Six Yukoners have been named to the U16 BC Cup hockey tournament as part of the program leading up to the 2019 Canada Winter Games roster.

All inaugural Rivermen players, the six skaters took part in a three-day regional camp in Prince George and were announced to the Cup rosters last week.

The BC Cup will consist of eight teams that will participate in a jamboree style tournament and each team consisting of players from the different zones across BC Hockey.

The tournament is set to take place April 19-22 in Salmon Arm. All six Rivermen players landed on different teams for the event.

Defenceman Owen Palfreyman, who moved up to the Yukon from B.C. to play for the Rivermen at the start of the season, will play on BC Black.

Forward Ashton Underhill will play for BC Green, Rivermen goalie Dawson Smith for BC Grey, forward Cole Cowan is on BC Orange, forward Joey Schultz on BC Teal and forward Landon Marsh will represent BC Yellow.

Before the tournament games take place, each athlete will participate in both on and off-ice combine testing as part of the evaluation.

They will then play a three-game round robin with the top two teams in each pool qualifying for the final.

The BC Cup is part of the BC Hockey program of excellence and based on performances at the tournament, players will be selected for the summer provincial camp July 29-August 3 in Shawnigan Lake.

The next step in the process is the Christmas Camp December 21-24 as the final stage of the Team BC selection process for the Canada Winter Games.

Following the final camp, the BC team competing at the Games in Red Deer will be announced.

Following a successful inaugural campaign, the BC Hockey regional zone program is continuing to expand – and will look to include another team in the Yukon.

Hockey Yukon, BC Hockey and the Rivermen will be hosting a spring identification camp May 11-13 at the Canada Games Centre for a new AAA minor midget team as well as a Bantam Tier 1 team – the same division the Rivermen played in this year.

The camp is not only open to Yukoners but also players from the Northwest Territories, Alaska and Northern B.C.

The bantam squad is for skaters born in 2004 or later with the minor midget team looking for players born in 2003.

The addition of the second team will make for two Yukon Rivermen squads playing in the BC Hockey zone program next season.