Greig thrilled to be named captain

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This article was published 07/10/2021 (1703 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ridly Greig arrived at the Keystone Centre for the first time in 2017 as a painfully shy 15-year-old considered a can’t-miss prospect for the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Four years later, the Lethbridge product is a first-round National Hockey League pick and the vocal leader of the Wheat Kings, who named him captain on Thursday.

In other words, a lot has changed for the fourth-year forward.

“When I first came to Brandon, I was pretty quiet and just tried to learn from the older guys that we had,” Greig said. “Now I’m kind of a more vocal guy in the room and try to get some more energy out of some people at times. I kind of adopted that role.”

The rest of the leadership group will be named later, no doubt because the deadline for Western Hockey League teams to pare down to three overagers is next Thursday.

Greig has had an interesting group of captains to learn from during his WHL career. Stelio Mattheos was a high-scoring star centre, Connor Gutenberg was a heart-and-soul overage forward and Braden Schneider was an uber-talented defenceman.

“They were all sort of different leaders in their own way, as well as myself,” Greig said. “Leading by example was the main kind of attribute I took away from those guys. They were always hard workers on the ice and always competitive. They never took any nights off, so that’s one of the things I want to do here is always play my game and don’t take any nights off.”

In three seasons, the six-foot, 172-pound Greig has 128 points in 144 regular season WHL games. The left-handed shot has also developed into a hard-hitting centre who earned suspensions in the opening games of the last two Western Hockey League seasons.

He also had to sit out two games for a hit in the NHL pre-season. 

The Senators picked him 28th overall in the first round of the 2020 draft, and he received a long look from the organization, returning to Brandon on Sunday. He learned a lot he’s now hoping to pass on to Brandon’s younger players.

“I think the main thing I took away is to just have a pro routine and pro mentality,” Greig said. “It’s how you carry yourself away from the rink, and when you get to the rink and how you are around the room and everything. That was the main thing. I’m working on my body every day that I can, and hopefully that can kind of teach the young guys what it’s all about.”

At the same time, hcvve won’t have to wear the mantle of leadership all by himself. 

Nolan Ritchie and Vincent Iorio served as alternate captains last weekend, and whichever overage skaters survive the cutdown next week will also play an important role.

“Obviously it’s just not me,” Greig said. “There are lots of older guys in the room who have played in Brandon for the last three or four years. Names that come to mind are Chad Nychuk and (Neithan) Salame, those are two guys who have been with me for my rookie year. Those two main guys have been really good leaders in the room.”

With what in many ways is a double class of rookies — last year’s newcomers didn’t play outside of the Regina hub and will be sharing a lot of new experiences with this season’s novices — the need for solid leadership will be more pronounced than ever. Greig said he and the older players are ready.

“That main corps of guys who have been here three years ago or since before COVID, those guys have to lead the way and show what the Brandon Wheat Kings are all about,” Greig said. “With last year being a different year, I think those young guys and the second-year guys have to just follow our lead and adapt and go from there.”

Wheat Kings head coach Don MacGillivray said Greig was part of the team’s leadership group in the Regina hub during the shortened 2020-21 season, and he was an obvious choice to move into the role with the graduation of Schneider.

“I can think of a few games where he just took the team on his back and willed us to win,” MacGillivray said. “There are things that he does away from the rink that people don’t see, but he is just a really, good, solid character guy. He’s competitive, he wants to win, he’s been here four years and he understands what it means to be a Brandon Wheat King, and he’s proud to be a Brandon Wheat King.

“He spends a lot of his off-season in Brandon, he likes Brandon and I think it’s really a no-brainer.”

He comes by his leadership qualities honestly.

Greig’s father Mark played parts of nine seasons in the NHL, and in 2001 served as captain of the American Hockey League’s Philadelphia Phantoms.

“Coming into this year, we knew I was going to be one of the leaders in this room,” Greig said. “He kind of showed me and gave me a couple of tips of what it means to be captain and a leader. I think I’ll take those and obviously bring them into my every day life and on the ice.”

Greig pulled on the newly stitched jersey for the first time after practice on Thursday. He admits it was incredible to hear the news that he would lead the team into the new season.

“Obviously it was a pretty proud moment,” Greig said. “It feels good. It’s such an honour being named captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings. There have been so many captains here — I think it was 66 — just to be a part of that group is pretty special.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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