Hockey Alberta Announces Team Alberta Coaching Staff For Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup

Hockey Alberta announced on Friday, the coaching staff for Team Alberta U16 Male that will compete at the 2013 Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup October 30^th to November 4^th, 2013 in Calgary at the Father David Bauer Arena.

“This year’s U16 Team Alberta staff has tremendous experience not only at the Club level but also with Short Term Competition,” said Team Alberta U16 Male Head Coach, Serge Lajoie. “This valuable experience will be instrumental in creating a positive learning environment for every player who has the privilege of attending the U16 Provincial Camp in Camrose. I am looking forward to working with all the coaches as well as our training staff throughout our journey to the Western Canada Challenge Cup. “

COACHING STAFF

- Serge Lajoie (Bonnyville), Head Coach – NAIT Ooks Men’s Team, ACAC (2012-13)

- Umberto Fiorillio (St. Albert), Assistant Coach – St. Albert Raiders, Midget AAA (2012-13)

- Bobby Fox (Calgary), Assistant Coach – Okotoks Oilers, AJHL (2012-13)

- Sean Beissel (Edmonton), Video Coach – Sherwood Park Kings, Midget AAA (2012-13)

- J.F. Martel (Calgary), Goaltending Coach – World Pro Goaltending

- Kim Schneider (Edmonton), Athletic Therapist – Edmonton SSAC, Midget AAA (2012-13)

- Damon Pegurude (Drayton Valley), Equipment Manager – Drayton Valley Thunder, AJHL (2012-13)

The Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup is a partnership between the four Western Provincial Hockey Branches - Hockey Alberta, BC Hockey, Hockey Manitoba and the Saskatchewan Hockey Association – and the Western Hockey League (WHL). The event takes place in the off years of the Canada Winter Games which is every four years.

The Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup is the final event in the first year of the Team Alberta Male program. Selected players then advance to the second year of the program (U17) where they compete for a roster spot on Team Pacific.

Team Alberta U16 Male captured silver at the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup in 2012 and has played for the gold medal three times in a row.

Former Team Alberta players include 2011 WHL Rookie of the Year, Matt Dumba, and NHL’ers Jordan Eberle, Jay Bouwmeester, Devan Dubnyk, Devin Setoguchi and Tyler Myers.  

The announcement was made early Saturday afternoon, at Hockey Canada’s Annual General Meeting in Charlottetown, PEI, that body checking will be removed from all levels of peewee hockey nation wide effective as of the start of the 2013-14 hockey season.

On May 8, 2013 Hockey Alberta made the announcement the decision had been made by it’s Board of Directors to remove body checking from the peewee level within the province, with Hockey Nova Scotia following suit shortly after.

Hockey Canada’s Paul Carson, Vice President of Hockey Development, will be attending the Hockey Alberta Annual General Meeting on June 15, 2013 to shed further light on the decision, the process and the effects it will make moving forward. 

Information on Hockey Canada’s AGM and their decision on body checking can be found by clicking here.

The Brooks Bandits have won the 2013 RBC Cup, Canada’s 43rd National Junior A Championship, with a 3-1 victory over the Summerside Western Capitals in front of a tournament-record crowd of 4,211 on Sunday night at CUP.

The national championship is the first for Brooks, which held the No. 1 spot in the CJHL Top 20 rankings for the final 22 weeks of the regular season. The Bandits are the eighth team from the Alberta Junior Hockey League to be crowned national champions, and the fifth to do it since the start of the five-team format in 1990. The Camrose Kodiaks were the last AJHL team to win the national title, in 2001.

Cam Maclise, named RBC CJHL Player of the Year at Friday night’s awards banquet, scored once and added an assist for the Bandits, who avenged their lone loss of the week, a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Western Capitals on Tuesday night.

Maclise set up the game’s first goal, centering to Anthony Petruzzelli, who had a wide open net to give Brooks the 1-0 lead at the 7:17 mark, and Dakota Mason made it 2-0 just 80 seconds later, finding the five-hole on Summerside goaltender Kevin Bailie.

Chris Caissy got one back for the Western Capitals at 10:20, squeezing a shot through Brooks netminder Michael Fredrick, but the defences took over from there, with no scoring until Maclise clinched the win for the Bandits with an empty net goal at 19:30 of the third period.

Brooks allowed Summerside just 18 shots, including none in the first 12 minutes of the third period when the Bandits held a tenuous one-goal lead. Overall, Brooks held a 36-18 advantage in shots on goal.

The Western Capitals are the second consecutive team from the Maritime Hockey League to lose in the championship game after Woodstock fell to Penticton last year in Humboldt, Sask. Summerside was the first host team to advance to the final since Dauphin in 2010.

The 2014 RBC Cup will be held in May 2014 in Vernon, B.C., with the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League serving as the host team.

The North Red Wings won the 2013 ATB Alberta Challenge on Sunday, defeating the South Coyotes by a score of 2-1 at the Family Leisure Centre in Medicine Hat.

It was an eventful and exciting four days where 120 of Alberta’s top 1998-99 born female athletes competed.

The journey to the ATB Alberta Challenge began in early April at two Regional camps held, one in the North and one in the South from which the top 60 athletes were identified and then drafted to one of 3 teams in each of the zones. The process proved to be successful as the competition remained fiercely close.

ATB Financial’s Vice-President of Community Initiatives, John Windwick, ATB Alberta Challenge Host Committee Chair, Brian Varga and Hockey Alberta’s Manager of Hockey Development, Michael Kraichy, were on hand to present the athletes with the All-Star awards at the ATB Alberta Challenge Banquet.

The athletes and parents who attended the banquet were treated to a Q & A session with former NHLer, Rob Brown and Olympic Gold Medalist, Hayley Wickenheiser.

The ATB Alberta Challenge is held every second year, opposite of the Alberta Winter Games.

In 2011, the Calgary Wild captured the Team Alberta Challenge championship by beating the South Sabres in the final.

About ATB Financial

ATB Financial is the largest Alberta-based deposit-taking financial institution, with assets of $32 billion. ATB Financial offers retail financial services, business and agricultural financial services, corporate financial services, and investor services to more than 635,000 Albertans and Alberta-based businesses in 242 communities in our province.

ATB Financial provides those services through 170 branches and 130 agencies, mobile, telephone and online banking, a Customer Care Centre, and automated banking machines. ATB has won numerous national workplace awards, including recognition as one of Canada’s best 50 employers.

The Vancouver Giants Hockey Club selected Tyler Benson with their first overall pick in the 2013 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft. Benson played last season with the South Side Athletic Club Southgate Lions of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League (AMBHL) that captured the Alberta and Western Canadian AAA Championships. The Edmonton native broke the AMBHL record for the most points in a season tallying 146 points (57 goals, 89 assists) in 33 games played.

“We are very excited to have selected Tyler with the first overall pick. He has proven to be a mature player who doesn’t only produce but also makes everyone around him better,” says Giants’ Executive VP and General Manager, Scott Bonner.

“He will be a great addition to the organization,” added Giants’ majority owner Ron Toigo. “Tyler has the potential of being a player we can build our franchise around.”

Tyler Benson
Position: Left Wing
Born: March 15, 1998
Hometown: Edmonton, AB
Previous Club: South Side Athletic Club Southgate Lions
Height: 5”11”
Weight: 180lbs
2012/13 Stats: 33 GP / 57 G / 89A / 146PTS

To view the Tyler Benson press kit including statistics, quotes and press clippings click HERE

In total, 77 Albertans were selected in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft