WHL NOTEBOOK: Slobodian builds on WHL experience

If experience truly is the best teacher, it has a willing pupil in Cole Slobodian.

The six-foot-two, 191-pound left-shooting defenceman from Brandon is in his second Western Hockey League season with the Portland Winterhawks and quickly discovered that having his rookie season under his belt would pay massive dividends.

“It was a lot easier not having to learn all new systems, not having to meet a bunch of new guys or meet new coaches,” Slobodian said. “It just makes it easier because you have those experiences and relationships from the previous year.”

That also manifests itself on the ice. Slobodian, who had a goal and three assists in his 59-game rookie campaign with the Winterhawks last winter, has a goal and 13 assists in 44 games this season

“When I have the puck I have more confidence with making plays and not being so worried about making mistakes because I do have a better relationship with the coaches,” Slobodian said.

“There is a little more trust, so if I mess up one time, I don’t feel like I’m so much under the gun to make up for myself. I just keep playing my game.”

He added that confidence includes jumping up into the play.

Slobodian went unselected in the 2021 WHL draft but was quickly listed by Portland. Back when the Manitoba Junior Hockey League still had a draft, he was picked ninth overall by the Virden Oil Capitals in 2022 and played his 17-year-old season with them after spending his 15- and 16-year-old campaigns with the U18 Wheat Kings.

He debuted last season in Portland — a busy city of more than 600,000 people — and is now also feeling better about things off the ice.

Most of the players live on the southern side of the city in an area called Beaverton, while Slobodian is spending a second year with the same billets in nearby Tigard, which is about 17 kilometres from Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“It’s awesome,” Slobodian said. “They’ve become like a second family to me. It’s been way nicer coming in this year to start knowing them and already having that relationship. They’ve been great. I couldn’t say more about them.”

His closest teammates are about 10 minutes from his billets’ house, and the farthest about 25 minutes away with no traffic. And that’s the rub.

“It’s still just the traffic that’s pretty annoying, but other than that, I just go to the rink and go home,” Slobodian said of life in Portland. “I don’t do a ton honestly. The traffic is a big thing for me, but I have gotten used to it in my second year.”

While he is living in a different country, it’s not exactly a massive life change. In fact, it’s not that obvious in his day-to-day routine.

“I don’t notice honestly,” Slobodian said. “Most of the people I interact with are Canadian, and even the Americans, we don’t really talk about where we’re from. I don’t really notice it too much.”

The only other Westman players in the U.S. Division this season are the two Nolans, Everett Silvertips overage forward Nolan Chastko of Brandon and 17-year-old Spokane Chiefs defenceman Nolan Saunderson of Carberry.

All three are graduates of the U18 AAA Wheat Kings program.

“I skated with both of them this summer,” Slobodian said. “I’m closer in age to Chastko and I played minor hockey with him growing up, and just started getting to know Nolan Saunderson these past couple of summers.”

He tries to catch up with them after games, although fraternizing is frowned on after bad losses. That’s why he’s hoping for a win on Saturday.

Slobodian has two more former teammates visiting when Jaxon Jacobson, Brady Turko and the Wheat Kings make their biennial trip through the U.S. Division.

“It will be cool,” Slobodian said. “It’s obviously weird playing against those guys because you spend so much time with them and play on the same team with them, but it should be a fun game.”

ON-ICE IMPROVEMENT

Slobodian played a lot in the first half with Carter Southern, but the overage defender was shipped to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Jan. 6 for overage defenceman Niko Tsakumis, a first-round pick in 2027 and a fourth-round pick in 2028.

“It was really tough,” Slobodian said. “He was my D partner for the first half of the year, and it’s never an easy day when someone gets traded. It’s tough to lose a friend and a teammate.”

With injuries and defenceman Max Pšenička going to Czechia at the world junior championship, the pairings were scrambled for a month, and he has played with everybody.

He said there hasn’t been a major reshuffling of his duties in his 19-year season, but as an older player, he wants to help lead the way.

“It’s being solid and being a good role model and leader for the younger guys so that they can watch and model their game a little bit,” Slobodian said. “I’m not speaking up a ton, I’m just trying to be a good role model of what the team expects from its players.”

Slobodian is the second oldest defenceman on the roster behind Tsakumis, and is 18 days older than Carter Matthews.

While his main goal is to protect his own net, he scored on Nov. 22 against the host Kelowna Rockets when forward Ryan Miller sent a pass back to the blue-line and Slobodian leaned into a one-timer that beat goaltender Harrison Boettiger cleanly.

“I think that was my seventh or eighth one-timer attempt that game, so it was about time one fell,” Slobodian said. “I just got ahold of it.”

Portland lost the game 2-1, so there wasn’t much celebration, but junior players are invariably thrilled to see goals coming from unusual sources.

“We lost, so there wasn’t a ton of excitement around the room, but obviously right on the bench they were pretty fired up,” Slobodian said. “There were fist bumps and stuff going around.”

He said his increased production this season has a couple sources. But a big part of that goes back to experience.

“There has been some luck, a couple of lucky secondaries (second assists) in there for sure, but I think it’s the confidence in moving the puck up,” Slobodian said. “And playing more minutes, there is more opportunity to get those points.”

The Winterhawks (21-22-2-0) are tied for eighth in the Western Conference, in a tight grouping of eight teams separated by just 11 points and battling for five playoff spots.

It’s been an up-and-down season for one of the league’s most consistently excellent teams over the last five decades.

“We’re still trying to find our identity,” Slobodian said. “We’re pretty young. We only have two 20-year-olds right now and maybe five 19-year-olds, and the rest are 18 or younger. We have nine or 10 17-year-olds, so there is some inconsistency at times. “We’re a really skilled team, and I think we have a lot of speed, which can help us, but our lack of experience gets us into trouble into the D zone sometimes. Cleaning that up will make a big difference.”

He’s happy with his own season so far, although he’s quick to add his game has places to grow and he has plenty to learn. But with 23 games left in the season, he knows what he’s looking for.

“Maybe a couple more goals, but just keep playing consistent and keep being relied upon,” Slobodian said. “Hopefully I talk to some schools here and figure out what the next step is in the next couple of years.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — Which Brandon Wheat Kings have the four longest point streaks of the season? Who has the longest in the league? Who holds the league record?

• WEEKLY AWARDS — The rookie of the week is 16-year-old Wheat Kings forward Prabh Bhathal of Winnipeg, who had a goal and three assists in three games last week. The player of the week is 17-year-old Prince Albert Raiders defenceman Daxon Rudolph of Lacombe, Alta., who had two goals and four assists in three games. Rudolph, who was listed sixth among North American skaters by Central Scouting’s midterm rankings, was the first overall WHL pick in 2023.

The goaltender of the week is 17-year-old Spokane Chiefs netminder Carter Esler of Okotoks, Alta., who stopped 29 shots on Friday as the Chiefs blanked the league-leading Everett Silvertips 4-0.

• SIN BIN — Wheat Kings defenceman Grayson Burzynski will sit for three games for a cross-checking major and game misconduct he took against the Victoria Royals on Friday.

Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman Brady Ness will sit for one game for a kneeing major and game misconduct he took in Seattle on Friday.

Medicine Hat forward Ethan Neutens earned a two-game rest for a checking-to-the-head major and game misconduct at Edmonton on Wednesday.

Vancouver Giants goalie Kelton Pyne received one game for a match penalty (attempt to injure) with 10 seconds left in a game against Wenatchee on Jan. 11. That same day, Tri-City Americans defenceman Ismail Abougouche was assessed a one-game suspension for a one-man fight in the last five minutes versus Moose Jaw on Jan. 10, and the team was fined $500.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — Jonny Lambos, 25, is in his fourth season at UBC playing alongside former Wheat Kings Ty Thorpe of Brandon and Kayden Sadhra-Kang and for head coach Sven Butenschon. The defensive-minded blue-liner has a pair of assists in 17 games and a plus-minus of +13.

Lambos, who is from Winnipeg, was acquired alongside Thorpe in the deal that sent Tanner Kaspick to the Victoria Royals on Jan. 10, 2018. He played three seasons with Brandon around the time of the pandemic and was dealt to the Everett Silvertips for his overage season. In his WHL career, he skated in 193 regular season and playoff games with eight goals, 31 assists and 210 penalty minutes.

• THE WEEK AHEAD — The Wheat Kings don’t play at home again until Feb. 6 as they head out on the road on Tuesday for a game against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday. Then they keep bearing west for their annual foray into the Western Conference — this year it’s the U.S. Division — with games against the Everett Silvertips (Jan. 23), Portland Winterhawks (Jan. 24), Seattle Thunderbirds (Jan. 27), Wenatchee Wild (Jan. 28), Tri-City Americans (Jan. 30) and Spokane Chiefs (Jan. 31).

• ANSWER — The longest points streaks of Brandon’s season belong to linemates Jaxon Jacobson and Caleb Hadland, who had simultaneous nine-game runs between Oct. 5 and Nov. 1. Jacobson had two goals and 18 assists and Hadland had six goals and six assists.

Next best is the third member of the line, Luke Mistelbacher, who posted a seven-game run between Oct. 5 and 26 in which he had eight goals and five assists. The other Wheat King with a long run is Nick Johnson, who had a six-gamer between October and. 29 and Nov. 8 in which he had four goals and five assists.

Six Wheat Kings have had five-game streaks.

The league leader this season is Seattle Thunderbirds forward Cameron Schmidt, who was acquired from the Vancouver Giants at the trade deadline. His current streak began on Nov. 15 and has stretched to 26 games.

The all-time WHL record is held by Prince Albert Raiders forward Jeff Nelson, who had a point in every game between Oct. 24, 1990 and March 6, 1991, a 56-game stretch in which he posted 108 points.

He had 120 points that season, skated with Canada at the world juniors in 1992 alongside Brandon goalie Trevor Kidd and then played 52 National Hockey League games over three seasons. Nelson retired after the 2010-11 season.