‘The Wild Warner’ or the ‘Raider Hunter’?

Could he make the difficult jump to pro hockey after such a short season? Will he sharpen his tools in the WHL with the Raiders? Will he get traded to another team with an overage spot? Answers to those questions will remain to be seen, but Warner has prepared himself for anything.

“I think it would be incredible to play pro hockey this year, if it happens. I just have to work hard and maybe it will happen,” said Warner. “If it doesn’t happen, that’s okay because it would be incredible to play in P.A. this year, also. I think wherever I end up, it will be a huge learning experience for me.

“If I’m in pro, it would be a lot to learn as a first year pro and learn from the older guys so that would be a good learning experience. If I’m in P.A., I’ll have a chance to take on a leadership role and play my last year of junior, which would be fun and a great experience as a leader.”

Warner’s shoulder surgery put him on the sidelines for six months, leaving him only had a two-month period before the Wild’s development camp to get back into hockey shape.

His last game action he had heading into the camp was on Nov. 26, a 2-1 Raiders road win over the Calgary Hitmen in which Warner got his third assist and third fight of his 24-game season.

Although he had to heal and rehab his shoulder for half of a year, and not have any game situations under his belt except for scrimmages, Warner believes he played his put his best foot forward with the Wild July 9-14 at prospects game.

“It was a super long process, that’s for sure,” said Warner. “The surgery was about a six month recovery. So once I fully recovered, I had to work out and skate a ton to get back into shape so I could show up to development camp and perform well.

“I definitely wasn’t rusty by any means; I thought I was playing the best hockey I’ve ever played. It definitely felt weird because I had no game situations… since my last game before the surgery. To scrimmage at camp, it was fun to regain all that game situation stuff. Just to be out there was so fun.”

When Warner was asked about how he though the Raiders would shape up next season, he used the word ‘we’ when referring to the team and believes they are prepared for a successful season.

“I think we have a chance to be an extremely competitive team every night. I wasn’t there all year, but when I came back [March 2] we had a few guys in the Kelowna trades. I think we have a really steady defence core and that’s good because it keeps pucks out of our net.

“We have to have some guys score up front. We have some good forwards and I think we’re really lucky to have two really good goalies.”

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea

by Jeff D'Andrea

‘The Wild Warner’ or the ‘Raider Hunter’?

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