FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Fort St. John Huskies management has selected a new team captain for the upcoming season, which begins next month.
Forward Kurtis Lee has been named team captain for the 2023-2024 season, replacing Cayden Frenette, who signed with the Marian University Sabres in May.
According to Huskies head coach Todd Alexander, Lee is a “natural leader.”
“He’s our best practice player by a mile,” said Alexander.
“It just so happens that he’s one of our best players on top of that, and that goes hand in hand.”
Last season, Lee won the Northwest Junior Hockey League (NWJHL) award for top scorer for the second year in a row, along with the award for MVP.
Alexander says the coaching staff are still working on who will be selected for the remaining positions in the team’s leadership group.
The Huskies held their ID camp at the Pomeroy Sport Centre last weekend, and Alexander was impressed with the turnout.
“It was a pretty deep camp,” said Alexander.
“We had lots of young players there, it was nice to see a good mixture between veterans and rookies. I think we ended up cutting about eight guys after camp, and I’ve got to cut another five or six after exhibition games.”
Although there is a high number of returning players from last season’s roster, Alexander says the main thing he and coaching staff are looking for is players who are “hungry” to be on the team.
“I think the biggest difference here is that some of the young guys that we’ve had in camp could potentially push for somebody’s job that’s been here for a few years,” said Alexander.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re here for the first time or if this is your third or fourth year; if you’re not hungry to play here, and you’re not willing to show up and go through the grind like the rest of us, then you’ll get replaced around here.”
Alexander says the roster for the upcoming season will be announced after the exhibition games, but the final roster will be in place in mid-January.
“We have one cut-down date this year, which is January 10th, but I can only roster 25 guys at a time,” said Alexander.
The Huskies’ full season schedule was officially released by the NWJHL last week, with their first exhibition game on Friday, September 8th, in Sexsmith against the Vipers.
Last season was a record-breaking milestone for the Huskies, after finishing the regular season on a 35-game win streak and bringing home their fourth-straight championship.
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