Three Airdrie hockey players will be lacing their skates for Team Alberta at the 2023 Canada Winter Games in February.
Airdrie CFR Chemicals Bisons defenseman Wyatt Pisarczyk will be representing Airdrie on Alberta's U16 boys' team, while goaltender Farah Walker and forward Emilia McDermid will be playing for Alberta's U18 girls' team.
Pisarczyk, a 15-year-old blue-liner who was selected by the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL draft last spring, said it will be an honour to don the Alberta jersey at the multi-sport games, which kick off on Prince Edward Island and run from Feb. 18 to March 5, 2023. The two-week, quadrennial event will see thousands of Canada's top U20 athletes across a variety of sports converge on the small Maritime island.
“I can’t wait. Obviously, it’s like a mini-Olympics and I’ve always wanted to compete at something like that,” said Pisarczyk.
While he is currently out with a head injury – he had to have surgery recently to cure a brain bleed – Pisarczyk said he is hoping to be back on the ice by mid-January, giving him plenty of time to prepare for the Canada Winter Games.
The selection process for Team Alberta was intense, according to Pisarczyk. The process began with participation at the Alberta Cup last spring, which was followed by additional on-ice sessions to whittle the prospective roster down to 80. From there, a shortlist of 30 to 40 players was put together, and those prospects were scouted until December while playing for their respective club or school teams.
“I’ve played against all the guys on the team, and with a couple of them,” said Pisarczyk, who was the captain of last year's successful Airdrie Xtreme U15 AAA team.
“We have a great group of guys and it should be fun. I think we might be able to come home with the big win.”
The last Canada Winter Games were held in 2019 in Red Deer. Team Alberta fared well in the U16 boys' hockey tournament, finishing third after trouncing Saskatchewan in the bronze medal game, 12-0.
Though Alberta, B.C., Ontario, and Quebec tend to be the top teams at national tournaments like this, Pisarczyk was quick to point out the other provinces produce talented players as well, which will make for an intriguing tournament.
“Every province is really good,” he said. “There are definitely a couple of players you hear about. Gavin McKenna was the [WHL draft's' first overall pick, and he’s out of Whitehorse. There’s always a couple of great guys from every province.”
Neighbours join forces
In an intriguing twist of fate, Airdrie's two players on Team Alberta's U18 girls' team for the upcoming Canada Winter Games grew up just a few houses apart.
Long-time neighbours Farah Walker and Emilia McDermid are Airdrie's two representatives on the team. According to Walker, who is a goaltender, she's played with all three the McDermid sisters throughout her hockey career.
“[McDermid] is actually one of my next-door neighbours and I’ve known her throughout the years,” said Walker, who played for Canada's U18 women's hockey team earlier this year. “We’re the only two Airdrie girls who were even invited to the camp, and we both made the team, which is awesome – especially for her, because she’s an ’07 [born player], so it’s considered her under-age year. But she’s really good.
“For the last 10 years, we’ve been three doors down from each other, so we were always down at the pond together. I played hockey with both of her older siblings and grown up with them over the years.”
McDermid currently plays for the RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna, B.C., where she's registered 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 17 games this season.
Walker also no longer calls Airdrie home full-time, as she's a student-athlete at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton B.C. Before moving to the B.C. private sports school, she attended the Edge School for Athletes in Springbank.
The Grade 12 goaltender said the opportunity to play at the Canada Winter Games is an exciting prospect, as she knows members of the Alberta team who competed at the 2019 Games.
“I’m super pumped. It’s obviously a big privilege and an honour that I was chosen,” Walker said. “As an event that’s only held every four years, it’s a lot of pressure being named to one of those teams, but I’m honestly excited about the group we have and think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
After the Games, Walker said her longer-term future will include a move east next fall to play for the Colgate University Raiders, an NCAA Division 1 team based out of Hamilton, N.Y. According to Walker, Colgate boasts one of the top university women's hockey teams in the United States at the moment.
“They’re a top-10 team in Div. 1, and have had a really good season,” she noted. “They’ve been competing in the top-three or around there, so they’re doing really well.”
Other local representatives on Alberta's U18 girls' hockey team include Makayla Watson from Rocky View County and Raedyn Spademan from Cochrane.
“I think we have a strong group and definitely our team atmosphere is really good,” Walker said.
Walker is also heading to Sweden in early January, having recently learned she's been named to Canada's U18 women's team for the upcoming 2023 U18 women's hockey world championships. Canada is the defending champion for the tournament, which runs Jan. 8 to 15 in Ostersund, Sweden and features eight countries.
