City netminder tabbed for U-16 tryout

In his age group, he's one of the top eight goalies between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains.

Jeremy Matte got confirmation of that fact when he was chosen to participate in a B.C. Hockey Under-16 provincial camp, which will help determine the Team B.C. roster. If he makes the club, he'll block rubber at the Western Branch Challenge this fall in Winnipeg.

"It feels like a pretty big step," the 14-year-old Matte said of being invited to the camp. "I was pretty surprised -- I didn't think I was going to make it. I guess I didn't really have good self-confidence but now that I've made it I'm going to have a lot of confidence."

Matte's path to the provincial camp started at a zone tryout in early April. From that gathering, he advanced to the Under-16 B.C. Cup, a 10-team jamboree-style tournament in Kamloops. Of the 20 goaltenders at the B.C. Cup, he was judged to be among the elite eight. Now, he's preparing for the provincial sessions, June 30 to July 4 in Penticton. Ultimately, 30 to 32 players will be put on a watch list for Team B.C. duty. Those who end up wearing Team B.C. jerseys will compete against all-star clubs from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba at the Western Branch Challenge.

Matte was the only Prince George player picked to showcase his skills at the provincial camp. Interestingly, this past hockey season, he played at the bantam Tier 2 level, not at Tier 1. His coach with the Integris Credit Union Cougars was John Law.

Law saw Matte make tremendous progress during the year.

"He's focused, he knows what he wants, and he's come a long ways," Law said. "I brought James Morrison from the Cariboo Cougars out and he worked with Jeremy and our other goalie Riley Druskin. And Jeremy just took off. Actually, both my goalies were really good. They won us a few games. [Matte] has a good future so I hope he does well down there."

Law said Matte's quickness and athleticism are key parts of his game.

"He was probably the most athletic person on our team, out of the 18 kids we had," Law said. "He's in very good condition and he's a very coachable kid."

At the bantam Tier 2 provincials, the Cougars made it to the championship game and Matte had to use all of his skills against a Juan de Fuca Grizzlies club that should have been at the Tier 1 level. In a 7-3 loss, he made an astonishing 54 saves.

The five-foot-eight, 147-pound Matte wasn't selected in this spring's Western Hockey League bantam draft but he did receive a post-draft invitation to the rookie camp of the Kelowna Rockets.

"Making it to the WHL is my main goal right now," he said.