Young players seeking jobs on crowded Brandon blue-line

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This article was published 04/09/2019 (2414 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pair of highly touted young defencemen are set to make their Western Hockey League debuts with the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Sixteen-year-olds Jacob Hoffrogge of Saskatoon and Logen Hammett of Regina are both expected to suit up at least once as Brandon faces the Winnipeg Ice in their pre-season opener at Westoba Place tonight at 7:30. The teams will play again on Saturday at Portage la Prairie’s Stride Place at 7 p.m.

“It’s really exciting,” Hoffrogge said. “Last year I thought I might get a pre-season game but this year I know that I’m going to so I’m going to try to make an impact and show the coaches that I can play in this league.”

Hammett, who played against Hoffrogge in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League last season, also can’t wait.

“It’s real exciting,” Hammett said. “It will be good experience. I’m just getting ready for it and hopefully I get a good game in but we’ll see.”

The five-foot-11, 152-pound Hoffrogge was selected in the second round of the 2018 WHL bantam draft with the 41st overall pick, while the six-foot-one, 175-pound Hammett was taken in the fifth round with the 101st overall selection. Both played for Saskatchewan at the Canada Winter Games.

Head coach Dave Lowry likes what the two youngsters bring.

“We’ve seen them get better every day,” Lowry said. “This is a tough league to play in, it doesn’t matter if you’re 16 or 20. You see growth in their game and you see them understanding the concepts and the speed that we want to play at, and that’s a big adjustment for a young player.”

Lowry has spent a lot of time at practices this week explaining details to his players, stopping the action to illustrate how small adjustments can potentially pay big dividends.

Both young defencemen have been happy with the extra instruction they’ve received, saying it’s been beneficial.

“It is really nice to learn a lot,” Hammett said. “Even already I feel that I’ve learned so much being here this week. It’s helped a lot.”

Neither 16-year-old is guaranteed a spot on the Brandon blue-line.

The Wheat Kings returned six veteran rearguards — Braden Schneider, Zach Wytinck, Neithan Salame, Jonny Lambos, Chad Nychuk and Vinny Iorio — and also have 17-year-old Jack Zayat in camp. Zayat made his WHL debut during the 2018-19 campaign, playing on back-to-back nights last December.

Wheat Kings general manager Darren Ritchie said before training camp that the team will most likely settle on seven defencemen at some point this season.

Hammett is trying to not let the fact that there are nine black jerseys on the ice at practice worry him.

“I just go out and do what I do,” Hammett said. “I don’t really take pressure much. I like to stay calm and be myself and do what I can.”

Hoffrogge said there is a big difference between attending camp as a 15-year-old and as a 16-year-old. This year he has a chance to stick around, but he knows he can’t worry about it.

“Not too much,” Hoffrogge said. “Definitely a little bit because I have to work a little harder. You know that you’re not staying (as a 15-year-old) but this year I’m trying to make a spot so I obviously have to work harder and show the coaches that I can make a difference.”

Brandon will play this weekend without the three veterans who are at National Hockey League camps, with goalie Jiri Patera (Vegas Golden Knights), and forwards Luka Burzan (Colorado Avalanche) and Ben McCartney (Philadelphia Flyers) all away.

The Wheat Kings made a pair of moves on Thursday, reassigning forwards Davis Chorney of Nipawin, Sask., and Drayson Collyer of Brandon. Both Chorney and Collyer, who the Wheat Kings listed in the last year, are expected to join Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League teams, with Chorney in Nipawin and Collyer in Flin Flon.

With the weekend games being the first action his team has seen, Lowry said his expectations will be different than during the regular season.

“I think the big thing we’re looking for is execution and taking the details,” Lowry said. “We’ve tried to keep it simple for the first 10 days. We’re introducing what we want slowly and we want to see it executed in games. One of the big things is the work, the compete (levels), and we want to see some of these guys play out of position and excel.”

Hoffrogge and Hammett will have a chance to put all they’ve learned into action this weekend. Hoffrogge said the key might be as simple as taking a moment to refocus.

“I definitely think that my approach will be that if I play in (tonight’s game) or the game after that, I just have to play my game and maybe take some deep breaths,” Hoffrogge said. “I learned from my last coach that you just have to take some deep breaths and make sure you do your best and not leave anything behind.”

ICINGS: Season ticket holders can pick up their packages between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., in the Keystone Centre’s south parking lot. Season tickets cost $499 for adults, $429 for seniors, $325 for youths aged 13 to 17 and $200 for children 12 and under. Flex packs, which include 34 vouchers that can be used for any home game, cost $575. The team has sold more than 2,200 season tickets so far, including 200 in the last two weeks … On Tuesday, the Seattle Thunderbirds sent 18-year-old forward Graeme Bryks of Edmonton to the Victoria Royals for a conditional seventh-round bantam pick in 2022 … Overage forward Baron Thompson remains in camp with Seattle. Brandon released the big Minnesotan after last season. The Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Dauphin Kings will likely be his destination if he doesn’t stick with the T-Birds.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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