Brandon brings back good memories for Kolesar

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This article was published 14/05/2016 (3677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KENT, Wash. — Keegan Kolesar wasn’t exactly a stranger to Brandon when the Seattle Thunderbirds trekked east to begin the Western Hockey League final.

Kolesar was born in Brandon in 1997 and spent a few years in the city before moving to Winnipeg. He still has a lot of family in Brandon.

“It’s always nice coming back when I can,” Kolesar said. “I spend a lot of time here in the summer. I have all of my aunties, my uncles, my grandpas, my cousins (in Brandon). Whenever I get the chance to come back here in the summer I enjoy it a lot.”

In fact his earliest hockey memories come from playing outside in Brandon. It was his cousins who introduced the power forward to the game and his earliest memories of playing hockey are on outdoor ice in the city.

“They were the ones that really got me to enjoy hockey and love it,” he said. “They were the first ones to take me out on the ice.”

It was apparently a good idea.

After playing with the Winnipeg Bantam AAA Hawks in 2011-12, Kolesar was taken in the first round of the WHL draft in the spring of 2012.

He joined the Thunderbirds for the 2013-14 season as a 16-year-old, something he admits wasn’t easy. But he lived with Ethan Bear, an Edmonton Oilers prospect from Ochapowace, Sask., a First Nation community located just north of the Trans-Canada Highway near Whitewood.

“It was definitely different at first,” Kolesar admitted. “Being all the way on the West Coast and not having any family close to there, it was hard at first just being 16. But my roommate and me kept company all the time.

“We both knew that it was going to be hard for us being so far from home but we made it easy for each other.”

Kolesar had a massive cheering section for the Brandon games — more than 100 tickets were purchased for Game 1 — a number boosted by Bear’s family and friends, dozens of whom made the 198-km trip to the Keystone Centre.

Bear said it’s nice to have some friendly fans on the road, something that didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates.

“I think they must have enjoyed it,” Bear said. “For a team it’s really nice that it’s not just Brandon fans out there, but we get some cheering as well, which is good to hear in an away rink, especially in big games like this.”

After posting eight points in his first season and 38 in his second, Kolesar enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2015-16, scoring 30 goals and adding 31 assists in 64 games. He finished with five points in the final.

“I just think playing more and having that experience and gaining confidence,” he said. “We were able to do things from the beginning of the year that I wasn’t able to the years before that. To gain that confidence and be able to trust my instincts and skills and then playing with guys like Matt Barzal and Ryan Gropp and Scott Eansor. They’re very good players and when you play with great players it kind of makes it even easier.”

His second season didn’t go unnoticed by National Hockey League scouts. The six-foot-one, 220-pound forward was actually in Brandon when he was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the third round, 69th overall, in the 2015 NHL draft.

“My brother had a baseball tournament and they always have it here,” Kolesar said. “I remember playing in the same one back when I was his age. I had all of my family here together at my grandpa’s house and we were following it. Luckily enough I was picked.”

Kolesar remembers having trouble hearing the news because his family was so excited when they heard his name called.

“It was very emotional and very exciting for me and my family,” he said.

He got to know former Brandon Wheat King forward Matt Calvert, who now plays with the Blue Jackets, a bit when he was at camp.

Kolesar said his game is simple.

“I think I forecheck very well,” Kolesar said. “If the defenceman doesn’t want to go back to the puck and they allow me to get it or if they go for it I’m just going to push them through the boards. I have a good shot and I like to shoot a lot. Whenever I get a chance from the slot or on the outside I’m just going to rip it on net. I’m very detailed in my game, just playing a simple way.”

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