The Lloydminster Bobcats suffered a significant loss Tuesday when one of their top players, Matthew Hikida, departed to join the Okotoks Oilers of the British Columbia Hockey League.
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The 19-year-old forward from Richmond, B.C., has been reunited with his first cousin and neighbour and former minor hockey teammate, Jamie Hikida, an Oilers’ forward.
Okotoks, one of the four Alberta junior A teams that left the AJHL two years ago to become part of the BCHL, announced the acquisition of Matthew Hikida via social media on Tuesday evening, just as this week’s edition of the Meridian Source was going to press.
The speedy Hikida has had a career year, scoring 10 goals and 30 points in 37 games in his third season with Lloyd. He and Jadon Iyogun were tied for second in team scoring, one point behind Kael Screpnek.
Hikida was also one of three Bobcat players selected to Team Canada West for the World Junior A Hockey Challenge, played in December at Trois-Rivieres, Que. Lloyd head coach Eric Labrosse was one of the assistant coaches with that silver-medal-winning Canada West club.
One of those West players from the Bobcats, world junior A all-star defenceman Esteban Cinq-Mars, left Lloydminster at Christmastime to join the QMJHL’s Val-d’Or Foreurs for the second half of this season.
Leading up to the Feb. 10 deadline, Okotoks made a flurry of transactions in the past week, including the addition of 18-year-old forward Ben Deacon, who had been the Devon Xtreme’s leading scorer.
Hikida had been among 13 forwards on the Lloydminster roster.
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