A few former 100 Mile House Midget Rep hockey players have moved up to Junior B and are making an impact in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL).
One of them is Kevin Raimundo who is a rookie forward with the Princeton Posse, which currently sits first in the Okanagan Division and will likely make the playoffs.
Raimundo, 18, has five goals (two on the power play and one shorthanded), six assists and 16 penalty minutes in 22 games this season.
His coach Dale Hladun says he is impressed with Raimundo’s play and work ethic and adds he is his penalty-kill specialist and one of his hardest working players on the team.
Raimundo was out of the Posse lineup with a mild concussion for two weeks, but is back on the ice and happy to be playing again.
“My billets are great and they spoil me a lot with their great food. The coaching staff is also great for giving me an opportunity to be a member of the Posse.”
Part of a being Posse player, he adds, is getting involved with community, doing things like golfing with the seniors and teaching the young children how to skate.
“In my spare time, I’ve been working at the pellet plant. I recently enrolled myself in fourth class power engineering through correspondence with BCIT.”
Another former local Midget Rep having a good rookie season is 17-year-old D-man Reece Forman.
He is skating with the KIJHL’s Chase Heat, which has a 4-33-1 record and sits last in Doug Birks Division.
Forman has played in 37 games (tied with two of players for most on the squad) this season and has three goals, seven assists and accrued 28 penalty minutes.
He has also been called up for two games with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
Forman gets a regular shift with the Heat, plays in all situations and gets a lot of penalty kill and power play shifts.
While the team record isn’t very good, it is to be expected for an expansion franchise. The Heat recently made some major player moves, which are expected to help the team record, including the addition of 18-year-old Mark Boyce from Canim Lake.
The rookie forward has notched three goals and three assists, while picking up six penalty minutes in 14 games with the Heat.
Boyce just recently signed with Chase Heat. In his first game, he scored a goal, but the team lost 10-5.
He has settled into a billet home, and has his own stall in the dressing room and is officially a team member.
All KIJHL games can be seen pay-per-view on the league website at http://www.kijhl.ca. The cost is $7 per game.