RED DEER – Eighteen athletes who played in the Alberta Elite Hockey League during the 2022-23 season have cracked the shortlist for Team Alberta Under-16 Male.
Seventeen players competed in the U15 AAA league with:
- Airdrie Xtreme (Riley Boychuk; Benett Kelly; Caelen Joudrey; Aaron Sawatzky)
- Calgary Bisons (Rhys Jamieson; Cooper Williams)
- Calgary Flames NWCAA (Owen Folstrom; Easton Laplante)
- Calgary Northstars (Ryley Budd)
- Knights of Columbus Squires (Rockston Ror-Chow)
- Leduc LJAC Oil Kings (Matthew Williams)
- Okotoks Oilers (Carter Esler; Grady Pichette)
- Red Deer Rebels (Dallin Antos; Dermot Johnston)
- St. Albert Sabres (Ty Meunier; Finn Werner)
The 18th athlete played in the U18 AAA league with the St. Albert Raiders (Brett Olson).
On Thursday, Hockey Alberta announced the 32 athletes who are in contention to compete at the WHL Cup in October. The shortlist includes four goaltenders, 10 defence and 18 forwards.
Team Alberta Under-16 Male Shortlist Roster >
Athletes were selected to the shortlist based on their overall play throughout the Team Alberta scouting process, past Team Alberta programs, and at the Under-16 Summer Camp in Red Deer, July 3-9. Eighty players were invited to Red Deer and worked through high intensity on-ice sessions, as well as off-ice training and classroom sessions.
“Alberta has a lot of talented players in this age group, we saw it at the Alberta Cup and we saw it at summer camp,” said James Poole, Head Coach of Team Alberta Under-16 Male. “We’re constructing a team that can compete at an elite level in short-term competition, the decisions don’t get easier and now it’s up to these 32 players to show us why they belong in the jersey.”
Team Alberta, fueled by Gatorade, is slated to compete at the WHL Cup, October 17-22 in Red Deer, against Team B.C., Team Saskatchewan and Team Manitoba.