December 01, 2011
Posted in BC Edition, Minor, Tournament Previews, Bantam
By Mark Janzen /
Some of the top Bantam teams and some of the top bantam players in Western Canada and Seattle will converge upon Victoria Dec. 8 to 11 for the annual Rick Lapointe Memorial Bantam Showcase.
The tier one bantam tournament, which is hosted by the Victoria Racquet Club Minor Hockey Association and is in its 39th year, is returning to an eight-team format this year as the organizers have gone with quality over quantity in terms of teams.
This year’s tournament will be highlighted by the appearance of both the Pursuit of Excellence and the Calgary Royals.
The Pursuit of Excellence has been led all year by forward Jordan Kawaguchi and defenceman Ethan Bear and it’s expected the Kelowna based hockey academy will be amongst the front runners when they arrive in Victoria.
As for the Royals, they’ve been a bit of a surprise team this year but have certainly been making noise in Alberta led by the likes of goalie Zach Sawchenko and forward Cameron Anklewich.
The other key team to watch out for will be Abbotsford, who will enter the tournament as one of the top teams in the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association with a record of 3-1-0 in league play through four games. They are led by defenceman Noah Jullsen and forward Nick Ponak.
Rounding out the eight-team field will be the Victoria Racquet Club, Wenatchee, Coquitlam, Seattle and Seafair.
Most games will be played at the Ian Stewart Complex, with one game at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and one game at Pearkes Arena. The gold medal game will be played Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at the Ian Stewart Complex.
Last year’s champion JDF Grizzlies will not be returning to defend their title.
The tournament is in honour of the late Rick Lapointe who grew up in Victoria and passed away in 1999. He played junior hockey for the Victoria Cougars of the Western Canada Hockey League before embarking on what would be an 11-year NHL career in which he played for Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Quebec and Los Angeles.
The 6-2 defenceman played in 664 regular season games and had 44 goals, 176 assists and 831 penalty minutes. He played in another 44 games in the playoffs, collecting two goals, seven assists and 64 penalty minutes.
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