Winnipeg Jets’ Challenge Cup brings thousands of young hockey players to Winnipeg
Posted December 27, 2024 5:23 pm.
Each holiday season, the Winnipeg Jets hosts its Challenge Cup — a grassroots minor tournament held at the Hockey For All Centre.
180 teams from all over Canada, with some coming from as far away as Ranken Inlet, Nunavut, have come to face off on the ice and see how far their team can go.
“It’s exciting,” said Maxwell Paseska, who captains Winnipeg’s St. James Canucks U11 team. “I want to go score a goal. I want to go get a goal with the team.”
Teamwork is what the young players have been focusing on all season, so when they were able to meet Jets players Mark Scheifele, Dylan Demelo and Morgan Barron before their game, it was the push they needed to get onto the ice and do their best to play together to win.
“They’re always being a team player, they’re not like, hogging the puck. They’re not trying to do it themselves. They’re always passing, they’re always talking,” said Paseska.
The team also delighted in getting autographs from the Jets.
“I got them to sign my water bottle and then my old Canucks jersey,” said Brody Ferenc, who plays left and right wing for the team, as he showed off his items to CityNews.
Jason Paseska, who coaches the young players, said it was exciting but also important for them to meet Winnipeg’s NHL players.
“They’re looking ahead in life and saying like, maybe I want to do that later in life. So it’s really good for them to see them in here and see what kind of they do to get ready for a game and practice and stuff,” he said.
Dean Court, the director of amateur development and programming at the centre, said the tournament serves as inspiration for youth to ese how far they can go in the sport.
“It gives kids an opportunity to see that, if I work hard maybe there might be an opportunity for me to be like them someday,” said Court.
There’s a real chance these dreams can become a reality, as the Challenge Cup has seen its players eventually move into the NHL, like St. Adolphe’s Owen Pickering and Winnipeg’s Denton Mateychuk.
“Everyone who normally wouldn’t get a chance to play in a tournament have a tournament right here locally,” said Court.
The tournament runs through to January 2.
