Laing doing whatever means necessary with Virden

Bryan Laing is willing to do just about anything to make a difference.

The 18-year-old Boissevain product followed in his family’s footsteps by opting to play on the back end like his father and brother did for the Southwest Cougars, but he was willing to make a sacrifice.

“At bantam tryouts, there was no chance I was making it as a D-man, so I’m like, ‘Screw it, let’s try forward,’ and since then, I’ve just stayed with it,” said Laing on Friday.

That decision couldn’t have paid off any better, as Laing not only made the roster but also went on to score 11 goals and 32 points in 31 games during his first season up front with the Cougars U15 AAA squad. Not to say changing from a position he had played his entire life didn’t come with any challenges, though.

“For that tryout I had no idea what I was doing,” he said. “I just kind of went where the action was. If the puck went to the corner, I was going to the corner, and if the puck was in the neutral zone, I was kind of following the puck, just trying to skate as hard as I could for my shift, and then I eventually asked the coach, like, ‘Hey, what the hell am I doing here?’ So he kind of taught me because my dad and brother both played defence and weren’t much help.”

Laing continued to grow his game as the years went on and eventually crafted a two-way forward-type identity with Southwest’s U18 club as a player who takes pride in playing in his own zone first and then can chip in some offence here and there when needed. Cougars head coach Tanner Lewis was a big part of shaping Laing’s identity on the ice, as the former Virden Oil Capitals centre was up front with him regarding how he needs to play to find success.

“At the end of year meetings, he always was straight up with me and would say, ‘OK, here’s how it’s going to be’ and stuff like that,” Laing said. “He always gave me a lot of opportunity, even as a small guy who wasn’t the most skilled, but he saw something in me and always gave me a lot of opportunity to play out there.”

In his first two seasons under Lewis, Laing collected a combined 48 points in 87 games, playing as the wing man to the top point producers on the team. Heading into his senior year, however, Lewis gave Laing a chance to step up into that top role, and that’s exactly what he did, as he eclipsed 51 points in 48 games, helping Southwest to a fifth-place finish in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League standings — while also sweeping the higher-seeded Winnipeg Thrashers in a best-of-five series in Round 1 of the post-season.

Laing carried that momentum into this offseason, when he spent two days on the ice training in his hometown of Boissevain or in Brandon and Virden — wherever he could get ice time — and then would work on his speed off the ice four times a week by doing different kinds of sprints and track training.

“The workouts have changed a lot because when I was in Grade 9 or 10, I was smaller, so I was basically just trying to get as big as possible, but as the game goes on, the game’s faster. So, these last few years, I’ve been doing more like speed work because I feel like speed is the biggest thing that you need nowadays.”

Laing’s training this summer helped him crack the Virden Oil Capitals opening night lineup, giving him the opportunity to play for the same Manitoba Junior Hockey League team Lewis played for.

“I remember, I was still in the rink, and I sent my dad a text saying that I made it, and then, of course, he wanted to call, and then I texted my older brother after that, so it was just a pretty cool feeling to know I did it,” he said.

Laing noticed the significant difference of playing in junior hockey immediately but feels he’s getting more comfortable each game.

“The first few games, my mind was definitely racing a little bit just because the speed and the size of guys is a lot faster than playing for Southwest last year,” he said. “I was playing extremely passive because I was just trying not to make a bad play or make a mistake or anything like that, but then I realized that’s probably just hurting me more than actually having the confidence to do stuff.

“The last three or so games, I really started to make more plays and not have to have that thought in my head of, ‘You can’t make a mistake because then that’s when you’re going to make one.’ I just try to keep that out of my mind and just play my game with confidence.”

He said the biggest difference change he noticed is you don’t have that much time when the puck’s on your stick, so making those quick choices with the puck and playing away from the puck becomes a lot more important. Laing is adjusting more to making quicker plays, which has helped him grab three points through his first seven games played with Virden, which sits second in the West Division with a 6-3 record.

Laing has played most of the time on the Oil Capitals’ fourth line but has had some difficulty finding long-term guys to play with, as the coaching staff is still trying to find a line that clicks chemistry-wise. So far, he’s played with Cohen Lewko, Tyson Ulmer, Dysen Drake, Lucas Laramee, and Brandon’s Colten Worthington — all younger players in the lineup.

He said it’s difficult not playing with the same linemates consistently, but nonetheless, he knows that doesn’t change the way he wants to play.

“I know I’m not going to be the guy that’s sniping bar down every shift, so I just try to find out what my best skills are to help the team win, and that’s playing hard in my own end and then eventually crashing on a rebound in front or something like that if we get in the zone,” Laing said. “I don’t really have that pressure on me to go and score, my game is to just go out there, skate my bag off, and not get scored on.”

And if the Oil Capitals ever needed Laing to switch back to the blue-line for whatever reason, he’s not confident it would bode very well.

“I’ve actually had this conversation with some friends of mine, and they all think I can’t skate backwards, but I would like to prove them wrong,” he said with a chuckle. “I think I could, but definitely not well enough to survive out there.”

That may be the case, but the five-foot-nine, 170-pound forward has never backed down from a fight. It’s just not in his blood, and it’s proven in the way he plays.

“Since I was a kid, I was always the smallest guy on the team, but you can’t be scared or second-guess yourself when going into, like, a corner or something like that. You just got to put your head down and just go in there, and it doesn’t matter if that guy’s 6’4 or whatever, you just got to try to plow him over,” said Laing. “I get knocked down a lot, but that doesn’t matter. You just have to learn that if you get knocked down, you just have to just get back up and keep working your butt off.”

That’s the attitude Laing will carry with him throughout the season as the Oil Capitals look to get back into the postseason after missing out last year for the first time in 10 years. It’s only more motivation for Virden’s entire club.

“All of the guys that played last year definitely have that chip on their shoulder,” he said. “They’re still mad about how last year ended, and they want to make up for it this year, so as a younger guy, you’re trying to do anything to help the team win at that point.”

Virden were in action last night as they hosted the struggling Winkler Flyers at Tundra Oil & Gas Place.

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com