Two Greater Trail Bantam minor hockey prospects will lace up their skates for BC Hockey’s U15 Provincial Tournament beginning today (Thursday) at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton.
Fruitvale’s Dallas Maximick and Trail product Ethan Smyth were selected to the tournament after completing a regional tryout camp in Penticton last month.
The pair played for the Bantam Tier 3 Smoke Eaters last season in the Okanagan Mainland Amateur Hockey Association (OMAHA), and were key components in helping the Bantam Smokies advance to the Tier 3 provincials.
Smyth, a talented forward, finished fourth on the Smokies in scoring with 15 goals and 24 points, while defenceman Maximick had five points and a robust 52 penalty minutes in 17 games.
Based on the 14-year-olds’ performances at the Regional Camp, Smyth and Maximick were selected as two of the top 160 players to participate in the Male U15 Provincial Tournament.
Eight jamboree-style teams were formed for the event with Maximick playing for Team Blue and Smyth for Team Orange.
As part of the tournament, BC Hockey and the Western Hockey League (WHL) will introduce the players to WHL Combine Testing to assist hockey players with skill development through a national skill testing program, and utilize the latest in combine testing technology. The players will be presented with sport-testing results in a national database that ranks the participants, and identifies key areas for improvement. Players will be provided with the data at the end of the competition.
The first day the teams will undergo off-ice combine testing and on-ice practice, followed by on-ice combine testing Friday morning. Friday afternoon the teams begin a round-robin tournament that continues into Saturday, and wraps up Sunday with the top teams of Pools A and B facing off in the final for the BC tournament bragging rights.