REGINA — Three local boys will represent the region this weekend as part of the Zone 5 team competing in the 2015 Sask First Bantam Tournament in Regina.
The roster includes Dean McNabb and Reegan Taylor of Davidson, as well as Dodge Long of Loreburn.
The Zone 5 team is one of eight competing in the provincial tournament, running from Thursday, April 16 to Sunday, April 19 at the Cooperators Centre in Regina.
The team, which has never played together as one unit before, will have two opportunities to practise on Thursday and Friday before the tournament begins on Friday afternoon.
Reegan Taylor, who turns 15 during the tournament, is the son of Linda Haas and Gord Taylor, and played with the Davidson Huskies last season.
He has been playing hockey for six years. Asked to describe his reaction to being named to the zone team, he said, “I was pretty pumped about it.”
Taylor said he hasn’t been on skates since the regular season ended in late March, but added he has been preparing for the tournament with weight training.
He said the short time allotted for practice will make it challenging to develop the team together, but added, “I think (it’s) more of a personal skill-based tournament . . . I guess it’s whatever you put out there.”
Dodge Long, 14, who joins Taylor on the team’s offensive roster, is the son of Rick and Jill Long of Loreburn. Last season he played for the Saskatchewan Valley Vipers, based in Martensville and Warman.
He said he has been playing hockey since the age of three but now plays on the city team, due to the lack of a local team in his age bracket.
His father, Rick, said that entails a “horrendous” volume of driving, but noted that the results have been good, adding, “It’s a great opportunity for the boys to make that zone team.”
Dodge Long also competed on the zone bantam team in the Saskatchewan Winter Games in Prince Albert in 2014. He said he has kept active since the end of the regular season, taking part in midget AAA and junior A training camps.
Also representing the local district is Dean McNabb, 15, who played for the Notre Dame Hounds last season. The son of Kim and Jeannine McNabb of Davidson, he will serve as one of the team’s two goalies.
His older brother, 24-year-old Brayden McNabb, is currently on a two-year contract with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings.
Of the 20 players on the Zone 5 bantam roster, a total of nine played with the Saskatchewan Valley Vipers this past season, giving them a degree of familiarity with each other’s playing patterns.
Zone tryouts were held in the beginning of February with the rosters announced shortly afterward. The teams are restricted in the amount of time they can spend practising together, in an effort to provide a more even playing field for all teams.
The tournament finals will be held beginning Sunday morning.