WHL NOTEBOOK: Brayden Dube finds his own success with Raiders

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This article was published 30/01/2024 (598 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The team that drafted Brayden Dube and where he started last season won a Western Hockey League title in May. Unfortunately, the young forward wasn’t there to see it.

On Nov. 16, 2022, the Roblin product, who was 17 at the time, was included in a blockbuster deal which saw the Prince Albert Raiders send 19-year-old defenceman Nolan Allan and the rights to 17-year-old forward Reese Shaw to the Seattle Thunderbirds for Dube, forward Gabe Ludwig, defenceman Easton Kovacs, and six draft picks including first-rounders in 2023 and 2024.

Seattle went on to beat Winnipeg in the league final, winning the franchise’s second championship.

“I was happy for the guys I was playing with,” Dube said of the T-Birds. “The team changed a lot, a lot of guys got traded. I was happy for them, but I wish it was our team instead.”

Dube, who shoots right, was taken 29th overall in the second round of the 2020 draft by Seattle after a high-scoring Winnipeg Hockey League’s U15 AAA division season when he led all players with 74 goals and 56 assists in just 36 games with the Parkland Rangers.

Dube posted six points in seven games for the U18 Rangers in the 2020-21 season before the COVID-19 shutdown. At the start of the 2021-22 season, he was reassigned by Seattle in his 16-year-old season and chose to join the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Dauphin Kings.

As the youngest player on a team which went on to win an MJHL title, Dube put up 46 points in 49 regular season games, nine points in 16 playoff games and then scored four goals in five games at the Centennial Cup.

He made the Thunderbirds to start the 2022-23 season, and had two goals and two assists in 14 games prior to the deal. In 43 games with Prince Albert, he added three goals, six assists and 12 penalty minutes.

In 45 games this season, he has career highs in every category, with 10 goals, 10 assists and 18 penalty minutes.

“I have a bigger role this year,” Dube said. “They want me to play good offensively and shut down the other line we’re playing against when we match lineups. It’s making sure we’re winning our line matchups.”

He added his personal expectations are also much higher this year.

A common refrain for junior players as they get older is the speed of play seems to slow down, in large part because of their experience and the fact they’ve seen it all before. In his third season of junior and second in the WHL, Dube is experiencing it, too.

“I feel more comfortable out there now,” Dube said. “It feels like I have more time than I did last year.”

That’s also true off the ice.

Dube graduated from high school last spring and is just playing hockey this season, but plans to take some courses in the future.

From a team standpoint, the Raiders are one of the nine clubs caught up in the horserace for the eight Eastern Conference playoff spots. They currently sit in ninth place with a 20-23-1-3 record, six points out of fifth place and one point out of eighth spot.

“Our goal is to make playoffs,” Dube said. “It’s tight standings right now, but that’s our main goal, make playoffs and go for a run.”

That’s not been made any easier by the loss of a pair of the team’s key contributors, top defenceman and team captain Eric Johnston, who just returned, and 17-year-old forward Ryder Ritchie, who remains out week to week with a lower-body injury. The latter, who has 31 points in 34 seasons, is one of the league’s top-ranked prospects for the upcoming National Hockey League draft.

“It’s tough, but we can still win games,” Dube said. “If we put the work boots on, we’ll be in the win column.”

The Raiders still have five games left against the Wheat Kings, who are also in the battle for a playoff spot. The two clubs tangle in Prince Albert on Feb. 10, Feb. 22 and 24, and have a pair of trips to Brandon remaining, on March 1 and March 16.

Following games at Westoba Place, Dube can generally be found visiting with a large group of supporters, who make the 236-kilometre trip from Roblin south to Brandon. He said that makes trips to Westoba Place special.

“It’s really fun going there,” Dube said. “I see lots of family and friends after the game. I grew up watching them so it’s pretty cool to play there.”

Two of the team’s overagers, Sloan Stanick of Rapid City and former Wheat Kings defenceman Jacob Hoffrogge, also have Westman connections. Dube said both are a treat to be around.

“They’re real nice guys,” Dube said. “They’re both funny, they both like to screw around a bit. They’re both fun to play with.”

On the ice, he’s played a lot with Harrison Lodewyk and Krzysztof Macias this season, although lines do change during the course of a year. While he’s hopeful he can boost his offensive numbers in the final third of the season, his biggest goal isn’t personal.

“I just want to help the team win,” Dube said. “That’s all I care about.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — Since Kelly McCrimmon took over behind the Wheat Kings bench during the 1989-90 season, how many other head coaches have there been in Brandon?

• WEEKLY AWARDS — The player of the week is 18-year-old Calgary Hitmen defenceman Carter Yakemchuk, who had two goals and three assists in a pair of games that included an 8-0 pasting of the Wheat Kings. Yakemchuk, who is ranked sixth among all North American skaters and leads all WHL rearguards with 20 goals, is a Calgary product.

The goaltender of the week is 18-year-old Seattle Thunderbirds netminder Scott Ratzlaff of Irma, Alta., who won both his starts while posting a 2.00 goals-against average and .960 save percentage.

The rookie of the week is 16-year-old Medicine Hat Tigers forward Gavin McKenna of Whitehorse, Y.T., who had three goals and four assists in two games.

• SIN BIN — Defenceman Ismail Abougouche of the Edmonton Oil Kings received a three-game suspension for his actions prior to a fight against Saskatoon on Jan. 21 … Regina Pats forward Jaxsin Vaughan was handed a two-game suspension for a game misconduct and repeat offender versus Medicine Hat on Jan. 20, and the team was fined $500 for team personnel off-ice comments.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — Ty Ettinger, 23, is in his third season at Red Deer Polytechnic, where he has two goals, three assists and 50 penalty minutes in 13 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference games playing alongside Elkhorn’s Layne Toder. Ettinger, a product of Ardrossan, Alta., was drafted 96th overall by the Wheat Kings in 2015 and played 45 games with the club during the 2017-18 season and one the next year before a trade to the Vancouver Giants on Oct. 1, 2018. He also skated with the Winnipeg Ice and Victoria Royals. In total, the defenceman suited up for 95 WHL games over three seasons. He is taking a Bachelor of Education secondary years while playing for the Kings.

• THE WEEK AHEAD — The Wheat Kings have 22 regular season games remaining, with nine at home and 13 on the road. They have another busy three-in-three weekend coming up, with the Red Deer Rebels visiting Westoba Place on Friday at 7 p.m., and then it’s back on the road to meet the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Saskatoon Blades on Sunday at 4 p.m.

• ANSWER — The answer is 10.

In order, they are:

• Kevin Maxwell (1991-92).

• Bob Lowes (1992-2001).

• Dean Clark (2001-03).

• Mike Kelly (2003-04).

• Cory Clouston (2011-12).

• Dwayne Gylywoychuk (2012-13)

• David Anning (2016-19).

• Dave Lowry (2019-20).

• Don MacGillivray (2020-22)

• Marty Murray (2022-present)