Dube makes immediate impact in Dauphin

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This article was published 11/11/2021 (1401 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DAUPHIN — It’s not that often that a 16-year-old can crack the Dauphin Kings roster.

In fact, the last Kings players to make the jump straight to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League were Grady Hobbs and Kyle Oleksiuk, who joined the squad in 2016-17.

As such, it came as a pleasant surprise to head coach and general manager Doug Hedley when Brayden Dube was reassigned to the squad last month by the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds.

“We really didn’t expect him to come back this year,” Hedley said. “When he was eligible for the MJHL draft back in 2020, we knew that he was going to go high in the WHL Draft, so he wasn’t even drafted by anyone in our league.

“There were two or three teams that had listed him and we were lucky to have Brayden choose our program. We’re happy to have him here and he’s done very well as a 16-year-old in a predominately 18-to-20-year-old league.”

Dube’s arrival in Dauphin has also been a homecoming of sorts for the Roblin product, as he suits up for the team he grew up watching and plays in a Credit Union Centre facility that he competed in with the Parkland Rangers.

“It’s a real honour to wear the Kings jersey,” Dube said.

“Everything has been awesome here in Dauphin so far. It’s fun to play here, there are lots of good fans, the rink’s nice and the coaches and players have all been great to me.”

Heading into a home game with the Swan Valley Stampeders tonight, Dube is third in team scoring with 14 points in 11 games and recently earned the MJHL’s rookie of the month honours for October.

He’s also well ahead of the five other 2005-born skaters in the league scoring chart, as he’s eight points ahead of Brandon Funk of the Portage Terriers and Evan Groening of the Virden Oil Capitals, the latter of which is a signed prospect of the Brandon Wheat Kings.

“Everyone on the team likes to chirp me a little bit about being the youngest guy on the team,” Dube joked.

“The transition to the MJHL has been what I thought it would be like though. Everything’s just a little bit better compared to midget. There’s more skill, the guys hit harder and it is a faster game.”

After leading the provincial under-15 circuit with a staggering 130 points in 36 games for the Rangers and being picked in the second round by the Thunderbirds in the 2020 WHL bantam draft, Dube had six points in seven games for the U18 Rangers last year before COVID-19 brought the season to a halt.

With some extra time on his hands, Dube went to work to make sure that he was physically ready to make the jump to junior hockey.

“I was a pretty small guy so I put in a ton of work to make sure that I was faster and stronger heading into training camp,” said Dube, who stands five-foot-10 and weighs 177 pounds.

“During the summer, I worked out almost every day and I ate way healthier than I had in the past. I’ve found that that had made a huge difference.”

Since coming back from Seattle’s training camp, Dube’s found himself on a line with forwards Ben Hackl and Kaden Bryant.

Bryant is in his third season of Junior A hockey after and was acquired by the Kings from the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Sherwood Park Crusaders at the 2020 trade deadline, while Hackl suited up in just one contest for the Kings last season after a three-year stint with the Kenora Thistles U18 AAA program.

“All three of us have skilled but we’re also hard-working guys, which I think has allowed us to work really well together as a line,” Dube said.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a good start to the season and that’s allowed me to get my confidence up, especially as I get used to the speed and everything that comes with playing in junior.”

Dube’s also been focusing on improving his play in his own end, which is something that the Thunderbirds coaching staff wanted him to work on this season before he joins the WHL club on a full-time basis in 2022.

“I’ve been focusing a lot on that part of my game and I definitely feel like I’m getting better at it as the year goes on,” Dube said. “I’ve also been getting better and making sure that I’m keeping my head up at all times and finding more open guys out there.”

“When Seattle sent him here, the biggest thing they wanted him to improve on was his play away from the puck, and he’s getting better there for sure,” Hedley added.

“Brayden’s strength is obviously the offensive side of the game and he’s got a knack of knowing where the puck is going to be out there, which we’ve seen already.”

Before he makes the move to the WHL, Dube is focused on helping the 12-4-0-0 Kings stay on top of the MJHL’s West Division, as they currently lead the Waywayseecappo Wolverines by a single point.

“Things were starting to get pretty rough out there between us during our last game (which saw the Wolverines pick up a 3-1 win last Saturday in Dauphin), so the rivalry is really starting to build between us,” Dube said.

“Our chemistry has really improved from when the season started, but I think we just need to do a better job with our structure. If we can do that, I think we’ll be able to find ourselves in the right place at the right time.”

 

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