Mintos blueliner one of four Raiders draft picks at the tournament
Prince Albert Mintos rookie blueliner Tre Fouquette is set to add another accomplishment to what has already been a memorable 2019.
The 15-year-old from Warman is in Calgary with the rest of Saskatchewan’s Under-16 team for the 2019 WHL Cup tournament, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday at the Markin MacPhail Centre.
“I’m really excited to be going there and I think it’s going to be a great experience,” Fouquette said.
“We’ve been practicing throughout the season down in Regina and I think we have a pretty solid team. It would be great if we can come away with the win.”
Although he’s yet to record a point in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League, Fouquette is pleased with how things are going in his rookie campaign, especially as the Mintos have an 8-2 record and are currently tied for first place in the league with the Saskatoon Contacts.
“Everyone’s working really hard and our team chemistry has been great since the start of the season,” Fouquette said. “Our goalies have been making big saves and we have some really great goal scorers on our roster.
“On defence, we’ve been working on a lot of things at practice and that has made things easier for us in games when it comes to our breakout plays. Plus, we also get some support from our forwards, which is nice.”
After posting 21 points in 27 games last year for his hometown Warman Wildcats in the Bantam AA ranks, Fouquette was picked in the fourth round of the WHL Bantam Draft by the Prince Albert Raiders.
Following a solid showing at their training camp, he signed a standard player agreement with the club last month.
“I was still in shock a couple of days after it happened as I couldn’t believe that I had signed with a WHL team,” Fouquette said.
“Being at the Raiders camp really helped me out a lot in getting ready for this season with the Mintos. The pace of the scrimmages was fast and everything that the veteran guys did when they made plays was perfect. Obviously, the pace of play in the WHL and Midget AAA is a lot faster than Bantam AA, but I was able to get used to it after a couple of games.”
Fouquette is one of four Raiders selections from May’s draft that will be taking part in the WHL Cup.
First round pick Niall Crocker will represent British Columbia, second round selection Graydon Gottas is suiting up for Alberta and sixth round choice Bryce Warkentine will compete for Manitoba.
Shellbrook’s Cole Tanchuk, who played for the Prince Albert Bantam AA Pirates last year and is now suiting up for the Tisdale Trojans in the Midget AAA ranks, was also named to the Saskatchewan roster.
A fifth round pick by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, he has three points in nine games for the Trojans this season.
