Russell's Ryder Thompson had the opportunity last week that not many young hockey players in the province get. The Russell native played for Team Manitoba at the WHL Cup in Calgary. 

The tournament welcomed most of the best young players from across Western Canada. With hundreds of scouts in attendance, it gives each player tremendous exposure throughout the week-long event.

"It was truly an honour to represent my province, it was an amazing opportunity," said Thompson. "I tried to do whatever I could to help my team. We came together really quickly and that helped for sure. It was an amazing experience."

In the end, Ryder and the club ended up getting a silver medal. They lost to Saskatchewan in the final, 4-2.

"We had a bit of a slow start, but we started peaking at the right time," said Thompson. "It was a pretty good game against Saskatchewan. I was really proud of our team and I thought we did really good."

Ryder is now back with his club team. He's playing for the Rink Hockey Academy Nationals Elite 15's this season. After playing with Team Manitoba, Ryder is hoping to use that experience moving forward to help him have continued success.

"Yeah, I definitely think that's going to push me to become a better player and person off the ice," said Thompson. "I hope to bring some of the things I learned from playing with that team back to Rink."

Ryder is also on top of the leadership group. He's been named the team's captain for the season. He was also in the leadership group with Team Manitoba where he was an assistant captain.

"It was an honour being picked as an assistant captain with the team and just being picked for the team in general, I was proud," said Thompson. "It's a great feeling being the captain for Rink as well, it means a lot to me. I'm just trying to be the best captain I can be."

The team is 3-1-1 to start their season. They are near the bottom of the standings, but that's only because they haven't played much. Every other team in the division has played at least eight games. Pursuit has even played 14 while Burnaby who leads the league with a 8-1-1 record has played 10 games. Ryder has one assist so far. 

Ryder and the team will play 10 games next month.

"We've been having great practices and great games," he concluded. "It's going to be a great year, I'm loving it here."

Earlier this year, Ryder also signed his first Standard Player Contract with the WHL's Portland Winterhawks.