Eskit eager for opportunity as starter

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This article was published 14/12/2024 (375 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ethan Eskit has nicely settled into his role as the guy the Brandon Wheat Kings can call on when starting goalie Carson Bjarnason is unavailable.

The 18-year-old Calgarian has played games in bunches at times over the years when Bjarnason was hurt. Eskit played three games in five days during a callup to help Nick Jones in the 2022-23 season, and six games in a row when Bjarnason missed three weeks last January.

Eskit was also the starter — with McFadyen as the backup — when Bjarnason was at Philadelphia Flyers camp to start the season.

Now, with Bjarnason gone for a while after he earned a spot on the Canadian national junior team, all that experience has helped Eskit.

“It really translated into the start of this year,” Eskit said. “Last year was just understanding the ropes. The first three games when Barney was gone really helped build my confidence that I can do it on a regular basis. I’m feeling really good coming into this weekend and will another little set of games before Barney is back, which should be great.”

The Wheat Kings have three Western Hockey League games left before their Christmas break, with a pair of road games this weekend against the Prince Albert Raiders this evening at 7 p.m., and against the Saskatoon Blades on Sunday at 4 p.m.

They finish up at home on Tuesday against the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors.

“It’s great to see him get that opportunity to go wear the Maple Leaf again,” Eskit said of Bjarnason. “Hopefully he makes the team. He really deserves to. From my standpoint, it will allow me to play a lot of games so it’s really awesome for everyone.”

Brandon’s goaltending tandem has certainly held up its end for the Wheat Kings this season. The five-foot-10 Eskit has a 2.65 goals-against average, a .907 save percentage and a 6-2-1-1 record, while the six-foot-three Bjarnason has a 2.90 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and an 8-6-2-0 record.

Eskit, whose family now lives in Houston, is also happy to see 16-year-old Dylan McFadyen back in town. After all, it’s not that long ago he was the youngster getting called up.

“It definitely reminds me of when I came up to back up Jonesy when Barney was hurt,” Eskit said. “He is a great kid and works hard so it’s good to see him up with the boys.”

The six-foot-three McFadyen is in second season with the Interlake Lightning in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League. After Brandon’s sixth-round pick in 2023 split the load with Alex Myers last season — McFadyen had a .913 save percentage and 2.94 goals-against average in 20 regular season games — he is carrying the mail this season.

The youngster has appeared in 19 of the 25 games for sixth-place Interlake (12-9-1-3), with a .914 save percentage and a 3.02 goals-against average.

“It’s been really nice,” McFadyen said. “I’ve played about 20 games to start the season and I’ve been going a lot. It definitely helps playing a lot and having good stats is definitely a positive. I’m very thankful for the coaches believing in me and letting me do my thing out on the ice.”

He arrived in Brandon on Monday after the Lightning travelled to Thompson to face the Norman Northstars on the weekend. They arrived back in southern Manitoba late Sunday evening but McFadyen was just happy for the opportunity to return to the Wheat City.

“It’s awesome,” McFadyen said. “I’m super happy for Carson. The world junior is honestly incredible and a dream come true for anyone, and especially him. I’m thankful I can get a chance here and hopefully get some games up here to help me. I hope he has a really good time there and I’m going to make every bit of the experience that I can while I’m here.”

But that certainly doesn’t make it easy. McFadyen noted there is an incredible difference between playing U18 and even participating in practices at the major junior level.

“It’s definitely a chance of pace and a change of pretty much everything you can think of for a goalie,” McFadyen said. “I know definitely the biggest thing from U18 to here is probably the change of attack on people’s shots and honestly just the overall pace of the game is a crazy new level that you can barely imagine.

“You really have no time to think when you’re up here. Maybe there is a little more room for error when you’re down at U18 but there is really no room for mistakes here.”

At least he has plenty of help. Since being drafted by the Wheat Kings and then signing with the club nearly a year ago on Jan. 22, McFadyen has gotten to know Eskit and Bjarnason pretty well.

“It’s super awesome,” McFadyen said. “Me and Ethan have a pretty good relationship on the ice and in the dressing room. it’s unreal too because he’s such a good goalie and moves super fast. I’m so thankful I can go on the ice whenever I come out to Brandon with one or two really, really talented goaltenders and just learn every single day I’m out here from both of them.”

Now that Bjarnason has earned his wish — a spot on the national team — he’s not worried about what he’ll leave behind in Eskit and McFadyen.

“They’ve really progressed,” Bjarnason said before he left for the Canadian camp. “Dylan has definitely come a long way and he’s somebody I like around the room. He’s a quiet kid and I hope he takes after me and Eskie with what he does on the ice and off the ice.

“Ethan, I’ve seen him play more than enough. I’ve been confident in him for two years. Even last year, he was definitely a great WHL goalie, so I’m excited to see how he’ll handle it. You know for a fact it’s going to be great. The team is in good hands.”

ICINGS: The Regina Pats swung a deal with the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday, acquiring 17-year-old defenceman Matt Paranych of Edmonton for a third-round pick in 2025 and a fourth-round pick in 2028.

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