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Murray • Young hockey players chased their dreams on the ice over Memorial Day weekend in a first-time event for Utah.
The Southern Oregon Spartans, a Junior A level team from Medford, Ore., in the Northern Pacific Hockey League, hosted open tryouts last weekend at the County Ice Center in Murray. Spartans head coach Steve Chelios and assistant coach Erik Hamlet directed the tryouts over two days divided into three 90-minute sessions.
Chelios, brother of former Detroit Red Wing defenseman Chris Chelios, said the Spartans are looking to add 12 or 13 members to their roster, and the 16 players who attended responded well to the drills.
"I think this is a higher pace than what they're used to but they're all very eager," Chelios said. "You can tell they all want to learn. Their opportunity to make our team is dependent upon showing up at a tryout like this and standing out."
Junior A level hockey consists of players 16 to 20 years old and is a step above competitive youth level in the United States. It is a heavy recruiting base for NCAA hockey colleges, particularly Division III. Junior A level players move away from home to play if their team is out of state, live with host families and can take high school or college classes during the season.
The Spartans chose to have tryouts in Utah after seeing several players from the Salt Lake City area competing in various showcase tournaments, Chelios said.
"There's a lot of good hockey players here that don't get recruited," he said. "They don't get exposure."
The tryouts attracted local players for a variety of reasons. Jonah Bolton, 16, of Salt Lake City and a student at West High, started playing hockey at age 2. The Spartans contacted him about the tryouts and expressed interest in him, Bolton said.
NCAA recruitment was also a factor in seeking a spot on the Spartans' roster.
"I would love to try to get a scholarship to play at a Division III or Division I college," Bolton said. "That'd be the best start for me."
Zach Taylor, 18, of Salt Lake City and a graduate of Olympus High School, has played hockey for 13 years. The possibility of moving up to minor league and professional hockey from Junior A level is appealing and so is the opportunity to travel, he said.
"I'm trying to go see what more junior teams are about because I've never really left home," Taylor said.
Friends who competed in Junior A level interested Marc Allan Garney Potvien in attending the tryouts. The 19-year-old Salt Lake City native has played hockey for 15 years and wanted to participate in the first Junior A tryouts hosted in Salt Lake City. While he has dreams of playing in the NHL or the Olympics, Potvien said he is pursuing Junior A hockey for the opportunity to receive a college scholarship and to compete at a higher level.
"I'd like to prove to the coaches as well as myself that I can be a top player at the junior level and have the determination and passion in the sport to go as far as I want," he said.
Ice auditions
The Southern Oregon Spartans, a Junior A level team, recently held tryouts in Murray.
Sixteen players participated in the auditions at the County Ice Center.