Hounds looking to join classmates in Okotoks

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This article was published 25/04/2022 (1445 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been a successful last few weeks for the Notre Dame Hounds hockey programs.

Earlier this month, the under-18 AAA male and female teams won their respective league titles, which marked the first time since 2010 that the prep school in Wilcox, Sask. had earned both trophies.

Then on Saturday, the female Hounds completed a sweep of the Westman Wildcats in the Esso Cup Western Regional final and advanced to the national U18 championship, which runs from May 16 to 22 in Okotoks, Alta.

Now the guys’ will be looking to join their classmates on the big stage, as a win at this week’s Telus Cup Western Regional championship in Virden will earn them a spot at the male national U18 tournament, which will be held at the same time and place as the female event.

“Each has been pushing one another all year long,” Hounds head coach and former Brandonite Del Pedrick said.

“It’s been a pretty neat experience to see both programs coming out to each other’s playoff games and cheering them on at our rink or when we are both on the road.”

Notre Dame is the most successful program in Telus Cup history, winning the tournament five times.

Their most recent championship came in 2018, when they wrapped up a 20-game win streak by beating the Magog Cantonniers of Quebec in the final.

“The nice thing about this program is that it consists of like-minded individuals who have all come to a small town in Saskatchewan and are wanting the opportunity to go on to bigger things in their academic and athletic careers,” Pedrick said.

“When you are all working towards the same goals, good things happen. As coaches, we’re just happy to play a small part in their development.”

This week’s trip to Virden marks their first time in the Western Regional since the 2019 event in Tisdale, Sask., where they posted a 1-1-1 record but lost out a spot in the final on a tiebreaker to the Thunder Bay Kings.

After losing out in the Saskatchewan Male Under-18 AAA Hockey League quarterfinals in 2020 and having their 2020-21 campaign cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hounds began this season with no players having played a full season in the provincial U18 loop.

That gave Pedrick — who was back in Wilcox after doing everything from farming, substitute teaching and spending some time coaching in Europe over the course of four-and-a-half years — a clean slate.

“There were a lot of question marks for our staff coming into this year and I was going into a situation where I didn’t know any of the kids after being away for some time,” Pedrick said.

“What we try to do is to give everyone a chance to play in different situations so that they can be successful. That means putting our defencemen in tandems where they complement each other, putting our forwards on lines where they work in a similar way and having a pair of goaltenders who are pushing one another.”

That approach was a key factor in allowing the Hounds to finish first in the regular season standings with a 35-8-1 record.

According to Pedrick, the Hounds’ ability to adapt to different styles of play proved to be important in their run to the title, as they defeated the Battlefords Stars and Regina Pat Canadians in four games before sweeping aside the Warman Wildcats.

“It was a gritty and greasy battle with Battlefords and that probably pushed us out of our comfort zone a little bit,” Pedrick said. “Regina and Notre Dame have had a great rivalry over the years, which was added to during the semis, and then the finals against Warman had some of the highest-tempo hockey that I’ve seen as a coach.

“We’re fortunate to be able to play in a tough league like ours where the teams are getting better and better all the time. It’s good preparation as we now get ready to face some of the top players from Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.”

Forwards Cole Wirun — who will be joining the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Canmore Eagles this fall — and his linemate Ethan Look were second and third in league scoring this year with 69 and 68 points respectively.

Look posted 12 points in the playoffs to finish in a tie with forward Ben Aucoin and blue-liner Luke Marshall for the Hounds’ post-season point leader.

Marshall, who has signed with the Brooks Bandits of the AJHL for the 2022-23 campaign, enjoyed a breakout season offensively as he went from having just three points in 33 games for the Hounds’ U15 team two years ago to a 35-point campaign this winter.

“Luke is a bit of a late bloomer and his skating skills have certainly helped him out to having a year like this,” Pedrick said.

“He’s probably one of the best pure skaters in Saskatchewan and I think he and Tarin Smith (who plays for the Saskatoon Blazers and was a first round pick by the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips in December) were a leg ahead of most of the defencemen in our league.”

Among the other key skaters for the Hounds are forward Remi Lapalme, who is a draft pick of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, blue-liner Owen Thomas, who attended training camp for the Ontario Hockey League’s Sarnia Sting last summer, and signed Swift Current Broncos forward prospect Van Eger.

In goal, Notre Dame has split duties between Wilson Maxfield and Joey Rocha, the latter of whom had also signed with the Broncos and is looking to make the jump to the WHL next season.

While the Hounds will be focusing on advancing to the Telus Cup during their time in Virden, Pedrick will also be catching up with a few familiar faces during the week.

He coached the Cougars from 1995 to 2000 and later worked behind the bench for the Waywayseecappo Wolverines and the Swan Valley Stampeders of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League before heading to Wilcox in 2006.

“I have a lot of good memories of my time there and I’m still in contact with a lot of people in the area,” Pedrick said. “It’s going to be fun to see some of them again.”

The Hounds open up their round-robin schedule at 5 p.m. Thursday against the Winnipeg Wild.

They face the host Cougars at 8 p.m. Friday before going up against the Kings at 12:30 p.m.

The top two teams in the preliminary round will advance to Sunday’s final at 2 p.m., with the winner advancing to the nationals.

All of the tournament’s games will be held at Tundra Oil and Gas Place.

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