By Jeff D'Andrea

P.A. born Lange named Raiders captain; Lees an assistant

Jan 20, 2015 | 4:07 PM

Sawyer Lange will finish his major junior career as captain of the team he grew up watching, the Prince Albert Raiders.

The Raiders announced at a press conference Tuesday at the Art Hauser Centre that the 20-year-old Lange, who was born and raised in Prince Albert, will be their skipper for the remainder of this season.

“I grew up idolizing the guys that played for the Raiders, I had friends that billeted guys, so it’s always kind of been a part of my life,” said Lange, who hasn’t been named a captain of a team since bantam. “It’s a really exciting thing. It’s a big honour for me and my family.”

The Raiders have been without an official captain since the Dec. 11 departure of Josh Morrissey. The reason Lange wasn’t named captain until now was because he’s been sidelined since Nov. 26 with an upper body injury, what he referred to as “a broken arm.” Lange has missed the last 19 games with the injury.

“It’s been really tough, it’s my first time in my career that I’ve had a major injury, so it’s kind of a new experience for me,” said Lange. “I’m not a very good watcher of the game, I get a little excited in the stands.

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“It’s been tough in that way. I’ve been just trying to do what I can do in practice and days off.”

Raiders associate coach Dave Manson knows Lange as well as anybody in the Raiders organization. He’s worked with Lange for the past three seasons with the Raiders, as well as both of Lange’s years with the Prince Albert Mintos Midget AAA club.

“I think it’s great for Sawyer. Sawyer is a very competitive individual, he’s very coachable in a sense and in his own personal game, he’s shown improvement every year,” said Manson. “I think it’s a huge feather in Sawyer’s cap. He’s paid his dues, he’s worked hard and he’s done the things that have been asked of him.

“At the same time it’s going to be a learning experience for Sawyer. He’s going to be asked to do things that maybe he isn’t comfortable in doing and it’s added pressure. He has to do all that while playing a solid game individually.”

Since Lange started the year as an assistant captain with the Raiders, naming him captain left a vacancy. Jesse Lees, who’s only been with the Raiders for five and a half weeks, will fill that hole and will have an ‘A’ on the Raider jersey he’s worn for 13 games.

“It’s definitely an honour,” said the 19-year-old Lees. “There have been lots of great leaders that have been through the organization and I think I’m just trying to fill the shoes they did.

“It’s my fourth year in the league, so I’ve been around a lot. The trade really helped me mature so I think I’m suitable for the role. I’m going to embrace it and take it for what it is.”

The 19-year-old defenceman has nine points in 13 games with the Raiders, and scored his first goal wearing Green and Gold on Saturday in a 5-4 loss against the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Now, the Raiders leadership group looks like this.

Captain: Sawyer Lange, 20

Assistant captains: Jayden Hart, 20, Jesse Lees, 19, Reid Gardiner, 18

History lesson

The last time the Raiders have had a Prince Albert-born captain was in 1998 when Kevin Kellett wore the ‘C’. Other P.A. born players that went on to captain the Raiders in their WHL days were Denis Pederson (1994 and 1995), Jeff Nelson (1992), Todd Nelson (1989 and 1990) and Doug Hobson (1988).

Guhle, Gardiner recognized by NHL Central Scouting

The NHL Central Scouting 2015 midterm rankings were released on Tuesday and included two Prince Albert Raiders.

Defenceman Brendan Guhle was ranked 76^th among North American skaters, while Reid Gardiner, who went undrafted in last year’s NHL Entry Draft, was placed 104^th.

Both Raiders goaltenders, Nick McBride and Rylan Parenteau, were ranked 13^th and 31^st respectively among North American goaltenders.

Road trippin’

Six of the Raiders next seven games are on the road, with their lone home game in that span in a Jan. 28 contest against the Saskatoon Blades. The Raiders will play away matches against the Brandon Wheat Kings Jan. 23, Jan. 25 against the Blades, Jan. 30 against the Calgary Hitmen, Jan. 31 against the Red Deer Rebels, ending with a two-game southern Saskatchewan trip Feb. 3-4 against the Regina Pats and Moose Jaw Warriors.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea