WHEAT KINGS CAMP 2024: Boehm a happy, and healthy, camper
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/08/2024 (581 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
While all the players are likely happy to be attending training camp with the Brandon Wheat Kings this weekend, you’ll forgive Nigel Boehm if he has an extra spring in his step.
The 15-year-old defenceman from Corman Park, Sask. — he turns 16 on Sept. 22 — is one of a number of young defencemen competing for spots on Brandon’s blue-line. He missed the team’s prospects camp in May 2023 due to a high-ankle sprain, and then broke his right arm prior to rookie camp last September, with both injuries coming shortly before he was heading to Brandon.
They were the only serious injuries he’s ever suffered.
Nigel Boehm lifts the puck up in the air with his stick during a practice session at Brandon Wheat Kings training camp at Westoba Place on Friday morning. (Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun)
“It feels great to finally get out here and come to camp,” Boehm said with a wide smile. “It’s great guys, a great facility, it’s nice to finally come out here.”
Brandon grabbed the left-shooting Boehm in the second round with the 28th overall pick of the 2023 draft after taking forward Jaxon Jacobson of Brandon and defenceman Giorgos Pantelas of Victoria.
It was the first time since 2017 and only the fourth time since the draft began in 1990 that the Wheat Kings used two of their top three picks on defencemen.
While Boehm missed the two camps, this isn’t the signed prospect’s first time skating in Brandon. The Wheat Kings called him up for a week in January, and while he didn’t see any game action, he skated with the team at practice after travelling back from Saskatoon on the bus with them.
“It helped a lot, just to come meet the guys and see what the talent is, what the skill is,” Boehm said. “It set the tone back home. I tried to bring back that pace and develop as a player to make the team this year.”
Boehm played his under-18 AAA rookie season with the Saskatoon Contacts, posting five assists and 36 penalty minutes in 41 games after rejoining the lineup in late September as his broken arm healed.
His team’s season didn’t go as well as he hoped because they missed the playoffs
“Personally, I thought I was well rounded defensively and I thought I had a good year,” Boehm said.
That’s a common opinion among the people who would know.
Brandon director of hockey operations Chris Moulton said the six-foot-one, 177-pound defenceman brings an incredible number of intangibles to go with his natural ability.
“When I spoke to his coach two weeks ago, he said Nigel revels in playing against the other team’s best players,” Moulton said. “He likes to be physical, he likes to play heavy, he likes to be that guy. When you look at the Chris Tanevs and those kinds of players of the world, those guys are commodities, guys who like to play hard and like to play heavy. That’s what Nigel will do. Nigel is a strong kid with huge leadership and one of those guys who will be an anchor for a while.”
With at least three spots available on the blue-line, four signed players are in the conversation, plus any unsigned players who make a case for themselves. Boehm is in a battle with his fellow 16-year-olds Pantelas and Cameron Allard, plus 17-year-old Emerson Clark, as the team reshapes its blue-line.
“We’ve got really good young guys coming in and some guys coming back,” Moulton said. “We know that’s probably an area of our group we need to tighten up and make stronger. With all those ‘08s coming in and a guy like (list player) Dylan Ronald and Emerson Clark, guys like that, it will be a battle right through the pre-season.”
Boehm certainly put the work in to stay in Brandon this season.
He skated two to four times per week, and hit the gym four times a week for two-hour sessions.
The defenceman already has a nice link to the Wheat Kings in Saskatoon product Roger McQueen, who is close friends with Boehm’s older brother Jared.
“He’s a really good person, six-five, a huge dude,” Boehm said with a chuckle. “He’s a very skilled player and hopefully he’s going to get drafted and go to The Show. He’s got a bright future ahead of him.”
To join his brother’s friend with the Wheat Kings, Boehm said he’ll have to play like he’s 19 instead of 15 and set a physical tone. But the ultimate goal is certainly worth it.
“It’s like a dream to me,” Boehm said. “I always wanted to play here in the Western League. I’m trying to make that dream come true.”
» pbergson@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @PerryBergson