Three Prince George hockey players will gather in Whistler the weekend before Christmas for the final tryouts to determine B.C.’s team for the 2023 Canada Winter Games.
Cameron Schmidt and Chase Harrington, both top-10 picks in the WHL draft in June, will be among 15 forwards vying for one of 12 roster spots when they participate in the U-16 Team BC prep camp in Whistler, Dec. 16-18.
Ryder Green, the third Prince George minor hockey product invited to the camp, is one of three goalies in the hunt for two netminding positions on the 20-player team.
Schmidt was selected seventh overall in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft by the Vancouver Giants, just ahead of the eighth-overall Harrington, chosen by the Spokane Chiefs. In six games this season for Rink Academy-Kelowna U-18 prep, Schmidt has eight goals and two assists for 10 points.
Harrington is also lighting it up as a member of the Delta Academy U-18 prep and in eight games he’s collected six goals and nine assists for 15 points. The 15-year-old Harrington made his WHL debut with the Chiefs on Oct. 22 in a game against the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash.
Green sports a 5-0-1-0 record in six games this season with the U-17 triple-A Cariboo Cougars and has a 2.90 goals-against average. He was selected by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the eighth round (158th overall) in this year’s WHL draft.
The 2023 Canada Games male hockey tournament in Summerside, P.E.I., is scheduled for the first week of the Games, Feb. 18-25. The female hockey tournament will be played Feb. 27-March 5. No Prince George players (either from academy teams or the U-18 triple-A Northern Capitals) were selected for the U-16 female prep camp, also set for Dec. 16-18 in Whistler.
BC Elite Hockey League games this weekend
Green and the U-17 Cougars were due to host the Thompson Blazers this weekend in Prince George ut the games have been postponed due to illnesses that have sidelined the Blazers. The second-place Cougars (8-3-0-1) are just one point behind the league-leading Fraser Valley Thunderbirds… The U-18 triple-A Cariboo Cougars (5-4-1-0, seventh place) take on the league-leading Okanagn Rockets (9-3-0-0) Saturday at 5:45 p.m. at Kin 2 and Sunday at 12:45 p.m. at CN Centre. Sunday's game was originally set to be played ealier in the day at Kin 2 but the U-17 postponement allowed the U-18s to take the later ice time… The U-15 triple-A Cougars (5-5-2-0, seventh place) are also at home to face the Thompson Blazers (1-13-0-0, ninth place) in a doubleheader at Kin1, Saturday at 4:15 p.m. and Sunday at 8:15 a.m…. The U18 female triple-A Northern Capitals (5-9-2-0, third place) will be in Kelowna for a three-game weekend series against the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers (4-7-0-1, fourth place).
