Will Galatiuk makes pitch to reach hockey goals

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This article was published 20/12/2023 (743 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Imagine Will Galatiuk stopping pucks for the Crocus Plainsmen.

That might have come to fruition if the lanky power winger had decided stopping pucks was more fun than scoring goals. But after his novice hockey season and playing spring hockey with Boissevain’s Josh Fluker — “he was a great player back then” — the 12th grader decided he would rather leave the goal crease for the open ice as a forward.

“When I was younger, like in novice, I was a goalie,” he recalled. “My dad is a big Habs fan, so I used to watch games with him when Carey Price played, so that’s when I thought I’d like to try being a goalie.”

He met Fluker, one of 63 WHL players on the current NHL Central Scouting prospects list, with scouts projecting the Swift Current Broncos defenceman as an NHL draft candidate in the fourth or fifth rounds, on a spring all-star hockey team.

He also played with another current Swift Current player that season, Brandon’s Clarke Caswell.

“Funny, when you look back and see where we are as players today,” he said. “I’ve always been a bubble kid when it came to making AA or AAA teams growing up and playing minor hockey in Brandon.

“I’d be that last cut when it came to the atom AA or the peewee AA teams. I was never able to crack the AAA lineups, especially when I arrived at the bantam (U15) level. I was never a great skater, so kids who could skate would usually make those teams.”

Galatiuk first strapped on skates at three, then fell in love with the game while watching his brother, three years older, out on the ice.

“I would go see his practices or games with my mom. That’s when I fell in love with hockey.”

With no place to play with Brandon not yet offering U17 or U18 teams when he was arriving at Crocus to begin high school, he decided playing for the Plainsmen would be fun.

“I played three games in my Grade 9 season before COVID ended our season,” he said. “In Grade 10, I broke my collar bone … That was not a good year for Crocus. I started to find my game in Grade 11 after adjusting and growing into my body. I had 28 points that season.”

His true rookie season and his sophomore seasons saw the Plainsmen finish at 8-24-0-2 and 3-27-0-1, respectively. Two seasons ago, Crocus was outscored 151-90. Last season, Galatiuk’s team was outscored 252-87.

For that reason, Galatiuk set goals for himself and his team. He definitely wants to improve on last season, and to date, the Plainsmen are sitting ninth in the 16-team league with a 7-8-0-1 record.

“I want more wins than what we had last season, but right now before we go on Christmas break, I’d like to reach 10 wins,” he said. “Then finish top-eight and get into the A side for playoffs. From there, I want our team to be competitive in the playoffs, and then get out of the first round.”

It’s doable, according to Galatiuk’s assessment of his 2023-24 Crocus lineup. His team’s record from 2022-23 is not something you want to share with your grandkids, he offers, but there’s a reason why the Plainsmen struggled against teams featuring older players, mainly dressing skaters in Grade 11 and Grade 12.

“There’s a big difference from last year to this year. When you are a young team like we were last season, you have to grow together, which we have done this season.

“You are finally learning to play with each other in games, and with my line this season, we’re having success. And now our other lines are starting to chip in with goals.”

Galatiuk skates on a line with Landon Nadeau — seventh in league scoring with 16 goals and 38 points — and Gilbert Teneycke — 11th with nine goals and 31 points.

“Those two are fast on their skates,” he said. “We are effective as a line with puck movement … that’s our strategy. When we are moving the puck in the offensive zone we are creating scoring chances.

“I always say the best defence is going on offence, so the three of us are always attacking the other team’s net.”

Making the move from U15 to high school hockey also required adjustments for Galatiuk, even if he’s an opposing big body trying to screen opposing goalies.

“I quickly noticed there was a progression in my game after leaving bantam to play high school hockey,” he said. “The players you are facing, especially when I was in Grade 9 and 10, are bigger, stronger and faster (on skates).

“Once I was able to adjust to the game and the changes, then I was able to dominate which I did when I was younger, and I was bigger than most kids.”

Galatiuk’s line has combined for 97 points to date, with one regular season game left on Friday afternoon in Boissevain against the host Broncos.

Yet, he’s not noticed opposing coaches trying to match lines when the Teneycke-Nadeau-Galatiuk trio are lining up for a faceoff.

“We tend to carry the offence in most games, but I don’t see coaches focused on matching our line in games. We’ve not played every team twice yet, so that might change if coaches are following our team.”

What’s it like having his dad, who played for the Plainsmen during the team’s inaugural season in 1990, as coach this season?

“It can be a challenge having your dad for a coach,” he offered. “He’s always been harder on me than the other kids, but I expect that … he’s dad at home, but coach on the bench.”

While dad might share some of his hockey history with Galatiuk, it’s the photographs he’s seen which give him insight to what his father was like as a teenager in the 1990s.

“It’s pretty neat to see photos of him when he played as a teenager,” he said laughing. “He has a lot less hair now then when he played.”

What about the Massey-Crocus cross-town rivalry this season? The Vikings have won both games, with a 6-2 triumph the latest result from a game on Sunday.

“We stuck with Massey early in the game, but then we ran into penalties and once you let them get on the power-play that killed us,” he said.

“It’s hard to stop that team’s power-play when you are taking penalties and giving them a man advantage.”

Especially when the powerplay a team is trying to thwart defensively is the second-place Vikings (12-2-0-0), with two of the league’s top-three scorers in the lineup. The Vikings scored two power-play goals, plus added a shorthanded marker.

Josh Romanik — first in scoring with 15 goals and 46 points — and Carter Dittmer — third in scoring with 24 goals and 42 points — each scored twice for Vincent Massey. Remove them from the equation and the score is deadlocked 2-2.

What is Galatiuk’s strength as a forward?

“My size helps me in the corners digging out the puck, and I’m strong with the battles in front of the net. I like to set up there and tip in shots from the point, or bury rebounds.”

He’s quick to answer what his weakness is, and what’s he’s worked hard on improving.

“I don’t have good foot speed … I’ve never been a great skater since I started playing. That’s why having linemates who are fast helps me.”

With his height you might expect Galatiuk might play volleyball and basketball for the Plainsmen. However, his sports of choice wearing Crocus colours is hockey in the winter; baseball in the spring.

The hard-throwing right-hander said there are only two sports which pique his interest when he’s not doing Grade 12 homework. Busy with hockey now, he’s looking forward to his senior season with the Crocus baseball team starting in April.

He’s also looking at his post-secondary education, and potentially playing baseball on a scholarship at two Canadian universities he’s been researching.

He just finished playing with the AAA U18 Marlins last summer, and will have another season once high school ball is complete.

“That’s a tough question when you ask if I’m a hockey or baseball player,” he said. “It depends on the season I guess for me. Once it’s summer, I love baseball. In winter, I love my hockey.”

With a good fastball in his pitching repertoire, Galatiuk has added an ugly curveball which catches batters as the ball dips into the dirt.

He’s been working with Faron Asham at the newly opened TC Indoor Sports Facility in Brandon to help with marketing himself to coaches in Alberta and Nova Scotia.

“I’ve put together a video of my pitching there, and will be doing another video showing my hitting,” he said. “I’ve already been accepted at Dalhousie in Halifax, but am interested in the University of Calgary, too.”

Galatiuk wants the videos to provide the baseball coaches at those two U Sports schools to showcase his ball skills and possibly earn a tryout and scholarship to help with university costs.

He played AAA baseball with Wawanesa’s Connor Martin for one season when Oil Dome did not have a AAA team. He also faces him during the high school hockey season, with Martin the leading scorer on the Killarney/Wawanesa Raiders and fifth in the league with 20 goals and 40 points.

Martin, a lefthand pitcher, just committed to play baseball for the North Dakota-based VCSU Vikings. Galatiuk has no interest in going to school and playing ball in the United States.

“I want to stay in Canada and study architecture, and one day design homes,” he said of his post-secondary plans.

“If I can play baseball at Calgary or Dalhousie that would be a bonus, but it’s my interest in architecture why I’ve looked at those two schools for next fall after I graduate in the spring.”

Dalatiuk’s interest in architecture as a career was piqued when he enrolled in the Crocus design/drafting program.

“I’m not an artist when it comes to painting, but I’ve always loved to draw,” he said.

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