It’s a Christmas hockey tradition, much like the world junior tournament.
Starting on Friday, Dec. 27 and running through New Year’s Day, 32 teams of players all under the age of 18 will converge on Calgary for the Circle K Classic, formerly known as the Mac’s Invitational.
The Cariboo Cougars of Prince George (15-3-1-1) earned their invitation as the first-place team in the BC Elite Hockey League. Cariboo is one point ahead of the Valley West Giants, with a game in hand. The Cougars will share a pool with Detroit Victory Honda, Sioux Falls Power and Okotoks Bow Mark Oilers.
“We have to make sure we’re giving them every opportunity to play at the next level, whether it’s in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba, and on the exposure side of it, this is the biggest tournament at our level,” said Cougars head coach Tyler Brough.
“It’s very competitive and we’ll see other teams that we’ve never played against from the other provinces and the states and Team Hungary is there.’
The league-leading Cougars have two top-10 scorers in Rylan Bissett (18-15-33) and Jaxon Larmand (14-17-31), with Grady Gustafson (11-17-28) and Blake Collison (9-18-27) are in the top-15.
But it’s their defence that sets the Cougars apart from the rest of the nine-team BCEHL. Andrix Lygas has drawn the bulk of the starts in goal and sports an 8-2-1-1 record while Seattle Thunderbirds draft pick Jaxson Dikur holds a 6-4-1-0 record, having been called up the T-birds earlier this month while Scott Ratzlaff was trying out for the world junior team.
Brough has his pick of three solid defence pairings, including Josh Gendron-Carson Brookes, Carter Krueger-Ben Fofonoff and Connor Feeney-Ryan Richter. Richter, a 16-year-old Smithers native who started the season at Delta Academy, has played two games this season in the WHL with the Prince George Cougars.
“One of the things I’m most proud about is our goals-against average (2.95), which is the lowest in the league, at just under three goals per game,” said Brough. “That’s a small pride win for us. It’s the oldest saying in the world that defence wins championships and it’s the truest. You’ve got to score goals to win, obviously, but you’ve got to keep pucks out of your net, something I truly believe in.”
Nine players returned from last year’s team and that’s paved the way for the Cougars to climb the standings right from the get-go.
“When you have a big group of returning guys you typically start the year off a little bit smoother than years previous and I like our returning group and our young guys,” said Brough. “I’m happy with our goaltending and our defence has been chipping in from the back end and our forward group is obviously scoring by committee.”
The other Cougars players are forwards Jack Tidsbury, Blake Lambe, Brett Peebles, Beau Murray, Lucas Woodbeck, Miller Tedesco, Nicholas Gordon, and Riley Lettington.
Shattock St. Mary’s of Minnesota is back to try to defend its Circle K title. The Cougars last played in the tournament in 2020, when they advanced to the semifinal round and lost to the Calgary Buffaloes.
Cariboo went all the way to the top in 2014, beating the Regina Pat Canadians in double-overtime. Chase DuBois fired the winning shot and goalie Griffen Outhouse stopped 40 of 41 shots to carry the Cougars the title.
Because it’s been four years since they were there, none of the Cougar players have been through it before. But they can lean on Brough’s coaching experience and that of assistant coaches RJay Berra and Jordan Duncan, who know the drill of performing in front of one of the most heavily-scouted tournaments of the year. Since it started in 1978, 80 players from the tournament have gone on to play in the NHL.
“The staff and the players have obviously done an exceptional job to get that invite,” said Cougars general manager Trevor Sprague.
“Actually, our whole coaching staff has been there before. RJay and Jordan have played in that tournament so they have that experience that hey, this is playoff hockey. Now it’s just making sure that the players understand that, yeah it’s a Christmas tournament, but we’re there to win the thing. We want to put our best foot forward.”
The Cougars are hosting the Thompson Blazers in a doubleheader this weekend at Kin 1 that starts Saturday at 6:45 p.m., followed by the rematch Sunday at 11:45 a.m. Saturday’s game will feature the first-ever Cariboo Cougars/St. Vincent de Paul Society teddy bear toss and fans are being encouraged to bring their stuffies to throw on the ice when the Cougars score their first goal.
The Cougars are also getting ready for the Outdoor Classic at Ernie Sam Memorial Arena in Fort St. James, where they’ll face the Valley West Giants on the night of Saturday, Jan. 18. The Outdoor Classic was first played in 2018. The Northern Capitals triple-A female U18s will take on the Fraser Valley Rush on the outdoor rink on Jan. 17
Circle K Classic
Pool 1
Cariboo Cougars (BCEHL)
Detroit Victory Honda (USA)
Okotoks Bow Mark Oilers (AEHL)
Sioux Falls Power (USA)
Pool 2
Calgary Royals (AEHL)
Phoenix Jr. Coyotes (USA)
OHA Edmonton (CSSHL)
Regina Pat Canadians (SMAAAHL)
Pool 3
Chicago Mission (USA)
Edge School (CSSHL)
Edmonton Jr. Oilers Blue (AEHL)
Fraser Valley Thunderbirds (BCEHL)
Pool 4
Boston Academy (USA)
Burnaby Winter Club Academy (CSSHL)
Calgary UPP NW Flames (AEHL)
Halifax McDonald’s (NSU18MHL)
Pool 5
Bishop Kearney Selects (USA)
Calgary Northstars (AEHL)
Moose Jaw Warriors (SMAAAHL)
OHA Penticton (CSSHL)
Pool 6
Canadian International Hockey Academy (CSSHL)
Shattuck-St. Mary’s (USA)
Sherwood Park Kings (AEHL)
Valley West Giants (BCEHL)
Pool 7
Calgary Buffaloes (AEHL)
Team Hungary (Europe)
Northern Alberta Xtreme (CSSHL)
Pittsburgh Pens Elite (USA)
Pool 8
Airdre CFR Bisons (AEHL)
Edmonton Jr. Oilers Orange (AEHL)
St. Louis Blues (USA)
Rink Kelowna (CSSHL)
