Five atom hockey players from Surrey are set to represent their province at the prestigious Brick Invitational Hockey tournament in Edmonton next week.
Jayden Simpson, Kayden Pratt and Gavin Bradley – Surrey residents who play for Burnaby Winter Club – and two Semiahmoo Minor Hockey players, Caden Leibel and Treyce Pavlic, will suit up for the B.C. Junior Canucks at the tournament, which is set to run from July 1-7.
The Junior Canucks roster has representation from all over the province, including players from the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops.
The Brick Invitational is now in its 30th year, and was started by Brick founder Bill Comrie – father of former NHL forward Mike Comrie. It routinely features some of best nine- and 10-year-old players from across North America; current NHL stars such as Bo Horvat, P.K. Subban, Steven Stamkos and Mathew Barzal have all played at the event over the years.
“It’s a special opportunity for these boys to play together in this prestigious tournament and compete against the very best in North America,” said Kevin Simpson, Jayden’s father, in a news release.
“They’ve all been good friends since they first started playing hockey in the South Surrey area and have worked extremely hard to prepare for this tourney.”
Joining the Canucks – who won the tournament in 2016, according to the release – at this year’s tournament are the defending champion Toronto Bulldogs, Toronto Pro Hockey, Team Brick Alberta, Saskatchewan Junior Pats, Team Minnesota, Boston Junior Bruins, Detroit Junior Red Wings, Team Quebec, Manitoba Junior Jets, Chicago Junior Blackhawks, Team Pennsylvania, Western Selects and the Connecticut Junior Rangers.
For more on the tournament, click here.
sports@peacearchnews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter