The future continues to look bright for the Lethbridge Hurricanes organization with four members having been chosen to represent Team West and Team Pacific at the upcoming 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Windsor, Ontario December 29th – January 4th. The regional under-17 program is the first step in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence and many of these same players go on to represent Canada with the National Men’s Under-18 Team, National Junior Team and National Men’s Team.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes are thrilled to announce Jay Merkley and Macoy Erkamps will be members of Team Pacific, while Craig Leverton and Remi Laurencelle will be part of Team West. This season with the Canes, Merkely leads all rookies with 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists) while, Erkamps has 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) and Leverton has 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists.) Last year in 42 games with the Winnipeg Wild of MMHL, Laurencelle registered 15 goals and 19 assists in 42 games.
The naming of these four Lethbridge Hurricanes players continues to highlight the success of the team and the talent on the roster that will be with this team for a long time into the future. Already, the Hurricanes had eight of their draft picks named to the recent U-16 Challenge Cup in Moose Jaw, SK which Team Alberta won. The addition of these four players again highlights the talent on the team now and in the future and it brings the total to 12, the number of players chosen to be part of Hockey Canada’s Programs of Excellence. As well, Merkley, Erkamps, Leverton and Laurencelle were all part of last year’s Canada Winter Games team. It should be noted that two more Hurricanes – Reid Duke and Ryan Pilon have also been named to the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games starting January 13, 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria.
(From Esther Madziya, Hurricanes Media Relations)
Thanks,
Pat
The views expressed on this blog are those of the moderator and contributors and are not endorsed by 94.1 CJOC or the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Good to hear for these four young boys. I'm sure all four are feeling pretty good about themselves right now. Go do yourselves proud and play your best.
ReplyDeleteGDC
Congrats to the 4 who will be playing in the Under 17 Tourney....happy for them that they will have good coaching, play with and against good players, and mostly to enjoy playing hockey again. Hopefully they will regain confidence in their abilities.
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic, congratulations to them! Too bad the heading only mentioned two of the kids, like the other two don't matter.
ReplyDeleteThank You Anonymous 9:49 I was really excited for all four of the boys especially the 3 I've gotten to know that play on our team. When I read the article I had the same response, but thought I maybe was over reacting. On the CFCN news last night it was the same thing. Very shabby reporting to ALL!
ReplyDeleteIf you go on the actual hurricanes website it sounds like Pat changed it up a bit. Is this true Pat?
LUD
THAT'S BETTER!
ReplyDeleteLUD
Honest mistake on my part! Sorry.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are all missing the boat on this one , whats extra fantastic about this, is they will be going to play for a coach who actually KNOWS how to coach kids at this age !! I hope they take this chance and learn as much as they can from coach Dyck cause they definetly will come back to the basement dwellers they play for now and not learn a thing . Its great when you have to send kids away to be developed from other coaches as the ones we have are a little on the untalented side when it comes to developing !!!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to all four of these kids , they will probably learn more in the two weeks with this team then you have all year with the hopeless hurricanes !!!
Proud to watch rebuilding hockey since 1986 !!
Way to go for these young players! That must feel very good for them. Especially for those who haven't had very successful seasons with their club teams.
ReplyDeleteOffers an insight into a bright future for the Hurricanes.
Anon 10:06
ReplyDelete"Proud to watch rebuilding hockey since 1986 !!"
Wouldn't that include ALL of Dyck's years? Dyck took one team to the WHL final, a team he didn't even build or develop all by himself but took over. The following year they tanked in the first round.
Get over it all ready. It's been 3 years.
-cc
cc....you need to figure out what rebuilding is. Go back to Pat's previous post to see my response to you.
ReplyDeleteSo are you saying that this coaching staff has done more than Dyck did while he was here ?? Give your head a shake at least when he was here we had teams that competed and tried there a@#$s off not the garbage we are forced to watch today !!
ReplyDeleteI guess if you are happy with mediocre hockey you are either a guy who goes to one game a year on a free ticket or you are a board member who wouldnt know what a winning team was if they kicked you in the head !!!
With expectations as low as yours this city will never win a championship or ever be allowed to host a championship as most teams that get to do this come from traditions of .....WINNING !!!
Proud to watch rebuilding hockey since 1986 !!!
I am actually a season ticket holder. I didn't say anything about which coaching staff has done more. I know what rebuilding is. My point, for those of you who missed it, was that Michael Dyck was here and now he's gone. He has been gone for a long time. The constant reference to it is getting so old. Please note that no where in there did I say Preston was better, Stasiuk was perfect or that I love mediocre hockey.
ReplyDeleteI hope that clears things up.
-cc
@ Anonymous.....no, you just said it. Don't put words in my mouth.
ReplyDeleteAgain, you don't understand rebuilding. Let it go.
@ Anonymous (9:11)......What exactly is your moniker at the bottom of every one of your messages supposed to mean? It makes you look pretty silly. If you don't like the product, don't watch.
ReplyDelete@ cc 6:42. Your quote. "The following year they tanked in the first round."
ReplyDeleteIf your going to spout out stats, at least try to get them right. The Canes actually beat a very good Blades team in the 1st round. They lost in the 2nd round to one of the best teams the league has seen in awhile, Calgary. The HItmen that year were 59-9-4 so losing to them was almost inevitable.
Anonymous 10:24
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right. I will be more careful.
-cc
Glad to see that the fans have started bickering amongest themselves and leave the team alone
ReplyDeleteCongrats to the boys. Something good to look forward to.
ReplyDeleteHow come Ester from Hurricane's Media didn't mention who was coaching Team Pacific? Mike Dyck belongs to our city. Actually lives here. More than we can say about two of the Hurricane's coaches.
Who, by the way, is the only coach to put a banner in our building in the last 12 years?
Just remember who this coach today was left with-Sbisa, Beach, Ashton, Orfino-of those four players, three were first round NHL draft picks. Don't tell me, he was left with nothing! Give your head a shake.
@ 6:14
ReplyDeleteKyle Beach for Mike Reddinton and Landon Oslanski
Ashton and Orfino – for Hood, Erkamps and Pilon
Sibsa for Dan Johnston
Would it have been smarter for our GM to have kept the likes of Beach, Sibsa, Ashton and Orfino for the quarter to one and half season all played after we traded them. Time will tell but Erkamps and Pilon have the potential to give us 4 plus seasons each and likely will be NHL first rounder’s. Are you faulting the GM for making a strong effort to rebuild as the Hurricanes where putting a bit into the 2013 memorial cup? I guess people won’t get it until the youth that Rich drafted (by means of previous trades) gets on our team and shines.
@ 6:14
ReplyDeleteEric Mestery was a NHL second rounder who retired on Tri-City after one season. We got a second round pick for Eric and drafted Joel Topping. I think Joel has the desire and played well the few times we brought him up. Time will tell.
@ 6:14....I think your head has been shaken a little too hard over the years.....it's obvious you have NO clue when you speak.
ReplyDeleteThe two following blogger make my point precisely. Thanks to them for their research and actually following the Canes.
(The whole Kyle Beach thing was a disaster. I thought Preston did well to get a 2nd Round pick for him).