By Peter Watts /

There are two big stories in the hockey spotlight in Regina these days.

One is how hometown boy Garrett Mitchell will do as a member of Canada’s U-18 
national team.

That squad is playing in the world U-18 championships in Fargo, N.D. and Moorehead, Minn.

The other is the fact that Regina has been awarded the 2010 ESSO Cup, the national midget championship for women.

And in the background, of course, is the fact Regina will share the 2010 world junior hockey championships with Saskatoon.

Let’s deal with Mr. Mitchell first. The 17-year-old came up through the Regina minor hockey system and has just closed out his season with the WHL’s Pats.

He’s been named an alternate captain for Team Canada.

It’s his second opportunity to wear the national team jersey. The first came last summer when he helped the U-17 team win a gold medal at the Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament in the Czech Republic.

“That was great fun,” Mitchell said from Minneapolis where the U-18 team prepared for the worlds and won a couple of exhibition tests prior to the start of the tournament.

“Bill Peters, who was coaching Spokane in the WHL at the time, was our coach for the U-17s. We actually played our games in Slovakia so it was a great chance to see that part of the world and to play some hockey.

“This tournament is going to be a real challenge. The Europeon teams and the U.S. play together year-round. We’ve got guys here from across the Canadian Hockey League and we only have about a week to get ready.

“But we’ve got a lot of good players and we have a good coaching staff headed by Mike Johnson. We’ve done a little team building. We were at Minnesota’s baseball home opener the other day and we went as a group, so it was a good chance to get to know the other players.

“And I’m playing on a line with Cody Eakin from Swift Current and Kyle Clifford, who plays for Barrie in the Ontario Hockey League. I think we’ll be a good energy line and that’s a style that I’m used to playing in Regina.”

The 2010 ESSO Cup tournament will be the second year that Imperial Oil is the presenting sponsor. The 2009 tournament starts in Calgary on April 20 – without a team 
from Regina.

The Rebels had a pretty good season but lost out before they could win the province. Next season, they’ll be the host team and will get to play in a new rink complex now under construction on the grounds of the 
Regina Exhibition.

“The rink complex is one of the big factors in our decision to bid for the ESSO Cup,” said organizing committee chair Lynn Tulloch. “The arena we’ll use can seat about 1,500 spectators. We’ve had great support stepping forward already and we’re confident we can put on a great event. The rink is part of a six-sheet complex which will also include facilities for other sports and for trade shows and conventions. It’s going to be a wonderful facility for Regina.”

Tulloch has continued her involvement in women’s hockey, even though her own daughter, Kelsey, has now graduated and moved on to finish her second year in the women’s program at the University of Saskatchewan.

“When Kelsey started playing, there weren’t enough girls for one team,” Tulloch recalled. “The first couple of years, the girls who wanted to play hockey had to play on boys’ teams.

“Now we’ve got an eight-team provincial women’s league and the games are attracting the interest of scouts and coaches for women’s hockey programs at Canadian and U.S. colleges and universities. The game has come a long way in the past decade.”

Finally, the World Junior tournament. The final schedule has been released and 10 of the games will be played in Regina with the other 21 games, including all of Canada’s games, being staged in Saskatoon.

The Regina games will involve a pool of teams, including two-time defending silver medalist Sweden, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, and Austria. Sweden and the Czechs meet in the opening game of the tournament on Boxing Day.

NOTES
Summerside, PEI gets the 2009 World Junior A Challenge which features junior talent from the six junior leagues including the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The event will be held November 1-8...Canada and the U.S. women’s teams will play six exhibition games in the run-up to next February’s Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. The closest stop for the tour will be the Saddledome in Calgary on Dec. 15.