Calgary Canucks excited to host AJHL Showcase

The Calgary Canucks are hosting the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) U18 showcase this week. All 16 AJHL teams will take part in the showcase with each team playing a pair of games.
Games will be played throughout the day from Wednesday through Saturday at the Max Bells Ken Bracko arena.
Canuck forward Gavin Garland says it’s a big deal to host this event.
“Extremely excited," he said.
“Should be some good hockey and we’re hoping to get a couple of wins out of this so it should be good.”
SCOUTS OUT IN FULL FORCE
Hopefully the players will play in front of a lot more fans and many scouts will be there to watch them.
Canuck defenceman Nolan Paquette, 16, said getting noticed by scouts is the name of the game at the AJHL showcase.
Calgary Canuck defenceman Nolan Paquette says the goal of the U18 showcase is to get noticed by scouts
“The goal is to impress people when I’m playing and just play my game," Paquette said.
“You’ve just got to treat it like every other game. Go out there and play the same way you can. It’s no different.”
ACTION STARTS WEDNESDAY
The showcase opens up on Wednesday with the Olds Grizzly’s facing off against the Grand Prairie Storm at 11:00 a.m. The Canucks play at 5:00 p.m. against the Canmore Eagles.
Canucks head coach Brad Moran is hoping a lot of fans will show up at Max Bell.
“That’s the hope,” he said.
“We started our U18 showcase last night and attendance was good," Moran said. "It was scouted well and I think we’ll continue to build on that momentum and I think when people see there’s games all day for four straight days of this calibre, we’ll start to get more and more people out.”
DECENT START FOR THE CANUCKS
The Canucks opened up the season with a 2-1 overtime loss to Lloydminster and followed it up with a 5-0 setback against Bonnyville.
But things turned around this past weekend as the Canucks beat Camrose 3-1 on Saturday and doubled up Canmore on Sunday.
Paquette says it’s a decent start.
“The first two games weren’t so good, but this past weekend we really picked things up," he said, "and had two really good games.
"We have a good squad here," he added, "and it’s looking good.”
EXPECTATIONS HIGH
The expectations in the Canucks' dressing room are high this season. Garland said those weekend wins boosted the team's confidence.
“Like the last two games we had were huge for us and we’re definitely getting the confidence in the room,” he said.
Calgary Canuck Gavin Garland says expectations are high in the teams' dressing room this year
“We could definitely play some better hockey for sure though and we have yet to see the best version of ourselves so it would be good this week if we could see that.”
Here’s a complete schedule of the AJHL Showcase
Wednesday
11:00 a.m. Olds vs Grand Prairie
2:00 p.m. Brooks vs Whitecourt
5:00 p.m. Canmore vs Calgary
8:00 p.m. Bonnyville vs Blackfalds
Thursday
11:00 a.m. Whitecourt vs Drumheller
2:00 p.m. Grand Prairie vs Camrose
5:00 p.m. Drayton Valley vs Bonnyville
8 :00 p.m. Lloydminster vs Okotoks
Friday
11:00 a.m. Camrose vs Fort McMurray
2:00 p.m. Sherwood Park vs Lloydminster
5:00 p.m. Calgary vs Drayton Valley
8:00 p.m. Spruce Grove vs Olds
Saturday
11:00 a.m. Fort McMurray vs Sherwood Park
2:00 p.m. Drumheller vs Spruce Grove
5:00 p.m. Okotoks vs Brooks
8:00 p.m. Blackfalds vs Canmore
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Health care in Canada could be more like Norway's, with some improvements: study
Canada is trailing behind other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries when it comes to both the number of physicians relative to the population, and its spending on primary care, according to a new analysis published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Schools closed, more than 100,000 without electricity as snow falls in Quebec
More than 106,000 homes in Quebec are without electricity after Environment Canada reported nearly 25 cm of snow had fallen across the province.
Unity Acquisitions snaps up much of toy store Mastermind, 18 stores to close
Mastermind GP Inc. says it has reached a deal to sell the bulk of its business to Unity Acquisitions Inc.
LIVE Lawyer of Bernardo victims' families appears before House committee today
Tim Danson, the lawyer and legal counsel for the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, who were killed by Paul Bernardo, appears via videoconference before the House of Commons public safety committee today.
Dam threatens to burst in the Laurentians, residents evacuated from homes
People living in Chute-Saint-Philippe and Lac-des-Ecorces in the Laurentians are being asked to evacuate their homes due to potential infrastructure issues at the Kiamika dam and Morier dike.
Israel orders evacuations as it widens offensive but Palestinians are running out of places to go
Israel's military renewed calls Monday for mass evacuations from the southern town of Khan Younis, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in recent weeks, as it widened its ground offensive and bombarded targets across the Gaza Strip.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow jumps bail and moves to Canada
One of Hong Kong's best-known pro-democracy activists who moved to Canada to pursue her studies said she would not return to the city to meet her bail conditions, becoming the latest politician to flee Hong Kong under Beijing's crackdown on dissidents.
Southern B.C. braces for heavy rain as atmospheric river makes landfall
An atmospheric river has made landfall in southern British Columbia, prompting Environment and Climate Change Canada to issue rainfall warnings for Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island.
Escaped kangaroo found safe after 3 days on the loose in Ontario
A kangaroo that escaped the Oshawa Zoo during a one-night stay last week has been recaptured after more than three days on the loose, with one police officer sustaining minor injuries during the effort to apprehend the marsupial.