The St. Albert Raiders raise the curtain on the midget AAA season after this weekend’s dress rehearsal at Akinsdale Arena.
The Raiders host the Southside Athletic Club tonight at 6:15 p.m. and the Leduc Oil Kings at 5 p.m. Sunday to complete the preparation portion of finalizing the roster for next weekend’s lid-lifter.
“We don’t want to look past the exhibition games this weekend but our main focus is getting to game one and the rest of the season,” said forward Parker AuCoin.
The Raiders unveil their lineup Sept. 27 against the Maple Leafs at 2:45 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena. The home opener is Sept. 28 against the Southside at 1:15 p.m. at Akinsdale.
“We’ve got a really good group of guys this year,” said defenceman Brendan Kallis. “Definitely there are big shoes to fill from last year but I think we’ve got the guys in this room to do it and we’re really bonding so far.”
The competition is fierce to play for the Raiders.
“All of us are excited to be here. This is where we want to be. It’s a high level of hockey,” AuCoin said. “Guys are working really hard trying to make the team.”
AuCoin, Kallis and injured defenceman Luigi Naccarato are returning players from the 2014 north division finalists still in camp and there is a strong possibility they will be joined by former teammates from junior tryouts.
“We’re definitely on the ice almost every day trying to get down to numbers and get chemistry,” Kallis said. “There are guys always coming back so it’s a total evolution right now as we get used to new guys coming in and out. For the most part there is kind of the core guys, especially the (players born in) 97s like myself who’ve played together before so it’s still a feeling out process while getting used to the 98s and the 99s.”
AuCoin can feel the good vibrations already in the dressing room.
“With St. Albert being such a close knit community only having three high schools it’s like a small town and guys know each other. It’s not like we’re all foreign to each other and that helps a lot developing a team and it’s going to help us this season going forward. Even with the Spruce Grove guys we’re all pretty tight,” said the Grade 11 Bellerose Composite High School student.
The Raiders skate into the season with a new head coach as Craig Goebel, who has strong ties with the Spruce Grove and Stony Plain hockey scene, replaces Sandro Pisani behind the bench.
“It’s definitely a whole new experience. With the old coaches we had a set schedule and you kind of get used to that routine and then with new coaches they have new philosophies, new systems and they also have a different way of teaching, which is again a learning process,” Kallis said. “I definitely like what they’re doing. They’re recognizing we have a big team and they’re trying to utilize that.”
It’s been a positive pre-season for the Raiders as the coaching staff separates the pretenders from the contenders for the roster spots.
“We’re looking real good right now,” AuCoin said. “Our goaltending is looking good and we’ve got some big D on the back end and that’s going to help us out a lot. We’ve also got lots of skilled forwards up front.
“It’s going to be a way different team from last year. We’re going to be a lot more offensive minded but taking that into account we still have to play defence too.”
The first pre-season loss after four wins was Wednesday’s 4-2 setback against the Sherwood Park Kings in St. Albert.
“We might have gone in a little too cocky. We were kind of riding high being undefeated and we might have taken them a bit too lightly. We weren’t sticking to our game. We’re a big team and we weren’t playing very big. We were also trying to make one extra play and I think it cost us. In the room after the game we all knew what we did wrong and we’re ready to put it behind us and move on,” said Kallis, 17.
The six-foot-two, 185-pound Raider is anxious to assume a leadership role with the team. The captain of the 2012/13 midget 15 St. Albert Flyers is coming off an eight-point campaign and 59 penalty minutes, second-most on the Raiders, in 34 games.
“I definitely want to be the guy who will do whatever the coach needs me to do. If that means a big hit or maybe contribute offensively I definitely want to be that guy,” said the Grade 12 St. Albert Catholic High School student. “I also want to be a guy in a room that the players can look to and lead them and help them when it’s needed.”
AuCoin, 16, is poised for a breakout season after registering eight goals and 15 points in 33 games with the fifth-place 18-11-6 Raiders in the north while alternating between left and right wing.
“I want to be a consistent player. I want to be playing well every game. I don’t want to have off games,” said the U16 Team Alberta player last year. “I know my role is to be a leader as a returning player and to score goals and put up points but I also want to work on my defensive game as well because I know offence is just as important as defence in this league. I learned that last year with Sandro and Umberto (Fiorillo, the assistant coach) and just becoming that 200-foot player and not so much being dominant at one end of the ice compared to the other.”
AuCoin made the leap to midget AAA after the Tri-City Americans picked the captain of the Calgary Northstar Sabres in the first round, 15th overall, in the 2013 Western Hockey League bantam draft after racking up 63 goals in 33 games, the second-highest total in Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League history. His 87 points ranked third in league scoring and he was named the south division’s MVP.
“It was a great experience for me coming out of bantam. (Midget AAA) is definitely a big league and a fast league and coming back this year I know more what to expect and I have higher expectations of myself,” said AuCoin, who dressed for one WHL exhibition with Tri-City before returning to the Raiders and last season he played in two pre-season contests for the Americans.
