Self-driven Hudson Champagne finds success on ice

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This article was published 07/05/2024 (694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At age two, Hudson Champagne decided he was ready to skate. Thirteen years later, he may be ready to get drafted into the Western Hockey League.

The 15-year-old forward for the U15 AAA Brandon Wheat Kings said watching his family on the ice proved to be a little much back when he was a tot.

“My brother was out on the rink with my dad and his buddy and I was sitting on the bench watching,” Champagne recalled. “I went in the house and found a pair of skates and put them on. They were three sizes too big and I spent 20 minutes myself struggling to put them on — and did it by myself — and got out there and my parents couldn’t get me off. I just fell in love with it.”

Champagne began to play organized hockey at three when he was a year younger than everyone else, giving him three years of Timbits.

He started playing defence, and at seven began to bounce between the blue-line and forward. His father Blair suggested he pick one, so at eight he became a forward for good.

In his minor season at the U15 level, he made the AAA Wheat Kings, which gave him two seasons to play under Dave and Ty Lewis. He said he’s learned an incredible amount.

“It’s been a dream,” said Champagne, whose mother is Carla. “Last year as a minor it was a huge stepping stone going from U13, where I was still learning, but now there are systems and you have to play hockey the right way. With Dave being the head coach two years in a row, he really taught me how to play hockey the right way. It would be a constant thing, ‘Play the right way, don’t do it yourself, use your teammates.’

“I’m pretty happy I got to have him as my coach two years in a row.”

When the U15 Wheat Kings won their first provincial title in the spring of 2022 with a team led by Cole Temple and Jaxon Jacobson, they did it with an incomparable level of skill. While the last two championship teams were good, they had to find a different way to succeed.

“Last year’s team was just like this one, and I think this year’s team was even more with hard work,” the six-foot, 172-pound Champagne said. “If we didn’t have our third line this year, we wouldn’t have got the outcome we had. It was every single guy putting in work.

“Ty Aldcroft played with a fractured wrist the entire time, and if we didn’t have him, we wouldn’t have won the championship. He was on our third line but scored three or four goals in the playoffs.

“Even our minor guys, like Reid Nicol was a huge part of our team this year, and Brayden Watt, Mason Woychyshyn, Talon Scinocca and Kevin Knee. Usually your minor guys aren’t key parts of your team but this year they were. It was an actual team, it wasn’t just one line. Everyone played a huge part in getting the championship.”

At the same time, playing on a championship squad two years in a row is bound to leave its mark on a player. Champagne said it changed him.

“It put a lot of pressure on me as a returning player and having coaches relying on you, and also the new players,” Champagne said. “It taught me that hockey is a game and you should just enjoy it. It’s not your entire life, but at the same time, you have to take it seriously and do whatever you can to help the boys to win.”

His teammate Urijah Moosetail said Champagne’s size and speed were a big key to his success on the ice. But he said his intangibles made him great in the dressing room.

“He was a key part of our team this year,” Moosetail said. “He helped the whole team, I felt like, he was captain material.”

Champagne, who is related to former National Hockey Leaguer Derek Boogaard and current Ottawa Senator Rourke Chartier, certainly knew he was in WHL draft year, which this year is for players born in 2009. He did his best to tune out the extra level of scrutiny, although he noted he wasn’t completely successful.

“I’m trying not to think of it as the end goal,” Champagne said. “It’s a big part of my hockey career but it’s not the end goal. I’m trying not to get stuck on it. When there’s 50 scouts sitting in the stands with clipboards it’s hard not to think about, but I was just trying to play hockey and not worry about it.”

He had 18 goals, 33 assists and 45 penalty minutes in 28 regular season games last season, and in 11 playoff games, he added six goals, seven assists and 10 penalty minutes. That built on his 2022-23 totals of 22 points in 28 regular season games, and three points in 13 playoff contests.

“I think I’m a 200-foot-player who plays all areas of the ice and supports the puck pretty well and goes into the corner when other guys might not want to,” Champagne said of his game. “I can lay a big hit and also put the puck in the net.”

The Grade 9 student at Vincent Massey is targeting his skating and strength as areas he wants to improve for whatever comes next.

Manitoba’s Pursuit of Excellence (POE) program is once again holding its top-40 spring camp at J&G Homes Arena starting Thursday afternoon, so Champagne knows where he’ll be when the draft is being held.

“It’s two things at once,” he added. “It will suck for the guys who don’t hear their names called but I hope all the guys are supporting whether they have their names called or not.”

While Champagne is guarding against disappointment, with his combination of size, skill and temperament, he will almost certainly be chosen. He has no preference in the destination.

“That does not matter to me one bit,” Champagne said. “If my name is called, I’ll be happier than ever. If it’s not, that’s that.”

“I’m very excited, and a little nervous,” he added. “I’m trying to keep the nerves as far as possible and just hope for the best.”

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