Boehm grows in second season

If you’ve ever wondered about the benefits of confidence for a Western Hockey league player, Nigel Boehm might be Exhibit A.

The 17-year-old Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman from Corman Park, Sask., made incredible strides in his second Western Hockey League season, which may have been best reflected by his newfound willingness to carry the puck and get shots on net.

“Confidence is a big thing,” Boehm said. “Especially being a defenceman, everyone relies on you and it starts with you. It’s a big thing moving forward into these playoffs, being able to rely on yourself and trust yourself to make plays. It’s good to be a dependable player from the back end on.”

“I put up more points than last year — pretty much double — and it’s going to be a huge thing moving on,” he added. “Especially in the playoffs confidence-wise, having that switch from last year will be good.”

The Wheat Kings were swept out of the playoffs by the Calgary Hitmen, falling 4-2 in Game 4 to end their season.

The numbers tell the story for Boehm. As a rookie, the six-foot-one, 190-pound blue-liner had a goal, six assists and a plus-minus of -3 in 61 games.

In 63 games this season, he had two goals, 14 assists and a plus-minus of +22, which was third best on the team.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray has certainly noticed Boehm’s maturation.

“He’s really come into his own,” Murray said. “Even on the offensive side, I don’t think we give him much credit. He’s more confident carrying the puck and creating a little offence. He knows that’s not the 1-A part of his game but you can see the growth and confidence in him.

“He’s a defensive defenceman who is close to +20 over the course of the year. He’s one of those guys who is heavy and hard to play against and has really made some nice strides.”

Boehm’s first goal of the season certainly illustrated how he was feeling. On Jan. 10, against the visiting Regina Pats, Boehm jumped up into the rush, accepted a pass from Joby Baumuller, went to the net, held onto the puck and then lifted it past goalie Taylor Tabashniuk.

Boehm’s second goal of the season was also a beauty, and also came against the Pats. On March 20, he jumped out of the penalty box, took a stretch pass from Baumuller, went in on a two-on-one with Brady Turko and elected to shoot, sending the puck over the glove of Marek Schlenker.

While those were the plays that worked, Boehm has also been more willing this season to walk the blue-line looking for a shooting land and then carry the puck.

Last year he likely would have the quick, short pass down low.

“Being able to not just handle the puck but shoot the puck is a big aspect of the game,” Boehm said. “Being able to get pucks on net from the point is big for the forwards especially to be able to get rebounds.”

Brandon grabbed Boehm in the second round of the 2023 WHL draft with the 28th overall pick, after they had already taken forward Jaxon Jacobson fifth and blue-liner Gio Pantelas 19th. (They also picked current players Ryan Boyce 94th and Cameron Allard 160th.)

Boehm said it didn’t take long in his rookie season last year to tell he was defending against a different level.

“It’s for sure hard,” Boehm said. “You can tell when you’re facing a skilled player.”

His physical, stay-at-home presence was immediately evident, but it still took time for him to adapt to the speed and size in major junior.

When he returned this year, half of the 2024-25 team was back and that immediately made it easier for him to settle in.

“With the new guys coming in, it’s easier to build chemistry when you have old chemistry,” Boehm said. “The confidence going into the playoffs this year is super high and that’s throughout the room. We’re ready to give it everything we’ve got here in the first round.”

With that experience, plus the blue-line losses of graduates Luke Shipley and captain Quinn Mantei, the mid-season trades of Charlie Elick and Rhett Ravndahl, the summer release of Slovakia’s Adam Belusko and the season-long injury to Merrek Arpin, opportunity opened up on the Brandon blue-line.

One way that’s been reflected for Boehm is his regular presence on Brandon’s penalty-killing units.

“Being a dependable player on the PK is huge,” Boehm said. “On our back end, pretty much all of us can be reliable and it doesn’t matter, one through seven, we can all be dependable and go out and kill. It’s good and having the coaches behind me, my confidence is up because they’ve shown they trust me and will put me out there in the last couple of minutes when you need a kill.”

The obvious goal of the penalty kill is trying to prevent goals. Boehm said the method is deceptively simple.

“Personally, work ethic is a big thing and being out there four against five, you have to be able to carry your weight and work hard on the other team,” Boehm said. “Ultimately, that’s what it comes down to.”

Not surprisingly, he was named the team’s hardest-working player in the year-end awards, and also channelled that into school, earning the nod as the Wheat Kings’ top academic player for the second year in a row.

Like all players with a larger goal, Boehm is quick to deflect his personal success and instead focus on the club’s collective performance this season.

“I think this year went really good,” Boehm said. “I had a fun year and we got 40 wins, that was big as a team and we’re very proud of that accomplishment. We’re one of seven teams to do it so that’s a big thing for us.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com