Choosing their roster

Times Editor 

 

Almost 150 kids, including half a dozen local players, took part in the South Zone selection camp for the 2013 ATB Alberta Cup this past weekend, March 29-31, at the Strathmore Family Centre. 

The players were divided into eight teams and hit the ice for three games, trying to catch the eyes of the evaluators and earn a spot on the South Zone roster.

The 2013 ATB Alberta Cup will take place at the Strathmore Family Centre April 25-28.

“It was a fantastic (weekend) – the kids were great, they gave it their all, the parent were dynamite … I was very impressed,” said Neil Glionna, Director of Operations for the South team, of the evaluation camp. “Hockey Alberta lays out everything and we just follow their direction, (so everything) is fair.”

Second year bantam-aged players from the zone – which essentially spans from Medicine Hat, Brooks, Lethbridge, Taber, Okotoks, High River, Canmore, Cochrane, Airdrie, Chestermere, Strathmore and between – took part in the camp, trying to make the team.

The South Zone team will host Calgary North, Calgary South, Central, Edmonton North, Edmonton South, Northeast and Northwest at this month tournament.

The ATB Alberta Cup is the premier hockey event in the province that helps identify the top players from each zone. In addition to player evaluations, the competition is also an opportunity for administrators, coaches, trainers and referees to be evaluated for future positions within the Team Alberta U16 and Team Pacific Programs.

According to Glionna, all the teams at the upcoming tournament will spread the ice-time evenly so the evaluators of the U16 squad are comparing the same thing.

“The coaches (of the U16 team), they want to compare apples with apples, so everything is done the same,” said Glionna. “During the Alberta Cup, the teams will rotate their lines. You can’t have a power play, you can’t have a penalty kill, you can’t double-shift a player … you roll all four lines and all three sets of defencemen. 

“Even though it is a competition, the ultimate goal is that there are 160 kids being judged on making the U16 team and how can you judge if the kids aren’t getting equal shifts?”