WENATCHEE, Wash. – The Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy’s 18U and 16U teams both got to show their skills this past weekend at Canadian Sport School Hockey League showcases north of the border, and the Academy’s weekend program made a trip north to the home of another CSSHL power for a tournament of its own. This weekend, two of the Academy’s three teams will make the trip to the Motor City for one of the country’s biggest annual tournaments.
The 18s spent their weekend in Delta, British Columbia, getting two goals from Kason Nicholson on the weekend, with J.T. Graham-Forman and Dustin Manto adding goals of their own. Wenatchee squared off with Pilot Mound Hockey Academy, Shawnigan Lake School and the Notre Dame Hounds in the three-game event.
Wenatchee’s 16U group headed east to Leduc, Alberta, playing a pair of competitive contests against Indigenous Sports Academy and the North Shore Warriors. Daniel Trifunovic had a hand in all three Wenatchee goals in a 5-3 decision against ISA, scoring two third-period goals in a late comeback bid. Hunter McIntosh scored a goal in Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the North Shore Warriors, and Micah Bottamini scored in Wenatchee’s finale against Notre Dame.
“Our first two games were definitely better,” said Wild 16U head coach Pat Norlin. “There were some mistakes – we’ve got to get some more saves, and I certainly thoguht in the first two games, we had a lot more scoring chances than to score four goals. The North Shore game, they’re big and they play physical – a couple of weeks ago, we went there and lost 10-1, and it was 4-1 at the Showcase. Our compete level rose quite a bit, so it’s always good in a short period of time to see a significant turnaround against the same opponent. Those are teams that you’d like to play again this year.”
The 14U team made the brief trip up Highway 97 to square off with a quartet of Canadian clubs in the annual Okanagan Fall Classic in Penticton, getting two assists from Dewayne Brown over the four-game weekend to lead the Wenatchee effort.
This weekend, the 18U and 14U teams will both travel to the Detroit area to take part in the CCM Motown Tournament, featuring 336 teams from across the country in the 10U to 18U age brackets. The 18s will start Friday morning with a battle against the Clarence Mustangs from New York state, facing off at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth. Games against the Pittsburgh Stars and Rochester Jr. Americans will follow Friday evening and Saturday morning, respectively. The 14U squad will play three games at Suburban Ice in Rochester, beginning with a Friday morning game against Carolina Alliance. The Chelsea Chiefs gold team will face off with Wenatchee on Friday evening, followed by a Saturday morning game against the Mid-State Mustangs out of Pennsylvania.
The 16U team will play three CSSHL games at Town Toyota Center, with Friday evening and Saturday morning’s games against St. George’s School scheduled for the facility’s Weinstein Beverage Rink. Sunday’s 11 a.m. start against Yale Hockey Academy will be played on the TTC’s arena ice.