Alberni Valley Bulldogs Evan Tironese and Bo Pellah are playing hockey on the national scene this week, during the World Jr. A Hockey Challenge in Yarmouth, NS.
It’s a far cry from the B.C. Hockey League, where both are top players for the Bulldogs, currently sitting fourth in the BCHL’s Island Division.
Tironese, 17, a forward, was selected to play on Canada West in the Jr. A challenge. Pellah, a blueliner, will play in the 2012 CJHL Prospect Games on Nov. 10–11 in Digby and Yarmouth.
Tironese cracked the Bulldogs’ lineup last year at 16 years old, and his game has steadily improved this season, head coach Kevin Willison said.
Pellah only joined the team last week in a three-player deal that saw Turner Popoff and Evan Anderson traded to the Langley Rivermen in exchange for Pellah.
Willison says both are “two young, talented kids that are getting a great opportunity to further their hockey careers. They certainly have worked hard over the years and now they’re getting their reward for it.”
Both players were scouted when they were 16; Tironese is leading team scoring, and Pellah is one of the top six BCHL players on the Central Scouting draft roster.
“For us to have them both on our team, we’re thrilled,” Willison said. “They’re a big part of our future.”
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