All Austin Wong wanted to do was follow in his older brother’s footsteps. Mission accomplished.
The 14-year-old Airdrie Bantam AAA Xtreme forward was taken by the Kootenay Ice in the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) bantam draft on May 8, fulfilling his wish to achieve the level reached by Tyler Wong, a 19-year-old forward with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
The Wongs, who along with Bow Valley Timberwolves captain Colton form Cochrane’s Brothers Three of hockey, are no strangers to competitive hockey.
Austin Wong’s selection in the 11th round (232 overall) by the Cranbrook-based Kootenay Ice is just another chapter being written in the Wong hockey trilogy. The 5-foot-7, 135-pound forward went a point a game this season in Alberta Major Bantam AAA Hockey League play with the Xtreme, scoring 19 goals and 14 assists in 33 games.
“It’s exciting,” Austin Wong says of being selected by the Ice. “It feels really good. It’s a good team and I’m excited to go there.”
He’ll get a month or two of summer in before he attends Kootenay’s rookie camp in August. If he excels there he advances to main camp. Failing that, as a 2000-born player, he’s eligible for another season of elite bantam hockey.
He expects a high level of play at Kootenay’s rookie camp.
“Probably all the guys who got drafted. They’re all really good players. So lots of good hockey. Probably some guys who didn’t get drafted who are pretty good players.
“It’s probably going to be the best hockey I’ve seen.”
Cochrane’s Dillon Dube is lighting it up for the Kelowna Rockets in that team’s charge for the Western Hockey League championship. Rockets lead Brandon Wheat Kings 3-0 in the best-of-7 league final, winning 4-3 and 5-3 in Brandon to open the series. Kelowna won Game 3 5-3 at home on May 11. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound centre has five goals and six assists in 17 playoff games for Kelowna. The 16-year-old Cochrane Minor Hockey product is in his rookie season with the Rockets.
Wacey Hamilton is still looking for his first point in American Hockey league playoffs. The 24-year-old Utica Comets forward, and Cochrane Minor Hockey product, helped Utica eliminate Chicago Wolves 3-2 in the best-of-5 opening round of the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs. The Comets, Vancouver Canucks minor-league affiliate, lead the Oklahoma City Barons 2-1 in their best-of-7 second-round series. Hamilton, a 5-foot-11, 182-pound forward who also played bantam hockey at Edge School, has six penalty minutes and is a +1 in eight playoff games with Comets.
Cochrane’s Parker Sawka, Nickolas de Beurs and Springbank’s Konnor Green all skated at Hockey Alberta’s ATB Peewee Prospects Cup May 8-10 in Olds. The eight-team tournament featured Alberta’s top peewee-aged (11/12-year-old) players and was won by Edmonton Yellow. Cochrane’s Tanner Sawka skated for Team South the week prior at the ATB Alberta Cup (bantam) in Canmore. Team South made it to the final before being edged 4-3 by Calgary South.
