Cole Fonstad at the 2019 CIBC Canada-Russia Series at the Art Hauser Centre. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D'Andrea

Fonstad Returns To Get His Ring

Fonstad has fruitful return to Prince Albert

Nov 15, 2019 | 11:12 AM

Cole Fonstad has won a lot of hardware at the Art Hauser Centre in the past six months.

It all started back on May 13, Fonstad jumped the highest during the Prince Albert Raiders celebration when they won the WHL Championship over the Vancouver Giants in overtime in Game seven.

On Thursday, Fonstad added two more pieces to his trophy case. He was on the winning Team WHL, who defeated Team Russia in the 2019 CIBC Canada-Russia Series at the Art Hauser Centre. And more importantly than that, Fonstad finally received his championship ring after the rest of his former Raider team already had it on their fingers for almost a month.

Fonstad was traded to the Everett Silvertips on Oct. 14 of this year, about two weeks before the Raiders themselves received their championship rings.

Raiders business manager Mike Scissons offered to ship the ring to Fonstad, but instead he wanted to be in Prince Albert to accept it in person with the team and general manager Curtis Hunt.

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“It’s awesome. When I saw the team got them [two] weeks ago, I was pretty jealous actually,” Fonstad said. “Mike asked me if he should send it, but I thought it would be good if I could get it here and have Curtis give it to me. They did a lot for me here, so it’s good to share it with them.”

Fonstad hails from Estevan, but Prince Albert was his second home for the past three seasons. He played 219 games with the Raiders since getting called up as a 15-year-old in the 2015-16 season. He scored 63 goals and 182 points as a Raider in that time.

He’s built up a lot of memories over the years, plenty of which occurred well before the historic May 13 game. He was drafted by the Raiders fifth overall in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft. He scored his first goal at the Art Hauser Centre on Oct. 5, 2016 against the Portland Winterhawks. While with the Raiders, Fonstad was drafted in 2018 by the Montreal Canadiens.

So to come back to the Art Hauser Centre for the first time since the trade was a good moment, as a few of those memories started flooding back.

“It was unreal. It was good to be back here and see some familiar faces, even the fans around the glass that you used to see every game,” Fonstad said. “It felt good to be back, I’m really thankful for all the memories I made here. Obviously, my ring tonight was huge. I’m really happy.”

Another perk from Fonstad’s Thursday was to reunite with some old teammates again, including Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. They both shared the Team WHL bench once again, as Habscheid was one of WHL’s assistants.

“I hadn’t talked to him since the trade, but it was good to see him again,” Fonstad said. “To have him here when I got my ring and have him see me when I walked in with it, it was pretty cool.”

“I had a few years with him, so it was good,” Habscheid said. “He got his ring tonight, it was nice. I wish him well.”

That big piece of gold will forever be a reminder of what Fonstad and the rest of the Raiders accomplished last season. But Fonstad is looking for another ring with the Silvertips, who are starting the year 13-4.

Fonstad has eight points in his first five games with the Silvertips.

“It’s been good. Obviously it’s a big change, it’s quite a ways away from here. It’s in a different division with a different style of play. But I think I’m settling in well and getting more comfortable every day there now. I have great teammates there too, so I’m excited for the rest of the year.”

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW