Raiders goaltender Max Hildebrand readies for a shot as Saskatoon's Easton Armstrong waits in anticipation during a regular season game last year. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Preseason begins tonight

Young guns in the lineup as Raiders start preseason

Sep 4, 2024 | 11:56 AM

Camp is over and preseason is officially here for the Prince Albert Raiders as they get set to take on the Saskatoon Blades in their first preseason action. Both teams are putting together a young guns lineup together for the game.

Head Coach Jeff Truitt is excited for the first game against another team and to test some of the Raiders’ younger prospects from another team.

“It’s always a thrill to step on the ice for your first game whether it’s exhibition or regular season. It’s a different opponent than what we have been playing with our group here over the last week, so now we get to play against another team in Saskatoon tonight. So it’ll be a thrill for these young kids,” he said.

A lot of the players that are going to be in the lineup for tonight’s game are going to be the 2008 and 2009-born players, and the 2009-born players are ineligible to play in the WHL this year. That said, Truitt believes that the 15-year-old players will have just as much to play for as the 16-year-olds in tonight’s game.

“The 15-year-olds, it’s a little bit tougher for them because they’re not eligible to play, but they can sure leave a lasting impression. You’ve got 16-year-olds that are trying to show that they can be a full-time player here and it’s an ongoing process day-to-day. It gets a little tougher from camp into exhibition season, and then when you start getting into regular season when the NHL guys aren’t back versus when they’re here. So it’s like a four-phase situation, but what we’re looking for is the guys that have earned that right, who’ve worked hard to get to a spot and make that impression, that they want to stay.”

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Although it is still preseason and the players involved in this game are young and haven’t been a part of the Raiders and Blades rivalry, Truitt said he wouldn’t be surprised to see some of that animosity come out in tonight’s game.

“We’ll have a compete, there’s no doubt about that now we’re up against our number one rivals. So there’s always something on the line that way. You want to send a message early that we’re going to be a hard competing team. It’s going to be a compete type of game and just with the rivalry, no team is going to want to give up anything easy and they’re going to work hard, so it’ll be a good game.”

The Raiders and Blades drop the puck at the Art Hauser Centre at 7 p.m.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com