By Kim J. Harmon

NEW YORK CITY, New York – Guy LaFleur, Marcel Dionne, Gilbert Perrault, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros and, now, Josh Freitas.

Some of the greatest players in National Hockey League history have participated in the annual Quebec Pee Wee Invitational Hockey Tournament (the oldest, most famous minor hockey tournament in the world which is now in its 47th year) and Josh Freitas, 12, of Newtown will get that same opportunity in February at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec, Canada.

Josh, a seventh grader at Newtown Middle School, is skating with the New York Rangers Pee Wee Hockey Club (known informally as the Junior Rangers), which is coached by Doug Messier and his son, Mark Messier, the former captain who guided the Rangers to a Stanley Cup championship in 1994. Adam Graves, another hero of that ’94 Cup championship, is an assistant coach.

“This is really cool,” said Josh, who started playing in-house hockey with the Junior Colonials about four years ago and grew up as a Colorado Avalanche fan because of goaltender Patrick Roy. “Messier is one of the greatest players ever.”

Dozens of players from the tri-state area went to an open tryout earlier this year and the top 16 were picked for the club. Josh, who plays for the Westchester Express out of Brewster, tried out last year for the Pee Wee Rangers, but didn’t make the cut.

This year, he is a first-line forward.

According to Rangers Pee Wee Hockey, “players are selected based upon their skill as a hockey player, their dedication to the sport, as well as their exemplary off-ice conduct. The objective of the team is to provide such deserving players with an opportunity to play with and against other equally talented players and to experience the culture and competition that makes the Quebec Tournament the ‘Olympics’ of Pee Wee hockey.”

The Junior Rangers had a tune-up game earlier this month against the Junior Islanders at Madison Square Garden on December 3, prior to the big club’s 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals. During intermission between the second and third periods, Josh and the rest of the Junior Rangers were introduced to the crowd and had a chance to take pictures with the coaches.

Next week – December 26 through December 30 – the Junior Rangers will be at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada for the 32-team Bell Challenge Cup (the Freitas’ will leave for the tournament on Christmas day). During the round robin preliminaries (there are eight divisions, four teams each), the Junior Rangers will battle the Cleveland Barons, the Toronto Marlboros and the Brampton Battalion in the Jason Allison Division.

Other divisions will feature teams from Pittsburgh (the Hornets), Chicago (the Chill), North Jersey (the Avalanche), Toronto (the Red Wings), Philadelphia (the Flyers), Long Island (the Royals), Rochester (the Americans) and Illinois.

The consolation round, quarterfinals, semi-finals and Gold Medal game will follow on Thursday and Friday, December 29 and 30.

Like the Quebec tournament, the Bell Challenge Cup boasts a number of top alumni – like Lindros, Graves, Ron Tugnutt, Brendan Shanahan and Bryan Berard.

Now, the Quebec tournament – held during the Winter Carnival – will run from February 9 through February 16 and garner quite a bit of local television exposure. It will also attract about 200,000 fans. The Junior Rangers will compete in the highest division against other Pee Wee clubs representing NHL franchises such as the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Islanders as well as some of the best Canadian, Czechoslovakian and Russian teams.

“I know it’s going to be some really good competition,” said Josh, “because these teams are like All Star teams.”

During the 11-day stay in Quebec, the players will live with French-Canadian families and get a first-hand experience with local culture.