WHL NOTEBOOK: Berard savours unexpected debut

Ethan Berard had no idea of the adventure that lay ahead when he answered his phone on Oct. 15.

Berard, 18, had just finished practice with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Weyburn Red Wings when Brandon Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray gave him a call. Brandon backup Ryley Budd was injured and Murray was wondering if Berard was interested in helping out.

“We had practice, and as soon as we got off the ice, he gave me a call and told me that Budd was hurt and they needed a goalie,” Berard said. “I packed up my gear as fast as I could and went to Brandon. It was perfect timing.”

Murray found out earlier in the afternoon that Budd couldn’t play, and while he still had starter Filip Ruzicka, the team had games against the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday and the Prince Albert Raiders on Sunday.

“He had a real solid training camp with us,” Murray said of Berard. “We needed somebody with some junior experience on our list and we put him back on.”

It was certainly a welcome development back in Weyburn. Berard was pumped for the opportunity.

“I was really excited, honestly,” Berard said. “Even just to be up there and be around that skill level and the compete of the WHL, it’s really cool.”

Berard is an Edmonton product who grew up in the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers system before playing two seasons of under-18 AAA with the Edmonton Jr. Oilers.

Last season, he had a 2.25 goals-against average and .928 save percentage with a 16-4-0 record. He was even better in the playoffs, going 8-4-0 with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage.

The six-foot-two, 165-pound Berard came to Brandon’s camp as a listed player with the Wheat Kings in August and though he played well, was reassigned, dropped and joined Weyburn. In seven appearances in the SJHL, he has a 4-2-0-0 record with a 3.06 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

Murray chuckles that Berard’s enthusiasm created one small problem. He responded so quickly that the Wheat Kings had to rush to prepare for his arrival.

“He’s an amazing kid,” Murray said. “When we first made the call, we were scrambling to get a billet for him because he was already on the road. He texted me and said he was an hour and 15 away and we were still finalizing a billet. He was gung-ho to get here.

“It makes you appreciate what this league is. Everybody aspires to try and play here and it was a neat experience for him to spend a weekend with us and get some time in.”

A perhaps forgotten cog in this story is the willingness of the Red Wings to lend one of their players to another team for the weekend. Berard was grateful that head coach and GM Cody Mapes was so eager to accommodate him.

“My coach has always been good about that stuff,” Berard said. “He obviously wants the best for me as well so any chance I can have to go on to Brandon, he’s going to give the opportunity. That was nice of him.”

In a recent rule change, players can now appear in three games on a tryout without signing a WHL contract.

One advantage of him being in Brandon so recently for camp was that he knew his way around and had met some of the players already. He practised with the team on Friday, and talked to the coaching staff.

“There was no big message from them,” Berard said. “It was just that they were excited to have me. It was a good opportunity for me to go up so the message was just to make the best of it and go from there.”

He sat beside Ruzicka in the dressing room and did get a chance to talk a bit with the six-foot-seven Czech netminder, who is a drafted prospect of the Minnesota Wild.

“He’s huge,” Berard said. “He’s a nice guy. He definitely towers over people, that’s for sure. It was cool seeing him play and being around him was a lot of fun.”

On Saturday, Oct. 17, the Wheat Kings returned from their 5-1-0-0 West Coast swing to meet the Tigers. To say the game went badly for Brandon would be to dabble in understatement.

The hosts were outshot 19-6 in the first period and were fortunate to only be down 2-1. The second period was an onslaught with the Tigers pumping four goals by starter Filip Ruzicka to take a 6-1 lead.

It was during the middle frame that Berard began to get an inkling he might see action.

“After the fourth or fifth goal, I was like ‘Ooh, I might go in,’” Berard said. “At that point I’ve never even played a game in the WHL so I wasn’t really expecting too much. At the same time, I was kind of hoping I would go in, as much as I wanted us to win the game.”

After the sixth goal, which secured a hat trick for Luke Cozens, Ruzicka was waved over to the bench. It was 10 minutes 15 seconds into the second period when Murray told Berard he was getting his chance.

There was only one problem. His helmet was missing.

“I brought in on the bench and the trainer (Kevin Jury) forgot where he put it,” Berard said. “It was under his medical bag under a towel in a crate. I had no idea where it was, but I knew I brought it out onto the bench. We found it.”

That meant Berard actually wore Ruzicka’s helmet until it was discovered, a development that would make anyone who has ever played the position shudder.

He went in, and the game immediately started without any warmup shots.

“It was a lot but at the same time I was extremely excited,” said Berard, who wore No. 33. “Being a goalie, you’re taught to always be calm, no matter what, and as soon as you step foot in the crease, you have to be level headed no matter the ups and downs. I just took a deep breath and played as good as I could.”

For the record, Berard made his first WHL save on Liam Ruck with his blocker just 42 seconds after he entered the game as the Tigers continued to buzz. That was a nice moment for Berard.

“It was great,” Berard said. “I can’t remember how it went — I kind of zone out when I’m out there — but the first save is huge. It really sets the tone for the rest of the game for me.”

While he’s 18, it’s important to remember just how unusual this experience was.

The young netminder had just five junior games under his belt when he was called on by Brandon, but caught on quickly as the game went on around him.

“I didn’t notice a huge jump from Junior A to the WHL,” Berard said. “Obviously it’s a lot quicker and the shots are a lot harder. I felt like I had a really easy time adjusting. It’s a really competitive league and it was a lot of fun to play at that and give it my all. It was awesome.”

Riley Steen and Jake Burmis both ultimately scored on Berard in the third period during the lopsided 8-1 Medicine Hat victory. For the record, the final numbers from his night in Brandon are a 4.03 goals-against average and an .875 save percentage, but the statistics don’t begin to hint at the quality of shots he was facing from the Tigers.

“Hockey is such a funny game,” Murray said. “It’s not the way we would have wanted him to go into it or him either, but we weren’t sharp and we were leaving Filip hung out to dry and we threw him in.

“I thought he performed pretty well and made some big saves. Just in talking to him, he thought the experience was great.”

Berard headed back to Weyburn after Sunday’s game. Needless to say, his Red Wings teammates were thrilled for him, and were full of questions.

While Berard remains hopeful he’ll get another chance to return to Brandon, the unexpected adventure has made a lasting mark on him.

“It was definitely a crazy experience, from getting thrown in there and losing the helmet and playing against the Medicine Hat Tigers, who have always been a really good team. They’re one of those teams where you go ‘Ya, it’s going to be a good game.’

“I think I’ll always remember it as an exciting experience and having a lot of fun.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — When the dearly missed World Hockey Association was active in the 1970s, 16 Wheat Kings were drafted. How many of those 16 players went on to play National Hockey League games?

• DRAFT RANKINGS — The National Hockey League released its preliminary players to watch list and it contains four Wheat Kings. Jaxon Jacobson received a B grade, suggesting he is a candidate for the second or third round, Colin Grubb received a C grade (fourth or fifth rounds) and Kris Muissu and Prabh Bhathal received W grades (sixth or seventh round). Brandon’s leading scorer, 17-year-old Chase Surkan, was left off the list.

• WEEKLY AWARDS — The player of the week is 19-year-old Penticton Vees forward Tyler Deakos of Canmore, Alta., who had two goals and five assists in three games. The goaltender of the week is 19-year-old Regina Pats netminder Taylor Tabashniuk of Regina, who went 2-0-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average, .949 save percentage and a shutout in two appearances.

The rookie of the week is 16-year-old Regina forward Liam Pue of Langley, B.C., who had four goals and an assist in two games.

• TRADE FRONT — On Monday, the Saskatoon Blades acquired 19-year-old netminder Koen Cleaver from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a ninth-round pick in 2029.

On Friday, the Prince Albert Raiders acquired 18-year-old defenceman Henry Chmiel of Woodbury, Minn., for an eighth-round pick in 2028. He is a former Shattuck St. Mary’s teammate of Wheat Kings forward Colin Grubb, who is committed to Arizona State next fall.

• MILESTONE — Kamloops Blazers head coach Shaun Clouston won his 626th career game on Friday with a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Giants. The win, which came in his 18th season, ties him for fourth with Lorne Molleken, who collected 626 wins over 17 seasons. Clouston, who previously served as head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers, trails Don Hay (752), Wenatchee Wild head coach Don Nachbaur (743) and Ken Hodge (742).

• BIG ANNOUNCEMENT — The Canadian Hockey League announced last week the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League will host the 2028 Memorial Cup in Québec City. It will be the tournament’s fourth trip to the city. The 2027 event will be staged by the Guelph Storm from May 20 to 30.

• SIN BIN — Moose Jaw Warriors forward Gage Nagel earned a one-game suspension for a checking-to-the-head major and game misconduct at the Saskatoon Blades on Oct. 17. In his return to the lineup, he took a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct against Regina on Oct. 23 and earned another one-game ban … Portland Winterhawks Avery Laliberte of Lorette received one game after taking a fighting major and game misconduct at Spokane on Oct. 23.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — Marcus Kallionkieli, the Finnish forward with Brazilian roots who played for Brandon for two seasons (2019-20 and 2021-22), is now skating in Austria’s top pro league, the ICE Hockey League, with Pioneers Vorarlberg. He has one goal and four assists in five games this season. He has also played in Finland, Poland and Denmark during his five-year pro career.

Kallionkieli, a Vegas Golden Knights draft pick, played in 60 WHL games with Brandon, recording 12 goals and 26 assists as he battled a slew of injuries.

• THE WEEK AHEAD — Brandon will be busy, visiting the Moose Jaw Warriors tonight and the Prince Albert Raiders on Wednesday, and then hosting the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday at 7 p.m., and the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday at 4 p.m.

• ANSWER — The six WHA draftees from the Wheat Kings who later played in the NHL are Wayne Ramsey, Dave Semenko, Glen Hanlon, Rick Blight, Ron Chipperfield and John Paddock.