Three Squamish residents are taking on some of the best young hockey players in their age groups at two separate tournaments this holiday season and early results are looking good for the locals.

Squamish Minor Hockey Association (SMHA) products Malik Kaila and Jared Lukosevicius and their Vancouver NorthWest Giants are faring well at the annual Mac’s Midget AAA Tournament in Calgary, which got underway on Dec. 26.

As of press time on Monday (Dec. 31), the Giants finished in first place in Pool 1 of the tournament with a record of four wins and no losses during round-robin play. The Giants have also managed to outscore the opposition 19-6 in the four games. Vancouver then opened tournament playoff action with an 8-5 win over Red Deer on Monday.

The Mac’s tournament was set to wind up on Tuesday (Jan. 1), but final results were not available at press time. For more information on the tournament, visit www.mactournament.ab.ca.

Meanwhile, Squamish’s Josh Thrower is on Team Pacific at the World U17 Hockey Challenge in Quebec. The tournament kicked off for Thrower and his teammates on Saturday (Dec. 29) with an 8-7 overtime win over Team Russia. The team continued preliminary action in the tournament on Monday (Dec. 31), dropping a 6-3 decision to Team Sweden.

Pacific took on Team Finland on Tuesday (Jan. 1) and Team West on Wednesday (Jan. 2) but results were not available at press time. For more information on the tournament, visit www.hockeycanada.ca.

Check next week’s print edition of The Chief for final results and more details from both tournaments.