Klippenstein’s work ethic fuels recovery

Carter Klippenstein may have been one of the most utterly fearless players to skate with the Brandon Wheat Kings in recent years.

The 19-year-old Lethbridge product, who will miss the rest of the Western Hockey League season due to shoulder surgery, never avoided contact or agitating opponents before and after whistles, and thrived on throwing opposing players off their game.

It was a formula for success that led to the six-foot-three, 186-pound left-shooting forward getting drafted by the National Hockey League’s Minnesota Wild, and he said he came by it honestly.

“Growing up, I always believed in getting things the hard-working way,” Klippenstein said. “You have to overcome some fears if you want to be successful. Growing up, my parents (Mark and Melanie) were very prominent on doing things your own way and learning the hard way.

“I just brought that into hockey every night, doing the things that some people don’t want to do. I think that makes me successful.”

Klippenstein headed home to Lethbridge last week, but then drove to Calgary on Tuesday to spend time with his teammates as they prepared to face the Hitmen last night in a game that ended well after deadline.

STURDY PRESENCE

When Brandon picked the six-foot-two, 148-pound forward in the third round with the 64th overall pick in the infamous December 2021 draft — the one that got moved from May to give scouts an extra chance to look at prospects after the 2020-21 season was wiped out by the pandemic — they had a pretty good sense of his game.

Brandon director of hockey operations Chris Moulton said at the time that Klippenstein certainly wasn’t much fun to play against.

“Carter is a hard-working guy who reads and reacts to plays very well,” Moulton said. “He’s not afraid to get involved in the dirty areas to get to the net. He has a high ceiling. He has lots of room to grow, a massive upside for us. He plays hard all the time.”

He already had a connection to the team.

His uncle is former Wheat Kings director of player personnel Wade Klippenstein, who left Brandon after the championship season in 2016 for a job with the National Hockey League’s Colorado Avalanche. He is now the director of hockey development at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask.

In 164 career regular season games in the WHL, Carter Klippenstein contributed 35 goals, 42 assists, 173 penalty minutes and a plus-minus of 13.

He said he’s become a lot stronger since he was 15, but noted his development wasn’t entirely physical.

“My brain has evolved a lot in the hockey sense with being in the right spots and not overdoing some things,” Klippenstein said. “I also think I’ve improved a lot around the net and my defensive zone too. I also think one of the aspects of my game that improved in Brandon was the penalty kill and defensive side of things at the end of games.”

Klippenstein, whose late birthday on Nov. 25 pushed his National Hockey League draft eligibility into his 18-year-old season, benefited from the extra time to grow into his game and gain confidence.

While Klippenstein’s offence may not have turned heads — he had 28 points in 58 games in his draft year — the rest of his game certainly did.

He was assigned a C grade in Central Scouting’s preliminary players to watch list to start the year, and in the midterm report was ranked 121st among North American skaters. In the final rankings he was ranked 88th among North American skaters.

The hard work he built his game around was certainly on display during the physical testing at the NHL Combine last June, when he was one of the breakout stars among the 90 players.

Minnesota subsequently grabbed him with the 123rd overall pick in the fourth round.

BIG CHANGE

In mid-December, Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said Klippenstein found his way as a 17-year-old rookie and had a good 18-year-old campaign that led to him being drafted.

This season he shifted back into the middle for the first time in his major junior career after the sudden loss of Roger McQueen and Matteo Michels to the college ranks in August.

“Coming back into camp out of camp in Minnesota, he maybe didn’t play up to his standards, but he played a position he hadn’t played in a couple of years, at centre, and you have to take that into consideration,” Murray said on Dec. 9. “I know he was frustrated a little bit but I’ve been real pleased with his game the last number of weeks where he’s found his groove and looks comfortable playing centre.

“He’s playing to his identity every night. He’s a straight-line player who’s not trying to do too much with the puck. He’s done a real good job and been responsible at both ends of the rink.”

Klippenstein, who in 38 games this season had 11 goals and 17 assists with 74 penalty minutes, admitted he had his struggles.

“Coming back from camp, it was a little hard adjusting to a new position at centre and adjusting back to WHL play, but I felt like I got stronger and stronger every week,” Klippenstein said. “My play reached a very high level and I was really happy with how me and the team were playing before I got injured.”

He last played centre in under-18 at the Edge School in Calgary in 2022-23, but he said by the 15-game mark, he began to feel really good in the position.

At the same time, he was trying to also show Minnesota he was listening.

“They give a whole list of things they want to see from you,” Klippenstein said. “They’re big on faceoffs — faceoffs are a big part of their game — having a full 200-foot game, playing good in the defensive zone and getting in front of the net in the offensive zone was really big for them, just making sure I was scoring and playing around the net. That’s what I was focusing on.”

UNLUCKY HIT

Klippenstein’s season ended on Jan. 13 during a game against the Prince Albert Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre when he collided with six-foot-two defenceman Linden Burrett in one of the dozens of nondescript shoulder-to-shoulder hits that take place in every game.

But this contact was different.

“It was just kind of a really awkward hit,” Klippenstein said. “My arm was a little tucked in. It wasn’t even a hard hit or anything, but my arm was tucked in and he hit down on my shoulder and it popped out the back and then popped back in. It was just an awkward play, nothing dangerous at all. It was a routine hit.”

He saw a doctor in Brandon who suggested he get an MRI on his right shoulder, so he went down to Minnesota and handled everything with their medical staff. After they evaluated his results, he flew back down for surgery on Feb. 4 and then stayed for two weeks so they could evaluate his progress.

When they did the procedure, they discovered the top of his labrum was also torn, something they suspected happened years ago when he was playing baseball.

As hard as it was physically, the mental toll was also excruciating for a player who has built an identity as a team-first guy.

“It was terrible,” Klippenstein said. “It was one of the hardest things for me, watching the games and not being out there helping the guys. Even now that I’m home in Lethbridge, it’s tough not being around the team, so I’m coming up to Calgary to say hi to them and support them a bit.”

He is feeling some progress with the shoulder already and can do some assisted movements, something he said gets better every week. The long-term prognosis is he can skate at three months and take contact in July, although there isn’t much contact during the summer anyway, so he likely won’t face it again until he’s at Minnesota’s camp in September.

In the meantime, he is still able to do workouts on the rest of his body.

NEXT CHAPTER

While Klippenstein hasn’t signed with the Wild yet, he’ll have three possible options for where to play next season: pro, college and major junior.

Unfortunately for Wheat Kings fans, that’s likely his order of preference, although the final decision hasn’t been made yet.

“The option of college is definitely a strong number two now,” Klippenstein said. “It all depends. What it will come down to is what Minnesota wants too. It’s kind of up in the air right now. There is nothing for sure right now but pro is always the number one thought in people’s minds, but there are also plenty of years to play pro, so you have to be smart about it.

“I think it will be a conversation for my family and the Wild.”

Klippenstein averaged in the mid-90s when he was in school, so he’s certainly capable on the academic side.

If this is the end of the line for Klippenstein and Brandon, he’ll leave with warm memories of the place he played for three seasons.

“For me now, it literally feels like a second home,” Klippenstein said. “It’s smaller than my real home, Lethbridge, but for a junior hockey town, I don’t think you could get better. You’re three minutes away from everyone, all your teammates, and you just have to drive down the road to hang out with your buddies and watch football.

“I think that’s what I loved about Brandon so much, is just being able to bond with your teammates so easily and have a great junior hockey experience.”

He stayed with two families during his time in Brandon, with the last two years spent with the same billets. He’s thankful to all of them for all they did for him.

“It’s the foundation of my success,” Klippenstein said. “They welcome you in their home and feed you and take care of you. I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am without the help of my billets.”

Klippenstein also appreciates everyone at the rink, ranging from staff to ownership to the other players. He said they pushed him every day and simple made him better.

“I’m very thankful,” he said. “It’s a great place to play, it’s a great organization. It couldn’t have been better with the teammates I had and the staff.”

pbergson@brandonsun.com