Chastko breaks U18 goal-scoring record

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This article was published 07/02/2022 (1594 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nolan Chastko earned a spot in Brandon Wheat Kings under-18 AAA history on Saturday.

The 16-year-old Brandonite scored what proved to be the winning goal five minutes four seconds into the third period of a 4-2 win over the Eastman Selects on Saturday, giving him the Wheat Kings single-season scoring record. He came into the game tied at 48 with Mark Derlago, who did it in the 2002-03 campaign before going onto a long professional hockey career.

Derlago is now an assistant coach with the Western Hockey League’s Wheat Kings.

“I remember being a little kid at the Sportsplex watching all the great players, like Nolan Ritchie for example, I watched him lots,” said Chastko, who is 16 and set to join the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Virden Oil Capitals next season. “He was a really great player, and the same with Mark Derlago. I skate with him in the morning. He’s been giving me a hard time about it too.

“There have been a lot of great players who have gone through the Wheat Kings organization, and for me to have the record is definitely very special.”

The power-play goal came after Selects forward Braden Berube took a double minor for head contact 3:20 into the third period. Brandon was able to establish and maintain pressure in the Eastman zone, moving the puck around and getting numerous opportunities.

On Chastko’s goal, he was several feet in front of the net in the slot, took a pass from Clarke Caswell and quickly ripped the puck by Eastman goalie Ethan Penner on the blocker side.

“They’ve had a pretty aggressive PK and they were covering me well,” Chastko said of the play. “We spread out up top and the boys moved the puck around between (Braden) Keeble, (Calder) Crossin and Casy (Clarke Caswell), and then Casy came down the half wall and I tried to get open. He fed me and I just had to get the puck off quick.”

Chastko calmly skated to the sideboards with his stick in his left hand, and was promptly mobbed by the other Wheat Kings on the ice.

“When I saw that puck go in the back of the net, I had a very, very happy feeling,” Chastko said after the game. “It’s something that I can’t really explain. There was a lot of emotion inside of me at that time.”

There was also pandemonium on the bench as his teammates celebrated the record goal. He was happy to share the moment with them.

“It was great,” Chastko said. “Coming up on the record, they’ve been giving me a hard time about it and every day they’ve been asking me questions about it. For it to happen and to see their reaction — I saw on the replay that they were excited — that means a lot to me knowing they were just as happy as I was.”

Wheat Kings assistant coach Travis Mealy said Chastko has been the model of consistency all season, adding his game can be measured by a lot more than just goals.

“He’s a 200-foot player, he works and shows up every night, never takes a night off, he’s a leader in the room and this year it’s showing dividends in the stats,” Mealy said.

Dylan Schrader also drew an assist on the goal, which put Brandon up 3-0. Brandon’s Callum Halls and Will Pearson had scored in the second period after a scoreless opening frame, but despite the three-goal lead, the game was far from over. Trey Sellen and Carter Johannesson replied for the Selects, with the second goal coming with 84 seconds remaining in regulation and their goalie pulled.

Brandon was able to hang on, however, with Keeble adding an empty netter with a second remaining.

KC Couckuyt made 32 saves for Brandon, with Penner turning aside 24 shots for Eastman.

“This was a playoff-style game,” said Chastko, who is also one of the top baseball players in his age group in the city. “Eastman has a really good team. We played very well right to the end and got the W.”

The win snapped Brandon’s first losing streak of the season at two games.

In a near mirror image of Saturday’s game, Eastman took a 3-0 lead on Sunday, Callum Halls and Clarke Caswell replied to bring Brandon within a goal and then the Selects scored into an empty net for a 4-2 victory.

KC Couckuyt made 22 saves for the third-place Wheat Kings (28-4-3), with Andrew Blahy turning aside 38 shots for the first-place Selects (30-6-3).

Incredibly, Chastko’s longest streak without a goal this season is just two games, and he’s been held without a goal just seven times in 39 contests, and has eight- and nine-game scoring streaks.

Mealy said the secret to Chastko’s success can be found in several areas.

“He never stops moving his feet,” Mealy said. “He’s a very good skater and he shoots in stride. He also has an extremely quick release. When you watch him play, you don’t know if he’s taking another stride, and before you know it, he shoots the puck, and he’s a shooter through and through. “The other side of his game play is that he distributes the puck extremely well, and when you put him out there with Caswell or Keeble, they tend to make a lot of magic.”

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