Photo Courtesy EGP Staff

By Tanner Smith

AJHL

Grande Prairie Storm gearing up for the back half of the season

Dec 26, 2024 | 6:00 AM

The Grande Prairie Storm have wrapped up play for 2024 with great success on the season so far.

So far the Storm are 18-9-1-1 and second in the north division, which has led them to be in the CJHL top 20 rankings every week for the first time.

The success is attributed to a more “old school, professional” play style, according to the Storm’s Executive Director, Nicole Menzies.

“The coaches had a really good idea, the coach (Chris Schmidt) and our GM (Mark Bomersback), of what kind of player they were looking for and I think they really hit the nail on the head with finding players who aren’t afraid to work hard, who aren’t afraid to get in there and just don’t give up. Being a hard-working team with guys who are focused and highly skilled will continue to give us a really good outcome on the ice, and continue to give our fans something pretty exciting to cheer for.”

Menzies added this year a big focus for the team is on local, having a play style that matches the hardworking culture of the region while adding key pieces that Peace region residents can gravitate towards.

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“Started the year fresh with a bit of a coaching change, a familiar face but in a new role with Chris Schmidt, He’s local from Beaverlodge. He’s coached the U18 team, the director of hockey at the Academy. It’s really great to have Chris, and we’ve also had a really great season off the ice. The energy in Bonnetts has been amazing. Once again we’re sitting at the top of the league in attendance.”

Even though the Storm want to play a more physical brand of hockey than in years past, skill still drips from this roster as they currently sit at the third-highest goals for total in the AJHL with 105, good for the second-best goal differential in the league with 36.

All of this has led to a lot of honours for Storm players in the first half of the season, as a Storm player was named to the weekly AJHL Awards a total of nine times since the start of the season.

“Mark Bomersback, when he scouts and recruits players always has that in the back of his mind (having players with a high skill level). We’ve been really lucky this year with the weekly AJHL Awards, another thing that we are incredibly proud of the guys for,. We had four players selected to attend the training camp for the World Junior A Challenge, two of the three who made the tryout were selected for the team. Matthew Gillard ended up wearing an “A” for Team Canada West and they came home with a bronze medal.”

At this time, three Storm players sit in the top 20 for league scoring, Tomas Markinkovic, Will Harris and Chayse Laurie.

Menzies added the organization’s overall goal is that the region and the City of Grande Prairie love this team, and are proud of the Storm.

Looking ahead into 2025, Menzies says it will continue its focus on the local community, with a number of themed game nights planned including a minor hockey night and an Indigenous night.

Even after the season, the Storm want to continue focusing on local hockey and player development with a spring hockey program.

“What we really hope to do is kind of offer opportunities to all kids who are interested in hockey, regardless of their skill level. We have Elite teams that go play in gold divisions and win gold medals which is very cool for our area, and then we also have teams that just stay at home and have a home jamboree but they still get that same experience and the practice.”

A 3-on-3 tournament and a Storm Spring ID Camp are also being planned to run in 2025.

The Grande Prairie Storm will continue their quest to be league champions in the new year by playing three games on the road before returning to Bonnet’s on January 17 to play the Devon Xtreme.