By Jeff D'Andrea

Habscheid sticks around with Raiders for 4 more years

Apr 21, 2015 | 2:07 PM

After the Prince Albert Raiders’ last game of the regular season March 21, Marc Habscheid left the Art Hauser Centre not knowing if he’d return as the Raiders’ head coach.

He got his answer exactly one month later.

The Raiders announced on Tuesday they’ve signed Habscheid to man their bench for the next four years.

“It’s a great day for sure. I really enjoyed my time here for the last five months,” said Habscheid. “Like Bruno said, it gave both sides a chance to see each other and obviously, it worked out for both sides.

“I’m excited to get back. I wish the season started tomorrow.”

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Habscheid replaced ex-Raiders head coach Cory Clouston and joined the team on Nov. 1, 2014. Later that night, he won his first game in Prince Albert with a 5-2 win over the Saskatoon Blades at the Art Hauser Centre.

The 52-year-old from Swift Current finished the year with a 24-28-2-2 record with the Raiders, who were under constant turnover. Under Habscheid’s tenure, the Raiders made seven trades including 12 players and 10 picks; including the Josh Morrissey and Leon Draisaitl deals.

Throughout the year, the team made 10 trades involving 15 players and 13 picks. That doesn’t include the departures of Dakota Conroy and Colton McCarthy, nor the signing and departure of Marcus Messier.

The team certainly had its growing pains, but the team eventually started to improve. The Raiders were 7-2-1 under Habscheid in their last 10 games as they made a run for the postseason.

Habscheid hopes with a fresh start to a season and a full training camp to work with his players, the Raiders can make an impact next season.

“We’d like to think so,” said Habscheid. “Being new here, I have no idea of the players that are coming in, I haven’t seen them before but I know the players that are coming back, so that helps.

“I think for the players coming in, it’s important for them to understand the expectations here.”

Derkatch, Bartley sticking around; more decisions to be made

The Raiders also announced they’ll exercise one-year options on Dale Derkatch, director of player personnel and athletic therapist Duane Bartley.

The team still have decisions to make on associate coach Dave Manson, assistant coach Kelly Guard and general manager Bruno Campese. The Raiders can exercise one-year options on their contracts to keep Manson, Guard and Campese with the team.

Campese said the team’s priority is to get deals finalized for both Manson and Guard. There has been pressure outside of the team from fans and media alike since the regular season ended a month ago, but Campese is not in a rush.

“I think what people don’t understand is we’re only four weeks removed from the regular season and it takes, honestly, two weeks for the dust to settle,” said Campese. “The coaches go away and I’ve been on the road scouting and doing some other stuff. We really didn’t even start this process.

“Everybody wanted it to get done in a hurry but from our standpoint, the coaching carousel doesn’t really take affect with hires until well after the draft—and that’s still a couple weeks away.”

As for Campese’s contract situation, that has been delayed as he is dealing with some family matters. Campese announced at Tuesday’s press conference his father-in-law passed away recently and he’s focusing more on his family at the moment than his contract.

“To me, that’s more important working through my family dynamic situation worrying about my own professional career,” Campese said at the announcement.

Campese is under contract until the end of May and said there is time for him to discuss his contract with the board.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea