By Peter Watts /

Pouliot Catching Scouts’ Eye

Weyburn, Sask., is one of hundreds of communities across the country that is well-known to hockey scouts at all levels.

From the pros and the college programs that keep an eye on the Junior team, to the Western Hockey League scouts that come looking at the Bantam-level players, there’s rarely a game that some eagle-eyed scout isn’t taking in.

In recent weeks, a number of WHL scouts have taken note of a just-turned-15-year-old defenceman named Derrick Pouliot.

He’s been hard to miss. A 5-11, 165-pound blueliner with the Weyburn Crescent Heights Wings, he’s stood out in four different tournaments in four different towns this season.

And he’s looking ahead to the biggest stage in his young career in April, when his hometown hosts the Western Canada Bantam Championships.

“He was named the top defenceman at the Medicine Hat tournament,” his father Lionel said. “He was the MVP of the Regina tournament and an all-star at the Saskatoon tournament.

“And then at Christmas, he moved up to play at the Mac’s Midget Tournament in Calgary with Weyburn’s AAA team. He played one game as a defenceman and three games as a forward and wound up as the game star in the first tilt when he got two goals and an assist.

“And he did it as a 14 year old.” (he turned 15 on Jan. 16)

“He was playing against some really good players at the Mac’s. Eighteen of the 22 players who were taken in the first round of last year’s WHL draft were playing in that tournament. So, I thought he did pretty well.

“Some kids seem to shrink a little bit at that age but he seems to thrive on the attention. He’s always been very competitive, whether it’s hockey, or when he’s playing basketball, volleyball or badminton in his high school program. And he’s a good student, so we’re keeping that in mind as he starts to draw a little more attention for his hockey skills.”

Attention for his hockey skills is not new.

Four years ago, young Pouliot was invited to join a select team based out of Boston for a tournament in Toronto. Pouliot would have been 11-years-old at the time. Last year, he went to another tournament in Rochester, N.Y. That team was assembled by Travis Howe, Gordie’s grandson, who does some work for NHL Central Scouting and also for a number of NCAA hockey programs.

Derrick took part in a hockey camp put on by organizers and played on another select team with players drawn from Calgary, Colorado and Texas.
Right now, though, he’s focused on trying to help his Bantam team reach the Western Canada tournament. To get there, the Wings will have to win their own league and then beat out the champions of the other two Bantam leagues in Saskatchewan. Beyond that, there’s the last Thursday in April when the Western Hockey League Bantam draft is held in Calgary.

Regina Peewee A tourney set for Jan. 29
Meantime, the other major event on the Regina-and-area hockey calendar is the 17th annual Regina Peewee A tournament which runs Thurs., Jan. 29 to Sunday, Feb. 1.

Thirty-two teams from across Western Canada will take part in the event. Each team gets a minimum of four games. The Prince Albert Ice, which won it all last year, will be back to defend the title, albeit with an almost completely different roster.

“It tends to be a good tournament for second-year Peewee-age players,” says Blair Watson, executive director of Hockey Regina, and chair of the organizing committee.

“Over the years, we’ve developed a pretty good alumni of NHLers who played in this event during their formative years. Ryan Getzlaf (Regina, 1999), Jay Bouwmeester (Edmonton, 1997), Devon Setoguchi (Taber, 2001), and Jarret Stoll (Yorkton, 1996) all played in this event. So did Tyler Myers, Chet Pickard and Jordan Eberle, who were all part of Canada’s gold medal winning World Junior team in Ottawa this month.”

The 32 teams will be divided into eight pools of four teams each. Games will be spread out among the Sherwood Twin Arenas, along with Al Ritchie and Emerald Park Arenas.