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Image: Team Alberta Goaltender Ryley Budd stands with his Heroes Hockey cheque.

Everyone needs a Budd

Ryley Budd was selected as Hockey Alberta’s 2023 Player of the Year presented by ATB.

During the 2022-23 season, the 15 year old from Calgary struck a deal with EnerCorp. For every save he made through the regular season, $1 would be donated to charity and an extra $10 for every shutout.

After posting 686 saves and two shutouts for the Calgary Northstars, Budd raised $700 for HEROS Hockey. The funds were used to send a young HEROS’ goalie to Ontario for his first tournament.

When EnerCorp learned more about HEROS Hockey and what the donation was being used for, they increased the donation to $5,000. This contributed to sending the whole team to the tournament.

As Budd looks to the next season, he hopes to continue the initiative to help get more kids on the ice through HEROS Hockey.

HEROS Hockey provides free hockey programming for at-risk children and youth. The organization uses the game to teach life-skills that individuals can use beyond the rink. The Hockey Alberta Foundation is a proud supporter of HEROS Hockey.

Team Alberta

Image: Team Alberta U18 Fall Camp Selections

Hockey Alberta Invites 28 Athletes to Team Alberta Under-18 Female Fall Camp

RED DEER – Twenty-eight athletes have been selected to attend the Team Alberta Female Fall Camp.

Three goaltenders, nine defence and 16 forwards are contending for a roster position on Team Alberta Under-18 Female.

Team Alberta Under-18 Female Fall Camp Invites >

“Our staff is confident in these 28 players that we have selected for the next step in our process as they have demonstrated the ability to consistently execute our style of play, concepts and habits,” said Chris Leeming, Head Coach of Team Alberta Under-18 Female. “Because of this, we are excited to continue working with this group, with the expectation that they will present us with some difficult decisions moving forward.”

Athletes will be evaluated at the Fall Camp, September 22-24, in Edmonton, where they will participate in on and off-ice sessions and face-off against three women’s teams of the USports hockey league. Following the camp, athletes will continue to be evaluated with their club teams.

Team Alberta Under-18 Female, fueled by Gatorade, is scheduled to compete at the National Women’s Under-18 Championship, November 5-11 in Dawson Creek, B.C.

Hockey Alberta Foundation

Image: Kids from Variety the Children’s Charity

Volt Hockey: the Game Everyone can Play

Variety – the Children’s Charity of Alberta is giving everyone an opportunity to play the game we love, through Volt Hockey.

An adaptation of the game of hockey, Volt Hockey is played three versus three, on a court in specially designed power chairs that are battery operated and controlled with a joystick. The modified version of the game allows for participants with limited upper mobility, to play hockey.

“To play Volt Hockey you only need to have some hand function to operate the chairs, just like a typical power chair,” said Jacey Gamroth, Volt Hockey Program Coordinator. “It’s great for individuals with CP, muscular dystrophy, or higher spinal cord injuries.”

Operating in Calgary, Edmonton and Fort McMurray, each community has nine power chairs, allowing for over 100 individuals of all ages, across the province, to try Volt Hockey throughout the last year.

“Volt Hockey is very inclusive as it puts everyone on an even playing field. Even someone who’s not living with a disability and is an able-bodied person can come out to play,” said Gamroth.

There are three seasons that run throughout the year, September-December, January-April and May-June. During the summer months, Variety – the Children’s Charity of Alberta holds “Try-it” days and camps for participants.

For the second year in a row, Variety - the Children’s Charity of Alberta is taking a team to the World Cup in Sweden. In 2022, Alberta and Ontario represented Canada at the first ever Volt Hockey World Cup in Sweden. The 2023 tournament takes place September 15-17 in Gävle, Sweden.

To outfit one team with equipment, it costs about $70,000, so Variety – the Children’s Charity of Alberta relies on grants like the Hockey Alberta Foundation’s Every Kid Every Community Grant to support the program.

“Grants like Every Kid Every Community support us in making this program accessible to more kids,” said Gamroth. “Volt hockey is a very expensive sport to run and without grants like Every Kid Every Community, we wouldn’t be able to supply the equipment or run the Volt hockey program at all.”

To learn more about Volt Hockey, how to get involved and how to support the program, visit varietyalberta.ca/volt or contact [email protected].


The Hockey Alberta Foundation is proud to support organizations like Variety – the Children’s Charity of Alberta and Volt Hockey through the Every Kid Every Community program to help youth across the province experience hockey. For more information on the Hockey Alberta Foundation or to donate, please click here.

Team Alberta

Image: Team Alberta named it’s shortlist for the 2023 U16 Male team.

Thirty-Two Athletes named to Team Alberta Under-16 Male Shortlist

RED DEER – Hockey Alberta is one step closer to naming the Under-16 Male team that will represent the province at the WHL Cup in October.

There are 32 athletes in contention to compete at the tournament. The shortlist includes four goaltenders, 10 defence and 18 forwards.

Team Alberta Under-16 Male Shortlist Roster >

Athletes were selected to the shortlist based on their overall play throughout the Team Alberta scouting process, past Team Alberta programs, and at the Under-16 Summer Camp in Red Deer, July 3-9. Eighty players were invited to Red Deer and worked through high intensity on-ice sessions, as well as off-ice training and classroom sessions.


“Alberta has a lot of talented players in this age group, we saw it at the Alberta Cup and we saw it at summer camp,” said James Poole, Head Coach of Team Alberta Under-16 Male. “We’re constructing a team that can compete at an elite level in short-term competition, the decisions don’t get easier and now it’s up to these 32 players to show us why they belong in the jersey.”


Team Alberta, fueled by Gatorade, is slated to compete at the WHL Cup, October 17-22 in Red Deer, against Team B.C., Team Saskatchewan and Team Manitoba.