Harvey’s versatility pays off with Vikings

Logan Harvey may not have been the most well-known player in the Vincent Massey Vikings locker room at the season’s start, but he’s made sure everyone knows his name now.

The 16-year-old winger for the Westman High School Hockey League’s top-seeded Vikings (13-2) entered the season knowing only a handful of teammates after being cut from the main squad last year, and since then, he’s quickly proven his value on and off the scoresheet.

“I can play with whoever and wherever the coach puts me, so I’d say I’m pretty flexible,” said Harvey on Wednesday. “If it’s on the power play or penalty kill, I’ll just always do my best to help the team out, no matter what. It’s really easy to play with new people, and I can adapt quickly on different lines.

“I can help the boys out on the bench if they start getting down and just try and help everyone get in a better mood.”

In 15 games, Harvey has racked up five goals and 17 points for his club, which is third among team scoring, trailing only veterans Addax Egan (30) and Daylan Duncalfe (28). He may have felt a bit out of the loop after missing out on last year’s incredible 32-0 run in the WHSHL while he was playing on “Massey 2” last winter, but he believes his chemistry with the team is now as strong as it’s ever been — and that’s been a product of his play on the ice.

“We’ve really started to gel more, and the locker chemistry is really good,” he said. “Just hanging out with the guys in general, it’s always a good time. A lot of the older guys in Grade 12 make it pretty easy to get along with, they’re all pretty good guys, and it’s just good to be a part of the team with them. It’s just good working with these guys, some of them are really skilled, so it just helps me get better as a player.”

Harvey and his teammates have had lots of opportunities to get to know each other during many team bonding events, whether it be hitting dingers on the baseball diamond, swinging away at Evo Golf, munching away at team dinners or even getting in on some Manitoba Junior Hockey League action in Steinbach to watch the Pistons.

It’s built new off-ice connections and continued to develop old ones, particularly with linemates Jett Aitken and Cole Adams, two familiar faces from Harvey’s time on Massey 2 and earlier seasons. The trio helped each other acclimate to the new group while maintaining the chemistry that’s driven their success on the ice.

“I’ve known them for a while and played on teams with them, and it kind of carried onto this year,” Harvey said. “I’ve been playing on lines with them, and it just kind of builds our chemistry together, and that lets us produce better on the ice.

“If we have a bad shift, we just stay positive and don’t get down on each other, and we’ve been able to produce better on the ice, offensively and defensively.”

The three have combined for 43 points and will certainly be leaned on to produce in what will be a hectic stretch that begins this weekend.

On Friday evening, the Vikings will head to Sandy Bay to face the Badgers (4-7) and then will head back to Brandon to play hosts against the Birtle/Shoal Lake/Rossburn Falcons (3-12-1) on Saturday and the Reston/Melita/Hartney/Souris Renegades (5-8-3) on Sunday for a very rare back-to-back-to-back set.

It’s a lot of hockey in a condensed time, but Harvey welcomes the challenge.

“Those games will be pretty tough, so hopefully we can all stay healthy and good, but I personally like the back-to-back type games because it’s just always fun playing so much hockey with these guys,” he said.

With that mindset, there’s no doubt he also won’t mind the following week, when Harvey’s club competes in the Morden Thunder Hockey Tournament. The six-team event, which includes the host Thunder, Vincent Massey Trojans, Stonewall Rams, St. Paul’s Crusaders and Fort Frances, begins Jan. 16.

Massey is guaranteed at least three games, with two being in round-robin play when they face off against their Winnipeg equivalent at 2 p.m., followed by a 6 p.m. matchup against Morden, meaning they will likely only get an hour and a half of rest.

“It’s really fun to play against those strong teams and the Winnipeg teams. It definitely helps us get better individually and as a team. Hopefully we can just win those games,” said Harvey.

The tournament will be a great way for the Vikings to get back to game speed following a fairly long hiatus due to Christmas break and will also be another way to prep for the post-season, where they hope to capture the league championship for the third year in a row and make a long Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association provincial championship run after an early exit last season.

For Harvey, a climb to the top would mean everything.

“Representing our school and winning a championship would be really nice,” he said. “I haven’t won one in a few years, so hopefully we can win the league this year because that would be a good memory.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com