Ron Gallo's View from the Press Box
I would think that this is late, but I haven't really seen much of anything about last week's announcement of nine players from the British Columbia Hockey League to represent Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge. This is a big deal and there should be a big splash made about this for the player's sake, Here are nine players that have varying hockey resumes, share a passion for the game and will have to play with new teammates under new systems for two weeks in an effort to three-peat.
In alphabetical order: (G) Kevin Genoe (Prince George Spruce Kings), (F) Derek Grant (Langley Chiefs), (D) Matt Grassi (Salmon Arm Silverbacks), (F) James Kerr (Alberni Valley Bulldogs), (F) Denver Manderson (Penticton Vees), (F) Curtis McKenzie (Penticton Vees), (F) Brodie Reid (Burnaby Express), (D) Justin Schultz (Westside Warriors) and (F) Travis Statchuk (Salmon Arm Silverbacks). From first year rookies to NHL draft picks, the BCHL will be well represented at this prestigious and growing hockey tournament.
These are nine of twenty-five players selected from a pool with a potential of somewhere between 1,300 and 1,400 players to draw from. Team Canada West selects from the 62 teams that make up the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) and the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL). Now it is true that there is still one more cut-down decision to be made that will affect three players named to the original roster, but to make the oversized roster is an accomplishment in itself.
Junior A hockey has to become its own best friend and make sure that each one of these players are recognized for their achievements and the level of play that they bring to the Junior A rinks. The World Junior A Challenge this year has attracted teams from Russia, Belarus, the United States and the two teams from Canada. If the international flavour weren't enough, how about Team Canada West going in as the two time defending Gold Medal Champions.
The World Junior A Challenge was created to be the Junior A answer to the IIHF World Juniors and in its infancy is drawing much attention from the NHL, NCAA and CIS schools. For two weeks, these players will leave their BCHL teams to meet up and play with their new teammates. Team Canada West will start with two exhibition games including one against Team Canada East before cutting three players in preparation for the start of tournament play.
Team Canda West has a favourable schedule playing every other day starting with the first exhibition game on Wednesday October 29th against the Augustana College Vikings and then the exhibition game against Team Canada East on October 31st. Team Canada West will then play two games in the round robin portion of the tournment starting on Sunday November 2nd against Belarus and Russia on Tuesday November 4th. One team from Pool A has the potential of having three full days off before having to play in a semi final game Saturday November 8th. The gold medal game is currently set for 5:00pm PST and will be televisied on TSN.
Before the drop of the puck to start the tournament, all nine players from the BCHL should be congratulated for being selected to represent Team Canada West. There are nine stories out there just waiting to be told of the journey to get here and I just hope that we will get a chance to hear them all.
Ron Gallo, the voice of the Prince George Spruce Kings, will be blogging the Interior Conference during the 2008/09 season. Check back often for Ron's insights into the latest news from the BCHL's Okanagan and Northern-based teams.
