Estevan's Cole Fonstad is back in Prince Albert after getting a taste of what professional hockey is all about.

Drafted by the Montreal Canadiens earlier this year, he attended their development and rookie camps, and took part in the NHL Rookie Showdown, a prospects tournament with Ottawa and Toronto.

"It was good, it was a great experience. Going in there and not knowing what to expect, I think I learned a lot and took a lot away from it, and I'm going to try and put that into my game this year," he said.

The step from the WHL to an NHL calibre of playing was a noteworthy one for the 18 year old forward, especially to go up against larger and stronger players.

"Everyone there is grown men, you really have to play fast and play smart to be effective up there. You can't really get away just on talent and skill alone, you've got to do the little things right."

That being said, his time on the ice was spent playing those at a similar level of development, all prospects hunting for a job with their team, and none of them caught him by surprise.

"You know who the top prospects are going into it, but I've never played against any of them before. Each team had their own, all the tough guys are pretty impressive to watch, and it's going to be cool to see them play in the NHL. I'm trying to have the same goal of trying to get there too."

Among his rookie teammates working for a spot on the Habs' lineup is fellow southeast native Cale Fleury, who was named to Montreal's main camp roster.

"He was on my team, and I had spent some time with him in the summer, so we became pretty good buddies," Fonstad said.

Although he didn't get a chance to face off against the veteran NHL skaters, he was able to absorb what he could from the pros.

"When you walk around their room and you see all those guys that have been through it before, you definitely just watch them and see what they do, to kind of help prepare yourself a little bit more."

The three game tournament had high and low moments for the rookie squad. The first two games saw Montreal players taken to hospital, a sobering moment for Fonstad.

"It's not very fun to see stuff like that, especially like when they have to get carried off on a stretcher. The first one was pretty bad, and then it's something that doesn't usually happen more than once a year, so when it happened next game, it was pretty scary...when you see a guy go in like that, you don't know what to think. We were all happy to see that they were all okay, just minor injuries."

Despite the distraction of injured teammates, and being unable to find any wins, Fonstad's knack for putting pucks in the net came through once again. During a losing effort against the Toronto Maple Leaf prospects, the Estevan native scored to add to the final count of 4-2.

Heading into his fourth year with the PA Raiders, he'll bring a new level of experience and advice from the Habs' coaches ringing in his ears.

"Going into the games, they just tell you to play how you play, don't change your game just because you're playing against bigger and older players. Just do what you would do in a regular season game with your own team, and just play the way you do because that's what got you there and that's what's going to get you to the next level. I think they just want me to play fast all the time, play with speed, and play with confidence."

"I've got to get a lot stronger. It's pretty tough when you're going into the corners with six foot six D men that are twice your body weight, so I've got to get a lot stronger to fight off those body checks and protect the puck. A lot faster, too," he added.

This year's goals with the Raiders is to, "win a championship. It's a realistic goal for us."

His confidence rings true especially as he'll be back playing with new minted Captain, Brayden Pachal, also from the southeast.