With an Okanagan graduation campout Tuesday and Wednesday, this has been a mostly relaxing week for Prince Albert Raiders centre Ryan Harrison of Kelowna, B.C.
But there might be a few anxious moments Saturday as Harrison waits for word on his possible selection in the NHL entry draft.
“I’ll probably be just sitting at home, watching it,” he said. “Lots of my buddies are in the draft, and hopefully I’ll see my name called.
“It would mean a lot just to know that all my work has paid off to this point, and I’d be really proud of myself and everyone else who has helped me.”
The first round of the draft goes Friday night from Staples Center in Los Angeles, with the final six rounds set for Saturday.
“They’ve talked to a few teams,” Harrison said of his agents from KO Sports.
“They say I could go anywhere from (rounds) 3 till 7, or maybe not got drafted. But, hopefully it’ll happen and I’ll get the opportunity.
“If not, then I’ll go to a prospects camp and hopefully I’ll impress there.”
Harrison scored 54 points, including 40 assists, and played in all 72 games during his sophomore season with the Raiders. He showed spunk and picked up 136 penalty minutes.
He’s been a busy boy in the off-season.
“I’m doing this hard training stuff, and I’m looking to have a real good season next year,” Harrison, 18, said after his midday workout Tuesday in Kelowna.
Calgary-based Crash Conditioning has expanded its training programs to Kelowna, where Harrison is working out with pros like Cody Franson and Ty Wishart and fellow juniors like Prince George Cougars defenceman Art Bidlevskii.
“It’s three hours a day, and I’ve never trained harder before,” Harrison said of the Crash course.
He was in Minneapolis this month for a development camp for clients of KO Sports.
“We learned some good techniques,” said Harrison, about five-foot-10 and 190 pounds. “It was unreal.”
The NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau draft rankings haven’t necessarily been kind to Harrison, who dropped to 161st among North American skaters in the final report. He had been listed at 137 in the mid-season rankings.
“You can only take so much out of that,” he said. “I’m far back on that (Central Scouting) list, but then, in this other Red Line Report, I’m 79th (overall). You never know, I guess. It’s just a guide. If one team likes you, they’ll pick you.”
At least a couple of teams, including the Philadelphia Flyers, have expressed interest in Harrison. The Flyers were Stanley Cup finalists this past season and they’ve historically employed gritty players of Harrison’s ilk.
True to his B.C. roots, Harrison grew up as a fan of the Vancouver Canucks.
“I’m just an all-around player whose hard work and speed is pretty good,” he said. “And my desire — I love to win. I just want to win a championship, really.”
Harrison is pegged for a key role with Prince Albert next winter. The team’s second-round draft pick from 2007 believes consistency is what he needs to improve most next season.
“Be good game in and game out, home and away,” he said. “Just play my best every game.”
Raiders coach and general manager Bruno Campese agreed with Harrison’s personal assessment.
“I think if there was a knock on Ryan, it was that (inconsistency),” Campese said. “We talked to him over the course of the season — you never know when scouts are going to be (watching) and you never know when the same scout is going to be in your building twice. The consistency from Game 1 to Game 72 is crucial, because that one team that saw you in November that liked you, if they come back in February and you haven’t played a good game, it could change the way they think about you.
“I think that’s a valid point and it’s fair — that his consistency needs to be better. And yet, in saying that, I think he does enough good things that it should warrant him being drafted. But, I’m not certain that that’s going to happen. We’re just going to have to wait and see.”
