The stands at the Art Hauser Centre will soon be packed with excited Raiders fans. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Go Raiders Go

The final countdown: excitement builds for Raiders’ home opener

Sep 22, 2022 | 4:55 PM

For Raiders hockey fans, the night before the home opener is in many ways similar to how a young child may feel the night before Christmas.

Raiders business manager Michael Scissons confirmed there’s equal excitement around the office amongst the administration staff.

“The week of home opener always brings a lot of challenges,” he said. “That includes handing out season tickets, to making sure all the videos we’ve shot work, to ensuring the rink is just prepared.”

Scissons confirmed season ticket sales are a bit lower this year than in past years, but explained that’s not unexpected given the current economic landscape. But there has been a noticeable increase in sales for walk-up tickets for individual games.

“We are excited about that and we are expecting a big crowd Friday night but we are encouraging people to still come down to the rink, get a ticket and we’ll get you into the building,” he said.

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With respect to ticket prices, fans will see a slight increase this year. Scissons explained the team is not immune to what’s happening around the province or the country.

“We have 34 games on the rod, fuel costs go up, hotel costs up, food costs went up extremely high. So we have to pass some of those increased expenses we are seeing onto the consumer,” he said, adding fans won’t see any difference with respect to merchandise or beverage sales.

New additions this season for Raiders merchandise include toddler sized jerseys. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

During the pandemic, the team hired a company to do an economic impact survey. The report found the team contributes between 10.5 and 11 million dollars annually to the economic landscape of Prince Albert. Acknowledging fans who come to the games, use local restaurants and hotels, and shop at local businesses, Scissons said everything contributes to the overall success of the community.

“We are a community-owned team and knowing our organization has that impact back on the economic landscape of Prince Albert, is something we are pretty happy about and we are looking to grow on that,” he said

Linda McDaid, who lives between Leoville and Chitek Lake, has been a Raiders season ticket holder since 1976. The drive into Prince Albert is 180 km’s.

“I don’t even think of the price of the tickets because with the price of gas, I’m sure it’s costing me $100 to get to a game,” she laughed.

When asked what brings her back every year, McDaid explained she’s been a hockey fan for as long as she can remember, and used to play hockey in Regina. For years she sat beside former City Councillor and Sports Hall of Fame inductee Jim Bristowe until he passed.

“This one lady that came in on the new seat, she didn’t know much about hockey. You could tell because she asked why this guy dropped his stick when it broke and I said oh you can’t play with a broken stick, you’ve gotta drop it. And she said to me you know quite a bit about this game.”

With nearly 24 hours until puck drop, McDaid said she’s just making sure she gets her old truck in shape to avoid any issues on the road. When asked about the challenges that come with driving at night or even in the winter, McDaid said she’s just happy to be retired, recalling the days when she work at the Credit Union.

“You couldn’t have supper and get in there, you had to leave right from work, and then get up in the morning to go to work,” she said.

Puck drop Friday night is 7 p.m.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell