WHL NOTEBOOK: Hood finds Giant satisfaction in WHL

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This article was published 14/01/2025 (331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the Vancouver Giants reassigned goaltender Burke Hood in the fall of 2024, he decided to come home instead of returning to the Rink Hockey Academy or jumping to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Little did he know how much success lay ahead. Hood, who was entering his 16-year-old season, joined the under-18 AAA Brandon Wheat Kings, where he and Matthew Michta formed a strong goaltending tandem that backstopped the team all the way to the Telus Cup final as they went 59-4-1-0 overall.

The six-foot-three, 193-pound goaltender said it all turned pretty well.

“I definitely made the right decision,” Hood said. “I thought I was going to play MJ, but if I could go have a good year playing U18 at home with a good team rather than playing fewer games in the MJ, I think it was a good decision. It ended up being a really good year for us, right to the Telus Cup. I’m actually really happy I did it.

“Everybody likes to win, and we didn’t do a whole lot of losing that year.”

The U18 team graduated an incredible seven players to the Western Hockey League this season, including Jaxon Jacobson, Brady Turko and Easton Odut of the Brandon Wheat Kings, Colten Worthington of the Saskatoon Blades, Josh McGregor of the Swift Current Broncos, Kaeson Fisher of the Everett Silvertips and Hood, who is enjoying a fine rookie season with the Vancouver Giants.

“It was some team we had,” Hood said. “There were so many guys who graduated to the Dub and those guys are doing well. I haven’t talked to all of them but I’ve heard and seen what some of them have been doing. They’ve been competing at this level and it really shows what kind of players they are.”

If he gets the assignment, Hood will have his first chance to play against the WHL’s Wheat Kings when the Giants host them on Sunday at 4 p.m. CST. While Odut is out long term with an upper-body injury, Jacobson and Turko are expected to be in the lineup.

Wheat Kings goalie Carson Bjarnason of Carberry may also be playing: Hood has trained with the Philadelphia Flyers prospect during the summer with Wheat Kings goaltending Tyler Plante.

“It would be really cool,” Hood said. “I played with them last year and they were our two top scorers. My plan is for them to not be top scorers that night, and not have anyone be top scorers that night. It will be good to play them, and Bjarnason too. He’s a guy I’ve looked up to … I’ve been on the ice with him a little bit and he’s got that experience and is drafted and signed by Philadelphia. He knows what he’s doing, so I’ve looked up to him and look forward to the weekend against them.”

The 17-year-old netminder grew up in Brandon but spent three years in Winnipeg, playing with the U14 Hawks in the shortened 2020-21 season, and then heading to RHA for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns.

Hood was grabbed in the sixth round of the 2022 draft by the Vancouver Giants, with the 119th overall selection, and signed with the club in September 2022. He was also selected in the 2023 MJHL draft, going in the fifth round, 59th overall, to the Winkler Flyers.

He played one game with the Flyers last season, and it apparently went well, because he made 16 saves in an 8-0 pasting of the host Neepawa Titans on Feb. 18, 2024.

That gives him a perfect 0.00 goals-against average and 1.000 save percentage in his MJHL career.

“I was a little nervous,” Hood said. “It was my first actual regular season junior game but once I got out there, everything kind of went away and I started playing my game. It wasn’t a super high shot game, but those games are sometimes harder because you can go a while without getting a shot and you have to find a way to stay in it. It was obviously an incredible way to start off my junior career.”

NEW START

In August, he was intent on furthering that junior career with the Giants.

While there’s not the same kind of pressure on young goalies to break through that there might be for position players — not many 16-year-old goalies play in the WHL and teams tend to be more patient with netminders — he wanted to make a strong impression in his 17-year-old camp last August.

“I put more pressure on myself than other people did,” Hood said. “In my mind, I knew what I was capable of doing and I wanted to prove myself and show them I could compete and battle in this league.”

He was never actually taken aside and told he made the team: Instead, goaltending coach Paul Fricker told him not to worry and just to keep working hard, and Hood chose not to focus on it.

Hood’s first WHL game came against Fisher in Everett on Sept. 21 when he made 37 saves in a 4-3 Vancouver victory and was named third star.

“His family was there, same with my family,” Hood said. “We met up after the game and had a little chat. It was good to see him.”

By coincidence, when Brandonite Cole Temple was traded to the Silvertips, his first game was against the Giants on Nov. 29. (Temple has 14 points in 15 games with Everett.)

Hood said it is a big step up from U18 for goalies, noting the offence created by major junior players is simply at a much higher level.

“With some guys it’s the release of shot, with some guys it’s how smart they are and how they move the puck, especially on power plays,” Hood said. “For instance Prince George’s power play, they have five guys who are probably going to play pro hockey and the power play moves so fast that it’s a battle to compete with.”

In 22 games this season, Hood has posted a 3.22 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage with a record of 8-6-4-0 on a team that is 20-16-5-0.

He’s faced 40 or more shots four times and made 30 or more saves in a game 10 times.

He allowed a season-high six goals against the Saskatoon Blades on Nov. 1 but has surrendered three or fewer goals in 14 appearances. Six of them came consecutively during a stretch between Dec. 14 and Jan. 7.

“I’ve been pretty happy,” Hood said. “The first half was learning a little bit about my game as I get to know the ropes of the league. There were a few games when I felt like I wasn’t my best and there were games when I felt really good. Going into the break, I talked to my goalie coach and gave myself some stuff to think about over the break coming into the second half, and in the second half so far, I’ve felt really good.”

Indeed.

Hood posted back-to-back shutouts against the Wenatchee Wild on Jan. 3 and the Kelowna Rockets on Jan. 4 and had a streak of around 158 minutes without allowing a goal.

As a result, he was named the WHL’s goalie of the week on Jan. 6 after he posted a 3-0-0-0 record, a 1.10 goals-against average and a .965 save percentage in three appearances.

“That was really cool,” Hood said. “I didn’t expect back-to back shutouts. It was a really cool feeling and a really good experience.”

SETTLING IN

Hood has had three goaltending partners this season, starting with 18-year-old Matthew Hutchinson, who was traded to the Moose Jaw Warriors with a pair of draft picks on Jan. 7 for 19-year-old veteran Brady Smith.

The Giants also called up former Wheat Kings prospect Carter Capton from the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Camrose Kodiaks in November for a short stay.

“Now that the trade deadline is over, nothing can happen,” Hood said. “I’m with Brady for the rest of the year. It sucked having Matt go because me and him built a bond over the past few years. I liked him as a person and I liked him as a goalie. It was hard to see him go.

“Through all that, I tried to focus on myself and keep battling through and do what I do on the ice.”

Hood rooms on the road with overage forward Connor Levis, who the goalie said has been a tremendous help as he adjusts to the WHL, and he lives with three other Giants, 19-year-old forward London Hoilett of Winnipeg, 17-year-old forward Torretto Marrelli of Devon, Alta., and 16-year-old forward Tyus Sparks of Meridian, Idaho.

Hood said his decision to spend three years in Winnipeg has paid off in another way as he adapts to life in Vancouver. Since the city’s metro population is more than 2.6 million, it’s a very different life experience than in Brandon.

The team plays at the Langley Events Centre, which is located between Surrey and Abbotsford, but they practise at the Ladner Leisure Centre in Delta.

Hood lives about five minutes from the practice facility but has a 35-minute drive to Langley with no traffic. With traffic, it can take a lot longer.

He has a car despite flying out to Vancouver because after he arrived, his mother Michelle and sister Camilla — who is an apprentice dancer with Toronto’s Ballet Jörgen — drove it out and then flew home.

Hood is taking one class as he finishes up high school, noting he has to be in the classroom every second day. That helps reduce what he misses when he’s gone on the road.

He talks to his parents every evening when he’s home and texts them when he’s on the bus and can’t chat. (His father Jeff, also a goalie, 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.)

Hood is the second Brandon netminder in Vancouver in the last few years after Trent Miner also played there for four seasons from 2017 to 2021. The older goalie made his National Hockey League debut in November and his first start last week.

He’s laid down a great path to success for the younger goaltender, who has some big goals for the rest of his rookie season.

“I want to become consistent,” Hood said. “My back half so far has been good and I want to continue with it. I want to lock into that spot where I’m earning games with how I’m playing.

“For the team, we have the capability of being a great team. We’re coming together and learning to battle and play a full 60 minutes to win those games.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — The Wheat Kings made a major deal with the Tri-City Americans when they sent defenceman Charlie Elick and a draft pick for forward Jordan Gavin and defenceman Merrek Arpin last week. It’s the fifth deal the teams have made in the last 15 years. Can you remember any of the others?

• WEEKLY AWARDS — The player of the week is 19-year-old Spokane Chiefs forward Andrew Cristall, who had a hat trick and four assists in a 12-2 victory over the Wenatchee Wild. The Washington Capitals prospect was acquired from the Kelowna Rockets last week.

The goaltender of the week is 18-year-old Victoria Royals netminder Jayden Kraus of Prince Albert, Sask., who went 3-0-0-0 with a 1.76 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage.

The rookie of the week is 17-year-old Kamloops Blazers forward Tommy Lafreniere of Hornby Island, B.C., who led all WHL rookies with two goals and four assists in two games.

• SIN BIN — Seattle forward Hayden Pakkala was given one game for a boarding major and game misconduct against Victoria on Jan. 7 … Tri-City forward Carter MacAdams was given a four-game suspension for a charging major and game misconduct versus Wenatchee on Jan. 5 … Former Wheat Kings forward Tony Wilson, who was playing with Regina on Jan. 4 but now suits up with Lethbridge, was given a four-game suspension for a goaltender interference major and game misconduct at Red Deer.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — Ryley Lindgren is playing with Herforder EV in the Oberliga, the third tier in Germany, where he has 11 goals and 29 assists in 33 games. Now 28, the product of East St. Paul played 71 games with Brandon in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 season before being involved in the deal that brought Reid Duke and Macoy Erkamps to Brandon on Sept. 30, 2014. In his five-year WHL career, he had 69 goals, 98 assists and 115 penalty minutes in 259 regular season games.

• BIRTHDAY BOYS — Sanfred King (Jan. 14, 1990), Justin Kurtz (Jan. 14, 1977), Jonny Lambos (Jan. 14, 2001), Jeff Lawson (Jan. 15, 1963), Rob McVicar (Jan. 15, 1982), Dean Kennedy (Jan. 17, 1963), Mark Derlago (Jan. 17, 1986), Charlie Elick (Jan. 17, 2006), Tim Lockridge (Jan. 18, 1959), Geoff McIntosh (Jan. 18, 1983), Darren Van Oene (Jan. 18, 1978), Ryan Reaves (Jan. 20).

• THE WEEK AHEAD — The Wheat Kings begin their annual Western Conference trip when they meet the Victoria Royals on Wednesday at 9:05 p.m. (all times CST), the Everett Silvertips on Friday at 9:05 p.m., and Vancouver on Sunday at 4 p.m.

• ANSWER — The other Brandon deals with Tri-City are:

— Oct. 31, 2021 — Brandon sent a seventh-round pick in 2024 (D Lucas McConnell) to Tri-City for 19-year-old forward Landon Roberts.

— Oct. 7, 2019 — Brandon sent a fifth-round pick in 2020 (F Benjamin Stokes, never played in WHL) and a conditional sixth-round pick in 2022 (traded pick) for overage defenceman Dom Schmiemann.

— July 13, 2016 — Brandon sent a conditional sixth-round pick to Tri-City for 17-year-old defenceman Conor Timlick, who never played a game with the Wheat Kings.

— Nov. 4, 2014 — Brandon sent overage forward Richard Nejezchleb to Tri-City for a third-round pick in 2015 (Rylan Bettens) and a third-round pick in 2017 (Nolan Ritchie).