NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
South Alberta Hockey Academy forward Kadon McCann carries the puck from behind the net during a SAHA practice Thursday morning at the Big Marble Go Centre.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
It may have taken a little bit longer than South Alberta Hockey Academy head coach Brayden Desjardins would have liked but he finally has his team together and is ready for the regular season.
The SAHA U18 men’s team gets their Canadian Sport School Hockey League season underway today at the Big Marble Go Centre when they host the Prairie Hockey Academy at 7:30 p.m. Desjardins said they have a good group to work with this season.
“The calibre of player we have this year and just the team dynamic, it’s a really excited group, they love to be at the rink,” Desjardins said. “They come to the rink ready to work every single day. This is a hard group not to be excited about.”
SAHA also hosts the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy on Saturday for a 3:15 p.m. contest.
The team took some time coming together as a large part of the group was away at Western Hockey League or Junior A training camps in early September. They were only able to play one exhibition game but Desjardins said the team has had a chance to get to know one another more through other activities, something he sees only as a positive.
“I thought the bonding process might have taken a little bit longer, but they just love being together,” Desjardins said.
A lot of names on the roster will be familiar to Medicine Hat Tigers fans as a third of SAHA’s team is Tigers prospects, including 2022 first overall pick Gavin McKenna. Desjardins said he is excited to work with what he calls a deeper team than last season.
“There’s a lot of high profile names, a lot of high picks and when you get a group like that all in midget, it’s hard not to get excited,” Desjardins said. “You should be seeing a couple of these names on the top of the Western (Hockey) League scoring race in a few years so it’s something that we definitely don’t take lightly and we’re definitely excited to work with.”
Tigers prospect Kadon McCann said he is looking forward to learning under Desjardins and hoping to help SAHA repeat as Mac’s tournament champions.
“We’re a tight group and we’re a really skilled group, too,” McCann said. “With Gavin, the ’07, ’06 and ’05 group are super strong. So we have a really tight group here and I’m super excited to hopefully win another Mac’s and then a CSSHL championship.”
It’s still early in SAHA’s season but Desjardins said they hope to have an identity focused around speed.
“We want to be fast, we’re a good transitioning team and we want to play with speed,” he said. “We’re exciting to watch with lots of skill so for us, it’s just to be a fast paced team that’s hard to play against, that would be the ideal goal. Will we get that initially? Maybe not but that’s definitely the goal going forward.”
A point of pride for Desjardins is having multiple Medicine Hat products on the team and not just as a handout, they are earned positions he says.
“They’re key guys, for us. You’re not going to see guys ride the bench or anything like that, we’re going to rely on a lot of those guys to play some high end minutes,” Desjardins said.
One of the five Medicine Hat area players on SAHA, Josiah Jackson, joins the club after playing with the SEAC Tiger last season. He says he likes playing and learning from his older teammates.
“Some of the guys have been in the league for two years, so they kind of teach you what it’s like to be in junior, because a lot of the guys on our team could be playing there,” Jackson said.
He says he will miss playing at the Hockey Hounds but loves Big Marble and is humbled to get the chance to play in his hometown in front of friends and family.
“Knowing all the people at my school are guys on the team, it’s really great.”
