Minor hockey players named to triple-A teams

Richard Froese
Smoky River Express

Four standout products of Smoky River Minor Hockey Association are moving up after making the rosters of Grande Prairie Storm triple-A rep teams. Taylor Cote, 13, made the bantam team as a forward. Three players made the midget under-16 team, with Nick Freeman, 14, a goaltender, Justin Viens-Lauze, 15, a defenceman, and Patrick Gaudet, 15, a left winger. Try-out camps were in Grande Prairie for the teams which will compete throughout Alberta, with 19 players on each team. “I was very excited to make the team,” says Cote, playing minor hockey for nine years. “Competition was very tough, he says, noting that 80 players were competing. “We tried our best because we want to play at the best level we can,” says Cote. Local midget teammates also had a tough try-out camp which drew 60 players. “What made us the happiest was when, Pat, Nick, and I found out at the same time that we were all selected,” says Viens-Lauze, playing hockey for nine years. “All of us want to raise the level of our skills.” Another nine-year veteran, Gaudet was more surprised about being selected. “I was stunned when I found out I was selected because I didn’t have a good camp and I was playing injured,” says Gaudet. “I want to heighten my calibre of hockey.” Freeman is new to the local hockey scene, playing his first year last season. “I was excited and relieved that I was chosen because it took a long time to cut the goalies,” says Freeman, who was one of 12 puck-stoppers in the camp. “We want to challenge ourselves and open up opportunities to play better.” All players appreciate the opportunity to raise their levels of skill with the top-quality coaching and support of Smoky River Minor Hockey Association, that was based in Falher until this coming season under amalgamation with McLennan Minor Hockey Association.