Tkatch and Fontaine More Than Just Teammates
The big news of the day at the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft for the Prince George Cougars on April 29 was the selection of Alex Forsberg first overall. Not only was he the first player picked in the 21st annual WHL Bantam Draft, but he and older brother Jesse, who spent his first season on defence for the Cougars in 2009-10, became the first brothers to both be selected by the same team in the first round of the WHL Bantam Draft. But that wasn’t the only family connection on draft day for the Cougars. With their second pick, the Cougars picked up skilled forward Jordan Tkatch of Prud’Homme, Saskatchewan and in the third round with their fourth selection, the Cougars took another skilled forward in Jarrett Fontaine of Humboldt, Saskatchewan. Tkatch and Fontaine played together with the Humboldt Bantam Broncos in the Centre 4 Bantam League in Saskatchewan. But not only that, the talented Broncos are cousins, with Tkatch’s mom, Rita, a sister to Fontaine’s dad, Robert. Needless to say, for a pair of cousins who have worn the same uniform for most of their hockey lives, both becoming Cougars property was quite the accomplishment.
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r“It was a dream come true,” said Tkatch, a 5’10”, 170 centre who the Cougars chose in the second round, 31st overall. “We didn’t really think that was going to happen. Especially next year when we will be playing on different teams in Midget AAA, we can come back together in junior.”
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r“I was watching it and had seen that my cousin had gone to the Cougars and the night before (Cougars Assistant GM and Director of Player Personnel) Wade Klippenstein called me and said that if I was still around by the 52nd pick, they would take me,” said Fontaine, a 5’5”, 140 pound centre who went to the Cougars with that 52nd pick in the third round. “So I was just hoping no one else would take me. I was in computer class watching it and I went to go print something off and one of my friends told me Tri-City had taken me, so I was kind of mad. But then I found out I was picked by the Cougars and it worked out in the end.”
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rThe pair combined for 118 goals and 202 points during the 2009-10 season, with Tkatch collecting 57 goals and 100 points and Fontaine pumping 61 pucks behind Bantam goalies, while adding 41 assists. A common misconception among people is thinking that Tkatch and Fontaine played on the same line together, when in fact they were subbing off each other playing centre. The only time they were on the ice at the same time was during Broncos power plays.
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rAnother connection involving Tkatch and Fontaine is with Forsberg, the Cougars first pick in the draft. The top three forwards the Cougars selected in the 2010 Bantam Draft played together on a line in summer hockey for the Saskatchewan Stars, an all-star team that took part in various summer tournaments last year. It could be a trio that some day could come together in a Cougars uniform.
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r“It was a pretty good line,” added Tkatch. “We were pretty deadly at times. Both Alex and Jarrett are skilled players and we put up pretty good offence.”
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“It was good, we had good chemistry,” commented Fontaine about playing with Tkatch and Forsberg. “We put up a lot of goals and there were lots of teams that put set lines just to cover our line. It was pretty exciting.”
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rThe cousins will likely have to go head-to-head before they play in Prince George full time. Tkatch plans to play for the Prince Albert Mintos of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League next season, while Fontaine suits up for the rival Tisdale Trojans.
