gym during the off-season as he returned with a ripped upper body to go along with excellent speed. He also played with desire and determination from day one and treated us to the best fight (although there were only two) of camp.

Among the veterans, Dakota Conroy is as trim as he has been during his WHL career and the fact he and Mike Winther didn't score until the intersquad game indicated how competitive this camp was. Leon Draisaitl hasn't skipped a beat with his pinpoint passing and a 45-foot snap shot that went in off the post during the intersquad game.

However, 19-year-old Jayden Hart was the most impressive and consistant among the veterans as he was as skillfull as powerful in his approach to camp scoring many goals that required as much skill as jam.

The biggest question mark on defense was Czech import Tomas Andrlik. The 18-year-old was very steady and poised in his North American initiation and should be a strong addition to the Raider blue line for the next two seasons.

In restrospect there were no major surprises and it's always extremely positive immediately after training camp. The step up in preseason is the biggest of the team selection process and most challenging for those trying not to become one of the final fateful final five, the projected number of cuts the Raiders will make between now and opening night September 20th in Saskatoon.

The bubble players will start playing themselves on or off the final roster Thursday night at home against the Pats. The game will be broadcast on 900 CKBI following bingo.

dwilson@panow.com

Twitter: RaidersVoice