Four members of the 2014/15 Yorkton RawTec Maulers have recently been named to the roster of Team Saskatchewan for the 2015 Canada Winter Games, which will take place in Prince George, B.C., from February 13 to March 1.
Mauler Defenceman Carson Sass (Melville, SK) as well as forwards Tristyn DeRoose (Ceylon, SK) and twin brothers Carson and McKenzie Welke (Yorkton, SK) have all made the final cut for Team Saskatchewan due to their impressive training camps as well as strong starts to their first SMAAAHL season, meaning they are four of just 20 1999 born hockey players from Saskatchewan to have earned a spot on the Provincial team; something that did not go unnoticed by their SMAAAHL head coach.
“We’re very happy for them,” offered RawTec Mauler head coach Dan Cross. “To have those four guys represent us from our team, it’s incredible.”
Sass, a 6’1”, 170-pound stay-at-home defenceman from Melville who currently has three assists in 27 games for the Maulers, echoed his SMAAAHL coach, saying, “It’s really exciting going to represent your province.
“I’m really excited to go to Prince George and play in the Winter Games.”
However Sass, who was selected in Round Three, 47th overall by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft, isn’t the only one excited to represent Saskatchewan on the national stage. DeRoose, as well as the Welke twins, all told Yorkton This Week that they are excited and honoured to be a part of Team Saskatchewan.
But while they’re all excited, none of them expected to make the team. “I was confident going in there,” mentioned Carson Welke, who was selected in the seventh round, 145th overall by the Regina Pats in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft and who currently has five goals and 13 assists in 28 RawTec Mauler games. “Obviously I wasn’t expecting to be on the team but I worked my hardest to get on the team and the work paid off.”
McKenzie Welke, Carson’s twin brother, also admitted that he didn’t expect to make the team.
But while Carson was confident that he’d crack the roster if he played his game, McKenzie said he wasn’t quite sure, but knew that if he worked hard enough anything could happen. “I knew that I had a chance but I also knew that I had to work hard to make it,” said McKenzie, who has 10 goals and eight assists in 28 games this season. “I knew I wasn’t just going to walk on to the team, I knew I had to play hard, but I did and the coaches liked it and I made it (the team).”
DeRoose, like McKenzie Welke, also wasn’t extremely confident that he’d crack the 20-man roster for the Canada Winter Games team heading into the Team Saskatchewan tryout camp. “I came in a little bit iffy, but I played my game and things went well, went my way and it was good,” offered the 6’2”, 165-pound hardnosed forward who has three goals and 10 assists in 28 games for the RawTec Maulers.
However now that they all know that they’re a part of the Saskatchewan provincial team that will compete at the 2015 Canada Winter Games, are they nervous?
The answer: a little bit, but not as much as others because of their familiarity with some of the teammates. “It’s a lot easier going there when you know some of the guys that you’re going with. It’s not as big of a change and it’s easier to become comfortable there,” suggested McKenzie Welke.
DeRoose agreed with McKenzie Welke, saying, “It makes it really easy, knowing I’m going with other Mauler players.
“They’re good guys, great to be around and going there with them just makes it that much better and more comfortable.”
Carson Welke echoed the statements made by his brother McKenzie as well as DeRoose, agreeing that it’ll be easier knowing his fellow Mauler teammates will be making the trip to B.C. with him, but added that it’ll be nice to once again play with centre Logan Foster (Kamsack, SK) and defenceman Jake Kustra (Yorkton, SK), two fellow members of Team Saskatchewan that he, as well as his brother, have grown up playing minor hockey with. “I’ve played pretty much all of my minor hockey here with Kustra and Foster and my brother as well and now these two guys (Sass and DeRoose),” offered Carson Welke, continuing, “It’s a lot of fun and it just makes that experience that much better, going with guys that you’ve grown up with and know well.”
Not only will it make the experience better, it will also give Team Saskatchewan a chemistry advantage over other teams in the tournament, something that might just prove to be huge in this short tournament when it comes to accomplishing Team Saskatchewan’s ultimate goal of winning gold.
