Red Deer Rebels prospect Luke Vlooswyk didn’t take the experience of being at the Canada Winter Games for granted.
The 16-year-old defenceman stepped on the ice as an assistant captain of Team Alberta’s male hockey team and despite earning a fifth-place finish, it was an amazing experience.
“The Canada Winter Games it’s more than just a hockey tournament,” he said.
“It was cool staying in the dorms but especially with all the other sports going on it kind of felt like a mini Olympics.”
Alberta began the tournament with a 4-1 victory over Nova Scotia and a 4-3 overtime win against Ontario. They went on to finish the preliminary round with a 4-2 loss to British Columbia.
This led to an 8-2 loss in the quarter-finals to Quebec but they redeemed themselves the next day by defeating Manitoba 4-2 to claim fifth place in the tournament.
On Team Manitoba, Rebels prospects forward Matthew Gard, defencemen Tate Dolinsky, and Reece Gault all suited up for their province.
Vlooswyk explained he and Gard became good friends at Rebels training camp last September and have stayed connected since then.
“We got to hang out a bit with each other at the Games and before the game against Manitoba we chatted a bit at the red line,” he said. “We’re buddies and all but when the game started he was forechecking me hard so I liked that we brought that competitiveness to each other.”
He admitted it was an up-and-down tournament.
“We started off pretty hot with a win against Nova Scotia and then the big shining part of our tournament was our win against Ontario. Alberta hadn’t beaten Ontario in 20-something years so that was really cool to be a part of the first team to do that,” he said.
“That really showed how well we can play and you know it didn’t quite work out… It was definitely a good learning opportunity for a lot of the guys.”
Ontario was the eventual gold medalist after they defeated Saskatchewan 3-2 in overtime.
Vlooswyk added it was an honour to be named an assistant captain for Team Alberta and that it’s not the first time he’s served in a leadership role.
In 2022, he was captain of his Alberta Cup team and last season was captain of the U15 AAA Calgary Bisons.
“I’m not one of those guys that’s going to be yelling at everyone before games giving that big pregame speech. I think a big part of it is how I lead through my actions. I always try to be the hardest-working guy out on the ice and playing the game the right way,” Vlooswyk said.
“I also speak when the time is good and when I feel like the team needs it.”
Playing against the best players from across the country brought out the next level of speed to the game.
Team Alberta did not play against Team Yukon and Gavin Mckenna which may have been a blessing in disguise. The Medicine Hat Tigers prospect broke the men’s tournament points record after posting 31 in six games.
“I played against him with my Calgary Buffaloes team in the Circle K Classic final,” Vlooswyk said. “He’s an exceptional talent and he’s a kid who I think if he continues on the right path he’s going to be a shoo-in NHLer.”
Vlooswyk was proud of himself throughout the tournament playing a strong defensive game. He hopes to continue to implement that into his game with the U18 AAA Calgary Buffaloes when they play their first playoff game this weekend.