An impressive start to his rookie season in the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League has former Seafair standout Tyler Sandhu suiting up for Team B.C. this week at the Western Canada Hockey Challenge Cup in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
Sandhu, who was Portland Winterhawks' second round pick in last spring's Western Hockey League Bantam Draft, is sixth in league scoring with 13 points in 10 games. He also ranks second in goals with eight.
The Team B.C. roster announcement comes after an extensive selection process that included a week long provincial camp over the summer. A knee injury prevented Sandhu from participating in last spring's B.C. Cup, however, he still received a camp invite and was shortlisted as a Team B.C. prospect.
"He is a pretty self-motivated kid," said Canadians head coach Leland Mack. "He is talented and focused. I've basically just let him play and tried to put him with some guys that I hope would make him better. He is a fairly unselfish guy too."
Team B.C. has been training in Richmond prior to heading to Moose Jaw.
"Team selection and preparation has gone very well and the entire staff feels confident heading in to the event," commented Team B.C. director of operations Sean Wicker.
The Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup will feature the highest rated players in the under 16 age category representing the four western provinces - Alberta, BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
"Team B.C. is riding a high from the gold medal showing at the Canada Winter Games this past February. The expectation level was set by the 1995 group last year and we're looking for the 1996-born players to prepare and compete at the same level," said Team B.C. head coach Adam Hayduk. "We are very excited and pleased with the players that were selected.
"The strengths of the team include team speed, an ability to generate offence, ability to be responsible in all zones, and a high compete level. There were many great players that we not selected. The player selections were very difficult; which is a testament to the calibre of players we have in B.C."
The first ever Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup was held in Blackfalds, Alberta in 2009 and was highly successful due largely to the support of the local community and Hockey Alberta. Of the 80 players who competed in the event in 2009, 50 are now playing in the WHL.
