Nguyen breaks new ground for Wheaties

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This article was published 27/12/2024 (265 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Marcus Nguyen has made history for the Brandon Wheat Kings, becoming the first player to land a NCAA Division I scholarship in more than 40 years.

The 20-year-old forward from Calgary, who Brandon acquired in the Western Hockey League off-season from the Portland Winterhawks, signed with the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks before the Christmas break.

Omaha was one of the last schools to contact him, and they took their time, talking to scouts and looking at video before making him an offer. And while he acknowledges they’re not an established college hockey superpower, Nguyen said it’s a team that’s trending in the right direction.

“I love the staff, they check in with me weekly and they’re always watching my games as I progress through the season,” said Nguyen, whose name is pronounced Win.

“I think they took a lot of interest, and I couldn’t be more fortunate to get feedback from them as well. Besides the flash stuff like the facility and stuff, looking in the mirror, I could imagine being a Maverick.”

Nguyen, who leads the Wheat Kings with 15 goals and 31 points in 29 games, returns to action this evening at Westoba Place as Brandon (15-9-3-2) tangles with the visiting Regina Pats (8-17-4-2).

The puck drops at 7.

Schools began to reach out to the five-foot-10, 182-pound forward before the rule change was made official, with about 15 eventually making contact with him.

“I went through a month there when I was pretty much on the phone every day after practice talking to schools,” Nguyen said. “A bunch of schools texted me, I had Zoom meetings. It was a lot.”

The Mavericks program launched in the 1997-98 season. They reached the Frozen Four for the first time in 2015, falling to the eventual champion Providence in the semifinals.

“I took my time with it,” Nguyen said. “I didn’t want to rush anything. It’s my future, so I wanted to make sure I feel right about it.”

In a way, it’s a decision nearly six years in the making, at least since Portland drafted him in the 11th round in 2019.

Nguyen said before his junior career started, he carefully considered the college route, but instead joined Portland at age 16. Now he gets the best of both worlds.

“In my last year of junior hockey, it couldn’t have come at a better time,” Nguyen said. “It’s awesome for us guys who would benefit from a longer runway, and getting an education and a degree at the same time is just amazing. I really don’t think it could have ended up any better.”

The last Wheat Kings player to earn an NCAA scholarship was former owner, general manager and head coach Kelly McCrimmon, who spent four seasons at the University of Michigan from 1980 to 1984. The rules were tightened after he began play and weren’t loosened again until November.

Since then, there’s been a flood of players from the Canadian Hockey League announcing their commitments.

Nguyen is not the only player with links to Westman who has committed. Overage Saskatoon Blades captain Ben Saunderson of Carberry will head to Quinnipiac University next fall.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said it’s a nice opportunity for the right-shooting Nguyen.

“It’s a whole new world with the changing landscape in the hockey world with the NCAA opening up,” Murray said. “Like I said to the guys, it’s a good time to be a hockey player. In our shoes, we want the 20-year-olds to be the guys leaving, and this situation is great for Marcus. It’s an opportunity for him to continue his hockey career and his education.

“I know he still wants to be a professional hockey player, so this lengthens the runway for him a little bit and will hopefully lead to something down the road for him academically and professionally.”

Nguyen attended rookie camp with the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers in the fall, and went to a development camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs in his draft year. He acknowledges his goal is still to pursue pro hockey, but he’s content to wait.

“I feel like hopping into pro next year or in four years, it’s always going to be there,” Nguyen said. “I want to develop myself as a hockey player, and I’m always pushing myself to get better at things. Being able to have the opportunity to get an education as well and always having the Plan B. I’m not going to be playing hockey for all my life so I think it’s great to have this opportunity to get a degree.”

He’s not sure what’s he going to study yet, noting he has plenty of time and that some players take general studies for their first couple of seasons. However, he has an interest in the sciences, adding Omaha also has a terrific business program.

Nguyen said it’s already a big topic of discussion in the Brandon dressing room, and he expects it will continue to get larger as players grapple with the reality of life after major junior.

“Not everyone is going to step into pro hockey and be successful,” Nguyen said. “There are a lot more players who go and up and down than be successful and make it to the NHL. I think it’s rare for a player to do it. Having this opportunity, it should be talked about.”

TURKEY GAME

Brandon has returned to action after the Christmas break on either Dec. 27 or 28 in every season in the Internet era, which began in the 1996-97 season. Fifteen of those games have been against the Pats, with the Wheat Kings holding a 10-5 edge.

Overall, Brandon is 14-9-2-1 in its first game after the break since the 1996-97 season.

Nguyen noted it’s seldom a thing of beauty.

“The first game back after the Christmas is always not as crisp than it would be during playoffs,” Nguyen said. “We’re practising (last night) and guys will skate (this morning) before the game. We need to get our puck touches and the skating in, but the biggest thing (tonight) is to bring our work ethic because you can’t win a hockey game based on skill. You have to outwork the other team.”

For his part, Murray isn’t worried that his players overindulged in the dainties and stuffing at the supper table. He said they’re simply not wired that way anymore.

“In today’s world, athletes take pretty good care of themselves,” Murray said. “I’m sure they got some workouts in and some of them touched the ice as well. I think it’s a different mindset than it was a long time ago. I think our kids are pretty committed. There is bound to be some rust and hopefully we can get that out of them in practice (last night.)”

In their four previous meetings this season, the Pats won 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 15 in Brandon and the Wheat Kings earned an identical 4-3 overtime decision a night later at Westoba Place. They also played twice at the Brandt Centre, with Brandon winning 5-1 on Sept. 21 and 5-2 on Nov. 8.

But Regina has been a major seller in the trade market in the last several weeks, with Murray noting the Pats have seven new players since they skated against the Wheat Kings last.

“It’s going to be a team that is completely overhauled since the last time we’ve seen them,” Murray said. “It’s going to be a battle … They’ve made a lot of moves over the last little bit. We know a good portion of the team and we know the guys in the league pretty well, especially coming from the same conference. It’s going to be one of those games we focus on ourselves and play to our identity.”

Brandon will have Slovakian defenceman-forward Adam Belusko back after he failed to earn a spot on his country’s final roster for the world junior championship. Goaltender Carson Bjarnason of Canada and forward Dominik Petr of Czechia both earned spots and will be out of Brandon’s lineup for at least the next two weeks.

The status of Brandon’s other injured players who were out before the break — forwards Roger McQueen, Ben Binder Nord and Easton Odut and defenceman Nigel Boehm — wasn’t immediately available.

The Wheat Kings stay busy after tonight’s game, visiting the Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday and the Swift Current Broncos on Monday. The Broncos return to Westoba Place on Wednesday, Jan. 1 for a matinee game, with the puck dropping at 2 p.m.

“Just seeing how tight our conference, any day it could be anyone’s game,” Nguyen said. “It’s in everyone’s hands here. We have to focus on what we do. We can’t really focus on what other teams do and how they’re doing.”

ICINGS: Prince Albert Raiders head coach Jeff Truitt underwent successful eye surgery during the Christmas break and is expected to be away from the team for three to four weeks. Assistant coach Ryan McDonald will take over as interim head coach … The trade deadline is set for Thursday, Jan. 9 this season: The holiday trade moratorium has now been lifted … The Wheat Kings head out for their West Coast trip on Jan. 11, with seven games that include every team in the B.C. Division, plus the Calgary Hitmen and the Everett Silvertips.

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