Midget hockey players looking for more of a challenge are in luck this year with the creation of a new ‘AA’ team.
The North Central Bulls will represent the area of Athabasca, Boyle and Plamondon this year in the Northern Midget AA Hockey League (NAMHL).
Tryouts for the new team will begin Sept. 10 at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex, and Athabasca and District Minor Hockey Association (AMHA) president Darcy Tangedal is anxious to see what the new team can do.
“It’s an opportunity for our players to play at a higher level and see how they match up with the rest of Alberta,” he said. “It’s a really awesome league.”
The NAMHL boasts close to 30 teams and is home to some of the province’s best young players.
One example would be Athabasca’s own Keegan Kanzig, who played with the league’s Fort Saskatchewan Rangers before making the jump to the Western Hockey League.
The presence of the new team should allow present and future players of that calibre to continue their hockey career locally rather than in larger centres.
“In the past, a lot of local kids were looking to go to other towns to play high-level hockey. This will be great for all the communities.”
Just as excited about the new team is its head coach, Calvin Klaczek. He’s looking forward to hitting the ice for tryouts and building a team that will compete at a higher level.
“It’s a bigger league, and I’m sure the skill level will be quite high. Hopefully we’ll be able to fit in,” he said. “As the season progresses, I hope the boys’ skill level and level of competitiveness will rise to the level of competition.
“Hopefully we’ll make the playoffs and see where it goes from there.”
Klaczek believes local players can expect a higher level of intensity from the new league.
“The players are quite big and quite fast,” he said.
“It’ll be a really good experience for them.”
Depending on the number of players that come out for the team, the Bulls could have some affiliated players with the local midget ‘A’ teams. Klaczek also hopes to see the community come out in support of the new team as it begins its foray into the new league.
Perhaps most importantly, the coach believes playing on the team will give local players the chance to take their careers as far as they can go.
“For higher end players, it’s that much more visibility to hopefully move on to the junior A level, or college teams,” he said.
“I hope we get a lot of players out there and we have a lot of tough decisions to make.”
Summer may not be over yet, but hockey is making its return to Athabasca next week.
The ice will go in at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex this weekend and the Athabasca and District Minor Hockey Association (AMHA) won’t be wasting any time in getting the season started.
Practices and tryouts will start soon, and AMHA president Darcy Tangedal hopes to see at least two teams in every division, with the possible exception of peewee.
