On November 9th, 2022, Hockey Manitoba annouced the roster for the Team Manitoba Male U16 team who will compete at the 2023 Canada Winter Games from February 18th to March 5, 2023, in Prince Edward Island.
The Male U16 Program of Excellence process began in early April 2022 with the Spring Selection Camp which was held in Niverville, MB. Following the Spring Selection Camp, forty players were invited to the POE Top-40 Camp which was held from May 5-8, 2022 in Portage la Prairie. The third phase of the Male U16 POE selection process was a Summer Camp which was held from July 19-23 2022 at Seven Oaks Arena in Winnipeg and the fourth phase was an exhibition game versus the Winnipeg Wild U18 AAA on Sunday October 2, 2022 at Bell MTS Iceplex.
RHA Winnipeg Govenor, Ryan Cyr, had the following to say about the recently announced roster. "First and foremost, it is a testament to what those players have done and the work they've put in to earn those spots. The Canada Games years are always special for the POE Program and theres that little bit of extra motivation to make the team. It's great to see athletes that are currently in or have come through the academy finding success at the national level."
U15 Prep Assistant Coach, Ian Duval, was also named to the team as an assistant coach. This will be his first time coaching at the Canada Winter Games and with Team Manitoba. Ian had the following to say about being named as an assistant coach. "It's an honor to be a part of Team Manitoba and represent my home province this year at the Canada winter games. I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow from our coaching/support staff and be able to give back and develop elite players within our province."
Ian also had the following to say on his excitment on the upcoming games and the team they are bringing. "It will be exciting to see our team perform in our upcoming exhibition series against Team Saskatchewan and continue to build for the Canada winter games in February. As a staff, we believe our team is built for success, two top end goaltenders with lots of team speed and talent up and down our entire lineup. Our collective goal as a group is to bring back gold and that is our only focus moving forward."
Current and Former RHA Winnipeg Student Athletes named to the roster:
- Burke Hood (G) - U18 Prep
- Ayden Collins (D) - U16 Prep
- Tate Dolinsky (D) - U16 Prep
- Reece Gault (D) - U16 Prep
- Peyton Kettles (D) - U18 Prep
- Ethan Bibeau (F) - Winnipeg Bruins U18AAA
- Matthew Gard (F) - U18 Prep
- Graham Jones (F) - Shattuck St. Marys 15 O
- Owen Martin (F) - U18 Prep
- Hayden Paupanekis (F) - U18 Prep
- Wyatt Stinton (F) - U16 Prep
U16 Team Manitoba will travel to Saskatoon to compete in a pair of exhibition games against U16 Team Saskatchewan from December 20-22, 2022. The final U16 Team Manitoba roster will compete at the 2023 Canada Winter Games which is scheduled to take place from February 18th to February 26th, 2023, in Prince Edward Island.
Read more from Hockey Manitoba here and check out the Canada Games website here for all the updates once the tournament begins.