WHL NOTEBOOK: Ziprick’s big decisions paying off in Moose Jaw

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This article was published 05/12/2023 (707 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like most young players in Westman, Aiden Ziprick’s relationship with the Western Hockey League began by attending Brandon Wheat Kings games.

The six-foot-one, 185-pound defenceman from Russell, who suits up for the Moose Jaw Warriors, said the team served as something to aspire to as a youngster.

“I wouldn’t say we went a lot, but we went enough times to know who they were and they were pretty special,” Ziprick said. “Growing up and watching them and the way they play, that’s what you wanted to be when you grew up, a Brandon Wheat King. That’s what everyone in Russell wanted to be.

“They would send a couple of guys out to skates in Russell and that was pretty special as younger kids to learn from them and experience that. Obviously, the Wheat Kings were a pretty big part of growing up.”

Ziprick, who turns 18 on Dec. 8, is one of three Russell products in the league this season, joining Portland Winterhawks defenceman Ryder Thompson and Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Tyson Zimmer. He is close with his distant cousin Zimmer, who he played with in Lethbridge, texting him pretty much every day. He is also tight with Thompson, who he trains with in Winnipeg during the summer.

They also hang out together during the summer months.

“Growing up in a smaller town, there weren’t too many, I guess, talented guys, but obviously there were a couple who dedicated themselves to hockey like Ryder and Tyson,” Ziprick said. “I would play with them every other year and just being able to follow them through my career and see what they did to get to where they are made things easier for myself.

“When they moved on, I would be able to do it with kids who were younger than me. It was always good to play with them. They were two of the more mature guys.”

Ziprick grew up as part of a farm family which includes parents Cam and Sherisse, and brother Keaton.

After playing his minor hockey in Russell, Ziprick entered the Parkland Rangers system during the 2018-19 season, earning a spot as a minor on the under-15 AAA team. He had five assists in 36 games that year, and then exploded for 14 goals and 33 assists in 37 games in his draft year as team captain.

“It was a big jump from peewee house league to Parkland,” Ziprick said. “It was good. I played spring hockey with a lot of the guys in the Parkland area growing up so my first year I kind of knew a lot of them … the first season was a little bit of a struggle, but that summer was when I started taking it seriously and working out.”

That team included future WHLers Kyan Grouette, Stephen Arps and Brayden Dube, along with several players who are in the Junior A ranks.

On his WHL draft day on April 23, 2020, Manitoba was under COVID lockdown so Ziprick was at home on the farm.

“It was kind of nerve-wracking,” Ziprick said. “I didn’t know if I was going to go or not. I was a later pick, I went in the seventh round, so obviously watching some of my buddies go was pretty special and being able to congratulate them.

“I think my dad told me just to put it away. If you go, you go, if you don’t, you don’t, it’s not too big of a deal. My mom and brother were outside and I was sitting there with my dad and then I was ‘I just got drafted!’”

Lethbridge selected him with the 148th overall selection.

He moved to the Rink Hockey Academy in Winnipeg in his 15-year-old season to give him the chance to skate more often and also to get some work in during COVID restrictions, although he was only able to play a couple of games.

Ziprick planned on heading back to Rink for his 16-year-old season, but Waywayseecappo Wolverines head coach Taylor Harnett called him about making the jump to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The team auto-protected him in 2020 as a player in their region prior to the MJHL draft.

He spent a couple of weeks deciding if he was ready for what was essentially a jump from U15 to Junior A, and decided it was a great opportunity to play just 35 kilometres from home.

“We had a lot of talks with Taylor about what things would like and I think it turned out pretty well,” Ziprick said. “I got to live at home and see my buddies every day. I give a lot of credit to the older guys who were on the team, the 2001s, the 2002s, they brought in me in and welcomed me really well. I thank them, and Taylor and (assistant coach) Josh (Lee) did a lot for my development.”

Ziprick posted a goal and 11 assists in 33 games as a 16-year-old rookie during the 2021-22 season. He attended camp with Lethbridge the next fall, but the unsigned prospect was returned to Wayway, where he had six goals and six assists in the first 23 games.

He was starting to hear from American schools about playing down in the States, and when Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt called offering him a contract, he had his second conundrum in two seasons.

“That process was a lot of thinking,” Ziprick said. “At the start of the year I got off to a pretty good start, so I had talked to a couple of teams. When we went to the MJHL showcase in Portage, I had a really good tournament so I talked to a lot of schools in person and got a couple of phone calls, too.

“The GM called my dad and said ‘We’re ready to make a move with your kid’ so that was good to hear, but also made things a lot harder with talking to schools. It was probably two to three weeks of straight ‘What do I do? What do I do?’ kind of a thing.”

He called past coaches and spoke to his friends and ultimately made the tough decision to go to Lethbridge and forgo his college eligibility.

He made his WHL debut on Dec. 2, 2022, and was able to skate in 30 games last season. While it meant a change in role, he has no regrets.

“It was a little tough going from Wayway playing top minutes and then going to the Dub and having to work your way up, but it was good,” Ziprick said. “Even the practices, being able to practise at higher speeds and higher intensity was good for my development. Getting into the league and getting a year of experience under my belt sooner rather than later was a pretty good decision.”

Lethbridge also proved to be the ideal spot to start his career.

By coincidence, his buddy Zimmer had been dealt to the Hurricanes by the Wheat Kings early last season, so there was a familiar face waiting for him when he arrived.

“That was pretty special,” Ziprick said. “Going there, he was the only one I knew so to be able to reunite with him and be able to be with him again was very special for me and also my family. It was really fun.”

Ziprick faced the familiar challenge of anyone who has jumped up a level, noting the speed and skill of the players were really noticeably different.

But at the same time, he had to remain true to his own game.

“I take pride in my own end first and try to jump in the rush when I can,” Ziprick said. “I think the best part of my game is making a good first pass coming out of the zone. I’ve taken pride in that. I’m a pretty good skater as well. I like to think I’m more of a two-way guy who can shut down the D-zone and get into the play when I can.”

Of course jumping into the WHL and suddenly having a Connor Bedard or Nate Danielson bearing down on you is a new challenge. He chuckled when asked about it.

“It’s a bit scary, but you treat it like everyone else,” Ziprick said. “You play the body over the puck and try not to get caught puck watching or else you’ll be on the highlight reel.”

Ziprick returned to Lethbridge in the fall, but after two games was traded to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sept. 28 for a sixth-round pick in 2026. He made his Warriors debut on Sept. 29 in a 5-2 victory over the Wheat Kings.

Ziprick had a sense he might be dealt, although he tried not to think about it.

“When I came back, I had a good first couple of games,” Ziprick said. “Obviously with three guys at NHL camps (Noah Chadwick, Joe Arntsen and Chase Pauls), I knew I would be in a tough spot. With the trade it allows me to play a bit more and be in a better role than I would have been in Lethbridge.”

Ziprick has an assist in 16 games with his new club, which visits Brandon on Friday and again on Dec. 16 in the final game before Christmas for both clubs.

Like everyone else, the first thing that pops out to him about his Warriors club is the first-round NHL picks, Denton Mateychuk, Jagger Firkus and Brayden Yager.

“They’re all superstars already,” Ziprick said. “Just being able to watch them and what they do is pretty surreal. Just being able to practise with them and see what they do to take care of themselves is good for the brain.”

He said the chance to defend against them in practice and skate with them is helpful, while they also give him a sense of the level he has to reach to move on.

The Warriors (16-10-01) sit third in the Eastern Conference, trailing just the Saskatoon Blades and Medicine Hat Tigers. Ziprick said his squad has set its sights high.

“I think everyone on the team has the same goal, and that’s to win a championship,” Ziprick said. “I think we have the squad to do it, we just need to put the pieces together and see the way thing turn out. Everyone likes the group that we have and I think we’ll do something special.”

In 48 career games, he has four assists, four penalty minutes and a plus-minus of -5. But trading personal statistics for team success is a swap he’s willing to make.

“Personally, I just want to help the team any way I can,” Ziprick said. “Whether it’s blocking shots or making hits or putting up some points, I’ll do what I can to help the team reach that end goal.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — In a single regular season, the Wheat Kings have drawn more than 20 crowds of 4,000 people five times in the Internet era. It’s pretty easy to guess two of those seasons. How many can you get?

• ON THE MOVE — On Sunday, the Tri-City Americans sent 19-year-old goaltender Nicholas Avakyan of Glendale, Calif., to the Portland Winterhawks for a seventh-round pick in 2025.

• WESTMAN WATCH — With the Wenatchee Wild trailing the Portland Winterhawks 5-2 on Saturday with seven minutes remaining in the third period, Strathclair’s Conor Geekie, 19, scored a hat trick to send the game to overtime and then the Arizona Coyotes prospect won it in overtime. He now has 20 goals and 29 assists in 25 games and is tied for third in WHL scoring.

• WEEKLY AWARDS — Nor surprisingly, Geekie was named player of the week after he had six goals and seven assists last week. The goaltender of the week is 18-year-old Moose Jaw Warriors netminder Jackson Unger of Calgary, who won both of his starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and .969 save percentage.

The rookie of the week is Prince George Cougars netminder Joshua Ravensbergen of North Vancouver, B.C., 17, who won his three starts while posting a 0.84 goals-against average, .973 save percentage and one shutout.

• MONTHLY AWARDS — Portland Winterhawks captain Gabe Klassen of Prince Albert, Sask., 20, is the WHL’s player of the month for November after posting 25 points in 11 games. The top goalie is Ravensbergen, who went 5-1-0-0 with a 1.61 goals-against average, .947 save percentage and two shutouts.

The top rookie is Victoria Royals forward Cole Reschny of Macklin, Sask., 16, who had 12 points in eight games.

• SIN BIN — Brandon forward Matt Henry, 19, was suspended for two games as a repeat offender after earning a game misconduct during Friday’s game against the Regina Pats … Wenatchee Wild forward Miles Cooper will sit for three games after being assessed a charging major and game misconduct in a game against Portland on Friday.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — Vinny Iorio, who turns 22 on Nov. 14, is in his second season in the Washington Capitals organization with the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears. In 20 games this season, he has two goals and four assists. He had 22 points in 63 games in his pro debut last season as the Bears won the Calder Cup. The gregarious defenceman from Coquitlam, B.C., was a second-round pick by Brandon in 2017, and spent his four-year career as a Wheat Kings, suiting up in 191 regular season games and six playoff games between 2018 and 2022.

• THE WEEK AHEAD — Friday’s 7-1 victory over the Regina Pats kicked off an eight-game home stand for the Wheat Kings. It continues with the Red Deer Rebels (tonight), Moose Jaw Warriors (Friday), Kamloops Blazers (Saturday), Kelowna Rockets (Wednesday, Dec. 13), Moose Jaw (Saturday, Dec. 16), Regina (Wednesday, Dec. 27) and Saskatoon (Friday, Dec. 29).

• ANSWER — The high water mark for crowds of 4,000 or more in a single season is 33 in 2009-10 when Brandon was hosting the Memorial Cup. The team actually drew nine gates of more than 5,000.

In order, the other seasons with the most gates of 4,000 or more fans in the regular season are:

— 2010-11 (25 games) — The crowds continued to come the year after the Memorial Cup, with three gates over 5,000.

— 2015-16 (24 games) — Brandon drew well as it worked its way to its third league championship, with three crowds of more than 5,000. They had eight more crowds of more than 5,000 in their 11 playoff dates at home. — 2016-17 (20 games) — Fans continued to come to games the year after the championship season, with four gates of more than 5,000.

— 2011-12 (20 games) — In retrospect, the golden age of attendance may have been the three seasons from 2009 to 2012 when the team drew 78 crowds of more than 4,000 in 108 games.

Oddly, during the 2014-15 season when Brandon won the Scotty Munro Trophy as the top regular season club, they only drew 13 crowds of 4,000 or more. Last season, the Wheat Kings drew eight gates of more than 4,000 as society continues to rebound from COVID.