A handful of the city’s top hockey and ringette players have recently returned home after spending the past two weeks competing at the Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island.
The quadrennial event ran from Feb. 18th to March 5th, convening 3,600 of the nation’s most promising youth athletes across 20 different sports.
Team Alberta hockey roster stacked with St. Albertans
Sixteen-year-old Jack Kachkowski, a University of Nebraska-Omaha commit and recently signed Brooks Bandit, guarded the blue line for Alberta’s male team.
After an 11 month tryout process, Team Alberta’s final roster was selected on Nov.30th, with the group having an opportunity to play exhibition games against U18 AAA teams in December of last year.
“I’ve been playing with and against most of these guys throughout the years, either during spring hockey or other Alberta Hockey events,” said Kachkowski about having a chance to build chemistry with former opponents. “It’s a great group of players.”
While Kachkowski and his team lost a key quarter final game against Quebec and ultimately fell short of a podium finish, they were able to put up impressive preliminary round wins against Nova Scotia and Ontario before beating Manitoba for 5th place.
“It means a lot to me to represent Alberta on a national stage,” said Kachkowski. “I wanted to represent us well both on and off the ice. It was also cool to meet other top Albertan athletes from other sports during the games.”
On the women’s side, St. Albert was represented by hometown products Sadie Makokis, Robyn Brokenshire, and Jet Devlin, as well as Slash players Haley Trudeau, Brooklyn Dorash, Kate Holan, and Paige Smith.
Like their male counterparts, the lady’s group went through a rigorous selection process before a final roster came together for training in December.
“Through Alberta events like tryout camps, the Alberta Challenge Cup, and the Alberta Winter Games, I got to meet and play with most of the girls,” said Devlin. “With each event, we got closer to the Canada Winter Games, and the excitement levels would rise.”
With so many familiar faces, Devlin points out that building chemistry came naturally to the squad.
“It was easy to connect with the girls just because of how much time we spent together before arriving in PEI.”
“Nine of us also played together for team Alberta last year at Western Regionals in Manitoba, so that definitely helped,” added Brokenshire.
But despite going into the event with such a cohesive group, Devlin admits that the lack of home ice advantage was noticeable.
“I think the hardest challenge we faced was being so far from home,” acknowledged Devlin. “We were not only across the continent, but we were also playing against teams that we were not used to… When we got there and saw all the people that came to watch us play, and seeing all the love and support from people at home, I think it came with a greater realization of how lucky we are to be here.”
“Representing Alberta is such an honour, and I am so proud to say that I was part of such an amazing program, and that I worked with these great girls and coaching staff,” reflected Brokenshire on the experience. “I dreamt about representing my province since I was a little girl and still can’t believe it became a reality.”
Ringette stars bring home hardware
Hockey wasn’t the only event that saw St. Albert athletes take to the ice.
Amongst a carefully selected group of the province’s top youth ringette players, sisters Sydney and Jazmyn Fevin also travelled to PEI to take part in the games.
“The skill and competition at the games was like none I’ve ever experienced,” said Sydney.
After defeating Saskatchewan in semis, Team Alberta narrowly finished second to Quebec in Saturday’s gold medal matchup.
“Being able to play with and against the best of the country was so humbling and motivating. Winning this medal for Alberta was so special. We wanted to make our province proud and I feel confident that we achieved that.”
