Both on and off the ice Raiders have plenty of new faces for 2006-07

Their leading scorer has gone south, the defence has to be rebuilt and they've got a new head coach. That might provide a grim outlook from most Georgetown Raiders' fans, but after listening to the OHA Provincial Jr. A Hockey League club's director of player personnel, the 2006-07 campaign promises to be a banner season. "We think we have the makings of a Royal Bank Cup team here, we really do," said Peter Mavroudis, referring to the Tier II national championship tournament, to be held this spring in Prince George, B.C. "There are still some pieces to pick up, but with who we have coming back and what we've been able to acquire, I've never been more optimistic about a team's chances at the start." Considering that the Raiders went to the semi-finals of the Royal Bank Cup in 2005 with a powerhouse squad, Mavroudis's optimism might be questioned. Especially with top scorer Mike Gurtler leaving for Indianapolis of the USHL, captain Frank DeAngelis off to school and star goalie Ryan Gibb too old to play. New head coach Blaine McCauley does get veteran leadership and scoring back with Rob Sgarbossa and Wade Finegan returning, along with defender Ryan Lee, goalie Cam Healy, forwards Marc Marchese, Jon Southgate, Greg Lever and Jeremy Whelan. Duke Bouskill, whose #27 Raider jersey hangs in the MoldMasters SportsPlex, has been named as one of McCauley's assistants. Mavroudis has been active during the summer under new majority owner Ted Nishi of Etobicoke, picking up several was named league MVP." Twenty-year-old Ryan Ford, who finished second in the Midwestern loop with 82 points in 44 games for his hometown Cambridge Winterhawks, also figures to bolster a Georgetown offence that had difficulty scoring last year. The Raiders were eliminated by Hamilton in six games in the second round of playoffs. Mavroudis was also able to acquire some OHL experience with power forward Matt Carter from Owen Sound and defenceman Chris Chiementi, who spent four seasons with Sarnia and Mississauga. Adam DeJong was picked up in a trade with Milton for forward Alex Paiement, and Georgetown native Ryan Torres returns home to patrol the blue line after playing for Bramalea Jr. A last year. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound 18-year-old had two goals and three assists along with 139 penalty minutes for the Blues in 40 games. Georgetown also picked up Jr. B rearguards Adam Pomroy from Cambridge and John Quarrie of the Guelph Dominators, the Raiders' new affiliate, along with the Georgetown Minor Hockey Association. Mavroudis added that a dozen Halton Hills players were among the 40 players invited to be at the training camp. The Raiders will practise in Acton until September and will play their first exhibition game tonight (Wednesday) against Bramalea Blues at the Westwood Arena. They'll ice a veteran lineup Saturday versus St. Mike's in Toronto, then host tune-up games in Acton on Tuesday, Aug. 29 against St. Mike's at 7:30 p.m. and on Friday, Sept. 1 Ajax will be the opposition beginning at 7 p.m. The regular season starts up with a home game on Saturday, Sept. 9 against Milton. The IceHawks were recently purchased by Campbellville's Rick Heinz and have no players returning from last season. After being hired by Milton as head coach back in May, former Raiders' bench boss Jay Anderson was replaced last month by Hamilton assistant coach Pat Cocklin