Tyson Newell, a Grade 8 student at St. John School, will perform the ceremonial face-off at the opening ceremonies (7:15 p.m. Thursday). He is the captain of his Kinsmen Hockey League team and has benefitted from Telus Cup West already. All KHL players received new helmets this year as a legacy donation of $10,000 from the host committee via tournament ticket sales and sponsorships.

In addition to Tyson’s participation, minor hockey players from SMHA zones will line up with the teams throughout the tournament. Here’s the list of participants:

THURSDAY, MARCH 31
Game 1: 4 p.m.
Saskatchewan vs. Manitoba
Aces zone – Will Thomas and Alexander Thomas

Game 2: 7:30 p.m.
Saskatoon Contacts vs. Northwestern Ontario
Wild Zone – Madyson Brown and Hannah Harmon

FRIDAY, APRIL 1
Game 3: 4 p.m.
Northwestern Ontario vs. Manitoba
Renegades zone – Joshua Cameron and Rory Logan

Game 4: 7:30 p.m.
Saskatchewan vs. Saskatoon Contacts
Redwings zone – Drew Walters and Logan Babey

SATURDAY, APRIL 2
Game 5: noon
Northwestern Ontario vs. Saskatchewan
Bobcats zone – Easton Brown and Noah Mitchell

Game 6: 3:30 p.m.
Saskatoon Contacts vs. Manitoba
Flyers zone – Teegan Horbach and Jack Holzman

SUNDAY, APRIL 3
Game 7: 2 p.m.
Championship Final
Comets zone – Sage Babey and Gabrielle Zaleschuk

** All games at Rod Hamm Memorial Arena, 1347 Fletcher Road

PHOTO: Members of the Saskatoon Contacts paid tribute to their Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association zones at the end of the regular season by wearing their zone jerseys in warm-up. (TERRY ALLINGTON PHOTO)

SASKATOON – The host organizing committee for the upcoming Telus Cup West Regional tournament is proud to make a legacy donation today to the Kinsmen Hockey League.

Recognizing the need for helmets in the 16-team league, the organizing committee is using a portion of tournament revenue to purchase and donate 240 helmets to the hockey league for core community elementary students.

“This donation is absolutely huge for our league,” said KHL president Bob Fawcett. “Helmets are the most important piece of equipment and to be able to outfit these kids with new, proper fitting helmets means so much for the safety of our league.”

The 16 players from the St. John School team in the Kinsmen Hockey League received their new helmets today – and enjoyed the rare opportunity to practise with players from the Saskatoon Contacts, the host team for the Telus Cup West Regional.

The organizing committee thanks Bauer and Al Anderson’s Source for Sports for helping with the purchase and delivery of the helmets.

The Telus Cup West Regional starts March 31. Tournament passes and more information at www.teluscupwest.ca.