The British Columbia Hockey League is pleased to pass along news that seven of our graduates will be appearing in the NCAA national semifinals - the Frozen Four - which begin April 7 in St. Paul, Minn.
“Players with a BCHL background continue to get opportunities to play on the biggest stage in the college game,” noted BCHL commissioner John Grisdale, a graduate of Michigan Tech University. “I look forward to seeing more familiar names on the rosters of Frozen Four teams in the years to come.”
Last weekend’s opening-round matchups saw 16 NCAA teams and 43 BCHL alumni go into battle and after a number of upsets, just the semifinalists remain. Of the four original #1 seeds, only North Dakota is still standing which is good news for the BCHL as they carry four league graduates on their roster. The following is a list of BCHL alumni still in the hunt.
North Dakota Fighting Sioux – Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Penticton Vees), Chay Genoway (Morden, Man./Vernon Vipers), Evan Trupp (Anchorage, Alaska/Penticton Vees), Ryan Hill (Hermantown, Minn./Trail Smoke Eaters) * Hextall is the son of former NHL netminder and Vezina Trophy winner Ron and is a draft pick of the Phoenix Coyotes.
Michigan Wolverines – Ben Winnett (New Westminster, B.C./Salmon Arm SilverBacks).
* Winnett is a draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish – Shayne Taker (Surrey, B.C./Cowichan Valley Capitals)
Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs – Cody Danberg (Canwood, Sask./Nanaimo Clippers)
The Frozen Four is being held at Xcel Energy Centre. Minnesota-Duluth and Notre Dame play at 3 p.m. PDT and Michigan and North Dakota follow at 6:30 p.m. PDT.
BCHL Represented In Final Four
