It’s a prime chance in a showcase event to get noticed.
Players from Island teams dotted the Coastal Conference roster announced this week for the sa国际传媒 Hockey League Top Prospects game Jan. 19 at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton.
The Coastal and Interior conference rosters were selected by a vote of BCHL head coaches and GMs with input from NHL Central Scouting.
Goaltenders Owen Bresson of the Victoria Grizzlies and Tyler Hodges of the Nanaimo Clippers will guard the Coastal Conference crease.
Richard Baran of the Grizzlies, currently with Slovakia preparing for the 2024 world junior championship in Gothenburg, Sweden, Jax Wismer of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and Andrew Brown and Matt Lahey of the Clippers will patrol the Coastal Conference blueline.
Skating with the Coastal forwards will be Patrick Murphy, Tobias Pitka and Chase Pirtle of the Grizzlies, Joel Plante and Mike Murtagh of the Clippers, Wyatt Blace and Samuel Leonard of Alberni Valley and Noah Eyre of the Powell River Kings.
Hodges, Lahey, Murphy and Pitka are on the Central Scouting Players to Watch List for the 2024 NHL draft.
Several of the players are committed to NCAA Div. 1 schools with Baran to Arizona State, Wismer and Murtagh to UConn, Lahey to Clarkson, Eyre to Quinnipiac, Leonard to St. Lawrence, Murphy to Brown, Pirtle to Cornell, Pitka to Boston College and Plante to Omaha.
ON THE ICE: The Battle of the Malahat renews in back-to-back fashion with the Grizzlies (15-10-1) visiting the Cowichan Valley Capitals tonight in Duncan followed by the Capitals (6-17-1) paying a visit to the Q Centre on Saturday night.
