Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Sports
Newburgh’s Jake Campbell will hone his skills with his hometown Napanee Raiders this season as he attempts to work his way up to the Ontario Hockey League.
A ninth round pick of the Kingston Frontenacs back in April, the left winger has agreed to terms with the local Junior C club as the team’s underager. Each club is allowed one 16-year-old on its roster.
Last year Campbell had 32 goals and 44 assists with the Quinte Red Devils AAA club.
The Raiders’ roster is starting to take shape as they enter the home stretch of the offseason, with their PJHL Tod Division’s seasoner opener set for Sept. 15. The Raiders will open the season against a familiar foe, taking on the two-time reigning league champion Port Hope Panthers. It will be an early litmus test for the Raiders, who have seen their season ended by the Panthers in the last two league finals.
Napanee has spent the offseason retooling their lineup as they look to finally solve their arch-rivals.
On Sept. 17 they hit the road for their first road game, taking on the Gananoque Islanders. Those teams also met in last year’s playoffs, with Napanee sweeping the semifinals in four games.
Friday night will once again be Hockey Night in Napanee this season as the Raiders will play 18 of their home games on that day. They made the switch to Friday night home games last season, moving away from their long time tradition of Tuesday nights.
The regular season will once again run 40 games long, with the final game scheduled for Feb. 15 against the Picton Pirates. The playoff format will remain unchanged, with the top four of the league’s six teams reaching the post season. All six teams will return from last year, with Amherstview and Campbellford rounding out the division. Both those clubs missed out on the playoffs last year.
The Jets will look to rebound from their worst season in franchise history after going 12-25-1.