‘It’s business’: Fort St. John Huskies eager to start defending title in new season

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Last season’s Strike Group North West Junior Hockey League (NWJHL) champions are eager to begin defending their title this weekend. 

The Fort St. John Huskies held their final practice at the Pomeroy Sport Centre on Thursday, September 11th before their opening game against the North Peace Navigators on Friday, September 12th.

It is the first of a month-long, seven-game road trip due to maintenance at the North Peace Arena.

A solid core of players return from last year’s squad, including second-year captain forward Grayden Alexander and defenceman Jordan LaGreca.

Alexander had 20 points and 34 assists for 54 points in the last regular season, adding eight goals and two assists in the post-season as the Huskies won their fifth NWJHL title in six years over the La Crete Lumber Barons.

“We’re just going straight to business,” said Alexander. “[We are] looking forward to just getting this thing kicked off and hopefully getting a couple of wins under our belt.”

The Huskies will square off in a rematch against the Barons, the league finalists of the past two seasons, on October 4th, something Alexander said “is going to be a good test.”

LaGreca and four defencemen, however, will be unavailable against the Navigators on Friday evening, a team the Huskies defeated in seven of eight regular-season meetings last season.

Joining LaGreca on the unavailable list will be Kayden Arberry, Adam Bourgeois and Ryan Bookham.  

Head coach Todd Alexander said missing the veterans will be “an interesting test” for his squad.

“It’s been a good couple of weeks with the guys,” said Alexander. “There are lots of fresh faces here.”

While he described last season as a “good journey,” it ultimately ended in disappointment for the Huskies when they finished fourth at the 2025 Hockey Alberta Junior ‘B’ Provincials.

Gone from that squad are Ashton Underhill, Connor Cozens and Tanner McCracken who graduated from the program and headed to play college hockey in the U.S.

“I think that we left one on the table there,” said Alexander. “Some of the stuff that went on was out of our control. I thought we did a really good job of controlling the controllables in those situations. Our team was very competitive down there.

“We definitely represented ourselves very well, but at the end of the day, the result wasn’t what we wanted.”

While the team will miss the veteran leadership from last season, the head coach still demands the best. 

“You lose roughly 33 per cent of your roster,” said Alexander. “It’s junior hockey, so [we are] used to that turnover. As much as you miss those guys, you always have new guys to fill those roles.”

The Huskies begin defending their NWJHL title on Friday, September 12th at the Baytex Energy Centre in Peace River, Alberta. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m.

More details about the Huskies are available on the team’s Facebook and Instagram pages or website.