Boychuk looks back on U17 camp, and ahead to training camp in Prince Albert
Riley Boychuk was the recipient of the CSSHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player award in 2023-24. In a season with NAX that saw him finish first in team scoring and third in league scoring with 62 points in 27 games, while only logging…checks notes… zero penalty minutes, it was almost a no brainer. The Raiders second overall pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft exhibited the perfect blend of sportsmanship, while displaying a high standard of play.
Once his season ended, it was time to start prepping for the 2024-25 campaign, where he has a shot at cracking the Raiders roster as a 16 year old. The offseason got even better when he received an invite to attend Hockey Canada’s U17 development camp in Oakville, Ontario.
“It was an unreal experience, and I got to meet so many good guys, and I had great teammates and coaches around me,” Boychuk said about the camp. “It was pretty special to get to meet all the Ontario guys and the Quebec guys. Those are some relationships that will last for a long time. We were very busy from the start. We practiced for the first few days and finished up with some games. It went by fast, but it was a really cool experience for everyone there and I had a great time.”
Boychuk didn’t go alone to that camp, either. Along with the other 79 top players from across the country, one of those players he got to go to camp with was Daxon Rudolph, taken a pick before him at first overall in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft. Not only that, seventh overall pick and fellow Raider prospect Ty Meunier also joined them.
“It was awesome to share that with them,” Boychuk said. “We’ve gotten really close throughout the year. I was on the same time with Dax so we got really close, and I would always talk to Ty throughout the year. We stayed in the same hotel (at camp), we ate together and we did a lot of stuff together. Just to share that with them and create a memory was very cool for sure.”
Reflecting on his season with NAX, it was an incredible run they went on. Three players from the team finished top ten in league scoring, with Boychuk and Rudolph both on that list (Jordan Duguay, Portland Winterhawks prospect the third player). Boychuk described the kind of team they had, and felt fortunate to have players like that around him.
“It was a really cool season for us. We had a really good team and I was lucky enough to have amazing players and teammates around me which helped a lot. We finished first in the league and came close in the final, but we ended up losing in overtime which sucked for us. But it was a great year, great teammates and coaches. To share that year with those guys was special for all of us.”
Now looking ahead to his second training camp with the Raiders, Boychuk is hoping to take everything he learned from the U17 camp, and his season with NAX onto the ice in Prince Albert. He says it was valuable to be able to learn from the other top players his age, and be able to bring that experience back home.
“Throughout the season and the Hockey Canada camp in Oakville, you take away a lot from the different players that you talk to throughout the year. To have different coaches giving you things to work on and different pointers, that’s probably the biggest thing that I’ll take away. Just seeing all the other top players and seeing what they do and what I can do, I’m trying to take away as much as I can and bring as much of it as I can into training camp in Prince Albert. I want to take away all the knowledge I have from the past season and with Hockey Canada, where I’m playing with those top 80 players in the country, which will help a lot.”
As far as the rest of his summer goes, most of it will be spent on the ice, training for the season ahead.
“The summer has gone by fast, I haven’t been able to travel much. Oakville was a very cool place for me to be though. I get to train with Aiden Oiring a lot and Benett Kelly, but I’ll just be training for the rest of summer and getting ready to come into training camp.”
