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Bruins prospects crack Team B.C. roster

Luke Harrison is one of two Chilliwack Bruins prospects who’ve been named to the U-16 roster that will represent British Columbia at the 2011 Canada Winter Games.

The games take place Feb. 11-18 in Novia Scotia, and Team B.C. was officially announced on Monday.

Harrison was Chilliwack’s third round pick (51st overall) in last spring’s Western Hockey League bantam draft, and has spent most of this season with the Okanagan Rockets of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League.

A Kelowna native, Harrison played his first two Western Hockey League games two weeks ago, wearing the Chilliwack uniform for games against the Tri-City Americans and Regina Pats. He had no points or penalty minutes.

As a 15-year-old, Harrison is eligible to play five WHL games prior to the end of his MMHL season.

In 16 games with the Rockets this year, the six-foot and 177 pound forward has four goals, seven points and two penalty minutes.

Forward Brennan Clark was drafted in the seventh round of last spring’s bantam draft, and has spent most of this season in the Pursuit of Excellence Program.

Another player with local ties who has cracked the Team B.C. roster is defenceman Shea Theodore, an Aldergrove native who plays for the Chilliwack/Abbotsford based Fraser Valley Bruins.

Players named to the team were evaluated during the first threemonths of the season and selected from a short list of 33 following a provincial camp in July.

“Evaluating and assessing over the past three months was a tasking job and led to some very hard decisions at all positions,” said Team B.C. head coach Russ Weber. “The way the players competed is a compliment to them, and they should be proud, whether selected or not.”

Team B.C.’s quest for gold begins on the first day of the games when they take on Team Quebec. Joining B.C. and Quebec in pool A will be Ontario and Nova Scotia. Team BC will look to improve on their fourth place finish at the 2007 Canada Winter Games.

Team B.C. has scheduled a Christmas camp for Dec. 20-22 at Richmond’s Minoru Centre.

B.C. Hockey’s U-16 Program is designed as an introduction to B.C. Hockey’s High Performance Program, exposing players, coaches and officials to short term competition.

The U-16 Program also acts as a precursor to the U-17 Program, which is used to identify and train players and team personnel for provincial, regional and national teams.

For more information, visit www.bchockey.net.