Lloydminster prospect Tripp Fischer received word from no less an authority than his mother that he has been short-listed for Team Alberta for the WHL Cup under-16 championship.
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“At the time, I was actually napping,” Fischer replayed Friday (July 18). “Mom sent me a screenshot of the short list, so that’s kind of how I found out. And then, I think they emailed yesterday about it.”
Hockey Alberta announced the 34 finalists for roster berths with the province’s entry in the four-team October tournament named after the Western Hockey League.
Fischer, a third-round draft choice of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders this year, is among 18 forwards still in contention for Team Alberta. Joining those prospects on the short list are 12 defencemen and four goaltenders.
In paring the next-to-final roster down to 34, Hockey Alberta cut 46 players who also participated in the 80-man summer camp in early July at Red Deer.
“It felt pretty good hearing (I had been short-listed), but I was a little nervous about it,” said Fischer, 15. “I was more relieved, though. I was worried about it for the last week.”
Fischer showed his stuff through the first three stages of Team Alberta’s selection process, and with his Delta (B.C.) Hockey Academy U15 prep team last winter. He captained that club to the Division 1 Western championship in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.
He continued to apply his blend of grit, skill and leadership at the provincial team’s top 80 summer camp, and those qualities enabled him to advance.
“Probably my two-way game, and then just my smarts,” Fischer said. “I’m just a smart hockey player.
“I thought I was pretty consistent over the week, which obviously helps, but there wasn’t a lot that stuck out (as a turning point), if I’m going to be honest.
“It was a pretty long camp. I think we played four games and had five practices in a five-day span.”
It amounted to an endurance test, just as the Hockey Alberta staff had designed and described it.
“Yeah, they said that quite a bit, actually,” Fischer said. “They said it was going to be a tough week mentally and physically.”
It only gets tougher, but Fischer believes he has what it takes to contend for a spot on the final
roster.
“Just doing what I’ve been doing and playing my game. I think it’s a little more special than other guys that don’t do (the intangibles). I think that’s helpful to a team.”
ALBERTA IDENTITY
Along with the on-ice workouts and evaluations, Team Alberta prospects attended seminars focusing on elements like yoga and mental preparation.
“We had two mental-performance things, one just about the team and, like, the identity of Alberta,” Fischer said.
“They said they want us to be tough and hard to play against. They think they’re at the top between the four (Western) provinces and they just want to keep winning.”
After a golden finish in Red Deer last fall, Alberta is the reigning champion in the WHL Cup, which is held in alternating years when the Canada Winter Games are not being staged.
Alberta’s will-to-win mantra is right up the wheelhouse of the competitive Fischer, who also appreciated the yoga sessions during the summer camp.
“I’ve done a little bit of yoga already, but it definitely felt good,” he said. “It was later in the week, so it just felt good to kind of relax and stretch a little bit.”
While he advanced to the final stage of tryouts, Fischer’s buddies from the Lloydminster area weren’t as fortunate. Three other local forwards — Lloyd’s Josh Frazer and Kael Scott and Kitscoty’s Brody Sunderland — aren’t on the short list. But all three are also WHL draft picks, with many more hockey highlights probable down the road.
“I saw Kael Scott on the ice the next day and I kind of said something similar to that,” Fischer said. “I think it’ll be good for all of them. They’ll want it a little bit more and push even harder.”
LANCERS TAKING SHAPE
Returning home for his 15-year-old season, Fischer was the initial signing for the 2025-26
edition of the Lloydminster U18 AAA Lancers. Frazer is also among the first seven signed players, while Scott and Sunderland are expected to be part of the Lancers as well.
“I like the way it’s looking right now,” Fischer said of Lloyd’s prospective lineup. “I think we’re going to be a pretty deep team. I don’t think we’ll have a lot of standout No. 1 guys, but we’ll all be pretty balanced and pretty solid. I think we can do pretty well during the year.”
Along with Fischer and Frazer, the Lancers’ early signings include forwards Alec Robinson and
Kelton Doolaege and defencemen Rhett Romanchuk, Graydon Kvill and Aiden Harman.
Lloyd’s main training camp runs Aug. 24-28.
Fischer plans to participate in those Lancer tryouts before he heads to Prince Albert on Labour Day weekend for his inaugural training camp with the WHL’s Raiders.
Although he’s not eligible to play in the WHL on a full-time basis until his 16-year-old season, Fischer hopes to come out of this September’s camp with a major-junior contract in his equipment bag.
“Going up to the lake for the first time this weekend, but I’ve been on the ice and in the gym quite a bit, so it’s been a pretty good summer,” he said.
“(Raiders management) has reached out to me a couple of times, just asking how my summer is going and giving me details on training camp.”
CONSORT’S KELTS ON BOARD
The finalists for Team Alberta will continue to be monitored with their respective club teams in the early part of the season.
On a personal level, Fischer is familiar with multiple provincial team candidates, including Consort defenceman Will Kelts, a first-round draft selection of the Kelowna Rockets.
“I like the way he plays,” Fischer said of Kelts. “He’s just simple and does everything the right way. But he can play with a little meanness, too, if he wants to.”
Kelts is expected to remain part of the Northern Alberta Xtreme prep program this coming season.
Fischer is well-acquainted with short-listed Albertans like Charlie Leonard, a defenceman who also played with Delta last winter, as well as Red Deer blue-liner Cruz Nicolay.
“Both those guys, I’m pretty close with them,” Fischer said about the pair of Regina Pats’ second-round draft choices.
“At the original Alberta Cup (tryouts in April), Cruz was on my tryout team, and he stayed next door to me in the dorms, so we got to know each other pretty well.”
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