UBC provides great landing spot for Thorpe

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This article was published 30/04/2024 (768 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ty Thorpe wasn’t completely sure what this past season would bring for his hockey career, but as it turned out, an early disappointment turned into an incredible new adventure.

The 22-year-old Brandonite attended rookie camp with the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings and went to the rookie tournament with the Kings in Las Vegas last September.

He was then added to main camp, but since the Kings didn’t have a spot for him with the American Hockey League’s Ontario Reign, he was offered a two-way deal between the AHL and ECHL.

That made his decision to attend school easy. Thankfully, he had a spot locked down with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and their head coach Sven Butenschon, the former Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman.

“It’s one of the best schools in the world really, so that was definitely a contributing factor,” Thorpe said of picking UBC. “I always valued my education. As much as I still want to play hockey as long as I can, that’s definitely something that has an increasing importance as I get older and have an increasing awareness of how valuable that is.

“Even if you have a long and successful career, you have a long life after that.”

On the ice, he knew UBC was going to have a strong team this year. If he wasn’t playing pro, it would help him develop because still wants to play pro hockey, although he’s certain he’ll be a different player at 24 or 25 after earning a degree than he is now.

He had played against a few current Thunderbirds in the past, but former Wheat Kings defenceman Jonny Lambos was the only player he knew well. Coincidentally, both were originally drafted by the Victoria Royals, came to Brandon in the Tanner Kaspick trade in 2018, played primarily defensive roles with the Wheat Kings and then finished their major junior careers elsewhere.

Lambos was traded when he was caught up in an overage logjam on July 14, 2021, while Thorpe wanted a fresh start elsewhere and was sent to the Vancouver Giants on Aug. 12, 2021.

When Thorpe arrived at UBC, it was comforting to have a familiar face in Lambos, who was in his second season at the school.

“It was definitely a new experience not knowing any of the guys except for Jonny so that was something I was a bit nervous about at first, going into a new place with new people, but everyone was really nice and welcoming and accepting,” Thorpe said. “I was brought into the fold by everyone and now we’re super close and I’ve made some of my best friends here.”

He said the players lived what he calls parallel lives in the WHL, so they are able to draw on those past experiences as they bond.

It didn’t take long for him to realize he had another significant transition on the ice because of the size and physicality of the players. Since U Sports hockey features many former Western Hockey League players — but now they’re all older — there is a high level of play.

“It’s not really talked about in hockey circles as much as other leagues,” Thorpe said. “From a scout’s perspective, they respect it more because they’ve watched all the players playing in the WHL for the past five years and know what the level is like. There are a lot of high-end WHL players and Junior A players who either wanted to focus on education or didn’t quite make it to pro yet.”

Thorpe, who made his pro debut with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays last spring after Vancouver was ousted in the playoffs, played alongside several guys in the Thunderbirds lineup, although he skated on a line the most with Cyle McNabb of Winnipeg after he returned from injury. Overall, Thorpe was pleased with his U Sports debut season.

“I was super happy with it, especially coming in as a rookie and not really knowing that many on the team and what to expect,” the six-foot-one, 181-pound Thorpe said. “At first you’re just kind of feeling it out but I could tell right away it was a special group of guys and was going to be a special year. Everyone was really supportive. You were close with everyone and there were no cliques.”

He said the fact the players are all men in a condensed age range and maturity level also made it easier.

UBC topped the nine-team Canada West with a record of 22-4-2, and rebounded from a 1-0 deficit to win the best-of-three semifinal against the University of Alberta and former Wheat Kings Ethan Kruger and Mason Ward.

That vaulted them into the best-of-three league final against the University of Calgary Dinos and Thorpe’s former Wheat Kings teammates Connor Gutenberg of Brandon and Zach Wytinck of Glenboro. Thorpe enjoyed the experience.

“I was talking with them a lot going into it,” Thorpe said. “Of course I see them all the time in the summer and skate with them and our families are still close. That was really cool to reunite with them and battle on the ice. We were getting a little feisty, as always. It was a really competitive series with two big physical teams going at.”

UBC has a unique alumni project that pairs a former player with each current player, so the alumni remains very involved in the program. They take players out for supper and even have a weekly skate that both can attend.

When UBC came back from another 1-0 deficit to win 5-3 in Game 3 on March 3, it was the team’s first title since 1971 and engendered a multi-generational celebration.

“It just didn’t feel real at first that we’d actually done it,” said Thorpe, who added he was happy to share it with the former players at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. “Having them after we won all in the room celebrating with us was really special because then you realized it’s bigger than you, bigger than the team and it wouldn’t be possible without this large community and group of people who came before you.”

At the single elimination U Sports final eight in Toronto, however, the Thunderbirds fell 3-2 to the McGill Redbirds on March 15 to end the season.

Off the ice, another hurdle was finding his way in the classroom again. He took one class during the COVID-19 pandemic and one while he was in Vancouver, but that was it after he graduated high school.

He took all online classes in his first semester because he was late getting back from Los Angeles and didn’t want to fall behind, and then had to take in more new information when he finally started to attend classes in person.

“It was a little unique,” Thorpe said. “Obviously it was a lot different than going to Crocus. I felt like I’ve always been a learner. I’ve always kept reading a lot and writing so that was part wasn’t too hard for me. It was getting used to the routine of it and the academic writing with essays.”

He is taking arts, with an assortment of classes ranging from psychology to literary studies to political science and creative writing.

“It was quite a range,” Thorpe said. Unlike many students, virtually everything is paid for.

Since Thorpe spent five seasons in the WHL, he has the league’s scholarship plan to draw for the next few years. He said it’s a terrific head start.

“When you realize how much it is and how much of an impact that has because your education is so important and to have an opportunity to do it without going into ridiculous amounts of debt, it sets you up for life,” Thorpe said. “My parents had a college fund that would have helped me pay for it, but having the opportunity to access that and have something also to show for your time in junior is something that people don’t talk about enough.

“You’ve earned that from all the hours you’ve put in working in junior and then have the opportunity to go to higher education and get a degree while still playing hockey at a higher level.”

The other big change is living without a parent or billet. In his final season of junior, he lived with Giants goaltender Jesper Vikman, and they had a lot of independence, doing their share of the cooking and laundry. After the season, he built on those skills in South Carolina.

This season, he lived with teammate Tian Rask.

“Those things all prepared me for the transition to living on my own away from parents,” Thorpe said. “I kind of enjoyed the freedom, just being able to do your own laundry and have your own space to do all that stuff. There are times when you’re writing exams or mid-terms and you’ve been at the library for eight hours and you’re not really too motivated to cook for yourself but that’s just part of adult life.”

Thorpe was an unusually thoughtful and introspective WHL rookie at 16, and that certainly hasn’t changed as he’s gotten older. When he considers his five years of major junior, he said it’s had a profound impact on his life.

“It’s so formative,” Thorpe said. “One thing I won’t ever forget is the friendships I made, and the experiences and just being with your teammates and having that family. I always valued that more than anything. I also feel like character-wise, adversity-wise, there are a lot of obstacles that everyone goes through in that time in your life, and I think playing junior hockey adds another level or layer of obstacles and challenges to that.

“Now being in university and transitioning into adulthood, there are a lot of lessons and experiences that shaped me into who I am from that time. At the end of the day, I’m really grateful for that. There’s not a part of me that isn’t a part of that time.”

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