It’s not always advisable to put a lot of stock into a training camp or pre-season performance.
However, if Prince Albert Raiders forward Brett Leason can continue to find the back of the net, he’ll become a key cog in his team’s success.
At the conclusion of intrasquad scrimmages Monday night, the 19-year-old from Calgary led all players with six goals and was a threat to light the lamp almost every time he was on the ice.
“I have lots of confidence coming into training camp this year and I think that’s showed with how I’ve played so far,” Leason said. “It’s always a good feeling when you have some extra confidence going out on the ice.
“I want to be a guy that team relies on this year. I’ve set some high expectations for myself and I upped the intensity when it came to my off-season training.”
A third round pick by the Tri-City Americans in 2014, Leason had eight goals and 10 assists during his rookie campaign in the Western Hockey League in 2016-17.
After scoring a goal in 12 games for the Kennewick, Wash. based team, he was dealt to the Raiders in October of last year in exchange for a third round pick in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, which originally belonged to the Americans and was used to select defenceman Carson Haynes.
The move to the East Division was a good one for Leason, as he scored 15 goals and had 17 assists in 54 regular season contest.
He would also have three assists for the Raiders in their first round playoff series with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
“Coming here was a fresh start for me,” Leason said. “I was able to play my game, which is a power forward with a good shot and playmaking abilities.
“After the trade, I was able to start off strong and I had a really good finish to the season, which is something I want to build on this year.”
Although the lines for this season have yet to be determined, Leason made a number of great plays over the course of training camp with assistant captain Sean Montgomery.
“Monty and I played quite a bit last year and our line was really going at times,” Leason said. “It would be great if we got the chance to play with each other again.”
Having been knocked out in the first round of the post-season the last two seasons, Leason is hoping that the third time is the charm when it comes to having a long playoff run.
“We have a strong group here and I think we can have a really good year,” Leason said.
“We have lots of depth and a number of guys that contribute on a nightly basis to get things done.”
Max Martin dives for the puck while battling with Blake Jacques Monday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
Monday was a busy day for those competing for a spot on the Raiders roster as six scrimmages took place.
The scores of those contests are as follows:
- Orange 2 Gold 1 (Shootout)
- Gold 4 Green 3
- Orange 3 Green 2
- Green 2 Gold 1
- Orange 3 Green 2
- Gold 5 Orange 4
After Monday’s games, the unofficial goal totals for each squad during training camp looked like this:
Team Gold
- Brett Leason – 6
- Eric Pearce – 3
- Brayden Pachal – 2
- Sergei Sapego – 2
- Joseph Cesario – 1
- Tyson Laventure – 1
- Sean Montgomery – 1
- Aliaksei Protas – 1
Team Green
- Kody McDonald – 4
- Evan Herman – 2
- Justin Nachbaur – 2
- Ozzy Wiesblatt – 2
- Braydon Clark – 1
- Mathew Lehman – 1
- Luc Marleau – 1
- Adam McNutt – 1
Team Orange
- Zack Hayes – 3
- Blake Jacques – 3
- Nikita Krivokrasov – 3
- Cole Fonstad – 2
- Parker Kelly – 2
- Nolan Allan – 1
- Mackenzie Belinski – 1
- Mkyllan Couture – 1
- Carson Miller – 1
- Brett Moravec – 1
- Graham Skinner – 1
Training camp will officially wrap up Tuesday night with the annual Green and White game, which will get underway at 6 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
Admission for the game is a $2 donation or a non-perishable food item to the Prince Albert Food Bank
The first roster cuts will be made following the contest as the Raiders will then prepare to start their pre-season slate Thursday night at home in a 7 p.m. contest with the Saskatoon Blades.
The lineups for Tuesday’s matchup are as follows:
Team Green
Goaltenders
- #33 – Andreai Proctor-Ramirez
- #35 – Brett Balas
Defencemen
- #2 – Kaiden Guhle
- #3 – Graham Skinner
- #4 – Sam Kroon
- #5 – Braydon Clark
- #6 – Mkyllan Couture
- #7 – Eric Robbie
Forwards
- #9 – Blake Jacques
- #10 – Ozzy Wiesblatt
- #11 – Jakob Brook
- #12 – Luc Marleau
- #14 – Dean Spak
- #15 – Tyson Laventure
- #16 – Mathew Lehman
- #17 – Logan Linklater
- #18 – Kaden Belcourt
- #19 – Guillermo Salazar
- #21 – Caden Joanis
- #22 – Chase Torchinski
- #24 – Taggart Plouffe
Team White
Goaltenders
- #33 – Draydon Ramage
- #38 – Sam Smith
Defencemen
- #3 – Nolan Allan
- #4 – Tayem Gisalson
- #6 – Lane Kirk
- #7 – Landon Kosior
- #8 – Adam McNutt
- #10 – Emmitt Marchesi
- #11 – Tyler Ostrander
Forwards
- #12 – Evan Herman
- #14 – Aliaksei Protas
- #15 – Cohner Saleski
- #16 – Myles Hilman
- #20 – Mackenzie Belinski
- #21 – Wyatt Fluet
- #22 – Matt Gross
- #23 – Brett Moravec
- #24 – Tyler Wallace
- #25 – Joseph Cesario
- #26 – Matt Corbet
- #28 – Gage Helm
- #29 – Blake Duquette
Not Dressed
Goaltenders
- Curtis Meger
- Ian Scott
Defencemen
- Konrad Belcourt
- Zack Hayes
- Max Martin
- Jeremy Masella
- Brayden Pachal
- Sergei Sapego
Forwards
- Cole Fonstad
- Parker Kelly
- Nikita Krivokraov
- Brett Leason
- Kody McDonald
- Carson Miller
- Sean Montgomery
- Spencer Moe
- Justin Nachbaur
- Eric Pearce
