Quesnel hockey players are carving paths on ice frozen far from their hometown.
All levels of the national winter sport have settled into the first few of weeks of the 2023-24 season, and many Quesnel players who have graduated from minor hockey are now suiting up in extended leagues.
The program closest to home and with the most significant Quesnel participation, over the years, is the Cariboo Cougars / Northern Capitals program. This is based in Prince George as the collector point for aspiring players from across northern B.C. and the territories in the BC Elite Hockey League (BCEHL), among the highest levels of minor hockey in the province. The Capitals are female players, the Cougars are the all-gender best of the best.
For both the Cougars and Capitals there are U13, U15 and U18 levels. At the top level, U18, there are no Quesnel girls on the Capitals, although Williams Lake has Neen Suapa and Paige Cheek on the team.
On the Cariboo Cougars side, Quesnel is represented on the U18 team by Isaiah Bagri with Williams Lake represented by Grady Gustafson, Ben Fofonoff and Jaxson Dikur.
In the U17 Cougars program, Quesnel has Riley Lettington lighting up the score sheet for the Cariboo Cougars, plus Williams Lake’s Lane Carson.
The Cougars U15 program has Morgan Reed from Quesnel on defence and Brayden Scott in net, plus Sascha Katsura, Layne Rankin and Cole Chapman from Williams Lake.
Prince George is also home to the BC Hockey League’s (BCHL) Spruce Kings. Quesnel fans will remember the hometown Millionaires in that same league, not all that long ago and it was considered the premier Junior-A league in the province up until the end of last year. However, during the off-season, the entire BCHL split from Hockey Canada and the implications of that are still unfolding. Only one Quesnel player in the entire league lists Quesnel as hometown, that being last year’s Cariboo Cougars captain Carter Hesselgrave with the nearly hometown Spruce Kings. Williams Lake has goalie Evan Leggett with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, and on the same team are Prince George forwards Brady McIsaac and Fischer O’Brien.
Marik Mamic was a standout with the Cariboo Cougars U18 team last year with Bagri and Hesselgrave, and he made the jump to Junior-A as well, all the way to the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
With the BCHL going rogue, Hockey Canada promoted three lower B.C. junior leagues to the “A” classification. One was the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League which had not published full roster details as of press time, but Vanderhoof goalie Damien Knackstedt, a former Cariboo Cougar, is listed with the Port Alberni Bombers.
The Pacific Junior Hockey League has Prince George brother duo Jesse and Marek Brideau both on the Chilliwack Jets, alongside Williams Lake’s Trent Thiessen.
The most populous (20 teams) of the three promoted leagues - the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League or KIJHL - is also the one with a team closest to home, and it has local content. The 100 Mile House Wranglers features defender Kaden Ernst of Quesnel playing his third season there.
Also in the KIJHL is the Kamloops Storm with three Quesnel players on the roster, starting with defender Kade Lawlor, plus the Phillips-Watts brothers, goalie Colton and forward Jake.
The Summerland Steam has Cole Salmons coming back to the KIJHL after a year away winning the Can-Am Junior Hockey League championship with the Hinton Timberwolves. On that team with him is Prince George goalie Jasper Tait.
Prince George also has goalie Jaiden Jakubowski playing for the Columbia Valley Rockies based in Invermere. Nolan MacPherson is a forward for the Kamloops Storm. Forward Jaxon Rebman is playing his fourth season with the Kelowna Chiefs. The Nelson Leafs have rookie forward Parker White. Defender Tymon Sanikopoulos plays for the Sicamous Eagles.
Forwards Mason Pincott and Treyton Pacheco of 100 Mile House are on their hometown Wranglers. A contingent of Williams Lake players also suit up for 100 Mile House: defender Boston Pierce and forwards Jackson Altwasser, Carter Boomer and Curtis Roorda.
At the pinnacle of Junior hockey in Western Canada, some say the world, is the Western Hockey League (WHL). While there are no Quesnel players in “The Dub” this year, there are many regional talents on WHL rosters.
Prince George has forwards Caden Brown for the Everett Silvertips, Miguel Marques with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, and Smyth Rebman with the Saskatoon Blades which also has McBride’s Tanner Molendyk on the blueline. Prince George’s Chase Harrington is a forward with the Spokane Chiefs while his former Cariboo Cougars linemate Cameron Schmidt is on the Vancouver Giants. The Seattle Thunderbirds have forwards Nico Myatovic from Prince George and Williams Lake’s Colton Gerrior (Williams Lake’s Jaxon Dikur is their third goalie). Fort St. James has defender Terrell Goldsmith on the Prince Albert Raiders.
There are many other youth leagues, such as the The Canadian Sport School Hockey League, Junior Prospects Hockey League and Canadian Interuniversity Sport League that may have local players.
It must be noted that being listed on a team’s roster does not necessarily mean they are playing games with that organization. Players can be placed with development teams while awaiting their chance on the parent team’s game-night lineup. This is also the time of year cuts are made in earnest, so someone on the roster today may be dispatched tomorrow (or even later today). These listings were provided by the teams as a snapshot in time. Sometimes, in hockey, that’s all a player gets. Sometimes, in hockey, that’s all a player needs to break through.
If any other players from Quesnel are part of these Junior leagues but got missed, please email the pertinent information to editor@quesnelobserver.com.
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