As they finalize their Alberta Elite Hockey League roster, the U18 AAA Lloydminster Lancers participate in a Devon tournament this weekend to finish their pre-season schedule.
Read more: Pratt likes Lancers’ early progress
The U18 Prep Canadian Crown is being played at two Devon rinks from Thursday through Sunday (Sept. 25 to 28).
The Lancers’ first two preliminary games are set for the Dale Fisher Arena at 12:45 p.m. Thursday against the Edmonton Junior Oilers Blue and at 8:45 a.m. Friday versus the Vancouver Northwest Hawks.
Lloyd finishes round-robin action at the Shayne Zender Memorial Rink with a 4 p.m. Friday game against Canadian International Hockey Academy.
Competing in the other pool are the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs, the Edmonton Junior Oilers Orange, the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers and the Northern Alberta Xtreme.
Playoff-round action is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, with the final set for 12:15 p.m. Sunday at the Zender rink.
The Lancers were off last weekend, as the players attended the AJHL’s historic opening-night game at their new home, the Cenovus Energy Hub.
The previous weekend, Lloyd lost three pre-season games in as many days to kick off its U18 AAA exhibition schedule. As evaluations and cuts continued, the Lancers weren’t reading too much into those early results.
Lancers forward Gavin Pratt saw encouraging signs as prospects pushed for roster spots.
Pratt believes Lloydminster played its best game of the weekend on Sunday (Sept. 14) in its Hub debut, even though it was a 6-1 loss to the swift-skating U18 prep team from OHA Edmonton.
“Today, we were definitely playing well as a team, better than the first two (games),” he said Sunday.
“The two games before were kind of more physical, I’d say. Today was a little less physical, a little more quick. I think we just had a couple of mistakes that ended up in the back of our net. We didn’t capitalize when we could have.”
The Lancers opened their pre-season schedule with a pair of road games against two of their AEHL contemporaries — a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Junior Oilers Orange on Friday night and a 3-2 setback against the St. Albert Raiders on Saturday afternoon.
In front of a few hundred fans Sunday at the Hub, Lloyd’s first U18 AAA goal in the flashy new rink came from 15-year-old centre Brody Sunderland. He connected with fellow Kitscoty native Pratt, along with Ace Brewer, to even the score at 1-1 midway through the first period.
Sunderland, a Spokane Chiefs’ prospect, centered a creative line with Pratt and Lloydminster resident Kael Scott, a Calgary Hitmen draft choice who was facing some of his friends from his previous program, OHA Edmonton.
The academy team received a goal and two assists each from forward Bronsyn Mouille and Lethbridge Hurricanes’ defence prospect Liam McFadden.
Pratt led the U17 AAA Lancers in scoring last year, with 19 goals and 35 points in 34 games. Stepping up to U18 AAA, he welcomed the opportunity to play alongside young guns Sunderland and Scott.
“They’re definitely good,” said Pratt, 16. “They’ve got the size to them and the skill and the IQ. They know what they’re doing out there.
“It’s going well. I’m prepared to earn everything and get all the opportunity I can.”
Sunderland and Pratt attend grades 10 and 11, respectively, at Kitscoty High School, while Scott is a 10th grader at Lloydminster Comprehensive.
Sunderland is a year younger than Pratt, who figured it’s been a long time since they played together.
“Brody is a 2010-born player, so I played atom with him for one year, when he affiliated with us,” Pratt said. “I didn’t play with him much, (but) I’ve known him forever.”
Sunderland and Pratt are from the same hometown as the U18 AAA Lancers’ new coach, Chris King, who has Kitscoty roots.
In preparing for his graduation to the top U18 level this season, Pratt attended spring and summer training camps with the junior A Lloydminster Bobcats. He and fellow Lancers forward Logan Flewell of Paradise Valley were linemates when they dressed for the Bobcats in their Sept. 1 exhibition game at the Centennial Civic Centre.
Last spring, Pratt and Flewell represented their respective schools — Kitscoty and E.H. Walter — in the Alberta high school badminton provincials.
Both of those players scored for the Lancers in the one-goal loss at St. Albert, which is where Sunderland played U15 AAA hockey last winter.
Asher Halliday’s power-play goal with less than five minutes left gave the Raiders the victory.
In Friday’s kickoff game, the lone Lloydminster goal came from newcomer Ty Domshy, a 2008-born forward from St. Albert. His power-play tally was assisted by fellow 17-year-old forward Carson Mazzei, who collected two assists on the weekend.
Brayden Gramlich, Stran Edge, Reo Martin and Lewis Schieve tended Lloydminster’s net throughout the weekend, during which the Lancers outshot their opponents in two of the three games.
Read more: ‘It’s like Christmas’ as Lancers regroup
