The Prairie Hockey Academy has been around for half a decade at this point, but this past weekend marked a unique milestone for the continuously growing program.
The PHA held their first-ever Under-15 Prep Showcase from Thursday through Sunday at the Barkman Arena in Caronport, marking the first time the Canadian Sport School Hockey League age group had taken the ice in a large-scale, in-season set of games in the community.
The event naturally attracted plenty of attention from junior hockey and college scouts from all over western Canada, and for good reason -- players in the U15 age class are selected each spring in the Western Hockey League Prospects Draft, marking the first step in their high-level hockey careers.
“Just to create the environment and host the programs who were here this weekend and all the Saskatchewan scouts who were able to come out, it was a lot of fun and a nice step for our program,” said PHA president Justin Simpkins. “For all the scouts to be able to come together and see a lot of the skill in this league in one place for four straight days, it’s beneficial for them and great for us, too.”
The PHA U15 Cougars were joined by the Notre Dame Hounds, Northern Alberta Xtreme, Edge School, Pilot Mound, OHA Edmonton and Rink Hockey for the tournament, with each team playing one or two games a day.
That many CSSHL teams in one place playing meaningful contests meant there was going to be plenty of interest to begin with -- but WHL prospects? That’s something else altogether.
“Both ourselves and Notre Dame are still relatively new here, and when you have this age group we might not get seen as much compared to, say, lower mainland B.C. and all the academies out there,” Simpkins said.
“So I think that part's really big. It's a great way for us to showcase the league, the calibre of play and even just the respect and the type of play that happens out there. That's great for our league in our province and great for us, too, having everyone come out and support our community and contribute to our economy here.”
Moose Jaw Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger was one member of WHL hockey brass to take in the action in Caronport, and as one might expect, having a chance to do so so close to home was a nice touch.
“Some of these teams were in the same kind of Showcase in Winnipeg a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to go to Edmonton to watch a tournament that weekend, knowing they were all going to be right back out here,” Ripplinger said. “Anytime you can save driving to Winnipeg and can see the same teams in Caronport, that’s a good thing.”
In fact, the Notre Dame Hounds were also holding a U16 Showcase the same weekend, meaning Ripplinger was able to make a handful of relatively quick and short trips to evaluate potential picks for the 2022 Prospects Draft this May.
Among the players who stood out were Northern Alberta forward Cole Reschny -- projected to be one of the top picks in the Draft -- as well as Reschny’s teammate in Macklin’s Reese Hamilton. Notre Dame forward Jody Baumiller also turned a few heads with his play through the weekend.
“Those guys are really good players and they’re Saskatchewan kids, too, so that’s something to keep an eye on,” Ripplinger said. “With the way we’ve moved up the standings and where we’ll be picking, we might not see the players available we thought we’d see in December, but that’s just how it works… we can get a Brayden Yager with a first round pick or a Jagger Firkus with a fourth-round pick.”
Scores from Thursday saw Edge sneak past PHA 4-3 and Northern Alberta down Notre Dame 7-1 before things picked up with four games Friday and Saturday.
On Friday, OHA Edmonton defeated Rink Academy 5-4, Edge downed Pilot Mount 7-0, Northern Alberta defeated PHA 6-0 and Notre Dame downed Edmonton 5-1.
Saturday’s action saw Northern Alberta beat Pilot Mound 8-0, Rink down Edge 6-3, Edmonton take a 6-1 win over PHA and Edge down Notre Dame 3-2.
Things closed out Sunday with a trio of commanding wins, as Northern Alberta downed Rink 10-5, Edmonton defeated Pilot Mound 7-2 and Rink took a 10-0 win over PHA.
