Taylor Gauthier and Tyler Brennan are set to take a significant step towards potentially landing spots on some of Canada’s top hockey teams.
Though it may be on the virtual route, the Prince George Cougars pair have been invited to attend Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence Goaltending Camp starting this week.
Over the course of four days, June 9 to 12, both Gauthier and Brennan are scheduled to take part in development and evaluation courses via an online education system with instructors.
To make things more interesting, Prince George is the only goaltending tandem to receive invitations to the national camp out of all WHL franchises, much to the delight of General Manager and Head Coach Mark Lamb..
“This is a great recognition for these two young men and our organization,” said Lamb in a team release this morning (June 8) as Gauthier and Brennan will undergo sessions such as mental and physical performances.
“For both to be selected to a national camp shows they’re in the top tier of their age groups. We’re very fortunate to have two talented goaltenders that will give us stability in the position for years to come.”
Gauthier is one of five goalies invited to the under-20 camp, the team selected to represent Canada each year at the World Junior Championships.
The 19-year-old was on pace to a 20-win season before it was cut short by COVID-19, obtaining a career-high 16 wins in 50 games and a 0.917 save-percentage.
Gauthier, a product of Calgary, also touted a personal-best 2.93 goals-against average, was second in the WHL with 1,537 saves and 1,677 shots-faced and earned a goaltender of the week nod in late January.
He finished the 2019-20 campaign ranked 19th among North American netminders by NHL Central Scouting for the 2020 draft.
As for Brennan, he recorded four wins in 15 starts as a 16-year-old rookie for the Cats.
The Winnipeg product is one of six crease-monkeys invited to the under-18 category of the evaluation camp this week.
Both Gauthier and Brennan have national-team experience on their resumes, wearing the maple leaf at the World Under-18 and -17 Hockey Challenges respectively.
Netminders invited to the virtual camp represent players eligible for Canada’s under-20, -18 and -17 teams for the 2020-21 season.
