By paNOW Staff

Raiders’ McNeill and Ruopp busy in off-season

Aug 2, 2011 | 4:52 PM

Jeff D’Andrea

paNOW Staff

In theory, off-seasons are supposed to be at least a little less frantic for hockey players , but that certainly hasn’t been the case for Prince Albert Raiders forward Mark McNeill and defenceman Harrison Ruopp.

McNeill’s agenda has been especially full since the end of his season and with an NHL combine trip, travelling to Minnesota to get selected 18th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks.

He even represented his country at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) U18 World Championships in Germany, this past April and had his first pro-camp last month with the Blackhawks.

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“It’s been pretty busy, pretty hectic, but it’s been really fun,” said McNeill, who scored 32 goals and 81 points last season for the Raiders.

“Travelling around, going to the draft and the combine were really good experiences and I’ve also been pretty busy at home staying in the gym,” he said.

“But just like every off-season, you crave the rink a little bit and you just want to get back and to practices, games and back to the regular season.”

Ruopp was selected in the third round and 84th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes and said he learned what it will take to make it to the NHL one day at the Coyotes’ prospect camp in July.

“The prospect development camp was an excellent experience for me and I learned a lot,” said Ruopp, who finished last season with nine assists, 98 penalty minutes and was +8 in 54 games this season.

“When you play against guys that are bigger, faster, stronger, you realize what you have to do to get to the next level. It really opens your eyes when you see what you have to do. Getting drafted and getting my foot in the door is just another part of the journey.”

Ruopp said he has to work hard and improve all aspects of his game, especially his foot speed, to elevate his game to the next level.

McNeill and Ruopp getting drafting in the first and third rounds respectively don’t only reflect well for them, but for the Raiders franchise as a whole, said Bruno Campese, Raiders coach and general manager.

“It’s a huge thing for our team,” said Campese.

“The players themselves have worked extremely hard to get to this point. They’ve put in a lot of time and sacrifice, and so have their families.

“They both had very good years last year. McNeill was second in team scoring and had 81 points and Ruopp really established himself as a really tough player to play against on the backend, and yet there’s lots of room for those guys to continue to improve on in their game. They’ll be core parts of our team and we expect them to lead in their own way and they’ll be extremely important to our success.”

The Raiders’ main camp starts on Aug. 25 with preseason games starting on Aug. 31 against the Saskatoon Blades.

The Raiders will start their regular season with a home-and-home series against the Blades Sept. 23-24.

jdandrea@rawlco.com