By Scott Fisher /

It’s always tough to take when a team’s season comes to an end.

But, for the Prince Albert Raiders, it was particularly heartbreaking.

The Raiders came within one measly goal of qualifying for the post-season.

After finishing the regular season with a 31-36-4-1 record, Prince Albert found itself tied for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Despite having two more wins than the Oil Kings, a one-game winner-take-all tiebreaker game was played in P.A.

The Oil Kings won 2-1 in overtime.

But Raiders GM/head coach Bruno Campese said, while the loss was hard to take, the future looks bright for his squad.

“I think the fan base and the organization are sensing a change of direction,” Campese said. “Everyone realizes that the process of changing the culture takes time.

“But we’re starting to see some positives.”

The 2009-10 edition of the Raiders will look drastically different up front.

Leading scorers Justin Bernhardt (35 goals and 92 points) and Ryan McDonald (37 goals and 63 points) have graduating, leaving two large holes in the lineup.

“Our biggest concern will definitely be up front,” Campese said. “We’ve lost some big offensive threats.”

But Campese said he expects to see four players step up in the offensive zone.

“Dustin Cameron (33 goals, 57 points) had a breakthrough season and he could take another step,” he said.

“Brandon Herrod played really well after Christmas. Ryan Harrison had a fabulous season, and Igor Revenko had a great second half.

“Those four will be our offensive catalysts.”

Revenko, an import from Belarus, had two goals and five points at the Christmas break, but finished the season with 11 tallies and 
29 points.

There might be some new names up front next season, but there will be no introductions necessary on the blueline, where all of the defencemen are eligible to return.

“That’s been a young group for the past two years,” Campese said. “I think we’re going to see signs of maturity from being patient with that group.

“They’ll definitely be the strength of our team.”

Goaltender Steven Stanford will be back between the pipes.

“He had an up-and-down yuear,” Campese said of the Calgary product, who went 15-24-4 with 3.63 GAA and .895 save percentage.

“As a 19 year old, and with the experience he has, we think he’ll show an improvement.”

With Revenko coming back, and defenceman Tomas Voracek possibly returning, the Raiders may not be looking for help in the CHL Import Draft, where the team holds the 25th selection.

But the bantam draft will be key.

“We had a solid draft last year, so we want to make sure we follow that up,” Campese said. “Once you can string together three or four solid drafts, you see results.

“With our first couple of picks, we’ll be looking to take the best players we can get our hands on. After that, we’ll probably be more position-specific.”