By Vincent Gillespie
Photos by Dylan Asmundson and Kyle Mulder
Avery Pickering // RINK Hockey Academy 2019 to 2020
Avery Pickering started off her journey with the RINK Hockey Academy Winnipeg in the 2019-20 season as a 13-year-old playing in the CSSHL’s U18 Division where she put up a remarkable 7 goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 22 games as a blueliner before her season got cut short due to the pandemic. In the 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 seasons, Avery Pickering suited up for Barmoral Hall of the JWHL. During the 2022-23 season, Avery Pickering was selected to play on team Canada’s U18 Women’s team where she had 1 assist in 5 games and won the gold medal after demolishing Sweden 10-0 in the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.
In the 2023-24 season, in her first season as the youngest female blueliner in the NCAA as a 17-year-old, Avery Pickering put up 4 goals and 6 assists for 10 points in 33 games for Colgate University. Avery Pickering very quickly earned herself a top 4 defensive role with Colgate University and impressed everyone around the league with how good she was at a very young age. Although she had lots of individual success in her first year as a college hockey player, Avery Pickering also had great team success as Colgate University won the ECAC Championship after defeating Clarkson University with a score of 3-0 to punch their ticket to the NCAA’s Frozen Four.
As a returnee to team Canada’s U18 Women’s team, Avery Pickering was named as an assistant captain where she proudly led her team to her second consecutive medal at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship after defeating Finland in the bronze medal game with a score of 8-1. Avery Pickering still has three more years of college eligibility before she must decide what her very bright future might become, but we are very excited to see what will transpire.
Isaac Poulter // RINK Hockey Academy 2016 to 2018
Isaac Poulter started off his RINK Hockey Academy journey as a recent Swift Current Broncos 112th overall pick, in the 6th round, of the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft in the 2016-17 season where he played for the U18 Prep team as a 15-year-old. After a very successful second season where Isaac Poulter finished with a .938 SV% and a 1.68 GAA with the RHA U18 Prep team, he was determined to make a better impression at the Swift Current Broncos training camp than he did the year prior. Although Isaac Poulter was still 50/50 about picking the WHL route or the College route, he took everything into consideration and in October 2017, he finally decided to sign his WHL Standard Player Agreement with the Broncos. Luckily for Isaac Poulter, he was able to join the Swift Current Broncos on their playoff run where the team won the Ed Chynoweth Cup and solidified their spot at the 2018 Memorial Cup. At the time, the starter and backup goaltenders for the Swift Current Broncos were Stuart Skinner (Edmonton Oilers) and Joel Hofer (St Louis Blues), so it gave him the opportunity to learn from two of the best goalie prospects in the world.
Isaac Poulter joined the Swift Current Broncos during the start of the team’s rebuilding phase in the 2018-19 season, so the team in front of him would be a bit less competitive than the couple years prior. Regardless of who was in front of him, Isaac Poulter was playing his heart out night in and night out. In his first season in the WHL, Isaac Poulter had a .891 SV% and a 4.25 GAA which may not seem great, but when you put it into perspective, his team was last place in the league, and only managed to score 135 goals in 68 games which isn’t ideal when you’re trying to win as much as possible. The following 2019-20 season was a bit of a carbon copy of the season prior, but Isaac Poulter was up to any challenge he could face, except for the pandemic that shut down the league for the remainder of the season. With the uncertainty of the WHL season starting up again, Isaac Poulter played a couple games for the Whitecourt Wolverines in the AJHL and had an incredible .939 SV% and 2.41 GAA.
During the WHL bubble in Regina, the Swift Current Broncos weren’t rebuilt just yet and had a bit of a rocky shortened season. Isaac Poulter dressed in 16 out of a possible 24 games in Regina. With lots of motivation to improve his team’s record, Isaac Poulter had a stellar season and put up an incredible .911 SV% and 3.00 GAA turning the team around and building the foundation for a successful team in the future. The Utica Comets found a diamond in the rough with Isaac Poulter and signed him to a one-year, two-way AHL contract. Isaac Poulter split time between the AHL’s Utica Comets and the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder during the 2022-23 season and had a very successful development year where he put up a .910 SV% and a 2.93 SV% in the ECHL. During the 2023-24 season, Isaac Poulter had a breakout season where he turned his .883 SV% to a .911 SV% in the AHL. On February 15th, 2024, the New Jersey Devils and NHL legend, Martin Brodeur, signed him to a two-year Entry Level Contract.
McKiya Mazur // RINK Hockey Academy 2019 to 2020
McKiya Mazur started off her journey with the RINK Hockey Academy in the 2019-20 season with the U18 Female team where she put up a very impressive 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points in 20 CSSHL games. On December 19th, 2020, it was officially announced that MiKaya Mazur would be taking her talents to St. FX (Francis Xavier) University for the 2020-21 season.
Unfortunately for McKiya Mazur, what was supposed to be her first U Sports season got cancelled due to the pandemic. In the 2021-22 season, MiKiya Mazur made her U Sports debut and managed to put up 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points in 21 games. The following 2022-23 season with St. FX, in her sophomore season McKiya Mazur managed to put up 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points in 16 U Sports games. In the 2023-24 season, McKiya Mazur put up 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points in 28 U Sports games.
Hudson Thornton // RINK Hockey Academy 2017 to 2019
Hudson Thornton started his RINK Hockey Academy journey in the 2017-18 season where he split time between the U15 Prep and the Elite 15s (U16) teams where he was producing at around a point-per-game pace as a defenceman. A great season like that gave the Prince George Cougars confidence in drafting Hudson Thorton in the 2nd round, 33rd overall, in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft. The following 2018-19 season, Hudson Thornton played for the U18 Prep team where he had an absolute breakout season and managed to put up 17 goals and 31 assists for 48 points in 34 games. In September 2019, Hudson Thornton signed his letter of intent with the University of Minnesota-Duluth of the NCHC in the NCAA. During the 2019-20 season, Hudson Thornton decided to play juniors for the Chilliwack Chiefs of the BCHL where he and his team finished second in the Mainland Division before the season got cancelled due to the pandemic.
With the uncertainty of the 2020-21 season starting up again in every junior league in Canada, Hudson Thorton took his talents to the Fargo Force of the USHL where his team had a record of 30-21-3 which was good enough for 3rd in the Western Conference. Midway through his USHL season where it seemed clear as day that Hudson Thornton was going the NCAA-route, he shocked the hockey world by signing his WHL Standard Player Agreement with the Prince George Cougars which made him ineligible to play American College hockey due to the WHL being deemed as a “professional league". Hudson Thornton finished off the year with the Prince George Cougars where he got 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points in 6 games.
In his first full season in the WHL in 2021-22, Hudson Thornton had an absolute offensive breakout season where he put up 14 goals and 31 assists for 45 points in 65 games after being named an assistant captain for the Prince George Cougars. The following couple seasons, Hudson Thornton put up back-to-back 74-point seasons in 68 games. The only difference between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons was the fact that he was named the 29th captain in Prince George Cougars franchise history in the latter season. In 2023-24, Hudson Thornton led his team to the 2024 Western Conference finals for the 4th time in franchise history. On top of team success, Hudson Thornton also had lots of individual success and the league recognized him as a BC Division First Team All-Star, on top of being named the BC Division’s nominee for the Bill Hunter Trophy winner which is awarded to the best defenceman in the Western Hockey League. After a remarkable season with all those accolades, Hudson Thornton had all eyes on tuning pro and that’s when the Hershey Bears of the AHL came in and signed him to a one-year deal for the 2024-25 season.
Dante Giannuzzi // RINK Hockey Academy 2016 to 2019
Dante Giannuzzi started off his journey with the RINK Hockey Academy in the 2016-17 season with the U15 Prep team where he had a .909 SV% and a 2.37 GAA in 16 games played. Dante Giannuzzi impressed the Portland Winterhawks scouts, so they decided to draft him with the 99th overall pick in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft. The following 2017-18 season with the RHA Elite 15’s (U16) team, Dante Giannuzzi managed to put up a .890 SV% and a 3.24 GAA and even earned himself a call-up to the U18 team for a game. In October 2017, Dante Giannuzzi was a key part of Team Manitoba’s WHL Cup run where they managed to get the bronze medal. On November 3rd, 2017, it was announced publicly that Dante Giannuzzi had signed his WHL Standard Player Agreement.
The following 2018-19 season, Dante Giannuzzi came back to the RINK Hockey Academy U18 Prep team where he had a breakout season and put up a .919 SV% and a 2.50 GAA in 4 CSSHL games. That season, Dante Giannuzzi also suited up for 4 games in the WHL with the Portland Winterhawks. For the CSSHL playoffs with for the RHA U18 Prep team, Dante Giannuzzi suited up in 2 games and had an outstanding .961 SV% and a 1.47 GAA. For the 2019-20 season, Dante Giannuzzi played for three different teams; he started his season with the MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues where he had an incredible .915 SV% and 4.02 GAA in 6 games before getting dealt to the Steinbach Pistons. For the Pistons, Dante Giannuzzi had a very impressive .908 SV% and a 2.67 GAA in 10 MJHL games and that’s when the Portland Winterhawks had the confidence in him that he was fully ready for the Western Hockey League. In 9 WHL games, Dante Giannuzzi had an unbelievable first full major junior season and put up a stellar .931 SV% and a 1.68 GAA before the rest of the season got cancelled due to the pandemic.
In the 2020-21 WHL bubble with the Portland Winterhawks, Dante Giannuzzi stole the starting job and had a .904 SV% and a 2.60 GAA in 20 games. For the 2021-22 season, Dante Giannuzzi suited up in 35 games and was a big part of Portland’s playoff run. During the 2022-23 season, Dante Giannuzzi suited up in a career high 41 games where he had a .894 SV% and a 3.37 GAA. After his season with the Portland Winterhawks, on April 27th, 2023, it was announced that Dante Giannuzzi signed an Amateur Tryout with his hometown Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Ahead of the 2023-24 season, Dante Giannuzzi signed with the Utah Grizzlies where he played 31 games and had a .891 SV% and a 3.63 GAA and even earned himself a call up to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles where he suited up in a game.