Wood skates way into second pro season

Briley Wood achieved a childhood dream in the last week by skating with the Brandon Wheat Kings. All that stands between him and staying is a number on his pesky birth certificate.

The 22-year-old forward from Rivers, who leaves for camp with the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers at the end of the week, has practised with the Western Hockey League club for the last week, ending Monday.

“It was pretty cool,” Wood said. “I always wanted to play for the Wheat Kings growing up and it felt cool being out there with them when I’m older.”

“I waited a long time to put a Wheat Kings jersey on,” he added with a chuckle.

Wood hooked up with the Wheat Kings through his training buddy Lynden McCallum, who has skated with them occasionally for the past couple of years. He said Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray was happy to have them out.

The pro players suit up in a different dressing room so most of their interaction with the Wheat Kings is actually during practice as they stand in line during drills.

It’s too bad, because his tale of persistence and hanging onto his dream would be good for the teenagers.

The undrafted free agent made his WHL debut at Westoba Place on Nov. 2, 2019, a month after signing with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

He played five games with the Hurricanes that season while finishing second in scoring with the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League’s Yellowhead Chiefs with 27 goals and 31 assists in 43 games.

With the start of the 2020-21 WHL season delayed, Wood joined the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Neepawa Titans, the club that drafted him 14th overall in 2018. He played 10 games there before the season was cancelled due to COVID, and skated in 15 games for Lethbridge after the shortened WHL season started in the New Year.

In his one full season in Lethbridge, the 2021-22 campaign, Wood posted a pair of goals and three assists in 58 games.

The Ice acquired him on Aug. 8, 2022 for a draft pick, but after he played nine games with Winnipeg to start the season, he was reassigned to Neepawa on Oct. 30, 2022.

That allowed him to rebuild his confidence: During his 39-game tenure in Neepawa, Wood exploded for 19 goals and 38 assists with 57 penalty minutes. After their season, the Ice called Wood back up.

In four games before the end of the season, Wood scored his second goal of the season with Winnipeg, a marker that came late in the third period to tie a game with the Wheat Kings that the Ice won 3-2 in a shootout.

In 19 playoff games, he had three assists and one goal, which just happened to be the series winner in their Eastern Conference final against the Saskatoon Blades. The Ice moved to Wenatchee in the offseason to become the Wild, and after attending development camp with the Colorado Avalanche, Wood enjoyed an outstanding final WHL season.

The big, right-shooting forward had 28 goals and 34 assists in 60 games.

“Your last year of junior is always special,” Wood said. “You really take everything in and enjoy the moment. Every day you go to the rink with a good mindset because you know it’s your last year of junior. You always have such a high group of guys. It was a lot of fun and I definitely miss it.”

He signed an amateur tryout agreement with the Eagles after Wenatchee’s season ended, and then played in the organization last winter with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies.

“I thought it was a good rookie year,” Wood said. “I definitely learned a lot. It was a big change going from junior to pro but I had a lot of fun.”

In 72 games, he had 20 goals, 27 assists and 25 penalty minutes. While his numbers were excellent, he admitted it was a big transition.

“The biggest adjustment was playing with and against men,” Wood said. “The man strength, the guys are bigger and play smarter. You definitely need to have your head up when you’re out there on the ice. It’s a lot bigger guys and fast.”

The jump from junior to pro also puts players on their own, usually for the first time. There’s no billets or parents to take care of them anymore. Instead, things like putting food on the table and doing laundry become their problem.

“I learned to do some cooking this season,” Wood said. “I was never much of a cook before. This year I learned to pick up that and all the little things you need to learn when you’re on your own. I thought I did pretty well with that.”

His mother Jodi showed him a few recipes before he headed down, and he Googled some other things to try.

Another change was the environment around the team.

The dressing room is definitely different in pro hockey. Wood noticed immediately the carefree days of hanging out with the entire team in junior were long gone.

“In the pro life, you have some guys who are married and have kids so they’re busy with that,” Wood said. “You hang out with the younger guys who don’t have so much going on in their life.”

But they did spend a lot of time together.

The ECHL, which dropped its old moniker of the East Coast Hockey League back in 2003, has become a North America-wide league of 30 teams. Wood appreciated the opportunity to see some new things.

“It’s beautiful, a lot of fun, a lot of different cities,” Wood said. “You’re seeing all different kinds of country, from mountains and snow to flat ground and corn fields. It was definitely cool to see it all.”

He also played one game up in the AHL with the Eagles last season, a 4-3 shootout loss to the host Bakersfield Condors on March 5 that saw Brandon’s Trent Miner in net for Colorado.

“It was awesome,” Wood said. “It’s hard to put into words because it went by so fast. It was fast and the players were gritty. It was cool to see it firsthand.”

“It’s smart hockey,” Wood added. “There’s not a lot of mistakes. It’s not the high-end talent like in the NHL, just guys who work hard and play the game the right way.”

In the off-season, he signed a free agent deal with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers — “That was always one place I liked going to so I thought I would sign with them” — and will either make the jump to the AHL or could end up with their ECHL affiliate, the Rapid City Rush.

Either way, he’s ready.

“I’m really excited,” Wood said. “I can’t wait to get started here. I’m just looking forward to it. It will be fun.”

pbergson@brandonsun.com