Sunday, April 14, 2013

PULOCK NAMED HONORARY PROSPECT

Press Release

 Winnipeg, MB-   Hockey Manitoba is pleased to recognize Ryan Pulock of the Brandon Wheat Kings as the Honorary Prospect of the 2013 Director’s Cup Prospects program. “We’re thrilled to have Ryan on board with the program, we’re excited to showcase such a positive role model to our young developing athletes” comments Bill Whitehead, President of Hockey Manitoba.

Pulock, a strong and talented defenseman, is projected to be selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.  The Grandview, MB native is currently captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings and is an alumnus of the Hockey Manitoba Director’s Cup program (Team Parkland 2009).  Pulock is also a Program of Excellence alumni as he was a member of U-16 Team Manitoba in 2009 and U-17 Team West in 2011.  In 2012 Pulock was named to U-18 Team Canada and will certainly be a strong candidate to crack the line-up for Team Canada at the 2014 World Junior Championship.  This past season the Wheat Kings blue-liner tallied 14 goals and 31 assists to share the team lead in scoring with 45 points.

The Director’s Cup Prospects program has been revamped this season by Hockey Manitoba and it’s member regional associations.  As always, the program gives the top Minor Bantam players across the province an elite development program that is used as an entry point into the Hockey Manitoba Program of Excellence.  As part of the program refresh, Hockey Manitoba has taken a focused approach to the on-ice & off-ice curriculum being delivered by the regional teams.  In 2013 there are 10 rural regional teams from across the province participating in the program which sees a standardized 5-week skills program culminating with the Director’s Cup tournament April 26-28 in Portage la Prairie.   Hockey Winnipeg has indicated that they will rejoin the development program after taking a leave the past two seasons (2012, 2013), which may see up to 6 more teams participating in 2014.

This marks the first time Hockey Manitoba has named an Honorary Prospect for the Director’s Cup Prospects program.  The role will primarily be based around public relations, such as web and media, to showcase the achievements of local talent who have come up through Hockey Manitoba development programs.  The Honorary Prospect will also be featured on the cover of the Director’s Cup souvenir program.  Pulock comments on the role; "it's a big honour for me to be selected for this, I have participated in many Hockey Manitoba events from Director's Cup to the U-16's and both of those programs were a great experience for me and both helped me improve as a player and even as a person."

 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)

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