Nuttall thrilled to make way to Brandon

The Brandon Wheat Kings make a good impression with goaltender Kasen Nuttall last season, but they made an even better one on May 7.

The 14-year-old goalie, who turns 15 in August, was grabbed by Brandon in the ninth round with the 193rd overall pick in the annual Western Hockey League draft.

On draft day, he was in his living room with his mother, his grandmother and his sister while his father was at work.

“It was just unbelievable,” Nuttall said. “To see your name is something every kid can probably dream of in their careers. It’s the highest of highs. You know you got drafted by this team that saw you.

“The first questionnaire that I got was from Brandon. They saw me and were the first people that knew I had something special in me to be part of their team.

“The number one thing I loved was it was an amazing experience seeing my name on the board and everyone happy. I had no words. I was speechless.”

He was born in Lethbridge and raised in Morinville, which is just north of Edmonton. The family, including parents Kelsey and Leah and younger sister Lailah, moved to Calgary when he was 14 after his father was transferred.

He was about four when he learned how to skate and began to play a year later.

After playing forward and defence at the time, he moved back into the net when he was six or seven.

“I put on the pads when I was six and it changed my life,” Nuttall said. “I knew it was my thing. I just loved it.”

The position requires a certain fearlessness to face pucks, plus the ability to accept and live with the pressure of being the final line of defence, so it’s not for everyone. Even so, the position simply made sense for Nuttall.

“God knew I was supposed to be a goalie,” Nuttall said. “Helping my team is the best thing I can ever do, so being in net makes my boys feel like they can trust me, all the things I can do, they know they can trust me and do their plays.

“I thrive under pressure being the guy.”

Nuttall tried a lot of sports, including golf, pickleball, badminton, basketball and tennis, but hockey, and the WHL, were always tops.

He attended Edmonton Oil Kings games in the past, so he had a long-standing relationship with the league.

“It was so crazy,” Nuttall said. “It’s so much faster and harder. The game is so much better. In Lethbridge where I grew up, my parents were season ticket holders and went to a lot of WHL games, so my parents know a lot about the WHL and know how hard I need to work to get there and how much I need to work out and get faster, stronger to play in the next league.”

His father attended some WHL camps but never played in the league. Nuttall said his parents have always been great, even taking him to special goalie sessions across the province.

“They took their time, getting out of work early or just taking me to early morning skates or late night skates,” Nuttall said. “Knowing I have a talent, I’m special to them and they took the time to take me to the rink early and be there all the time.

“It was putting money into me and travelling and every day on the weekend being at the rink shows how much they support and care about me as I pursue my career and my future.”

If last season is any indication, it was money well invested.

In 19 games with the Calgary Northstars under-15 AAA squad, Nuttall posted a 2.66 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage as his team went 22-12 and finished third in the South Division of the 20-team Alberta Elite Hockey League U15 AAA.

He played once in the playoffs, allowing two goals on 43 shots in a 2-1 loss to the Lethbridge Golden Hawks. His partner Dylan Lavallée played the other two games in their 2-1 quarterfinal series loss.

“For my size, I play pretty fast,” the six-foot, 140-pound goalie said of his game. “I know I can get across fast on my feet and I know I can trust myself in every position, being that guy who will always dive for that last save in the last 10 seconds of the third or the first 20 of the first period.

“Making it harder for people or making it easy for myself to make those saves, that’s how I play. I want to be in positions where I can make my life easier, just in the perfect spot with good depth, tracking pucks and being the big guy who can always make the saves that don’t even look possible.”

Brandon Wheat Kings director of hockey operations Chris Moulton said after the draft that the youngster is simply a good netminder.

“Kasen is steady, just a steady consistent goaltender,” Moulton said. “He makes the saves he has to make, rarely lets in the bad one and keeps his team in most games.”

Even so, Nuttall knows he has a long way to go to play major junior. He wants to get stronger, quicker and smarter to compete at the next level.

“You know how the Dub is now, it’s fast and you have to read plays faster, which is smartness, and you have to get stronger and faster to make this plays easier for yourself,” Nuttall said. “In the off-season, it’s working out and getting ready because as you go up, the kids get stronger and can shoot harder and be so much quicker. You just have to be quicker than them.”

Nuttall has never been outside of Alberta other than for a trip to Regina for a game once. That will change when he arrives in Brandon in late August for camp, something he is looking forward to.

“I think it will be an amazing experience to see the guys who were drafted and seeing how everything is,” Nuttall said. “I’m excited at how you have the chance to be in Brandon and live the dream you wanted and see the facilities and all the guys, even the guys who texted me in the next couple of days after I got drafted.

“They said ‘Congrats!’ and ‘Can’t wait to see you’ and those little things are so cool. It’s amazing.”

Nuttall knows Austin Rideout and Nate Harrington from Brandon’s draft class, both of whom he played with a while ago.

Since he is too young to skate full time in Brandon next season, he is planning to play with the U17 Northstars but will try out for the U18s.

Before then, he’ll have his first WHL camp experience, and it seems the teenager will be ready to go when he arrives.

“It’s great,” Nuttall said. “It’s like a new beginning for me and you’re just getting started on your new career and the Dub. I love being prepared and I love having a plan of what I’m doing and just knowing that you have to work harder now and how big of a guy you are in a big league now, so you have to be ready in every scenario.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com