WHL NOTEBOOK: Robson savours WHL experience in Edmonton

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This article was published 22/11/2022 (1111 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Luke Robson received a second chance with the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Now the 18-year-old Carberry product wants to repay them by giving just a little more in his rookie Western Hockey League season.

“Even though it’s my rookie season, at some point that has to snap,” Robson said. “You learn everything and then ultimately it comes down to you. My hopes are that once I’m through that learning process that I can begin producing more and be more of an offensive threat for the team.

“I just want to help the team out in any way, shape or form.”

The five-foot-eight, 149-pound forward is the son of former Brandon Wheat Kings forward Ryan and the older brother of Southwest Cougars forward Nate, who attended camp with the Wheat Kings as an undrafted free agent.

It looked like Luke Robson’s future might actually lie with the Moose Jaw Warriors, but that changed in September.

The Warriors grabbed him in the ninth round, 178th overall in 2019 after he put up 17 goals, 17 assists and 32 penalty minutes in 32 games with the under-15 AAA Southwest Cougars.

In his rookie season in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League with Southwest, he had 22 points in 44 games, and he got off to a quick start a season later with 10 points in eight games in the pandemic-shortened 2021-22 campaign.

After he failed to make Moose Jaw in his 17-year-old season, he instead made the jump to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Waywayseecappo Wolverines, who took him first overall in the MJHL’s 2019 draft. He put up 29 points in 46 games with the Wolverines, and returned to Warriors camp this fall understanding that at 18, it was probably his last good shot to earn a spot in the WHL.

“It felt like a make-or-break year for me,” Robson said. “Going into that camp, I knew there was lots of competition that had the same or better skill level as me, so I had to put my nose to the grindstone a bit and work my butt off, but ultimately things didn’t quite work out for me.”

The Warriors, who were loaded with forwards, reassigned Robson again and on Sept. 5 he was driving home to rejoin Waywayseecappo when the phone rang as he neared Regina.

“I got a call from the GM of Edmonton (Kirt Hill) saying we traded for you and we’re hoping to see you this week,” Robson said. “I ended up turning around in the middle of the highway and staying in Moose Jaw for a night and then drove to Edmonton the next day.”

While the Warriors were built for a playoff push, the Oil Kings won the league title last spring and graduated a tremendous amount of talent up front.

The Warriors sent Robson to the Oil Kings for a conditional 10th-round pick, and he signed with Edmonton five days later.

“It was a great feeling that they were committed to me right away,” Robson said. “Just the fact that they have confidence in me and want to see me succeed as a player and want to see me succeed on their team was a great confidence booster. It was definitely a big feather in my cap.”

Robson has played in 17 of Edmonton’s 22 games this season, earning an assist. He has a plus-minus of -9, four penalty minutes, 10 shots on net and has won 47 of his 96 draws.

He’s thankful for his experience in Wayway, which he said was a big help.

“I have to give credit to some of the younger guys who join the league at 16 or 17 because the jump in speed from Junior A to the WHL is such a huge jump,” Robson said. “I can’t even imagine going straight from midget all the way to the Dub.”

It also helped him with the transition into the role he’s expected to play this season. Earlier in his career, Robson was a front-line guy who was counted on for his offence. That’s not the case in Edmonton.

“I’m expected to be consistent with my game offensively and defensively,” Robson said. “I have to play my two-way game and help produce on the offensive side but also try to keep pucks out of our net in the D-zone.

“I’m on the PK a little bit so I have to block shots and sacrifice for the team, but ultimately my role is just for the greater good of the team.”

Robson said it took him 10 games to find his way and for the action around him to slow down a bit.

“It’s mostly mental for sure,” Robson said. “Once you settle down and realize that everything isn’t a rush to make a play, you realize how much slower the game is and how many better plays you can make.”

Robson earned his first WHL point when he earned the only assist on a goal by Ben Wright in a 5-1 loss to the Saskatoon Blades on Oct. 23.

The transition off the ice has also been a big one. The teenager from Carberry, population 1,740, is now living in the Alberta capital, which has a metro population of 1.4 million.

Robson billets are about a 15-minute drive from Rogers Place.

“I love it actually,” Robson said. “It’s a big difference from driving to Brandon and living in Carberry. The city is good. The traffic is a little crazy every now and then but it’s a good city.”

He added his teammates were helpful in showing him the ropes after he arrived.

Robson graduated from high school last spring but is putting the WHL’s scholarship program to work by taking a university course.

On the ice, Robson got his first-ever chance to play the Wheat Kings on Friday, a game the Oil Kings won 5-3 in Edmonton.

It was a special night for him, in part because his close friend Carson Bjarnason was in net for the Wheat Kings.

The pair grew up playing together in Carberry minor hockey, and also spent one season as teammates with Southwest.

“It was awesome,” Robson said. “It kind of brought me back to my old days a little bit just seeing him on the ice. Obviously he’s had a lot of success in the past, and even coming up here (in the future) he’ll have a lot of success. It was good. We had some laughs. “It was ultimately just a happy day to see each other and talk to each other after the game.”

The pair, who skate and golf together in the summer, also keep in touch during the season. For Robson, it’s been nice to see his buddy, an undrafted WHL free agent, suddenly considered a top NHL prospect.

“It’s really cool,” Robson said. “Even just watching him as we grew up develop and get better every day. Even though we had just one season together in Southwest, you could just see how much work he put into his game and how much he wanted to win and how much he wanted to get better every day.

“I’m not surprised where he’s at.”

Friday’s game against Brandon also had some extra meaning because of his father’s ties to the organization.

Ryan Robson spent four seasons with the Wheat Kings, debuting on the 1995-96 team that won a WHL title. In 303 regular season and playoff games in the Western Hockey League, he scored 103 goals and added 108 assists.

“It was kind of funny because there was also a Carberry sign in the stands too,” Luke Robson said. “It’s a good feeling actually. You realize ‘Oh my God, I’m in the league and I’m playing against my dad’s former team.’ That’s pretty fun in the first place, but then beating them sure felt really good too.”

He’ll have to wait to make his WHL debut in Brandon. The teams meet again in Edmonton on Jan. 22, and then the Oil Kings visit the Wheat Kings on Feb. 10 and March 11.

“I’m very excited,” said Robson, whose family also includes mother Laurie. “I’ve brought it up to my teammates a couple times how it’s probably going to be my best game of the year because I’m just looking forward to playing in front of everyone I know and playing back on the home turf a little bit.”

It hasn’t been an easy season for Edmonton, which is currently on a two-game winning streak but sits in the league basement with a record of 4-17-1-0 as it rebuilds.

Robson said his club has done a good job with the struggles.

“We just have to keep our mindset in the neutral zone,” Robson said. “Every game is a 0-0 record and we have to come out of the gates flying. We know that we’re a younger team but we’re also a very hard-working team and skilled team. When we can dial in our structure and put our nose to the grindstone and work hard, sometimes success will happen.

“We’re also willing to be resilient and fight through whatever comes our way.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — A Brandon Wheat King forward has won the WHL scoring race six times. How many can you name? For extra credit, which player won a scoring title before he was traded to the Wheat Kings?

• ON THE ROAD AGAIN — Former Wheat Kings forward Riley Ginnell was traded to the Regina Pats by the Moose Jaw Warriors on Monday for a fifth-round pick in 2026. The Warriors had to make a move after the New York Rangers organization returned overage forward Ryder Korczak, giving them four players for three spots.

The Pats now have four overagers, including defencemen Tanner Brown and Luke Bateman and forward Jakob Brook of Roblin, and will have to cut back down to three.

Brandon sent him to Moose Jaw on Oct. 11 for a fifth-round pick in 2024. He had a goal and three points in 14 games with the Warriors.

• WEEKLY AWARDS — Winnipeg Ice forward Zach Benson of Chilliwack, B.C., has been named player of the week after earning three goals and four assists in two games last week. The 17-year-old, who was taken 14th overall in 2020 and sits seventh in the league scoring race, is eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft.

Meanwhile, Portland Winterhawks netminder Dante Giannuzzi has been named goaltender of the week after stopping 60 of the 62 shots he faced in a pair of wins. The 20-year-old Winnipeg product improved his 2022-23 record to 10-1-1-0.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — John Quenneville has five goals and seven assists in 15 games with Leksands IF in the Swedish Hockey League. The 26-year-old forward graduated from the Wheat Kings after the 2015-16 season, and has skated in 44 regular season and playoff games in the National Hockey League with the New Jersey Devils and Chicago Blackhawks.

• ANSWER — Brandon’s scoring title winners are Eric Fehr (2004-05, 111 points), Ray Ferraro (1983-84, 192 points), Brian Propp (1978-79, 194 points), Propp (1977-78, 182 points), Bill Derlago (1976-77, 178 points) and Ron Chipperfield (1973-74, 162 points).

Erik Christensen won the 2002-03 title with the Kamloops Blazers when he posted 108 points. Brandon acquired him the next season, and he posted 38 points in 34 games, and 12 more points in 11 playoff games with the Wheat Kings.