Regina Pat Canadians' forward Liam Pue has his calendar marked for the Circle K tournament because it will be the first one he competes in.
"It's the best U18 competition you can get across the world. It's going to be a pretty sweet tournament. It's going to be competitive, but I'm excited for it," Pue said on the SportsCage.
"It's going to be a cool atmosphere, and I think we've got a pretty good group going to this tournament. We can hopefully do something special with it this year and bring back a trophy."
This year's tournament starts on December 27 and goes through January 1 in Calgary, Alberta. Last year, the Pat Canadians made it to the quarterfinals and were eliminated by the Northern Alberta Extreme 3-2 in overtime.
Before Pue's time with the Pat Canadians, he played for the Langley Hockey Academy U18 team in the Junior Prospect Hockey League as an underager last year. In 29 games, he recorded 30 goals and 20 assists. The Regina Pats selected Pue with the third overall pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft.
Pue splits time with the Pat Canadians and the Regina Pats due to the Western Canadian Development Model. Since Pue is 15-years-old, he is only allowed to play 34 games in the WHL this season.
While with the Pat Canadians, Pue has played 11 games, registering 22 assists and 8 goals. During his time in the WHL with the Pats, Pue has played 16 games, recording three goals and five assists.
"U18 and the WHL are very different, but I think playing at that WHL level, it's faster, guys are bigger, older, stronger, they hit hard, and everyone moves the puck fast," Pue said "I think when you go back down to U18, you bring that level into U18. I don't want to say it makes it easy because you're still playing hockey, but you can definitely notice a change after playing in the WHL and then going back down there."
Beyond the comparison of U18 and the WHL, Pue recently experienced his first United States road trip with the Pats. The trip went from November 19 through 29 as Regina faced six different teams and went 0-6.
"That trip was really big for me, gaining confidence while playing in the WHL, so I think it was really good," Pue explained. "That's a tough division down there in the U.S., they play a hard game of hockey. It was really cool playing against those teams, playing in all those arenas with all the fans there. It was pretty sweet, but I think it was good for me getting closer with the guys, being on a long trip with them."
Apart from Pue’s eagerness about the Circle K tournament, Christmas is coming soon and he already knows what he hopes to get this year.
“I think this year I've asked for AirPod Max headphones, that was a big one for me,” Pue said.
“The other one I don't remember what it's called. It goes around your back and it heats your back and massages it for your game. One of the guys on the Pats had it and it looks pretty sick. I tried it out in one game and it was actually the Portland game where I scored my second goal. I want this thing now and I love it.”
