The best bantam-aged players in Alberta will be in Lethbridge this week. The Alberta Cup runs from April 14-17 at Nicholas Sheran Arena. Games begin Thursday morning at 8:00. There are six round-robin games scheduled on both Thursday and Friday, four semi-final games set for Saturday (beginning at 12:00 pm), and four Championship games on Sunday (The "A" Final will be played at 4:15 pm). This is the premier bantam tournament in Alberta and it will most certainly attract a lot of attention. I was told over 100 WHL scouts will likely be in Lethbridge to take in the Alberta Cup. I spoke with Hurricanes Head Coach/GM Rich Preston this week about the event. He says out of the four western Canadian provinces, Alberta has the most prospects for this upcoming WHL Bantam Draft set for early May. He also told me that with the Hurricanes picking 3rd and 5th overall in this draft, there's a good chance the two players the team selects, could very well come from teams playing at this week's Alberta Cup. Preston says there many top Alberta players this year. There will be 8 teams represented at the Alberta Cup including in the "A" DIvision: Edmonton South, Central, Northeast, and South (which includes Lethbridge). The "B" Division consists of Calgary North, Calgary South, Edmonton North, and Northwest. Each roster is made up of 20 players, three coaches, one trainer, and one Director of Hockey Operations.
Just to mention some of the former players that played in the Alberta Cup in past and went on to play in the NHL include the likes of former Lethbridge Hurricanes Zach Boychuk and Chris Phillips as well as Taber's Devin Setoguchi, Dany Heatley, Jay Bouwmeester, Dion Phaneuf, Scott Hartnall, Jordan Eberle, Devan Dubyk, and Andrew Ferrance. Only one player from Lethbridge will play on the South Zone team. That's goaltender Jonny Houge. Chad Kletzel and Jay Langager, both of Lethbridge, will be Assistant Coaches for the South team. To see full rosters of all 8 teams as well as a full schedule for the Alberta Cup visit www.hockeyalberta.ca.
Thanks,
Pat
This blog post is brought you by www.clearlylethbridge.com.
Pat I see this morning that the event will be in Lethbridge again next yeat.Thats great news.I assume you were watching and scouting the prospects all weekend.What did you notice Pat?Would like to hear a full recap from you.
ReplyDeletePR
Hey PR.
ReplyDeleteYes I spent some time at the rink this weekend. I plan one blogging about it later on today. Look for that sometime mid to late afternoon on here.