Van Oene follows father’s path to Brandon

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This article was published 17/06/2022 (1269 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For some prospects of the Brandon Wheat Kings, earning a spot on the team is a dream.

For Brendyn Van Oene, it’s the family tradition. Brandon picked the five-foot-11, 167-pound product of Shawnigan Lake, B.C., 188th overall in the ninth round of the Western Hockey League draft in May.

His father, Darren Van Oene, was the team’s first-round pick in 1993 and spent four seasons with the club, two of them as captain, before moving onto a pro career.

He made his first trip to Brandon to attend prospects camp in late May.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Van Oene said. “When I saw my name I was kind of in shock because my dad played here and now it’s another Van Oene in the Wheat Kings organization. It’s crazy.”

Van Oene, who was born two seasons after his father finished up his pro career, began skating at age three. He always played up front.

He said hockey always appealed to him.

“It’s the compete of the game,” said Van Oene, who turns 15 in August. “I love competing and hockey has a compete and a camaraderie about it.”

He used to play baseball but ultimately decided he had to prioritize one of them and chose hockey.

Last season with the Shawnigan Lake prep team — playing alongside fellow Wheat Kings draft pick Liam Loughery, the left shooting Van Oene contributed 24 goals, 16 assists and eight penalty minutes in 29 games.

“I think I rely on my good shot,” Van Oene said. “I have a good release on it. I’m good at grinding down low and working hard. It doesn’t matter what the score is, I grind.”

At the same time, he acknowledges is game is a long way from complete. As a result, he is targeting specific things to get better.

“Definitely foot speed,” Van Oene said. “I have to work on that, and getting my strides quicker and faster. Definitely my lower body strength is what I need to work on.”

Even with his family’s WHL lineage, van Oene didn’t spend much worrying about the draft. In fact, until he entered his draft year this season, he said it wasn’t on his mind at all.

“I didn’t really think about the draft until this year and that’s when people started calling and I started getting emails and started thinking about it,” Van Oene said.

After the draft did become something to think about, Van Oene said he did his best to tune out the scouts that were invariably in the crowd at his Canadian Sport School Hockey League games.

“I tried not to think about it because I knew this was a big year,” Van Oene said. “It’s kind of crazy to know that people are trying to get you for their team.”

On draft day, Van Oene’s teammate, defenceman Liam Loughery, was picked by Brandon in the ninth round, with the 172nd overall pick. Sixteen picks later, the Wheat Kings grabbed Van Oene.

He said it was nice to share with Loughery.

“It was nice when I saw my buddy get picked because it was ‘Oh, we’re going here together,” Van Oene said. “It’s easier to have someone here.”

Van Oene heard a lot about Brandon growing up but didn’t make his first trip to the Wheat City until late May when he came out for prospects camp. It was an eye-opening experience for him, not just because of his father’s link to the team but also because of the facility itself.

“I saw my dad’s name on the wall and he showed me the banners that he won,” Van Oene said. “I think the facilities are crazy for a junior locker room.”

Darren Van Oene played four seasons with Brandon between 1994 and 1998, skating in 275 regular season and playoff games and winning a league title in 1996. He served as Wheat Kings captain in 1996-97 and 1997-98.

After being drafted by the Buffalo Sabres, he had a seven-year pro career, which he spent mainly in the American Hockey League. He retired after the 2004-05 season.

After the draft, Wheat Kings director of player personnel Chris Moulton said the younger Van Oene brings some of the same attributes his father did nearly three decades ago.

“Brendyn is a character kid who is a leader on his team,” Moulton said. “He does a really good job of putting himself in spots to score and has a real nice knack for finding holes and putting himself in scoring position.”

Van Oene grew accustomed to getting called up to skate with older players this season, and is hopeful his next challenge lies at the WHL level.

He’s certainly ready to work towards that goal.

“It’s a lot of motivation for the years coming and working to get to that next level,” Van Oene said. “It’s going to be fun.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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