The annual Salmon Arm Hockey School Pro-Am Scholarship Hockey Game will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 13 at Shaw Centre.
Headlining this year’s game will be the 2013 first-round pick of the Ottawa Senators, Curtis Lazar. Lazar started his minor hockey career in Salmon Arm and moved to Vernon and then on to Okanagan Hockey Academy. Currently, he is a stalwart for the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League. Prior to the Pro Am game, Lazar will be at the Hockey Canada World Junior tryout camp.
Also in the lineup will be the veteran of the Edmonton Oil Kings, Ryan Smyth. Sicamous’ Cody Franson, currently with the Toronto Maple Leafs, is scheduled to play, as is brother Cain Franson of the Vancouver Giants. Also on the roster are: Lucas Nickles of the Tri City Americans; former Salmon Arm SilverBack Shane Hanna, now with the University of Michigan Tech Huskies; Vernon’s Jerrod Smithson from the Edmonton Oilers; Brendan Nash of the Charlotte Checkers AHL – a former SilverBack; and current SilverBacks Bryden Marsh, Blake Box, Adam Clarke, Jeff Kennedy and Alex Jewell.
Other pros and college players will be announced as soon as they are confirmed. The hockey school and Okanagan College will be jointly raffling off a houseboat vacation package.
Proceeds from the event go to the college scholarship fund, as well as the Pro-Am scholarship that is awarded annually to a graduating Grade 12 student.
Game time is 7 p.m., admission is $6 per person and advance tickets are available at Chevy’s Sports at Shaw Centre and Brushstrokes Signs and Awnings.
Contract up
In other hockey news, Cody Franson’s future as a D-man with the Leafs is uncertain.
A restricted free agent, Franson’s contract is up for renewal. He’s rumoured to be asking for about $4 million – a steep increase from the $1.2 million contract he had last season. But with the fellow Leaf Nazeem Kadri’s contract also up for renewal, and the franchise having just secured a one-year deal with D-man Mark Fraser (who was seeking $2 million) and with a spending cap of about $6 million, the Leafs may be looking to trade the 6’5”, 213-lb. Sicamous product.
Franson tallied four goals and 24 assists for 29 points in 45 games last season.
