Rams prepare for Mitchell Cup showdown against Laval
8h ago
The Rams play the Laval Rouge et Or in the Mitchell Bowl Saturday for a spot in the 2024 Vanier Cup.
A pair of Regina Pats and six Swift Current Broncos players will be representing Canada at the 2022 IIHF World U18 Championship.
Pats forwards Connor Bedard and Tanner Howe, Broncos forwards Josh Davies, Josh Filmon, Connor Hvidston, and Mathew Ward along with Broncos defenceman Owen Pickering and goalie Reid Dyck have been named to the team that will play at the tournament in Landshut and Kaufbeuren, Germany.
This will be the 16-year-old Bedard’s second time representing Canada at the event, winning gold in 2021 when the tournament was played in Texas. Bedard had seven goals and seven assists in that tournament.
For Howe, 16, this is his first time playing in the tournament.
In his second WHL season — but his first with a full game schedule — Bedard became the youngest in league history to score 50 goals, reaching 51 by the season’s end. He finished with 100 points — fourth-most in the WHL.
Howe, who played in eight games for the Pats in 2021, finished the 2022 campaign with 27 goals and 42 assists.
Dyck played in 23 games for the Broncos this season, finishing with a .884 save percentage and 4.26 goals against average.
Pickering had 24 assists and nine goals for the Broncos. Davies had 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists) during the season, Filmon had 23 goals and 22 assists, Hvidston had 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists), and Ward had 22 goals and 35 assists.
In total, 13 WHL players were named to Canada’s roster — goaltender Ethan Bonaventura (Calgary Hitmen), Dyck, defenceman Lukas Dragicevic (Tri-City Americans), defenceman Kalem Parker (Victoria Royals), Pickering, defenceman Grayden Siepmann (Calgary), Bedard, Davies, Filmon, Howe, Hvidston, forward Brayden Schuurman (Victoria Royals), Ward.
Canada will open preliminary-round play against the United States on April 23. The Canadian squad will face hosts Germany on April 24 and then wind up the round-robin portion on April 26 against Czechia.
The tournament will run from April 23 to May 1.