Ty Edmonds has the attention of the National Hockey League.
That became official on Friday when the 17-year-old Prince George Cougars goalie was chosen by the 30 NHL teams to play for Team Cherry in the 2014 BMO NHL/CHL Top Prospects Game in Calgary, Jan. 15.
Edmonds is one of two goalies selected for Team Cherry, joining Alex Nedeljkovic of the Plymouth Whalers on the Cherry team. Edmonds is one of 13 WHL players among 40 top prospects picked for the game.
Heading into Friday's game against the Tri-City Americans, Edmonds had a 3.44 goals-against average and .901 save percentage with two shutouts and a 9-9-1-2 record through 26 games of his rookie WHL season.
"As an organization we are so proud of Ty and his accomplishments so far this season," said Prince George Cougars head coach Mark Holick, in a team release. "This honor is well deserved, and we look forward to seeing what he can do in the Top Prospects Game and for the Prince George Cougars as we move forward."
Edmonds, a native of Winnipeg, was a ninth-round bantam draft pick of the Cougars in 2011.
Six other WHL players will join Edmonds on Team Cherry, including defencemen Haydn Fleury (Red Deer), Aaron Irving (Edmonton), Nelson Nogier (Saskatoon), and forwards Connor Bleackley (Red Deer), Nikita Scherbak (Saskatoon) and Sam Reinhart (Kootenay). Reinhart's father Paul is an assistant coach of the team, along with Tim Hunter. Former Calgary Flames Jim Peplinski is the head coach.
Hall of Famer Lanny McDonald is head coach of Team Orr, which includes five WHL players -- defencemen Ben Thomas (Calgary), Julius Honka (Swift Current), Brycen Martin (Swift Current),and forwards Leon Draisati (Prince Albert) and Jake Virtanen (Calgary).
