District players attend hockey tryout

Hockey players from across Northwestern Ontario travelled to Thunder Bay last weekend for a tryout camp for the provincial under-17 team.
Six players selected from the camp will head to Toronto in August to try out for the Ontario team, which will play in the 2005 World under-17 Hockey Challenge in Lethbridge, Alta.
About 50 players attended the camp, including Alex McQuarrie and Wade Friesen from Fort Frances, Jeremy Beller from Rainy River, and Trevor Lind from Atikokan.
The players were invited to attend the tryout after responding to a letter from Hockey Northwestern Ontario. They sent in all their information and statistics, and the organization made its decisions from there.
While none of the locals were chosen to go to Toronto, the tryout was a once-in-a-lifetime experience not to be missed, said McQuarrie, a defenceman who played for the Muskies last season.
“I had to take advantage,” he stressed. “I just wanted to compare myself . . . see how I compare to other kids my age. I kept my own.”
While attending the three-day session, the players stayed together in the dorms at Lakehead University.
The tryout also was attended by several scouts, from the OHL and SIJHL, noted McQuarrie, who has decided he will look towards landing a college scholarship so he can play hockey and get his education at the same time.
He has yet to decide whether he’ll stay with the Muskies next season, go to play for the Kenora Midget ‘AAA’ Stars, or possibly attend high school in the U.S., though he knows he wants to spend his summer training and getting in better shape.
Friesen, meanwhile, said he went to the tryout more for the scouting and development than to make the Ontario team.
The players on hand were split into three teams over the weekend and Friesen’s coach just happened to be a goalie.
“He pointed out to me something about my stance,” Friesen said. “When the puck’s coming towards me, I flinch a lot and it throws off my reflexes.”
After playing for the Fort Frances Canadians (Midget ‘AA’) last season, Friesen is not sure what he’ll do next year. But he knows that if he ever got asked to try out for an OHL club, he’d go.
All in all, Friesen said the tryout camp was a good experience and he was impressed with the skill level of the players in attendance. “It was probably the fastest hockey I’ve ever seen in my age group,” he remarked.
The six players who advanced to the Toronto tryouts were Neil Sidders (Red Lake), Darren Miller (Dryden), and Jake Lalonde, Cory Silverson, Jordan Staal, and Michael Thibert (all from Thunder Bay).
Staal, Lalonde, and Miller were all taken in the OHL’s Bantam draft last weekend. Staal, who’s brother, Eric, played for the Peterborough Petes before being drafted second overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2003, went third overall to the Petes.
Lalonde and Miller, meanwhile, both were drafted by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (in the second and third round, respectively).
Last year, Team Ontario won the challenge in St. John’s, Nfld., beating Team Pacific 5-2 in the gold-medal game. The teams representing Canada swept the medals (Quebec won the bronze after defeating Team USA 3-2).
The tournament consists of teams representing Ontario, Quebec, Western Canada, Pacific Canada, Atlantic Canada, and several European countries.