November 03, 2011
Posted in BC Edition, Minor, Tournament Previews
By Brendan Munro /
Kamloops has grown a reputation in recent years as the tournament capital of Canada. This year’s edition of the annual Randy Lindros Memorial Tournament will only add to that reputation. Named after the late standout Kamloops minor hockey player (and cousin of former NHL star Eric Lindros) the tournaments will feature Bantam Tier1 teams from all over Western Canada, including Winnipeg, Calgary, Abbostford, Prince George, Cloverdale, Mission, Kelowna, Victoria, the host Kamloops side, plus one American team from Wenatchee, Washington.
Kamloops coach Dan DePalma indicated that this tournament will offer players a taste of what it takes to win a provincial championship.
“We’ll use our tournament, Medicine Hat’s and St. Albert’s for some real strong preparation time to get us ready for provincials,” said DePalma. “We’ll treat this like our playoffs to-date and try to win.”
That will not be so straightforward considering the strong competition, but DePalma expects his team to be excited to play against such a wide variety of skilled adversaries. “It’s exciting for the boys to play different teams with different styles and strategies,” he said. “It will be good for us. We wont see teams like Winnipeg and Calgary very often. Even teams like Victoria in our own province, we might end up at the same tournament, but never get paired up with games against each other.”
DePalma indicated that this tournament has always taken place at this time of year and has become a major measuring stick for each club’s early progress. “We picked our team towards the end of September and we’re already trying to build towards the year-end, so this an early chance for us to grow and get better,” he said.
Players will also have an eye towards the future with scouts in attendance. Recent tournament alumni include Ryan Gropp, who went sixth overall to the Seattle Thunderbirds, and Reid Zalitach, selected in the second round by Swift Current in the 2011 WHL Bantam draft. Many players will also take the opportunity attend a Kamloops Blazers game to see from up close what it takes to play at the next level.
The tournament runs Nov. 11 to 13.
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