Gavin stays out of box

Even Jordan Gavin isn’t quite sure why he hasn’t spent more time in the penalty box.

The 19-year-old Brandon Wheat Kings forward from Surrey, B.C., went 1,014 days without a trip to the penalty box in a regular season game in the Western Hockey League, which is highly unusual for someone as impactful as he is every night.

“Three years is a long time,” Gavin said. “You can’t even take one on accident. It’s not really something I think about when I play, it just happens. I feel like I’m smart with my stick and try to play smart positionally, so I feel like I’m not really putting myself into position to take penalties, but it’s not something I really think about.

“It was definitely a long time.”

The Wheat Kings were in action against the Seattle Thunderbirds last night in a game that ended after deadline. The team’s trip through the U.S. Division continues tonight when they meet the Wenatchee Wild tonight and finishes up against the Tri-City Americans on Friday and the Spokane Chiefs on Saturday.

The five-foot-11, 180-pound left-shooting forward was acquired with defenceman Merrek Arpin from Tri-City on Jan. 7, 2025, for 18-year-old defenceman Charlie Elick and a third-round pick in 2026. Gavin was taken one pick ahead of Elick in the 2021 draft, second overall, and they were teammates on Canada’s entry in the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

If your immediate thought when you see his penalty numbers is that he must not engage physically, you’re wrong. While he’ll never be known as a massive open-ice hitter or a player to fear, he’s a fierce forechecker who has an outstanding ability to guess where the puck is headed next.

“There is the ongoing joke with anybody who follows the Western Hockey League that he didn’t have a penalty for a long time so it comes across that maybe he is a soft player,” Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray said. “To me, that isn’t the case. He’s real smart at what he does, he always has a good stick, he’s always breaking up plays with his stick.

“If you really study his game shift in and shift out, you really notice the little things that he does that end up being pretty big things.”

Naturally, it’s worth reviewing the absolutely thuggery Gavin has displayed over his 252 regular season games in the WHL.

• Dec. 3, 2022 — With Tri-City, he was handed a tripping minor 10:59 into the first period. The Kelowna Rockets did not score.

• Feb. 25, 2023 — With Tri-City, he was sent to the box to serve a too-many-men penalty 16:07 into the second period. It’s hard to blame that one entirely on him. The Spokane Chiefs did not score.

• Dec. 5, 2025 — With Brandon, he took a delay of game penalty exactly 11 minutes into the first period. The Regina Pats did not score.

• Dec. 12, 2025 — With Brandon, he was assessed an interference minor 10:30 into the second period. Kelowna did not score.

In 11 playoff games, he has been sent to the box once.

• April 4, 2023 — With Tri-City, in Game 3 of their six-game quarterfinal loss to the Prince George Cougars, he is called for slashing 9:31 into the first period. Prince George did not score.

When Gavin took the penalty for putting the puck over the glass on Dec. 5, it was his first in Brandon and came in his 58th game. “The guys didn’t really realize it in the moment,” Gavin said. “At the intermission, everyone realized, and it was kind of a funny reaction.”

That night, Murray said he went over to Gavin on the bench and laughingly called him a goon. (Murray had 188 penalty minutes in 300 regular season and playoff games during his WHL career.)

Despite that record, Gavin has never won the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s most sportsmanlike player, although he has been nominated twice, in 2024 in Tri-City and 2025 in Brandon.

The ultimate compliment from a coach for any player is that their value must be measured in the details rather than the points. Gavin provides both, but Murray said his game is impressive even when he’s not scoring.

“He’s a real valuable piece of our hockey club,” Murray said. “He plays in all situations, I think he has one of the best brains in the entire league. He can play anywhere, both wings and both special teams and in all situations. He’s been a real nice addition for just over a calendar year for us.”

Gavin has had his name on the scoresheet a lot, but it’s where it matters.

He’s one of five Wheat Kings who have suited up for all 45 games this season, joining defencemen Gio Pantelas and forwards Joby Baumuller, Nick Johnson and Jimmy Egan: Gavin has 12 goals and 30 assists in that time, and 69 points in 78 regular season games with Brandon.

Overall, he has 223 points in 252 regular season appearances, and five points in 11 playoff games.

“Gav is a really smart player,” forward Jaxon Jacobson said. “When we get to play together, especially on the power play, I know he’s going to be looking for the pass. He’s a pass-first guy, and I just know he’s going to make a good play with the puck. I have a lot of trust when he has the puck in his hands.”

The two are part of Brandon’s first power-play unit together, and while it’s not firing at the fiery rate it did to start the season, Brandon’s conversion rate is still at a healthy 27.3 per cent.

Gavin said both it and the second power-play unit have ideal mixes of playmakers, passers, shooters and puck movers on the back end.

“When we get it moving it, it’s hard to defend,” Gavin said. “We’ve got five skill guys, a lot of guys who put up a lot of points in this league. We really have a mix of everything. It’s been good when it’s clicking.”

While he hasn’t been a Wheat King long, this is actually his second West Coast trip with the team. He joined Brandon last season just before they headed west for a trip through the B.C. Division, saying it was a fun experience to get to know his new teammates quickly with the dozens of hours on the bus, plus meals together and nights in hotels.

This year they’re headed through the U.S. Division, so barring a trade in his overage season, this could be his final trip to Kennewick, Wash., to play his old club on Friday.

“Obviously that’s been circled on my calendar for a bit,” Gavin said. “It will be really fun to be there again and play in that building.”

Gavin, who is one of a handful of members on this year’s Brandon team who seem to have smiles perpetually on their face when they aren’t on the ice, was well liked in Tri-City. Still, he might be the tiniest bit anxious about the reception he’ll receive when he returns to the Toyota Center.

“I hope it will be good,” Gavin said. “I felt like I gave a lot to them, and they gave a lot to me as well. I think it will be good.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com