Raiders Tomas Mrsic meeting with one of the sponsors on the golf course. (Prince Albert Raiders/Facebook)

By Nick Nielsen

Excitement Building in PA

Raiders golf tournament marks unofficial start to the season

Aug 30, 2024 | 12:26 PM

While fans won’t be in the stands for another couple of weeks, the staff of the Prince Albert Raiders have already felt the start of the season arrive with the annual Raiders Golf Classic.

Between now and the start of the season on September 20 when the Raiders host the Regina Pats, there is a lot of opportunities for Raider fans to get to know the team around the community.

Raiders Business Manager Mike Scissons is already feeling the buzz around the community for the season to have its official start, and he feels Thursday’s golf tournament and Wednesday’s banquet provide the perfect avenue to welcome fans back into the fold.

“It’s an outstanding way to start our season. The guys are all back, we have a lot of fans and a lot of sponsors who are excited. It’s just an unbelievable start of the year to have everyone kind of back out there, to have everyone back on the course and kicking out the kicking off the event.”

With the banquet and golf tournament bringing fans out to interact with the players and staff of the Raiders, Prince Albert is excited about how the Raiders are going to perform this year.

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While many see the Raiders being their strongest in the next few years based on how they’ve drafted recently, the buzz around the golf tournament this year showed that people are excited to see how the Raiders fair this year after recent trade acquisitions and some of those talented draft picks starting their WHL careers.

“I think our fans are incredibly intelligent in the fact that they understand the cyclical situation of junior hockey and they see the growth. They see the seeds that were planted and where those kids are now coming through the system. We’re going to get to see a lot of exciting young talent this year in the form of Daxon Rudolph, Riley Boychuk, Ty Meunier, and some other tremendous young players, but it doesn’t stop there,” he continued.

“The pipeline is still full and I think our fans are seeing that and understanding that, the veterans that are coming back and the experience that they gained from making the playoffs last year and playing an incredibly tough Saskatoon Blades team. I think there is a lot of excitement, a lot of reason for excitement and our fans are seeing that and we’re looking forward to delivering for them.”

With camp starting Friday and the annual Green and White game finishing off the long weekend on Monday, the Raiders office has been busy with season ticket holders coming into the office to grab their spots. According to Scissons, season ticket numbers for the Raiders are around the same level they were at to start the season last year.

“We’re pretty much identical to where we were last year, which is a great testament to the fans and the support we get here in Prince Albert because at the end of the day, it is an investment. We understand that and in today’s world where entertainment can come from anything from sitting in front of a TV to a laptop on your lap or a phone in your hand or different options around town, we’re just very honoured and thrilled that the people pick the Prince Albert Raiders as a place to spend that entertainment dollar and we’re once again just thrilled with the support that we’re getting. To be roughly where we were last year at this point is excellent.”

The season opener is still the biggest ticket item on the schedule for the Raiders on the horizon, but there are still a number of ways for fans to engage with the team. The Raiders have added a slow pitch game for the players to show off a different side of their athleticism.

“The home opener is always an incredibly exciting day, but before the season even starts, you’re going to get some exhibition games starting next Wednesday, next Saturday, and then we’re going to have a kind of an inter-squad slow pitch game on September 9th which is exciting for fans to come and watch out at 7:00 right beside the rink here, and then we start playing hockey for real.”

Raiders training camp starts today with the first team skates and practice, while inter-squad games are free to attend for the Raiders on Saturday and Sunday. The final day of camp will see the annual Green and White game at 11:00 a.m. on Monday. Finally, the Raiders first preseason game will take place here in Prince Albert on Wednesday, September 4 against the Saskatoon Blades.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com