CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos men's hockey team made its first major addition of the offseason on Thursday as head coach Mark Howell announced the signing of forward Hayden Pakkala of the Seattle Thunderbirds for the 2025-26 season.

A native of nearby Okotoks, Alta., Pakkala joins the Dinos after four seasons in the Western Hockey League (WHL). He has spent time this season with both the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Seattle, tallying a combined 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points in 55 games

"We are excited to add Hayden to our team for next season," Howell said. "He is a good skater who will bring size to our line up. We will be able to utilize him throughout our line up."

Originally drafted by the Kootenay Ice in the seventh round of the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, Pakkala split his four years in the league between the Prince Albert Raiders, Lethbridge and Seattle. The 6-foot-1 lefthanded centre has racked up a total of 43 goals and 53 assists for 96 points in 251 games played. He added another two goals and an assist across nine post-season games – most recently reaching the WHL Playoffs in 2024 with Lethbridge.

The WHL and Canada West universities have a long partnership, with the WHL awarding a player a one-year post-secondary scholarship for each season played in the WHL. That scholarship includes tuition, compulsory fees and required textbooks. Numerous WHL Scholarship recipients each year are also awarded additional financial assistance from their university to receive Western Canada's Premier Hockey Scholarship.

Since 1993, the WHL has awarded nearly 8,000 scholarships to graduate players. The WHL is the leading supplier of hockey scholarships in Western Canada and offers one of the most comprehensive scholarships in North America.

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