Gennaro’s wait to get drafted long but fruitful

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It’s no secret that Gennaro had a slow start to the season. He went his first nine games scoreless and had six points in his opening 40 games of the season. But Gennaro transformed into one of the Raiders’ best scorers in the second half, scoring 25 points in his last 32 games. He was dynamite down the stretch with had five goals and eight points in his last nine games.

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Gennaro credits Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid for his second half turnaround. He said shortly after the season that Habscheid was “the best thing” that happened to his hockey career. Gennaro’s opinion hasn’t varied too far since.

“Anytime you have a coach and a role model that you look up to and that shows you that they’re confident in you and trust you in different situations and important situations in a game, it only makes you grow as a player,” said Gennaro. “Everyone improves through experience, the more minutes you play and the more time you play game situations and different roles or different scenarios you’re not used to, you’re going to improve and adapt.

“I owe Marc a ton. He really helped me and he impacted my year hugely. Having a coach that you respect and you look up to… it’s a great thing to have.”

Gennaro will join the Jets prospect pool, which contains a lot of WHL talent especially former teammate Josh Morrissey. When Morrissey was still a part of the Raiders, he was selected 13th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

“I’m looking forward to that, I’ve played with Josh for a year and a half,” said Gennaro. “He gave me a lot of good insight on the NHL and his draft process. It’ll be nice to know someone and he’s a great player as well.

“I’m looking forward to meeting him and meeting other familiar faces. I’m really excited to go to development camp and show what I can do.”

Gennaro will join the Jets youngsters in their development camp July 2-8 hoping to make an impression on the Jets’ brass.

jdandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea