NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN Medicine Hat Tigers Ryan Chyzowski (left) and Cole Sillinger celebrate a goal Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019 at Canalta Centre.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Medicine Hat Tigers may be away from Canalta Centre for an entire month, but Cole Sillinger will still give fans in the Gas City something to cheer about when the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge kicks off on Nov. 2.
The 16-year-old Regina product was named to Canada’s class of 66 players for the eight-team tournament on Wednesday after competing at development camp in the summer and kicking off his rookie Western Hockey League campaign with 12 points in his first 11 contests.
“It’s nice to have that relief,” said Sillinger, who will report to Team Canada on Oct. 28. “It was a huge thing on my mind, especially in the summer. I kind of got it off my mind a little bit at the start of the season, I had to focus on other things.”
Sillinger is one of 16 WHL players named by Hockey Canada for the upcoming tournament. The group will later be broken up into three teams, Red, White and Black. Canada Black and White will share the ice at Canalta Centre with the United States and Czech Republic through the round robin, while Canada Red will take on Finland, Russia and Sweden at Swift Current Credit Union iPlex. The gold and bronze medal games will be played in Medicine Hat on Nov. 9.
“It’s going to be a test, for sure. It’s going to be kind of a benchmark to see where you’re at,” said Sillinger. “Just having the experience of playing both rinks and just being comfortable with both rinks will be a huge benefit for me.”
While he isn’t sure which colour he’ll be sporting when he hits the ice, Sillinger says there are a few players he hopes to skate alongside in his push for gold – like 15-year-old Winnipeg Ice prospect Matthew Savoie.
“We were together at the summer camp and if we’re put on the same team I think we’ll both be pretty happy,” he said. “We’re both good friends and we’ve got good chemistry so it would be exciting.”
Sillinger has been on fire to start his WHL career. Despite being one of the youngest full-time players in the league, Sillinger sits ninth in scoring among all skaters with 11 points and his seven goals are good enough for second. He also leads all rookies in both categories.
“You see little individual successes because we’re doing so well right now,” said Sillinger. “We’re all working extremely hard. I think we’re on the same page, so that helps everyone out.”
Josh Williams was the last active Tiger chosen to represent Canada at the event in 2017, though a broken collarbone suffered in practice with Team Canada prevented him from competing in the tournament. Hat goaltender Garin Bjorklund competed at the tournament last year with Canada Black — bowing out in the quarter-final to Sweden — though he was not on the Tigers’ active roster at the time.
Pre-tournament games will be held on Oct. 31 in Swift Current, Medicine Hat, Brooks and Shaunavon.
Orange vs. Red Machine
Just two hours after Sillinger’s appointment to Team Canada was announced, the Canadian Hockey League revealed that his linemate Ryan Chyzowski will compete for Team WHL at the Canada Russia Series on Nov. 13 in Saskatoon and Nov. 14 in Prince Albert.
“It’s obviously a huge honour. It’s a pretty special team to play for, representing the whole league,” said Chyzowski. “I want to be a winner. I want to bring that aspect to the team. Obviously it’s only a couple of games but it’s a series, and all-in-all I want to win that series.”
Chyzowski is tied for the team lead in goals with seven – good enough for second in the WHL’s goal-scoring race – while his 13 points are second only to Tabby captain James Hamblin and have him sitting sixth in the league.
Chyzowski spent his off-season building strength and developing speed before earning an invitation to NHL development camp with the Winnipeg Jets.
“I really just emphasized on building my body strength and cutting down a little bit. I think that’s helped a lot,” he said. “I notice it a lot on the ice, I feel quicker out there. I think it’s making me a step ahead of the play instead of a step behind.”
The 19-year-old centre added it’s great to get the big news at the same time as Sillinger, as they’ve both been bringing the best out of each other – along with fellow linemate Brett Kemp – to start the season.
“It’s definitely a by-product of their talent and their work ethic right now. Sillinger is only 16 which is pretty special, so I think it’s been really fun playing with them,” said Chyzowski, whose line has combined for 27 points over the past six games. “I think everyone knows how special of a player he is. It’s exciting to see that news and see it official but there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to make that team.”
Chyzowski is the third player Medicine Hat has sent to the Canada Russia Series over the past four seasons. David Quenneville represented the Tigers in 2017 after Mason Shaw competed with Team WHL in 2016.
The Canada Russia series opens with the QMJHL taking on the young Russians Nov. 4 and 5. The OHL then hosts Russia Nov. 7 and 11 to set up the final two games of the series in Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
Among the best
Adding to the accolades, Medicine Hat was given the No. 7 spot in the CHL’s top 10 rankings Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers clawed their way onto the list after collecting 11 of a possible 12 points over the past six games to sit at 8-2-1-0 on the season.
Medicine Hat is one of three WHL teams in this week’s top 10. The Prince Albert Raiders (7-0-2-0) climbed into the No. 3 spot while the Edmonton Oil Kings (7-1-3-0) sit just in front of the Tabbies at No. 6.
The Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals held onto the top spot for a second straight week with a perfect 9-0 record.
The Tigers open a nine-game road trip Sunday in Calgary against the Hitmen at 2 p.m.
