Hood hopes to make Giant step in Brandon

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This article was published 09/11/2023 (682 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Burke Hood was a little guy in his first year of Timbits hockey, he was a player but that’s not really where he wanted to be.

“The whole time I was in front of the net and wanted to play goal,” the 16-year-old Hood said. “Then my first year in novice I played part-time, so I was 50-50 back and forth. The next year I didn’t want to be a player anymore and stuck to goalie, and it’s been like that ever since.”

He made a good decision.

The six-foot-four, 195-pound goaltender has split the load with his under-18 AAA Brandon Wheat Kings partner Matthew Michta, winning his six starts, posting a 2.17 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage so far.

As so often happens with young goalies, Burke was following in his father’s footsteps.

Jeff played two games with the Prince Albert Raiders during the 1997-98 season, spending most of his career in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with the St. Boniface Saints and Dauphin Kings before joining the Brandon Bobcats.

If Burke Hood’s name doesn’t sound familiar, there’s a reason. The 16-year-old netminder grew up in Brandon but spent the last three years in Winnipeg, playing with the U14 Hawks in the shortened 2020-21 season, and then heading to Rink Hockey Academy for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns.

“I think it was because it was COVID year, so there wasn’t a whole lot going on and this was a way for me to be on the ice every day,” said Hood, whose mother is Michelle. “The training I went to was every morning at the rink, and even when there was COVID and we had to split the ice, there were still skates very day.

“That wasn’t my team, it was extra training and a way for me to be on the ice.”

Hood said Rink has a great program and it helped him grow a lot, in part because he had terrific goaltending coaches but also because the level of the prep hockey is so high.

DRAFT TIME

In his WHL draft year in 2022, Hood appeared in 14 prep games with Rink, posting a 2.62 goals-against average and a .887 save percentage. He said his game is based on his ability to get around the crease in a timely fashion.

“Something I do well is move, especially for a guy my size,” Hood said. “Bigger guys aren’t always the best movers but I would definitely say it’s one of my strengths. Something I’ve been working on is my awareness in reading the play and trying to figure out what’s coming.”

Hood was grabbed in the sixth round of the 2022 draft by the Vancouver Giants, with the 119th overall selection. He was also selected in the 2023 Manitoba Junior Hockey League draft, going in the fifth round, 59th overall, to the Winkler Flyers.

“I was expecting to go,” Hood said of the WHL draft. “It was kind of in the range of where I was expected to go, but I did not expect to go to Vancouver. I didn’t talk to them at all, no questionnaire or anything, but it was honestly the best thing that could have happened to me.

“It’s a great place to be. The coaching staff are great, the players are great.”

If Hood earns a spot in Vancouver, he’ll be the second Westman goalie to play there in the last handful of years. Trent Miner, who grew up in Souris and Brandon, spent parts of four seasons there, graduating after the 2020-21 season.

Needless to say, the chance to attend WHL prospect and main camps was a massive step up for Hood.

“It’s a huge difference,” Hood said. “It’s so much faster, the players are so much quicker. I went to my first camp to show and improve myself and I ended up signing when I was there, and ended up staying for a week and played in a pre-season game.

“It was the most challenging game I’ve ever played in because it’s so much different. I’m playing with guys five years older than me. These guys are men. They’re ripping pucks, they’re laying the body. It’s way faster.”

The Giants announced Hood had signed on Sept. 9, 2022.

“Burke established himself early in our camp, he plays with a lot of confidence and never gives up on the puck” Giants general manager Barclay Parneta said in a release at the time.

The young goalie played in a pre-season game that night against the Prince George Cougars, allowing three goals on 13 shots.

“There is a ton of back-door stuff, and even screens from the point,” Hood said. “When a player shoots from the point, I found it so much harder to see. These guys are moving the puck around on the power play and I had no idea what was coming. It was a really big eye opener for me, but this last year when I went, I was kind of used to it.

“I played U18 the year before with guys two years older than me so I was a bit more used to it.”

Hood got into two pre-season games at training camp this season, making 28 saves in a 5-4 loss to the Victoria Royals on Sept. 10, and making nine saves in the back half of a game against the Kelowna Rockets on Sept. 15 that the Giants won 7-4.

BACK TO BRANDON

When he was reassigned in mid-September, it was to Brandon rather than Rink. Wheat Kings head coach Travis Mealy said it was a terrific addition to his club, which skates out of J&G Homes Arena.

“It just shows that we have a really good organization and program here, and guys want to play here,” Mealy said. “Playing at this amazing facility also helps a little bit. It was a pleasant surprise to get that call from Burke’s agent Matt Calvert to say he was coming home this year.”

Mealy said Hood has proven to be a very good netminder this season, While he lost his pre-season debut 6-2 on Sept. 23 to the Southwest Cougars, the coach said that was a product of the play in front of him.

“He’s a very calm, very large goaltender,” Mealy said. “There aren’t a lot of holes. He’s done a very good job while he’s been here.

“He hasn’t always had the most help in front of him. He played a pre-season game where we lost 6-2 to Southwest, and the boys didn’t show up for him. It was a poor welcome home party for Burke but we’ve flipping back and forth between him and Matty and they’ve both been doing a great job.”

Michta’s numbers have also been spectacular this season, with a goals-against average of 2.00, a .915 save percentage and 6-0-0-0 record. Hood is genuinely pleased for the success of his goaltending partner.

“Me and Matt are best buds,” Hood said. “We’re together all the time. If I’m playing video games, he’s the person I’ll play with the majority of the time. I went to school with him all through elementary and I was always pretty close to him.

“Having that great relationship has really helped. There have been times I haven’t always had that but this year is going to be good with me and Matt. I’m really glad to gave Matt as my goalie partner.”

After the gathering of teammates at the net disperses following each game, the two have a ritual of sharing a big hug.

Mealy said one of the two will have to take the reins late in the season as they enter the playoffs, adding it’s nice not to have any drama in the crease. In fact, they are each other’s biggest supporters.

“When we play a small area game, when one of them makes a big save, the other one is banging this stick on the ice, or during practice, the other one is 200 feet down the ice and if his partner makes a good save, then he’s banging on the glass,” Mealy said. “They’re fighting for the same ice time and yet they’re still encouraging each other. It’s awesome.”

Hood, a Grade 11 student at Vincent Massey, points to a victory over the Winnipeg Thrashers on Oct. 27 as a strong indication of how good they can be. Twenty-seven minutes into the game, they trailed 4-2 but the Wheat Kings shut the Thrashers down completely and scored the final four goals in a 6-4 win.

“We are a very skilled group,” Hood said. “Our offence is unreal. In a game against the Thrashers a couple weeks ago, we were down 4-2 and we came back like it was nothing. We can just put the puck in the back of the net. It’s unreal. All the guys are great guys too. I would be happy to hang out with any one of them.”

The Wheat Kings, who have raced to a perfect 12-0-0-0 start this season in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League and sit in first place, return to action against second-place Southwest at Brandon’s J&G Homes Arena on Friday, with the teams reconvening at Souris/Glenwood Memorial Complex on Saturday.

Both games start at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re hoping for a championship,” Hood said. “We want to bring one home, and we definitely have the power in the group to do it. We just have to play smart and keep it simple, and not try to do too much.”

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