I just came back after 3 tiring days of good hockey in BC. As with my earlier visit the previous weekend at the Surrey Eagles Main Camp the hockey was nothing short of being EXCELLENT. What I can tell you is that Canadian hockey is different than US hockey. What? You thought hockey was hockey? Nope. The Canadian boys play a very intense, tough, and scrappy form of hockey. There's no time to hold on to the puck, or skate from end to end, or dangle into the zone. Why? Because there is a player battling for the puck the entire time. There's all sorts of hitting, slashing and tripping going on and penalties are not called unless it is a serious infraction. It's a very intense and fast game. Although it was "Midget Major" hockey (91-93 birth years) it was every bit as good or better than NorPac hockey. If you keep up on this blog you know what I like: good crisp passing, cycling the puck around the zone, using the points, shots on goal, and of course SCORING. I saw lots of these hockey skills done accurately and effectively. Again, it was just plain good hockey.One team, the Burnaby Jr. Express, had 4 BCHL Jr. A players, and the 2nd best scorer in BC Midget AAA hockey on the team. The Jr. Express hockey play worked like a "machine;" the puck quickly brought out of the defensive zone, the play setup in the neutral zone, then the puck passed around probing for weaknesses, and then a quick 'back door' score. Wow! Now that's hockey. Again the Mainland Tournament showed me a lot of good, good, good hockey. Our neighbors to the north are just so blessed with so much hockey talent.
As to Wranglers, yes I did see two Wranglers - Aaron Riermersma and Josef Chase. These two boys teamed up to play 'BC Spring League' hockey and were at the recent Mainland Tournament to continue their path of on-going improvement. Yes, these two were the ones I saw at the Surrey Eagles BCHL camp. Aaron has already been to several BCHL Camps and received serveral invites to Canadian Jr. B camps. Josef has invites to several Jr. B camps. I had the chance to talk to two Jr. B scouts who watched Aaron & Josef at one Mainland Tournament game and they were very impressed with both boys. At this one game, Aaron had two goals and Josef had two assists. As to playing in BC, Aaron has a better chance since he has dual Canadian & US citizenship. Josef will not be able to play hockey in BC since he is only 17. But again, both boys turned a lot of scouting heads. On an interesting note, Josef Chase told me he was selected for the USA Hockey District Camp taking place 4/30-5/3. Being polite I didn't bother to ask Aaron or Josef if they will be returning to the Wranglers. That's for them to decide. However, these two boys are playing GREAT competitive hockey during the off-season. Way to go boys!
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For those of you who don't know, Canadian Junior A or BCHL or AJHL (Alberta Junior Hockey League) is equivalent to Jr. A Tier II (or higher) hockey, and Canadian Jr. B hockey is equivalent to Jr. A Tier III (or higher) hockey. There are several Jr. B leagues in lower BC, the PIJHL (Pacific International Junior Hockey League), VIJHL (Vancouver Island) and KIJHL (Kootenay International). You talk to any BCHL or Jr. B coach or scout and their advice to any NorPac player is, "get out of NorPac!"
My next visit to beautiful Britsh Columbia, Canada will be to the Global Hockey Showcase in Burnably the second weekend in May (5/7-10). I expect to see several current Wranglers at this showcase. I also want to see some possible future Wranglers from this collection of great hockey talent. If you remember, Burnaby Globals is where several Wranglers were recruited last year - Aaron, Josef, and Jesse Martorano. Also, several other NorPac teams use the Globals venue to do some of their recruiting too (Seattle, Eugene, Helena, etc.). Perhaps I'll find out more on the Wrangler coaching status and some possible pre-season tenders.
