Five On 2018 Alberta Cup Team
There will be a heavy Grande Peace Athletic Club presence at the 2018 Alberta Cup in Spruce Grove April 25-28.
Five players from the Matt Chomyc-coached Grande Prairie Global Bus Lines GPAC Storm have been selected to play for the Northwest Sharks at the prestigious event -forwards Jayden Watson, Dayne Tews and Code Sauders and defencemen Connor Klassen and Devin Aubin.
The Alberta Cup is a core Hockey Alberta development program, and a significant step in the identification and evaluation process for Team Alberta’s U16 Male provincial team that competes at either the U16 Western Challenge Cup or the Canada Winter Games. It is also the final opportunity for Western Hockey League scouts to evaluate players eligible for the WHL bantam draft.
On the ice, the Alberta Cup features 160 of the top bantam-aged male players in Alberta, divided into eight zone teams, playing in a four-day tournament format event. The Alberta Cup also provides coaches, therapists, equipment managers, administrators and officials the opportunity to be identified for potential positions at higher level events such as the Western Challenge, World U17 Hockey Challenge and Canada Winter Games.
“Hosting an event like the Alberta Cup is a challenging undertaking. In addition to the on-ice action, there are a multitude of behind-the-scenes logistics such as accommodations, meals, travel, souvenirs, sponsorship and off-ice player preparation that need to be covered,” said Michael Kraichy, Hockey Alberta’s Manager of Team Alberta. “We were very impressed with the range of partners who will be involved in the event, and the thoroughness and attention to detail shown in the bid package submitted by Spruce Grove. We are confident that the 2018 Alberta Cup will be a memorable one for all participants.”
The five GPAC players are hoping to take the Northwest team one step further this year. In 2017 the team ended up in the championship final losing 5-1 to the South team.
On the opening day of the tournament the Sharks take on Central (9:30 a.m.) and Edmonton Yellow (6 p.m.) while on Day 2 they complete the round-robin portion of the tournament with a game at 2 p.m. against Calgary North. On Day 3 semifinals will be held with the championship final slated for 1:45 p.m. on Day 4, April 29. All games are played in the twin rinks - Stu Barnes Arena and Grant Fuhr Arena in Spruce Grove.
Watson was second on the team in scoring with 23 goals and 22 helpers for 45 points while Tews was third (11-31-42) and Saunders fourth (16-20-36). Klassen had 18 points on four goals and 14 assists while Aubin netted 11 points on nine goals and two assists.
The Storm finished in fourth place in the Charger North Division of the Alberta Bantam Hockey League with 32 points (15-19-2) and lost out in the first round of the playoffs, in three one-goals games, to the Leduc Oil Kings in three games in a best-of-three.
Watson is from the County of Grande Prairie; Tews from Beaverlodge; Klassen is from Crooked Creek; Saunders from Grande Prairie; and Aubin is from Falher.
