The hype that comes with being a first-round draft pick in the Western Hockey League followed Justin Almeida all over the training camp ice at CN Centre.
The fans were curious and the scouts were anxious, wondering how the 15-year-old kid from Kitimat would blend in with current crop of Prince George Cougars. By all accounts, Almeida passed the test, brilliantly.
He scored two goals (one while shorthanded) for Team Betts in Saturday afternoon's scrimmage against Team Connolly and after the game was beaming the same smile he had a few months ago at Kin 1 after he helped the North Shore Winter Club bantams win the Tier 1 provincial title.
"I thought I played really well and got some help from my teammates and buried them," said Almeida, drafted fifth overall by the Cougars on May 1.
"It's really fun seeing all the veterans and getting used to the WHL lifestyle, it's awesome and I can't wait for it to keep on going. It's everything I expected and more, great guys and great coaches and everybody's so nice. It's a great experience for me."
Almeida finished the four weekend scrimmages with four goals and Cougars head coach Mark Holick liked what he saw.
"His shorthanded goal was nice, he stayed with the puck and protected the back pressure and managed to score a goal," said Holick. "He's doing what we thought he could do and a year in midget is certainly not going to hurt him. He's a committed athlete and he puts the work in and he's going to grow physically."
Almeida has bulked up on his mom's cooking over the summer and now packs 140 pounds onto a five-foot-nine frame. He'll be living at home with his mom in Prince George this season when he plays for the Cariboo Cougars major midget team.
"It's really cool, the coaches can track my progress and also the fans, and I'll go to school with these guys and get to know them so I'm comfortable coming in next year," Almeida said. "I played [on the Olympic-sized ice at Kin 1] at provincials and there's so much more room to skate and show my skill."
As an underager, he's limited to just five WHL regular season games this season. This summer he made the short list for the Team B.C. under-16 team which will play in the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George. He'll find out at the end of November if he's made the final cut.
"If I keep on playing the way I am I think I'll be on that team," he said. "I know a lot of guys who played for Team B.C., and they said it's unbelievable to wear the jersey and I hope I get that experience."
MCDONALD LIGHTS IT UP -- Sixteen-year-old forward Kody McDonald won the training camp scoring race with eight goals in four games, including a four-goal effort Sunday morning for Team Chara in an 8-4 win over Team Betts.
"It certainly helps with the confidence but I don't want to get too high on myself," said McDonald. "My teammates helped me out a lot, they let me know where the guys were on the ice and gave me the opportunities to score and I just buried the puck. It's going to be a lot harder once the exhibition and regular season come, if I make it there."
He's being billeted with Angie and Mark Jones and McDonald says his parents Terry and Marla McDonald are proud of his efforts to try to make the team.
NO ZAROWNY -- Goalie Brett Zarowny, 19, has informed the Cougars he won't return this season. Zarowny is staying close to home in Edmonton and has enrolled in Red Deer College to study kinesiology. That leaves two incumbent netminders -- Ty Edmonds, 18, and 20-year-old Adam Beukeboom. The other 20-year-olds in camp are defenceman Wil Tomchuk and forwards Jari Erricson and Chance Braid (acquired from Prince Albert in the trade that sent Jordan Tkatch to the Raiders)... F Jansen Harkins broke one of his front teeth when he fell to the floor in his hotel room Sunday mornomg. Harkins, who helped Canada's under-18 team win gold two weekends ago at the Ivan Hlinka Cup, said he was feeling rundown and needed some rest... The Cougars cut down the roster to 44 players for tonight's Black vs. White intrasquad game at 7 p.m. at CN Centre. Admission is free... The remaining players will go on a team-building retreat to Educo Adventure Camp near 100 Mile House for three days, Sept. 1-3. That will be the first of several sessions this season with sports psychologist Dr. Saul Miller of Vancouver... The Cougars will play five pre-season games starting Saturday against Red Deer and Sunday against Medicine Hat. Both games will be in Edmonton. The defending Memorial Cup-champion Edmonton Oil Kings will be in Prince George Sept. 5 and 6. The Cats wrap up the exhibition season Sept. 12 in Kamloops.
