Smyl is Alberta bound
“It’s a pleasure just to be Alberta bound … I long to see my next of kin … Alberta bound … it’s good to be Alberta bound …” — from the song Alberta Bound by legendary Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot.
High performance forward Cooper Smyl is moving on from the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League to the Whitecourt Wolverines of the Alberta Jr. Hockey League, Hockey News North has confirmed.
A 6-foot-2, 175 pound skater with a 2002 birth date, Smyl was an impact player for the Thunderbirds during the abbreviated 2020-2021 NOJHL season.
Not only did Smyl lead the Thunderbirds in scoring with 17 goals, seven assists, 24 points in 19 games, those totals were second best in the entire NOJHL.
As a rookie during the previous, 2019-2020 campaign, Smyl totaled 16 goals, 15 assists, 31 points in 49 games for the Thunderbirds.
In heading to Alberta and, specifically, the town of Whitecourt and its 10,000 or so residents, Smyl figures to feel right at home from a family standpoint.
Cooper’s dad, Sault Ste. Marie businessman Darren Smyl, is originally from the Whitecourt area, which is about two hours north west of Edmonton. And Darren still has immediate family members who live in and around Whitecourt.
