Penner is back to where he wants to be

He has yet to take a regular season Western Hockey League shift, but Cole Penner has sure had hockey fans talking here in Prince Albert this season.

The Raiders' first-round selection of the 2006 bantam draft, Penner left the club following training camp with a roster spot on the table and ever since has had a tumultuous time of things on the ice.

From a stint with the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, to a return to midget AAA ranks, to being without a spot at all, it's fair to say the last couple of seasons didn't go the way the young power forward had planned.

On Monday, however, the 16-year-old Medicine Hat product was back in Prince Albert, eager to rejoin the organization that made him the fourth overall selection in the league's bantam draft two summers back.

Saying all the right things as he met local media in the lobby of the Art Hauser Centre, Penner looked even more the prospect he did during training camp. He has packed on at least 10 pounds and even spurted some from the six-foot-one frame he was formerly listed at.

Determined to make things right this time around, Penner though knows nothing is going to be given to him.

"If I could go back, I would have stayed," said Penner in hindsight. "The Western Hockey League is where I wanted to be and the Raiders have been good to me every step of the way. I just felt (during training camp) that I needed to see more ice and it's unfortunate how it happened. I missed a lot of hockey."

Recovered from a serious of rib and hand injuries, which were at the fore of his setbacks this season, Penner is looking to get into action as soon as possible.

"Hopefully, by the end of the week I will be close to getting into a game, but if not it's understandable," said Penner. "I feel in alright shape, not the shape I want to be in, but it's a process. You have to work for your ice time and that's what I want to so I have to compete hard every day."

For general manager/head coach Bruno Campese, having Penner back in the fold underscores the transition process the organization is in.

And though he might have been away from the team for the first five months of the season, it's a definite head start on next season.

"We really didn't want him to leave," said Campese. "It's just that he had different things on his agenda and his state of mind was in a different place.

"He looks a little more focused and I think he has gone through a very difficult year which has built some character," Campese added.

"His mandate coming in right now is that we have to get to know him and he has to get to know the league a little bit and try to rebound.

"If he can do that, it could be a springboard for him next year."

Penner will join fellow 2006 pick Ryan Button (25th) and Brandon Herrod (46th) as the club's three 16-year-olds.

rboulton@paherald.sk.ca