High-flying hockey player Nikolas Koberstein has had another huge honour placed on his young shoulders.
The Olds Grizzlys defenceman was picked to play in the 2013 Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) Prospects Games, scheduled for last Friday and Saturday in Nova Scotia.
The event was created to showcase 40 of the top National Hockey League prospects in the CJHL.
Last week proud father, Brian, said the family was “blown away” by Nikolas’s selection.
“We were shocked,” he said. “It’s something we didn’t expect.”
“I think Nikolas felt somewhat humbled to have been selected,” he added. “He was also amazed.
”His coach sent him a text telling him to get ready to play in Nova Scotia.”
It was only this summer 17-year-old Barrhead-raised Nikolas joined Olds Grizzlys in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, competing in the southern division.
The Prospects Games – hosted for a second straight year by Digby and Yarmouth – were held in conjunction with the 2013 World Junior A Challenge in Yarmouth.
They featured players from the CJHL’s five western leagues competing against the CJHL’s five eastern leagues.
The event included a two-game total goal series between Team East and Team West in a battle for the President’s Cup, awarded annually to the winning team.
Player selection for the Prospects Games is a joint initiative of the CJHL and NHL Central Scouting. The 6ft 2in, 185lb Nikolas was one of three AJHL players chosen.
Olds Grizzlys head coach Brett Hopfe was thrilled by the news.
“We are very excited to have one of our players representing our team at this event,” he said on the Old Grizzlys website Nov. 5.
“Nikolas has come to our team and stepped right into a top role for us. He works extremely hard every day and loves to learn the game.”
Hopfe said Nikolas deserved to have this opportunity to showcase himself to numerous scouts.
“We would like to wish Nikolas nothing but the best during his time at this event.”
It is yet one more marker in Koberstein’s remarkable progress in recent years.
In 2009 he joined the Spruce Grove PAC Saints’ ‘AAA’ bantam team, ending the 2010/11 season with a record of four goals and 19 assists for 23 points through 28 games.
On May 5, 2011, he was drafted in the seventh round by the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League and last season he played for St. Albert Raiders.
This year he faced a tough decision of joining the Pats or the Grizz.
He chose the latter, believing the move will boost his ambition of going to a US college and experiencing top-level coaching.
On June 1, Nikolas signed a one-year contract with the Grizz.
The former Barrhead Composite High School student has entered Grade 12 at Olds High School and is staying with a family from the area.
Eventually he would like to become a professional hockey player like his Canadian idol Chris Pronger.
