Prince George, BC – The Prince George Cougars are proud to announce the signing of three prospects to standard Western Hockey League education contracts; 16-year old goalies Tyler Santos and Devon Fordyce and 15-year old defenceman Joseph Carvalho.

Santos, a product of Sherwood Park, AB, was acquired by the Cougars on January 10, 2010, as part of a trade deadline deal with the Saskatoon Blades for forward Marek Viedensky.  Santos was selected in the 10^th round of the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft by the Blades.  The 5’10”, 178 pound Santos is expected to play this weekend for the Cougars in a pre-season contest against the Edmonton Oil Kings at CN Centre, before being re-assigned to Alberta Major Midget hockey.

Fordyce was a sixth round pick of the Cougars in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft.  The 6’1”, 190 pound native of Cochrane, Alberta played this past weekend for the Cougars in an exhibition game against the Swift Current Broncos, stopping 30 of 33 shots faced in regulation and overtime, along with one of three shoot-out attempts.

Fordyce and Santos have both been named to Hockey Alberta’s Top 31 short listed players to represent Team Pacific at the 2011 World Under-17 Challenge December 29 – January 4, 2011, in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Carvalho is a fourth round pick of the Cougars in 2010 WHL Bantam Draft.  The 5’7”, 165 pound product of Burnaby, BC, scored 14 goals and added 57 assists for 71 points in 66 games for the Burnaby Winter Club Bantam Bruins in 2009-10.  Carvalho is expected to play this 2010-11 season for the Vancouver North West Giants of the BC Major Midget Hockey League.

“As we continue to build for the future, it’s great to have these three young men signed,” said Cougars Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel Wade Klippenstein.  “Tyler, Devon and Joseph are a big part of building a championship in Prince George and we’re fortunate they’ve decided to be a part of the Cougars future.”