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Buskey breaking in with his new club

Sep 6, 2018 | 10:06 PM

When Donovan Buskey first reported to the Prince Albert Raiders for the first time since last Friday’s trade from the Spokane Chiefs, he didn’t meet the team at the rink.

Instead, he rolled in just in time to head up to Camp Hope with the Raiders over the Labour Day weekend.

“It was a really good opportunity to bond with the guys, and really get my first taste of P.A.,” Buskey said.

After just a few days to settle into the actual city itself, Buskey found himself in game action with his new club in preseason action on Thursday. His Raiders fell 6-3 to the Saskatoon Blades, falling to 0-2 in their exhibition season. The Blades improved to 4-0, the only team with that many wins so far for those keeping track at home.

Buskey made surrendered the six goals on 23 shots, but Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid was quick to defend his new tender.

“It’s his first game, we don’t want to read too much into it,” Habscheid said. “We had quite a few turnovers in front of him. That’s not the way we play. In the end, the puck comes to him and we want him to make saves. The travel, the new team and everything—sure he wanted a couple of them back but we won’t get into it too much because it’s his first game.”

The Raiders will reserve judgement at least for now and let Buskey play a little more before evaluations come in. But Buskey is determined to show the Raiders’ coaches and the team’s fans who is really is.

“Just that I’m a hard working guy. I want to come in here and earn the respect of everyone here and put my best foot forward every night I play,” said the 18-year-old from North Vancouver. “It’s just an honour to be in P.A., be a Raider and play in front of everybody.”

Buskey will hope to make that impression sooner rather than later, as he is currently part of four goaltenders on the Raiders’ roster fighting for two spots since his arrival from the Spokane Chiefs last Friday. Ian Scott, who is currently camping with the Toronto Maple Leafs, is set to play his fourth season with the Raiders. Curtis Meger was his backup last year, and is 20-years-old. And 17-year-old Brett Balas is looking to crack a spot on the roster and start his WHL career.

Buskey himself is entering his second full season in the WHL, after playing 22 games with the Chiefs last year for a 10-10 record with a 3.56 goals against average and .871 save percentage.

“Junior hockey is another level. It was pretty eye-opening to step into this level of hockey,” Buskey said on making the adjustment from midget hockey. “The takeaway is that the games are faster and the guys are bigger.”

The Chiefs originally drafted Buskey 53rd overall in the third round of the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft.

That so happens to be the exact pick the Raiders used in 2011 to select long-serving goaltender Rylan Parenteau, who played 103 games for the Raiders spread across five different seasons. Brett Balas, who served as Buskey’s backup on Thursday, was taken just two picks away in his draft year of 2016, 51st overall in the third round.

Happy campers

From their current roster, the Raiders are sending four players to NHL camps in Ian Scott (Toronto Maple Leafs), Brayden Pachal (Calgary Flames), Cole Fonstad (Montreal Canadiens) and Parker Kelly (Ottawa Senators). Back on July 25, the Raiders acquired the rights to 20-year-old Noah Gregor, who is attending camp with the San Jose Sharks.

Scoring Summary

First period

No scoring.

Second Period

1-0, Blades, Josh Paterson (shorthanded, unassisted), 6:26

2-0, Blades, Bradly Goethals from Michael Farren and Kirby Dach (power play), 10:11

2-1, Raiders, Max Martin from Eric Pearce, (power play), 12:57

2-2, Raiders, Carson Miller from Aliaksei Protas and Brett Leason (power play), 13:19

3-2, Blades, Kirby Dach from Riley McKay (power play), 17:19

Third Period

4-2, Blades, Michael Farren from Bradly Goethals and Kirby Dach, 1:11

5-2, Blades, Braden Plaschewsky from Randen Schmidt and Zachary Ashton, 2:26

6-2, Blades, Bradly Goethals (unassisted), 7:10

6-3, Raiders, Brett Leason from Lane Kirk and Aliaksei Protas, 12:38

 

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW