CATCHING UP: Wood gets first taste of pro hockey at Avalanche camp

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This article was published 14/07/2023 (1059 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Briley Wood’s 2022-23 campaign was an interesting one.

Before the year even began, the 20-year-old forward from Rivers was traded on Aug. 9 to the Western Hockey League’s Winnipeg Ice by the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Wood suited up for 13 games with the Ice during the regular season and found the back of the net twice, but was reassigned to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Neepawa Titans on Oct. 31.

He made the most of his opportunity with the Titans, as he led the team in scoring with 57 points in 39 games.

That earned him a call-up back to the Ice for their run to the WHL final and eventually led to an invitation to the Colorado Avalanche’s development camp last week.

“Colorado reached out to me right after the season ended with Winnipeg if I wanted to come out there,” Wood said. “It didn’t take me long to tell them that I’d love to attend their camp.

“It was what I thought it would be like for sure. The pace was definitely a lot faster than in junior and the overall skill that everyone had was impressive. You had to make plays pretty quickly out there.”

While there was only one scrimmage during the camp, Wood and the other players were kept busy during the week.

They did a lot of skill sessions and drill work on the ice and also took part in several team-bonding events, which included a pickleball tournament and a visit to Top Golf.

Those activities allowed Wood to get to know the Avalanche’s prospects and the invited free agents like himself that are hoping to get noticed by the National Hockey League team.

“The only guys that I really knew before I got there were a couple of guys that I had played against in the WHL,” Wood said.

“We all learned a lot during that week, especially with how to be a pro athlete. A lot of it has to do with taking care of your body and paying attention to the details. There’s so much that you have to work on both on and off the ice.”

Wood’s journey to the Avalanche’s camp really began when he joined the Titans, as he showcased the offensive side of his game that he had with the Yellowhead Chiefs under-15 and U18 programs.

“I got to play a lot more minutes that I had in the past couple of years and I was a lot more confident with playing my game,” said Wood, who previously played for the Titans in the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season.

“I really enjoyed my time in Neepawa. The team was great, the staff was unreal and I felt like it put me in a better spot when Winnipeg called me back up in March.”

Titans head coach and general manager Ken Pearson noted the growth that Wood had made as a person shortly after he arrived.

“Since he was with us a couple of years ago, Briley’s matured quite a lot and he’s a little more vocal in the dressing room,” Pearson said during an interview last December. “He goes about his business and the guys really look up to him in that aspect.”

After spending most of the season as one of the top offensive threats in the MJHL, Wood went back into a bottom-six role for an Ice side that had loaded up for a run at the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

“I thought I handled that transition pretty well as I knew that I was going be coming into a team with a lot of talent,” Wood said.

“All the guys got along great. We were pretty close with each other and we were working hard with one goal in mind.”

The Ice – who had the best regular season record in the league with a 57-10-1-0 mark – beat the Medicine Hat Tigers in four straight games, outlasted the Moose Jaw Warriors in six games and swept aside the Saskatoon Blades to reach the WHL final.

While two of those series ended in short order, Wood said that each playoff matchup was hard-fought.

“It may not have shown it when you look at the scores, but every game was extremely physical,” Wood added.

“Medicine Hat, Moose Jaw and Saskatoon were all really good teams and they battled hard until the end. Those series weren’t easy at all.”

Wood, who last enjoyed a lengthy playoff run in 2019 when the Yellowhead Chiefs made it to the Manitoba Under-18 AAA Hockey League semifinals, had three goals and one assist in 19 post-season contests.

His final playoff point propelled the Ice into the league championship series as he scored at the 6:19 mark of the third period on May 3 at SaskTel Centre to help his team earn a 3-2 win over the Blades and complete a four-game sweep of the Eastern Conference final.

“It was an unreal feeling to see that puck go in,” Wood said.

“I remember Carson (Latimer) got the puck along the wall and I battled through one of their players (Tyler Parr) and started to drive to their net. I guess Carson saw me skating as hard as I could and he threw the puck right onto the tape. I just had to tip it in from there.”

The Ice’s run at a championship ended in the league final as they fell in five games to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

“That was a much closer series than it looked,” Wood said. “With that said, Seattle was a really good team. They moved the puck and they played with a lot of pace.”

A 3-1 loss on May 19 in Kent, Wash., also proved to be the last one for the Ice franchise. They were sold and relocated to Wenatchee, Wash., nearly a month later and now go by the Wild.

Wood will be heading to the city of 35,508 at the end of August for the team’s training camp. He’s one of at least eight 2003-born players that are vying for three overage slots on the Wild roster.

In order to nab a spot on the team, Wood has kept busy since his return from Avalanche camp with on- and off-ice training sessions in Brandon.

“Anything can happen once you get to camp and I’m just going to take things from there,” Wood said.

“I’ve experienced a lot over the last couple of years and it’s a good feeling to have another opportunity to play the game.”

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