WHL NOTEBOOK: Geekie takes game to new level

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This article was published 04/04/2023 (1097 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Conor Geekie came back to the Western Hockey League this season with a new plan.

The 18-year-old Winnipeg Ice forward from Strathclair was the 11th overall pick in the 2022 National Hockey League draft, and the Arizona Coyotes prospect simply wanted more for himself.

“I don’t want to say your role changes but you want to take on a heavier load,” Geekie said about life after getting drafted. “I think that’s kind of what I had in mind, just being able to take the heavier load and play a more complete game I guess you could say, and just play better as a whole.

“As much you say it doesn’t change and the draft does nothing, it holds me a lot more accountable when it comes to certain things and how I carry myself and how I play night in and night out.”

The six-foot-four, 197-pound forward signed an entry-level contract with the Coyotes on July 20, 2022, but missed much of the summer development camp after suffering a minor injury. He recovered quickly and had a good training camp in the fall.

At one point in Coyotes camp, Geekie centred a line with Dylan Guenther and former Brandon Wheat Kings star Ben McCartney.

“I was just there to have a lot of fun,” Geekie said. “I was really trying to play my best hockey, no doubt, but it was just a really cool experience. With everything and how it panned out, Arizona was a really nice organization to go to and more or less just a nice place to be in.

“I think it was one of those things I really enjoyed. I wouldn’t say I focused too much on how well I played or how much I criticized myself, but it was more or less going out there every night and enjoying it.”

He was reassigned to Winnipeg on Sept. 26. After putting up 23 points in 24 games as a 16-year-old rookie in the Regina hub, Geekie exploded for 24 goals and 70 points in the 2021-22 campaign and bumped that up again this season with 77 points in 66 games.

“It was good,” Geekie said. “It was a lot of fun. With the team’s success and everything, it made it pretty easy to have a good year. I think the guys had a lot of fun through the whole year. When our team is winning like we were, I think we were really happy with it obviously.

“My individual goals were met, but most importantly, I had a lot of fun all year with the group of guys we had.”

Geekie’s 24-year-old brother Morgan spent four seasons with the Tri-City Americans, where the current Seattle Kraken forward scored a career-high 35 goals in the 2016-17 season and set the family record with 90 points. With a hat trick against Brandon in a 5-3 victory in the season finale, Conor hit the 35-goal mark as well, tying him for the family lead in goal-scoring.

(Father Craig, mainly a stay-at-home defenceman, topped out at seven goals in the 1992-93 season with the Wheat Kings, but he holds a family record with 169 penalty minutes that season.)

Conor said he and Morgan hadn’t discussed his 35th goal, yet.

“There’s definitely some chirps going around,” Geekie said. “I have more career hat tricks than Morgan I think — (Conor leads 3-1 in that category) — but they were pretty happy. I think it’s good.

“We chirp quite a bit but they obviously give me some credit here and there. The way Morgan is playing too, he’s playing really well so it’s been a lot of fun throughout the whole year having them in my ear. They’re chirping more about not scoring in the last six games and then finding a way to score against Brandon.”

Conor, Morgan and Noah either FaceTime or text every day and call every other day.

“We’re always in touch,” Geekie said. “We’re a really close family. I call Mom (Tobi) and Dad every day. Either though I’m not really at home, it still feels like I’m there.”

It’s clear he enjoys a little home cooking.

The hat trick against Brandon pushed him to 15 goals and 10 assists in 25 games during his career against the team his father played for and he grew up watching.

“Obviously my adrenalin gets up a little more when you play Brandon,” Geekie said. “You grew up watching them and they are our biggest rival as the Winnipeg Ice. I was fortunate enough to find the net against them and have some success.”

So did his team, which beat Brandon all 10 times the two clubs met this season and won eight of 10 meetings a year earlier. But the Wheat Kings have hardly been their only victims, as the Ice have earned back-to-back regular season titles with records of 53-10-3-2 and 57-10-1-0.

But they’ve paid for it at the trade table, with just one third-round pick and two fifth-round picks remaining in the top five rounds in the next four drafts.

Geekie said there hasn’t been a tremendous difference between the last two Ice teams, even with some top veterans graduating after last season.

“I think the management does a really good job,” Geekie said. “Everyone comes in and understands their role. We have the words up in our practice and in our dressing room ‘Passion, pride and confidence,’ all those good words, and the reason we’re having so much success is because every team and every guy who comes every year follows those to the maximum capacity.

“Obviously there are some different guys and some different personalities but just about every guy adds up to the same one. It’s been a pleasure to play on both teams and have success both years.”

Unfortunately for the Ice, their title hopes came crashing in the Eastern Conference final to Guenther and the Edmonton Oil Kings last May. After beating the Prince Albert Raiders and Moose Jaw Warriors in five-game series, the Ice lost Games 1 and 3 in overtime and fell in five games to the eventual WHL champion Oil Kings.

Geekie said his team learned from the disappointment.

“We’ve been really emphasizing working out,” Geekie said. “I think last year we got a little fatigued when it came down to it. Don’t get me wrong, Edmonton was a really strong team, but I think we wanted a better fate for ourselves.

“For us, we’ve really been harping on always staying in the moment and believing in our team, and I think that’s what we’ve done all year. No matter what the score is in a game, we’re always working our hardest and always trying to elevate our game, even in practice.”

The Ice hold a 2-0 series advantage in their best-of-seven conference quarterfinal against the Medicine Hat Tigers, with the series set to resume tonight in Alberta.

Geekie said last week that after a long season, he was happy playoffs had arrived.

“We’re all happy to be here and kind of be in it,” Geekie said. “I think it’s a lot of fun. We’re here to embrace it. That’s something that we really emphasize as a team, living in the moment and kind of going along for the ride. All we want to do is win. I think it’s team first.

“With the group of guys we have this year and even last year, I think that’s what we came up with is team first with everything, no matter what situation. We just have one common goal in mind, and that’s to win.”

In an odd twist of fate, if the two top seeds advance to the WHL final, Geekie will face Guenther again since he now skates for the Seattle Thunderbirds.

With pandemic restrictions mostly lifted, Geekie spent a lot of time in the community in the first normal season of his WHL career. He was one of four Ice players to earn the team’s community service award. His work actually began in his rookie season when he took on a role as ambassador for Ronald McDonald House Manitoba, with his 35 goals this season earning a $3,500 donation to the organization.

“I was asked when I was 16 in the bubble to do the Ronald McDonald thing,” Geekie said. “I never understood how much fun it would be. You meet a lot of new people and meet a lot of new faces. I think the biggest thing for me in everything I do and how my parents raised me is it’s just a lot of fun.

“Getting that opportunity, whether I’m recognized or not, I think it’s just a cool thing that I enjoy, just being around people.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — Brandon’s power play finished at 21.3 per cent this season, which was 13th overall in the league. Are those numbers higher than normal or lower since the 1996-97 season?

• WEEKLY AWARDS — To the surprise of no one, Regina Pats captain Connor Bedard was named player of the week after scoring five times and adding three assists as the Pats took a 2-0 series lead on the Saskatoon Blades. He had three points in their 6-1 win on Friday and five points in their 6-5 overtime victory on Sunday.

In net, Moose Jaw Warriors netminder Connor Ungar quickly returned to form after a long suspension to stop 71 of 73 shots he’s faced as they beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 2-1 in double overtime on Friday and 5-1 on Saturday. The Calgary product is a former Wheat King. Both series resume tonight.

• MONTHLY AWARDS — Bedard was also named player of the month for March after scoring 19 goals and adding 13 assists in 13 games. It’s his fourth monthly award. Daniel Hauser of the Winnipeg Ice was the top goalie for March after going 6-1-0-0 record with a 2.01 goals-against average and .929 save percentage.

Finally, 15-year-old Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin McKenna is the top rookie for March after scoring four goals and adding six assists in six games. He was the top pick in the 2022 draft.

• SIN BIN — The series between the Red Deer Rebels and Calgary Hitmen already has some heat after a pair of slew-footing suspensions were handed down on Saturday following Friday’s 3-0 Rebels victory. Red Deer’s Craig Armstrong received two games and Calgary’s Maxim Muranov picked up a one-game ban.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — In his third season with the University of Calgary Dinos, 24-year-old Zach Wytinck of Glenboro had six goals and 12 assists, with a goal and three assists in six games in the post-season. Wytinck played two full seasons and two partial seasons with the Wheat Kings between 2016 and 2019, suiting up for 169 games, and contributing 10 goals and 60 assists. He was traded to the Regina Pats in his overage season on Oct. 19, 2019, and had eight goals and 36 assists in 52 games with the Pats.

• WHAT’S NEXT — The U.S. priority draft is May 10 with the regular draft on May 11. The National Hockey League draft is set for June 28-29 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, with the Canadian Hockey League’s import draft planned for July 5.

• ANSWER — In the Internet era, Brandon has had a lower power-play conversion rate than 21.3 per cent eight times, with an all-time low of 11.4 per cent in 2005-06. The power play has finished below the top 10 in nine of the last 27 seasons. Conversely, it’s been in the top three 13 times in that period. The Wheat Kings had 279 opportunities this year, which in a full season is fifth fewest. They allowed 12 short-handed goals, the third time they’ve done that, but it was fewer than the 15 they gave up in 2010-11.

• SIGNING OFF — This is the 28th and final instalment of the weekly WHL Notebook for the 2022-23 season. The column will return in September.