Three local athletes of Indigenous descent will play in one of Canada's most prestigious hockey tournaments on the calendar.
The 2023 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC) are taking place in Winnipeg, Man., and B.C.'s squads are looking to improve on the bronze medals they claimed last year.
Every Tri-Cities player and coach identifies as Métis.
Coquitlam's Sullivan Menard is the only returning player from the region named to a under-18 provincial NAHC roster.
The 17-year-old defenceman scored one goal in the 2022 event in Membertou, N.S., in helping B.C. finish with a 4-3 record, including a 4-1 win in the final tilt over Team Eastern Door and the North.
Menard, who potted four goals and 19 points in 34 games with the Vancouver North East Chiefs this past season, will be joined by teammate Jonah Power-Smith.
The 16-year-old player from Port Moody is listed as the forward alternate for the NAHC, despite tallying the fourth most points on the Chiefs' score sheet in the 2022–23 campaign.
Power-Smith averaged a point per game; 20 goals and 15 assists for 35 points in 35 starts.
He added five more in the playoffs before Vancouver North East was eliminated in the BC Elite Hockey League (BCEHL) under-18 AAA semi-final round.
As well, Derry Menard and Doneau Menard have been named assistant head coaches for B.C.
On the girls side, Paige Riley was the only Tri-Cities player selected to the NAHC team.
The Coquitlam product was the top-scoring blue-liner in her first season with the Greater Vancouver Comets of the BCEHL female under-18 AAA division.
Riley, 15, recorded six assists and nine points in 32 regular-season games, plus two helpers in five playoff contests before the blue and green lost to the eventual-champion Fraser Valley Rush.
The B.C. girls' NAHC squad amassed a 5-3 record in 2022 to win bronze — a 4-1 victory over Saskatchewan.
The province has yet to finish higher than third in the girls category. The boys' side has won three gold (2013, 2016 and 2018).
All of the players were selected following a three-day camp in Kamloops earlier this month, hosted by the Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation Council of BC (I-SPARC).
The 20th NAHC tournament is slated for May 7 to 13.
