Brothers Kadon and Kale McCann are no strangers to wearing the Hockey Alberta logo.
Kadon, the older of the two brothers by nearly three years, was on Team Alberta Black at the 2022 Alberta Cup, posting seven points in five games. He went on to play for Team Alberta at the 2023 Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island suiting up in five games, registering two goals and three points. McCann was drafted by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the second round of the 2022 WHL Draft.
He played his first full season in the Western Hockey League, playing in 68 games along with five playoff games where he scored nine goals and had 20 points.
Kale got his first chance with Hockey Alberta at the 2022 Prospects Cup, playing in four games where he assisted on two goals. He recently participated in the 2024 Alberta Cup with Team Alberta Black, and is preparing to join his brother in the WHL after being selected in the second round by the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL Draft on Thursday.
“I’m super happy for him,” Kadon said of his brother ahead of the Alberta Cup. “He’s worked really hard all the way through. I know I was pretty excited when I went through this program, so seeing all the scouts here for him and kind of giving him some advice is pretty special too. He’s done a great job and I’m super proud of him.”
“He’s just a motivator to me and seeing him go through this stuff makes me want to work harder every day,” Kale said. “He’s a role model of mine just seeing how hard he works, and it makes me want to be at my best every day.”
With the boys so close in age, the two grew up competing with one another daily. That, of course translated to the ice, where Kadon plies his trade as a forward with his younger brother patrolling the blue line.
“Just working, trying to make each other better every day,” Kale said of the competitive dynamic between he and his older brother. “Competitiveness at workouts and stuff, just trying to see who can be the best and at the top every day.”
“We’re super competitive but we also love each other. Our mom gets on us for fighting once and a while, wrestling around,” Kadon said with a laugh. “I’m super lucky to have a brother. You don’t really think about it until you’re gone, but once I left for Medicine Hat, I missed him a lot. So, it’s good to see him have success.”
The 2024 Prospects Cup takes place this weekend (May 9-12) at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre in Red Deer. While Kadon had to miss his opportunity to play in the tournament due to COVID-19, Kale says he cherished his first introduction to Hockey Alberta in 2022.
“It was obviously a great opportunity for to as well as others to show yourself. It’s a great event that Hockey Alberta puts on and you just want to be at your best in a short-term competition,” McCann said. “Just seeing how many players we have in this province; you must be at your best every single game. It was a really cool opportunity off the ice as well meeting new people and becoming friends with guys I never would have met otherwise.”
