Kaedan Korczak and Nolan Maier were among the very few locals recently who took part in a hockey tournament held in Edmonton.
They have two things in common this summer; three things if you include their age.
For one, both 10-year-olds, in this, the middle of one of the hottest months on the calendar year, were out playing competitive hockey.
And secondly, they did in the warm confines of the West Edmonton Mall shopping centre.
Chad Korczak, the father of Kaedan Korczak, said that the two boys were selected to join a select group of players who would play in a tournament which was founded in 1990 by the father of current New York Islander and former Oiler, Mike Comrie.
"They started tryouts (for this team) last July," said Chad Korczak of the team both Kaedan as well as Maier had earned the right to play for.
"It's 80 of the top 10-year-olds in Saskatchewan. They came from all over Saskatchewan," he said.
All of the team's games (they played on a team called the Saskatchewan Junior Pats, were played against various centres from all over North America, added Korczak.
He mentioned that there were a small handful of Novice-aged players from Yorkton that attempted to make the Junior Pats.
Also of note, says the Korczaks, was Maier, who was the team's goaltender, was named the tournament Most Valuable Player.
The Junior Pats played eight games, including advancing to the finals match where they went up against Toronto, says the elder Korczak.
The opening game did not start out on the right note, said Korczak, as the locals were handed a 1-0 loss against Montreal. In game two, Saskatchewan rebounded to edge California, 3-2.
The third game, the first of two draws for Saskatchewan, was a 3-3 with Boston. In game four, Saskatchewan beat Toronto, 4-3, before settling for their second tie in three games when they equalled British Columbia, 2-2. In Saskatchewan's final match of the round robin, they beat an Alberta team, 4-1.
Korczak said the results played out very favourably for Saskatchewan as the top two teams in each of the two divisions would advance into the elimination round.
"We finished first in our pool," he told YTW long after arriving back in town.
There was also a crossover game for the semi final. Saskatchewan drew Connecticut and doubled them 4-2.
Next up was the last match of the tournament where Saskatchewan faced Toronto for the second time in the tournament, but this time, fell by a final score of 2-1.
