The Prince Albert Raiders 2023 training camp opened Friday at the Art Hauser Centre. (Nolan Kowal/paNOW Staff)

By Nolan Kowal

Training camp underway

Hope springs eternal as Raiders open training camp

Sep 1, 2023 | 5:41 PM

It still feels like summer in north-central Saskatchewan but Prince Albert Raiders fans are already flocking back to the cool confines of the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders officially kicked off training camp on Friday with drills and scrimmages. Camp runs through out the September Long Weekend leading into the club’s first pre-season game next Wednesday against Saskatoon.

“Real excited to see our returning guys lead the way and set the tone,” said Raiders Head Coach Jeff Truitt. “Not only for themselves but also showing the younger guys what it’s like to be a Raider and how hard we work.”

“You go into every year excited to see the guys back because they evolve so much in the off-season but now we get to get going on the on-ice stuff and really excited to see where this takes us.”

The green and gold had an up-and-down 2022-2023 campaign, finishing with a 28-37-3-0 record and missing the playoffs.

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Truitt says this year’s group is much more mature and determined with 16 returning players.

“It’s a mature aura about them. I don’t think that they were real happy about not making the playoffs last year,” he said. “We’ve got a group now that can do things quicker. They know us…there’s continuity in the dressing room, there’s continuity with the returning coaching staff.”

“There’s that comfort, but then there’s that expectation and that’s been driven from within that dressing room, and right now you can feel it.”

(Nolan Kowal/paNOW Staff)

The second-year head coach explained he’ll be watching for leadership and the preparation of the players leading into the on-ice sessions at training camp. He noted an invite to camp doesn’t mean much.

“Just because you’re here doesn’t mean you have a job, and you have to prove it all over again. And in this business it happens more and more,” Truitt said.

The Raiders will open their regular season with a Friday night showdown against the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sept. 22 at the Art Hauser Centre, which will be the team’s first taste of what is expected to be a very competitive east division and eastern conference.

“You take a look at our conference, you know there’s good teams. We want to be one of those elite teams,” Truitt said. “I really didn’t have to say an awful lot to the guys…it kind of came through real clear that this is a determined group that is going to take another level up and push even further than what we did last year.”

Raiders training camp runs until Monday and is open to the public.

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Nolan.Kowal@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow