Wiens’ KIJHL experience lands spot at Briercrest

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This article was published 01/06/2021 (1829 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The next great adventure for Josh Wiens awaits.

Wiens, 21, who lives on an acreage near Oak Lake, graduated from junior hockey after three seasons with the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Castlegar Rebels. His next stop is Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference’s Briercrest College Clippers.

“I’m pretty excited,” Wiens said. “I remember when I went to B.C., I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing and I was kind of scared and it ended up being some of the best three years of my life with the people I met. It was pretty great. Now I just to get to do that all over again. I’m pretty excited for it to get playing in the league and the school side of it too will be another challenge but I think it will be good.

“I can’t wait to get going.”

It’s a journey that might not have seemed possible six years ago.

After playing his under-15 seasons in Virden, Wiens made the jump to the Southwest Cougars U18 AAA program in the 2015-16 season. He said the chance to play with and against great players helped his game to grow.

“That was pretty huge for me,” Wiens said. “That was the first year when I took a big step. I didn’t think I was even going to make the team going into it and then I ended up doing it and practising with those guys and playing against some of the other talent. There are some really good players in that league. Some of them are signing NHL deals now but I think picking up on that tempo — I think it was a good time for me to do it — it just sped up the pace of my game and it also woke me up on the work that has to go into it.”

Wiens went from seven points in 41 games in his rookie year to 28 points in 48 games in his third season. He said that on top of the chance to compete at a higher level, head coach Dennis McNish’s knowledge and encouragement also took him a long way.

“Him giving me that first chance was pretty huge,” Wiens said. “I don’t know how it would have went if I didn’t make the team that first year. He gave me a chance and I came in and I started off and did OK. He gave me good ice time for the player I was and he worked with me a lot.”

In his third season, his Manitoba Junior Hockey League rights went from the Virden Oil Capitals to the Portage Terriers to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines.

After Wayway suffered an injury, Wiens was asked to join the Wolverines for a week of practice and got into a game.

“Growing up, that’s where I always wanted to play, in the MJ,” Wiens said. “I was with Virden all the way up until that last year so when I got let go by them, I was pretty disappointed, and when I got the call to come and play with Wayway I was pretty excited.”

He went to Wayway the next fall, but near the end of camp, Wiens called Virden’s then coach Troy Leslie to see what other opportunities existed. Leslie forwarded his name to Castlegar’s head coach and general manager, Carter Duffin, who had served as an assistant coach with the Oil Capitals. He knew who Wiens was and they chatted.

Wiens ultimately chose to join Duffin in Castlegar, a community of 8,000 located 300 kilometres southeast of Kelowna. It was a big step.

“When I was leaving I was pretty nervous,” Wiens said. “I had never gone too far from home and it’s a three-day trip out to Castlegar so I was pretty shaky. When I finally got out there and got settled in with a great billet family right away and had a guy who was living with me so I became pretty close with him pretty quick and then I just started to get comfortable with the guys.”

As he grew more comfortable in his new surroundings, he took advantage of the opportunity to live in the mountains, hiking, skiing and mountain biking. Since those are activities he enjoys anyway, Castlegar quickly became a very good fit.

On the ice, he adjusted to the KIJHL, a B.C.-based 20-team Junior B league that also plays out of Washington state.

“I went out there not really knowing what to expect and it was a lot better than I thought it would be,” Wiens said. “I’d say it’s definitely better than AAA was. The speed was quite a bit faster.”

Once again, the better level of play was good for his development, with Wiens calling it a nice spot in the middle between U18 AAA and Junior A.

In his rookie season in 2018-19, he contributed three goals, 24 assists and 58 penalty minutes in 35 games. For the first half of that season, he skated in the bottom six, killing penalties and chipping in with offence when he could.

He added he’s never been a big goal scorer, instead thriving more as a playmaker and tenacious energy guy.

“I’ve always been good at puck protection and causing turnovers and hunting down pucks,” Wiens said. “That’s kind of where I thrive. I try to cause a turnover and make a quick play towards the net. That’s how I’ve always played. Going into Castlegar, they worked with me and got me into some power-play situations. It gave me a chance to work on having the puck on my stick a little bit more on the power play and be more calm with it and seeing the ice and making plays.”

In his rookie season, with the team in rebuilding mode, the Rebels traded most of their entire leadership group. The players were then given the task of electing a new alternate captain.

“They picked me and I was pretty shocked,” Wiens said. “I’m a rookie, I’m the new guy, so that was pretty special to get that. And then halfway through my second year, we traded our captain and they did the same thing and they picked me again. It definitely means a lot and makes me feel like my work doesn’t go unnoticed sometimes … It’s definitely special to be recognized by your teammates and coaches too.”

He said he was more of a lead-by-example captain who played the way the coaches asked them to, and also took time to help younger players whenever he could.

In 42 games in his second season, the five-foot-10, 190-pound Wiens responded with 10 goals, 29 assists and 64 penalty minutes. The Rebels lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, with their final game on March 3, 2020.

Ten days later, the KIJHL cancelled its post-season.

Wiens returned to Castlegar in the fall understanding that the 2020-21 season was also potentially in trouble.

“I was pretty nervous,” Wiens said. “I don’t know what the other guys were feeling but they were probably in the same boat because we were supposed to start in September and then they pushed it to October. We were starting to get a little nervous and then they got us going. It was always in the back of your mind that they were going to shut us down once we got going.”

The Rebels began play on Nov. 13 and were 2-1-0-0 when B.C. tightened restrictions on indoor sports again. The KIJHL paused the season but was hopeful play would resume, so players stayed and practised until Christmas.

They took a short break, players came back and resumed practising, but with no end in sight to the provincial pandemic measures, the KIJHL cancelled the season on Feb. 6.

Players were given the option to stay in Castlegar to practise for another six weeks, which Wiens took advantage of for the ice time.

The two-time Rebels MVP had been in contact with post-secondary schools since his rookie season in the KIJHL, and a couple more reached out in his second season. With around 10 schools to choose from, he ultimately decided on Briercrest College in Caronport, Sask.

It was a combination of the Clippers playing in the ACAC, and the school itself.

“It was in Canada, and with all the COVID stuff, I wasn’t sure about getting across the border and going to school so I thought it would be a bit of a safer bet to go to Briercrest,” Wiens said. “It’s the closest one to home too so I figured it would be closer to home for a couple of years. And on top of that, their hockey program bought in Brad Cole and Matt Melo to coach and I really like those guys.

“… School-wise, it’s a Christian school so that’s something I look forward to too.”

He’s planning to major in psychology and minor in kinesiology during his four or five years at Briercrest, with the hope of eventually getting a master’s in physical therapy.

Wiens received some help making the jump when the KIJHL selected him on May 25 as one of 13 players to receive a $1,000 bursary. In a release, the league pointed to his time helping with Meals on Wheels, building compost boxes for Oak Lake, taking part in community sandbagging initiatives, serving food at seniors homes and also working with Special Olympics ringette.

“The money side of it for sure was pretty cool,” Wiens said. “I had to work some pretty long hours over the past couple of summers just to be able to afford my winters so to get a bit of a break from that was really good. To be recognized for some of the stuff that you do — you never really think you’re going to get some money out of it or any recognition — it was cool to get that too.”

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