Garrett finds quiet, happy spot in net

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This article was published 02/01/2025 (259 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alex Garrett is simply making up for lost time.

The 19-year-old Brandon Wheat Kings goaltender, who was acquired from the Everett Silvertips on Dec. 27 for a fifth-round pick in 2026, didn’t start donning the pads until an usually late age for a goalie, but hasn’t looked back.

“I started out as a player and didn’t convert to goalie until U13,” Garrett said. “Honestly I just had more fun playing goalie. Everyone says they love customizing their gear, and I was the same way, I loved customizing my gear and wearing what I wanted to. I think that’s the main reason.”

The Western Hockey League club meets the Saskatoon Blades tonight at SaskTel Centre and visits the Prince Albert Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday in a two-game weekend swing through Saskatchewan.

Brandon’s next home action is next Friday, a day after Thursday’s league trade deadline.

While some young players shrink from the scrutiny that comes with being in net, it simply made sense to Garrett.

“I never really thought of it as pressure,” Garrett said. “It’s just going out there and having fun. In a sense, I’ve always liked everyone relying on me too. That’s just who I am as a person.”

The six-foot-one, 186-pound Saskatoon product was drafted in the seventh round of the 2020 draft by the Calgary Hitmen, and made his WHL debut at age 16 when he played the third period in an 8-1 loss to the Red Deer Rebels on Oct. 15, 2021.

He spent his 17-year-old season playing under-18 AAA with the Saskatoon Blazers with Wheat Kings prospect Emerson Clark on a team that went to the Telus Cup, and earned a full-time job with the Hitmen last season.

“I’m a positionally sound goalie,” Garrett said of his strengths in net. “I try to keep it quiet back there, just catch a lot of pucks, get a lot of stoppages and try to keep it quiet and easy. I think that helps, coaches and teams like goalies who can play quiet back there.”

In 19 games on a Hitmen club that narrowly missed the playoffs, he posted a 3.78 goals-against average and a .881 save percentage as a rookie.

“I jumped straight from midget to the Western League and the pace was so much higher and the shots were quicker and faster and harder,” Garrett said. “Honestly, it was a pretty big step, a pretty big difference, and for me it was just about playing my game and making the most of the opportunities I got there.”

The other big transition — if suddenly playing in a National Hockey League building, the Scotiabank Saddledome, wasn’t enough — was getting used to the pro-like lifestyle that is part of life in the WHL.

“That was my first year living away from home and that took a little bit of adjusting,” Garrett said. “It’s not going to be easy for anyone in your first year away from home.

“Playing in the Saddledome was pretty cool: Not a lot of people get to say they played in the Saddledome. They had a great fanbase there so they made it easy, and the staff and the coaches and the great group of guys they had there.”

Garrett went to camp with the Hitmen last fall and got into one pre-season game. On Sept. 24, he was dealt to Everett for a fifth-round pick in 2026 and a conditional sixth-round pick in 2028.

“You never really know what’s going to happen as a hockey player playing major junior,” Garrett said. “I wouldn’t say it’s a complete shock but I wasn’t expecting to be traded. I was fortunate to land in Everett. That’s a pretty good spot to play.”

In 13 games in Everett, he posted a 2.84 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage with a 9-1-1-1 record. He backed up Jesse Sanche when Everett beat Brandon 4-1 at Westoba Place on Oct. 8.

“I love winning and I don’t like losing that much so it was awesome to have the expectation you have to win tonight,” Garrett said. “We did a lot of that there. The first few games I started there was a bit of an adjustment — it wasn’t my strongest part of the season — but I got my feet wet and got my feet under me and started to feel good. It was a lot of fun.”

Everything changed when Everett ended up with a third goalie after they signed Morden’s Raiden LeGall on Nov. 20. The college-committed netminder was the first player to sign after the NCAA changed its rules on major players, which suddenly gave the Silvertips a logjam in the crease.

Still, his second deal of the season came as a complete shock because he had just returned to Washington state after the Christmas break.

“I showed up back in Everett, had a quick nap and woke up to a phone call and the next thing I know, six hours later I’m on a plane,” Garrett said.

The Brandon end of the Garrett deal also came due to an unusual confluence of events. Wheat Kings starter Carson Bjarnason is with Canada at the world junior championship but is not officially registered on the team’s roster so he hasn’t seen any action. Still, he’s in Ottawa and unavailable to Brandon.

The second shoe dropped when backup goaltender Ethan Eskit aggravated an existing upper-body issue during the Christmas break, which has knocked him out of the lineup indefinitely.

With 16-year-old Dylan McFadyen the only other signed goaltending prospect in the organization, Wheat Kings head coach Marty Murray had to make a move. While it’s a tough situation, Garrett certainly isn’t focusing on it.

“Honestly, it’s no different than anything else,” Garrett said. “You play the games you’re supposed to play and make the most of it, and try not to worry too much about the outside stuff. I know Carson and Ethan are great guys and it’s not about taking anyone’s spot. It’s about winning, and that’s all that matters.”

After the trade, Garrett was given permission to head back to Angel of the Winds Arena to say goodbye to his teammates, and then the planes, trains and automobiles part of his adventure began

Everett is located just north of Seattle, so his first step was catching a flight there.

“I drove myself to Seattle’s airport and left my car there so my parents could fly down and pick it up,” Garrett said. “I was at the airport from 1 a.m., until the 5 a.m., flight, and we flew to Denver and had a layover there. We flew to Winnipeg, where I was picked up and drove from Winnipeg to Brandon about an hour before puck drop.”

He arrived just in time to see McFadyen make his first WHL start, a 7-3 loss to the Regina Pats at Westoba Place.

Garrett said he learned a lot from changing teams earlier this season, and it’s helped him this time.

“It was a little easier this time because I had that experience from earlier on,” Garrett said. “The guys here are just as great. They’ve been awesome. Fortunately, I knew a few of them beforehand so for me it was just playing my game and not changing anything. It doesn’t matter where I’m playing, it’s hockey at the end of the day.”

The players Garrett knew in Brandon were 19-year-old defenceman Quinn Mantei of Weyburn, 20-year-old forward Nolan Flamand and 19-year-old defenceman Rhett Ravndahl of Birch Hills and he had also skated and worked out with a bunch of them in the past.

Garrett joined the Wheat Kings just in time for another Saskatchewan road trip, and will almost certainly be in net in his hometown tonight as they face the Blades. When Everett visited the East Division, he earned a 5-4 overtime victory on Oct. 5, his first chance to play at the SaskTel Centre.

He’ll no doubt have some people out to watch.

Garrett has had a number of cousins play Junior A and his father Cliff was also a goalie, so hockey is certainly big in the family. His family also includes mother Angela and 18-year-old brother Cole.

In three appearances with Brandon, he has a .920 save percentage and a 2.33 goals-against average. That included a pair of road wins when he was busy with 37 and 32 shots, and then a wild loss on Wednesday when the Broncos had just 19 shots that included several two-on-ones and breakaways.

“I’ve been pretty happy,” Garrett said of his play. “I’ve been playing pretty well. I’ve been on a bit of a stretch there. (Wednesday) was a bit of a weird one but I’ve been happy, and I’m happy to be here.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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