Reid scholarship
Tyler Dea had a good excuse for missing Thursday's presentation of the John Reid Memorial Scholarship.
The former St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabre for two seasons is enrolled in general sciences in pursuit of a pharmacy degree at the University of Saskatchewan and was unable to receive the $1,000 scholarship during the opening ceremonies of the John Reid Memorial Tournament at Go Auto Arena.
The Reid scholarship was established by the parent group of the 2004/05 Sabres to recognize St. Albert bantam AAA graduates who are contributing members of society, academically inspired, volunteer driven and display a passion for hockey in the same way as the individual it's named after.
Reid was a prominent scorer with the St. Albert Saints and Sherwood Park Crusaders in the Alberta Junior Hockey League and the Alberta Golden Bears and as a hockey and lacrosse coach was a positive influence for countless athletes.
Reid died of leukemia at age 41 on Nov. 6, 2003 and the next year the St. Albert bantam AAA tournament was renamed in his memory.
Justin Kueber was the inaugural scholarship recipient, followed by Joshua Maeda, Steven Woolger, Brady McCorriston, Ryan Harrison, Liam Liston, co-recipients' Steven Canduro and Brady Reid, and last year's winner, Brad Holmes.
Dea, 21, is a graduate of Ecole Secondaire Saint Marguerite d'Youville and last year was awarded the RBC Junior A Scholarship for the AJHL.
The RBC scholarship program is designed to provide an opportunity for junior A players to apply for a scholarship based on their academic accomplishments and community services. Each of the 10 members of the Canadian Junior Hockey League selected one winner, who is awarded a $1,000 scholarship, and is also considered for the $5,000 national award.
Dea spent two AJHL seasons and 103 games with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons as a stay-at-home defenceman and was the team captain in 2015/16.
The former midget 15 Flyer and midget AAA Raider also saw action with the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades in the Western Hockey League in 2013/14.
Fun facts
The following "Fun Facts" for the John Reid Memorial Tournament, hosted by the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres and the St. Albert Raiders Hockey Club, were compiled by the tournament committee with assistance by St. Albert hockey historian, Larry Mitchell.
• The all-time single tournament scoring leader is Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks with an unbelievable 36 points in seven games in 2003 with the champion Winnipeg Warriors.
• At least 120 tournament alumni have gone on to play in the NHL, including Toews, Scott and Rob Niedermeyer, Rod Brind'Amour, Vincent Lecavalier, Mike Comrie, Brad Richards, Patrick Sharp, Eric Staal, Joffrey Lupul, Cam Ward, Dion Phaneuf, Jordan Eberle, Brendan Gallagher, Tyson Barrie, Ryan Murray, Morgan Rielly and Curtis Lazar.
• The Sabres from past tournaments who reached the NHL include Dean Clark, Emmanuel Viveiros, Todd Ewen, Rob Brown, Greg Hawgood, Roy Mitchell, Jamie McLennan, Geoff Sanderson, Jason Holland, Jarome Iginla, Brett Lysak, Brendan Mikkelson, Ryan Stanton, Tyler Bunz, Colton Parayko and Matt Benning.
Brown and Hawgood also played on St. Albert's only championship-winning team, the 1983 Territorial Leasing Sabres.
• Four players from the inaugural 1979 tournament played in the NHL: Clark of the Territorial Leasing Sabres, John Kordic of the KC Squires, Ken Yaremchuk of the MLAC Bay Drugs and Gerald Diduck of the champion Sherwood Park Bumpers.
• The first non-Canadian team to win the tournament was the Los Angeles Selects in 2010 and the last Alberta team to hoist the championship cup was the 2009 SSAC Southgate Lions.
• In 2014, HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Republic was the first European team in tournament history and finished 2-2-1.
• Teams from Manitoba have won the tournament seven times: St. Boniface Saints (1980), Winnipeg River East Royals (1982 and 1984), Winnipeg Hawks (1990 and 1992), Winnipeg Warriors (2003) and Winnipeg Monarchs (2004).
• Last year more than 85 players in the tournament were selected in the Western Hockey League bantam draft and more than 100 WHL and junior A scouts attended the competition.
