John MacNeil
Daily Herald
As some of the top players in the Western Hockey League head to NHL training camps this week, a couple of Calgary-area friends from rival major junior teams are among those going to noteworthy places.
Prince Albert Raiders’ third-year forward Riley Boychuk of Cochrane, Alta., has been invited to camp with his hometown Calgary Flames.
One of his Calgary buddies, Cooper Williams of the Saskatoon Blades, is bound for his first NHL training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Williams attended the Leafs’ development camp in July after they selected the 18-year-old centre in the fifth round of the NHL draft in late June.
Boychuk, 18, didn’t hear his name called in the draft, but a free-agent invite to Calgary’s camp was momentous news this summer for a young man who grew up watching the Flames in the Scotiabank Saddledome.
“Luckily and thankfully, I’m going to Calgary,” said Boychuk, who leaves Thursday.“Yeah, it means everything. Cochrane to Calgary, it’s so close anyway. My house is, like, 30 minutes away from the Dome. It’s really cool. I’ve watched lots of games there.
“No matter what team it is, it’s always surreal. But to have it where I kind of grew up, and where my hometown is, it’s cool that all my family will come and watch, and friends will come. It’s a pretty cool experience that I won’t take for granted and I’m very thankful for.”
Boychuk has pushed past perhaps being overlooked because of his size — five-foot-10 and 175 pounds.
“I’m not the biggest guy, but I try not to let it stop me,” he said.
Boychuk was as involved as any Raider last Saturday as Prince Albert dropped a 5-2 decision to the Blades in pre-season action at Warman. He and his buddy Williams were combative with each other all night long. Their friendship — off the ice — goes back to playing against each other in Calgary-area minor hockey, and now the WHL.
Boychuk was born in Edmonton and lived in Camrose, Alta., early in his life, so he used to cheer for the Edmonton Oilers, the Flames’ rivals. He remains connected to Camrose. but he became a Calgary fan after his family moved to Cochrane.
“We’ve been in Cochrane the last 13 or 14 years now, and we love it,” he said. “That’s my hometown right there. It has definitely grown. It’s the fastest-growing community in Canada. Those two (Cochrane and Camrose) have a special place in my heart. Both are great towns.”
The Calgary kid, Williams, has his own connections to Toronto, even with his Alberta roots.
“Yeah, it’s awesome,” he said about becoming a Leafs’ prospect. “You grow up in Canada, it’s the first team you know. Just growing up watching them, I have pictures from when I was younger, wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. So, seeing those pics of me younger, when I got drafted this year, it’s a pretty special moment. Just to be able to be a part of that franchise, it’s unreal.”
The six-foot-one, 168-pound Williams also departs Thursday for his NHL training camp.
“Going in there, I’m just trying to gain experience,” he said. “A lot of guys have been there already. The coaching staff there, the hockey staff over there, they’ve been through it all. They’ve played tons of NHL games. They have so much experience. So, I’m just trying to soak it all in, and then bring it back here for the Blades.”
Sobry back with Blades
Among the newcomers with the Blades is a familiar face to both Saskatoon and Prince Albert fans. Tyrone Sobry, a 20-year-old defenceman from Saskatoon, played with the Prince George Cougars for the latter part of last season after stints with the Raiders and Blades, respectively.
In a trade with Prince George this August, Saskatoon re-acquired Sobry after would-be overage defenceman Tristen Doyle opted to pursue university hockey immediately.
Wearing an A as an assistant captain, the imposing Sobry faced Prince Albert — his original WHL team — in Saturday’s exhibition game.
“He’s an unreal guy,” Williams said. “All the boys were super sad for him (last January when he was dealt to the Cougars). But it was a better opportunity for him last year, getting traded away from here. He got lots of playing time over in PG.
“Just being able to bring him back here as a 20-year-old, he brings a lot of leadership. All the boys love him. He knows a bunch of us already, so just having him back is unreal.”
These kids are tough
In the Warman matchup, both the Blades and Raiders dressed their first-round choices from the 2025 WHL prospects draft, and they didn’t disappoint. Saskatoon’s Kain Martinuik, selected 15th overall, and Prince Albert’s Athens Shingoose, picked 16th overall, engaged in a third-period fight, indicating the renowned Blades-Raiders’ rivalry is in good hands for the future. The rookie forwards both showed spunk and didn’t look like 16-year-olds as they fought fervently, while Boychuk and Williams tussled at the same time.
“It shows grit (and) it shows character,” Boychuk said about the main-event scrap between Shingoose and Martinuik. “We’re really proud of Shinner. He’s a young guy and he’s not the biggest guy, either. He’s got a massive heart. That shows. He’s going to do anything for us. Especially at that time in the game, it kind of got us going and fired up, because lots of guys didn’t expect that out of him. But for him to go and do that, it was pretty cool to see and it shows the kid that he is. So, we’re pretty proud of him.”
The rangy Martinuik, a Shattuck-St. Mary’s product, landed multiple right-handed shots. He iced his hand and watched replays of the fight afterward with his teammates.
“He’s special,” Williams said about the six-foot-two, 179-pound Martinuik, who also scored his second goal and third point of the pre-season. “I’ve gotten pretty close with him in the past couple of weeks. He’s an unreal hockey player, as you see. I got to play on a line with him the past two nights.”
Martinuik is from British Columbia and Shingoose is from Manitoba. Both attended Hockey Canada’s national under-17 development camp this July in Ontario.
The Blades visit the Raiders in another pre-season game this Thursday night at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.
