Selkirk College enhances roster for second half with three big additions

The Selkirk College Saints hockey team prepare to start the second semester of play with three new additions to the line-up that will help make an already strong team even that much more equipped to challenge for a league championship this coming March.

The Selkirk College Saints added a trio of top-notch players over the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League holiday break that will bolster the team’s presence on the ice heading into the second half of the season.

The new additions include goaltender Tallon Kramer, forward Logan Styler and defenceman Cole Arcuri. All three have local roots and a resume of excellence in junior hockey.

"We’re obviously excited to have these three young men join our program,” says Saints coach Brent Heaven. “They are going to make us stronger and the competitiveness within the group is going to increase. We have more depth now, so with the inevitable adversity that you face, we are now better equipped to work through it.”

In his final season in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, Kramer backstopped the Beaver Valley Nitehawks to a tremendous 2016/17 season that saw the Fruitvale-based team capture the league championship and the Cyclone Taylor Cup. Kramer and the Nighthawks lost an overtime heartbreaker to the Wainwright Bisons in last spring’s Keystone Cup that determines Western Canada’s top Junior B team.

Styler grew up in the Prince George area, but in 2013/14 came to play in the KIJHL with the Creston Valley Thunder Cats. He finished his Junior B career with the Castlegar Rebels where he led the league in scoring last season with 26 goals and 54 assists.

Arcuri grew up in Nelson and played on both the Kootenay Ice Midget AAA team and the Nelson Leafs in the KIJHL. The 21-year-old blueliner also counts three seasons of Junior A experience with the Powell River Kings and Merritt Centennials.

“You are always looking to improve your program, not just for this season but into the future,” Heaven says of the three additions. “We want to win a championship and by adding these three players it only increases our chances.”