WHL NOTEBOOK: Farm and family key for Carels

In the midst of incredible success on the ice, Carson Carels stays grounded with a call home.

The 17-year-old farm kid, who grew up southeast of Brandon near Cypress River, is starring with his Western Hockey League squad, the Prince George Cougars, is a highly touted prospect in his National Hockey League draft year, and already has national team experience.

It’s a lot for any young man, but his touchstone remains his family.

“I guess it’s a mindset, but every night I try to call my parents and just see how the farm is going,” said Carels, whose family includes parents Ryan and Stacy and sisters Jayden, Kadence and Kendra. “That’s my top priority right now, is seeing how everybody is. Worrying about family is honestly more important to me, and it keeps my mind off everything that is happening.

“Just having that to rebound off of is something that has really carried me and carried how my mindset has been.”

When he was younger, the six-foot-one, 175-pound Carels went to the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy, which was a 30-minute drive from home, and played with their under-15 and U17 prep squads.

He was taken in the first round, 15th overall, by Prince George in 2023, and just happened to be driving to Brandon when he found out because he was attending Hockey Manitoba’s Pursuit of Excellence camp at J&G Homes Arena.

That camp helped pick the team that went on to win Manitoba’s first WHL Cup in October 2023, a tournament in which Carels was named tournament MVP with five points in five games.

In his 15-year-old season, he was also called up twice by Prince George around Christmas and in mid-March for a combined seven games and earned three assists. In 60 games as a 16-year-old rookie last year, Carels had six goals, 29 assists, 42 penalty minutes, and a plus-minus of +22, which would be a terrific season for a blue-liner of any age.

Coming back for his second season has been a bit of a revelation.

“It’s just so much easier,” Carels said. “You’re so comfortable with the team and the staff. Building off last year and how you played last year and taking it into this year is huge because you’re just so much more confident.”

There have been some other major changes. He graduated from high school last spring when he was 16, but it’s another test he took that is having the most profound impact on him. After earning his driver’s licence, he can now ferry himself around the city instead of looking for rides from his teammates.

“I’m getting around PG and seeing some more things than last year for sure,” Carels said with a chuckle. “It’s so much better. You can stay at the rink as long as you want without needing to worry if you’re going to get home. You can really enjoy the city and enjoy seeing the guys a lot more.”

But that’s not all he’s had to enjoy this season.

He has three goals and eight assists in 12 games, with 12 penalty minutes and a plus-minus of +1.

“I’m really happy,” Carels said. “Production-wise, I’ve been happy with how that’s going and I just feel great almost every night I’ve played. I can’t complain about that. I’ve gotten the opportunities that I’ve wanted. Just the coaches trusting me feels really good as well.”

A measure of the trust and esteem he’s held in by the coaching staff was reflected in their decision to make him an alternate captain, along with Terik Parascak and Corbin Vaughan. Despite being a comparatively young player, that’s meant he’s had to step up his leadership.

“It’s a big role, but all the guys who have graduated or are older than me all look up to a guy like me,” Carels said. “Everybody is a leader in the room right now, so it doesn’t matter if you’re wearing an A one night or not. You’re leading by example.”

He adds the team has set him up for success by who they’ve played with him and the guys who have taken him under their wing.

A year ago he was paired with Slovakian overager Viliam Kmec, while this year he is skating alongside Cougars captain Bauer Dumanski of tiny Lockwood, Sask.

“It’s grown quite a bit,” Carels said. “Obviously last year I was looked upon as a steady defenceman who was going to shut down top lines with one of the best defences in the league with Villem. This year it kind of switches when you have a year under your belt and need to be a guy who shuts down guys but can also play power play and put the team on your back a little bit.”

Carels will make his first WHL visit to Manitoba on Feb. 24 when the Cougars meet the Brandon Wheat Kings at Assiniboine Credit Union Place. He played his first game against the Wheat Kings on Jan. 24, 2025, when he and the Cougars earned a 3-2 decision in the final game of Brandon’s swing through the B.C. Division.

After graduating some high-end offensive skill following last season that included Koehn Ziemmer and Riley Heidt, the expectation may have been that the Cougars would take a step back. Instead, they are 8-4-0-0 and tied for second in the B.C. Division, a point back of the Victoria Royals, who have played one more game.

“A lot of people definitely didn’t think we would be this good, but secretly I always knew we were going to be sneaky this year and come out with a bang,” Carels said. “We don’t have superstars like we’ve had in the past, but there are a lot of names in the making right now and everyone works hard, and the environment in the room and on the ice is just so good.

“That’s how we win games.”

The Cougars are not the only team he’s played with in the last 15 months.

Carels skated for Canada Red at the World U17 World Challenge on a squad that included his buddy and training partner Jaxon Jacobson of the Wheat Kings. They lost in the final to Canada White at the tournament in Sarnia, Ont.

In the summer, he suited up with Canada’s U18 squad that took gold at the U18 world championship in Texas in April and May, and earned bronze at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August.

“Honestly, it’s just such a surreal feeling,” Carels said of playing with a Maple Leaf on his chest. “The first time you walk in that dressing room and it’s game time and you see all those jerseys hung up, you don’t think it’s real. You’re living people’s dreams, so you have to really take pride in what you’re playing for and who you’re playing for.”

Another surreal feeling almost certainly lies ahead.

Last week, Carels received an A grade in Central Scouting’s preliminary players to watch list, suggesting he is a candidate for the first round of the 2026 NHL draft, along with four other current WHL players: defencemen Ryan Lin of the Vancouver Giants and Daxon Rudolph of the Prince Albert Raiders, plus forwards JP Hurlbert of the Kamloops Blazers and Mathis Preston of the Spokane Chiefs.

Former WHLers Gavin McKenna (Medicine Hat Tigers) and Keaton Verhoeff (Victoria Royals), who are now with college teams, also received the nod.

“Seeing your name pop up on that list always feels good, but it is just October, so you can’t think too much about it,” Carels said. “You have to keep playing the way you are and hopefully I can stay on that top list for sure.”

He notes he went through something similar in his WHL draft year, so it’s not entirely a new experience.

“In my bantam draft, I wasn’t really thinking too much about the draft because I was a country kid just playing hockey to play hockey, really,” Carels said. “I’m just trying to keep that mindset now and enjoying every day and trying to enjoy working at myself and trying to get better instead of thinking I have to be perfect. That’s my mindset.”

NHL scouts are in WHL buildings for virtually every game, and it’s not uncommon to see draft-eligible players meeting with them after games for informal discussions. The organizations also reach out during the week, so Carels is suddenly finding he’s speaking to a lot more people these days.

“I’m visiting with a few,” Carels said. “It’s mostly virtually right now but there have been a few lunches and dinners. It’s been good. It’s obviously stressful, but all the guys are really great and you’re just trying to be yourself and get them to know who you truly are.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — With Brandon’s power play humming along this season at an absolutely silly 45.2 per cent, has the Wheat Kings power play ever finished a season higher than 25 per cent?

What’s more common, over 25 per cent or under 18 per cent?

• REST IN PEACE — Former Wheat Kings forward Cam Brown died on Saturday in a motorcycle accident in Blue Ridge, Ga., at age 56. He played with the Wheat Kings for three seasons from 1987 to 1990 and appeared in one National Hockey League game while carving out a long career in the minors. He retired after the 2005-06 season and was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2010.

• WEEKLY AWARDS — The rookie of the week is 16-year-old Wheat Kings rookie Chase Surkan of Regina after he had four goals and three assists in two wins over the weekend, including this first WHL hat trick in an 8-4 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sunday. He also won the award on Sept. 29.

The player of the week is overage Regina Pats forward Caden Brown of Prince George, who had five goals and three assists in three games last week and also tallied his first career WHL hat trick.

The goaltender of the week is 19-year-old Penticton Vees netminder Andrew Reyelts of Proctor, Minn., who stopped all 33 shots he faced to blank the league-leading Everett Silvertips 7-0 on Saturday.

• TRADE FRONT — On Monday, the Moose Jaw Warriors sent 19-year-old forward Owen Berge of Edmonton to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for an eighth-round pick in 2028.

Last Thursday, the Red Deer Rebels made two deals, sending 19-year-old defenceman Derek Thurston of Delta, B.C., to the Saskatoon Blades for 17-year-old forward Kohen Lodge of Red Deer and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2028. The Rebels also acquired 20-year-old defenceman Aleksey Chichkin of Vancouver from the Prince George Cougars in exchange for a conditional fifth-round pick in 2027.

• SIN BIN — There have been no suspensions since Oct. 11.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — Vincent Iorio has played six games with the San Jose Sharks this season after being claimed off waivers from the Washington Capitals on Oct. 16. Iorio played nine games with Washington over two seasons, spending most of his time with the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears, where he won a pair of Calder Cups.

The gregarious defenceman from Coquitlam, B.C., was a second-round pick by Brandon in 2017, and spent his four-year career as a Wheat Kings, suiting up in 191 regular season games and six playoff games between 2018 and 2022.

• THE WEEK AHEAD — Brandon travels to Regina to meet the Pats on Wednesday at 8 p.m. (CDT) and then hosts the Pats on Saturday at 6 p.m., and the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.

• ANSWER — In the Internet era, Brandon’s power play has exceeded 25.0 per cent six times.

The Wheat Kings hit at a 34.0 per cent rate in 1996-97, which was tops in the league.

They were 27.2 in 1997-98 (1st in the WHL), 26.3 in 2011-12 (3rd), 25.9 in 2013-14 (2nd), 25.7 in 2014-15 (2nd), and 34.5 in the shortened 2020-21 hub year (2nd).

They have gone under 18 per cent five times, including 1999-2000 (17.6 per cent, 13th place), 2000-01 (16.7, 15th), 2005-06 (11.4, 20th), 2007-08 (16.5, 17th), and 2012-13 (16.2, 18th).