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Fonstad looking forward to new season

Estevan hockey product Cole Fonstad had a very good 2017-18 season with the Western Hockey League’s Prince Albert Raiders and is looking to build on that as Raiders camp opened up.
Fonstad
ole Fonstad is looking forward to his third season with the Prince Albert Raiders. Submitted photo

Estevan hockey product Cole Fonstad had a very good 2017-18 season with the Western Hockey League’s Prince Albert Raiders and is looking to build on that as Raiders camp opened up.

Training camp opened last weekend for the WHL team, beginning with fitness testing and culminating in their annual green and gold intersquad game Sunday.

“It’s an exciting time to kind of get back into it,” said Fonstad. “I thin we’re all really excited to get the year going.”

Fonstad had a great season on the ice last year and was second on the Raiders in scoring with 21 goals and 52 assists for 73 points in 72 games, while only getting six penalty minutes. He scored four goals and an assist in seven playoff games as he and the Raiders pushed the top ranked Moose Jaw Warriors to seven games in the first round.

In January, he was at the Sherwin Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, scoring a goal for Team Orr in a 7-4 loss. In June, Fonstad was selected 128th overall in the fifth round of the NHL draft by the Montreal Canadiens. 

Since the draft, the summer went quickly for the 5’10”, 157-pound Fonstad.

“It feels like yesterday I was leaving P.A. for the year,” he said. “I didn’t get quite as much working out in this summer because I was so busy but at the same time I think I improved as much as I’d like to, on the ice and off the ice. I had a good summer.”

Fonstad went to a development camp with the Canadiens three days after the draft and was there for four or five days for the camps, and then I did two extra weeks of skating after the camp.”

He will leave on Sept. 5 for a rookie tournament with the Canadiens against prospects from the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Then after that there will be main camp and I’m not sure what will happen later, if I’ll be going to that or not,” Fonstad said. “Hopefully I can perform well at the rookie games and go from there.”

Fonstad said it will be special putting on the Canadiens jersey for those games.

“Even during the development camp it didn’t really feel real until you put on the equipment and wearing the practice jersey. It was pretty cool so putting on a real jersey and playing a real game is going to be pretty special.”

Fonstad will likely play this coming season in junior with the Raiders, who have a lot of momentum on their side after their strong finish and performance in the playoffs last year.

“This year we’re a new team and we have to put in the work, but I think we have a special group coming back,” Fonstad said. “We have an opportunity to do some damage if we all buy in and play to our strengths and be consistent throughout the year. Our goal is to win a championship and I think we have the team to do that if we’re going to put in the work and become a team here. It’s going to be fun to see what happens throughout the year and I’m really excited.”

Fonstad leaves for Montreal camp before the Raiders play exhibition games and if all goes well, might not be back until their pre-season is done.