Okay guys, it's up to you to get'r done.
 
That was the message from Raider president Dale McFee to the coaching staff after Tuesday's news conference announcing the two year contract renewals for Coach and G.M. Bruno Campese along with Assistant's Steve Young and Craig Bedard.
 
McFee says when you look at other teams like the Medicine Hat Tigers and Chicago Blackhawks who have turned their fortunes around one thing is clear.  They had the courage to stick with their plan through tough times and it paid off.  He says this franchise needs stability and now is not the time to change the course.
 
McFee stressed the board's unanimous support for the plan laid out by Campese and the progress they have seen over the past two and a half seasons.  McFee points to an outstanding home record and excellent entertainment at the Art Hauser Centre in addition to a change in the "culture" surrounding the franchise. 
 
McFee believes the Raiders can be a consistent playoff contender and even a Memorial Cup contender in the foreseeable future.  He points to the home record, and the quality youngsters in the system like Mark McNeill, Ryan Harrison and last year's first round pick Mike Winther.
 
He believes the next step is creating an environment whereby the players expect to win as opposed to hoping they can win on any given night.  However he points out there will be checks and balances to make sure the team continues to progress.  
 
McFee's passion for the team is undeniable; his belief in the future of the franchise is unquestionable.
 
Campese who has a 24/7 approach to his job feels the endorsement from the board means they can move forward with confidence in their plan knowing they too are in it for the long haul.   Steve Young's promotion to Associate Coach in addition to assistant G.M. means Campese can concentrate on General Manager duties when necessary.  Young is excited about his expanded coaching role while continuing to learn the management side of major junior hockey.
 
In his address, Campese acknowledged the need to get bigger and tougher pointing to a lack of physical play at times as one of the reasons the Raiders won just eight road games this past season.  In our year end interview on 900 CKBI's faceoff, Bruno also said there may be times when they must put a greater concentration on defense.  For example trapping more often as opposed to constant puck pressure which at times resulted in odd man rushes.
 
Yes the Raiders peppered opposing goaltenders with the league's second highest average of 35 shots a game but gave up an average of 34 against.  Therefore you can expect some tweaks next season.
 
Jamie Tucker is the number one goaltender heading into camp this summer.  There is a strong mix of experience, skill, speed, puck moving ability as well as youth size and grit on defense.  20 year old's Jordan Rowley, Nathan Deck and 19 year old Ryan Button should be complimented by the likes of Emerson Hrynyk and Tyler Yaworski who will be 18 and the promising Harrison Ruopp who returns as a 17 year old.  All three youngsters are big, like to hit and mix it up, and are still growing.
 
Leading goal scorer Brandon Herrod comes back as a 19 year old and will be expected to continue to develop as a goal scoring power forward while Ryan Harrison will lead a group of centremen that includes the vastly improved Justin Maylan, this year's rookie of the year Mark McNeill as well as newcomers Mike Winther and Shayne Danyluk.
 
My money is on Igor Revenko returning as a 20 year old.  Igor scored 19 of his 27 goals in the first 30 games of the season.  Then came the December 5th broken jaw that proved to be a major setback for the bashful Belarussian.  He never really recovered psychologically from his first ever major injury until the dying days of the season when we saw some of Igor's magic return with hilite reel goals against Swift Current and Saskatoon.     
 
If Igor doesn't come back, Jordan Hickmott as a 21 goal scorer would be an excellent overager on the forward line as the plan is to have two 20 year old's on the backline and one up front.  However, as Bruno Campes points out the plan was not to carry a 20 year old goaltender this past season so we may not know if that is the final plan until the early October overage deadline.
 
There is a lot of reason for optimism and an instant infusion of excitement has been created with the contract renewals of the coaching staff.  There is no questioning the team of Campese, Young and Craig Bedard are knowledgable, and hard working.. the question is can they put together a group that will totally "buy in"?  In addition, will they be able to adjust on the fly to mold their game plan to fit their puck shooting ensemble.
 
The final question and piece of the puzzle is...will the fans buy in?  The attendance for Raider games this past season was down slightly from 2008-2009 and they had the lowest average attendance in the WHL for the second straight season.  Meanwhile, early bird season ticket sales in the 600 range is also down from last season.
 
The 2010-2011 season marks the 40th anniversary of the franchise.  It will be a defining campaign for the Prince Albert Raiders on the ice and at the gate.