Sekundiak finds his place with Wheat Kings

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This article was published 09/12/2020 (1942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Marcus Sekundiak came to the Western Hockey League as highly touted offensive player.

The 20-year-old Brandon Wheat Kings forward has instead found success another way.

“You have to take the opportunities you’re given,” Sekundiak said. “(Former head coach) Dave (Lowry) wanted our line to be the energy line and when things weren’t going right for the team, it was kind of on our backs to turn things around in a game.”

The Oak Bluff product tore up the bantam AAA league in 2014-15, his WHL draft year, scoring 30 goals in 30 games and adding 23 assists. After matching that goal-a-game rate in high school hockey with Oak Park High — 22 goals and 19 assists in 22 games in 2015-16 — he had 17 goals and 10 assists in 30 games with Rink Hockey Academy in 2016-17.

He earned a full-time spot with the Wheat Kings in the 2017-18 season at age 17, and has spent the last three seasons with the club.

In 190 regular season WHL games, he posted 16 goals, 17 assists and 101 penalty minutes. Last season’s totals of nine goals, eight assists and 17 points were all career highs, but Sekundiak was hoping for more.

“You can start to see it in the numbers I put up last year,” Sekundiak said. “I wasn’t really excited about what I put up last year, I wanted to put up more, but I think even just my play without the puck and not even on the scoresheet improved a lot because of confidence too.”

Part of that confidence came from playing for Lowry, which Sekundiak really enjoyed. That made the news of his recent departure to join his son Adam with the National Hockey League’s Winnipeg Jets that much tougher, even if it was understandable.

“It was a bit of a shocker,” Sekundiak said. “Obviously we all knew he had the experience to be at that level but I don’t think anyone expected him to leave. Given that opportunity, I can see why he took it.”

Still, Sekundiak doesn’t expect much of a change with new head coach Don MacGillivray, who served as an assistant with the club for the past four years.

“I think Don’s going to do a great job,” Sekundiak said. “He’s got a lot of experience with the Wheat Kings and with hockey in general. He’s been coaching for a long time. I think we’ll probably follow up on the same kind of game plan we had last year.”

It was a game plan that had a lot of success, with the club going 20-5-3-0 down the stretch. They ultimately finished third with a record of 35-22-4-2 because of an up-and-down first half.

But the players certainly noticed the improvement.

“I think guys just started to buy into the system that Dave put forward for us,” Sekundiak said. “It was a lot of hard work in the practices before Christmas to get that point. I think every single guy in the room bought into the game plan and there wasn’t one guy being left behind.”

Their fine play certainly didn’t make the pandemic-induced cancellation of the season in March any easier. The tightly knit dressing room also had to face the fact that that specific group of players would never skate together again.

“It was super difficult,” Sekundiak said. “We had a special group in that room and we knew that we could have taken things far in the playoffs after missing it in the previous season. I think everyone was a little shocked and really didn’t know what to do at first.”

After the long break and his best WHL season under his belt, Sekundiak is now seeking more. He wants to build on the latter part of the season when his game mirrored that of the team.

“I think to carry on from where I left off last season,” Sekundiak said. “In the second half, I started playing more confident with production. I think I’ll still be part of that energy group that can go out there and get pucks back or whatever when we need to get us going.”

The team returns six 2000-born overage forwards, however, and can only keep three. The others are leading scorers Luka Burzan and Cole Reinhardt, who have both been drafted and in theory could turn pro, plus Lynden McCallum, Duncan Pierce and Reid Perepeluk.

“I just have to show them the value that I have,” Sekundiak said. “I can play a lot of areas of the game well, whether it’s penalty kill or scoring touch or being an energy guy. I think I just have to show what I did all season. It’s been a long off-season and I think I’ve improved a lot.”

He has a good gym setup at home, so after a week off last March, he got back to work. As a result, he’s added 10 pounds of muscle, which can only help his WHL calling card.

Sekundiak, who stands five-foot-11 and now weighs 189 pounds, explodes into contact and has developed into a thunderous hitter in an era of the game when that’s become an increasingly rare ability.

Naturally, he’s pleased with his off-season.

“I’ve been really happy,” Sekundiak said. “It’s kind of been off and on with the ice due to the regulations but I’ve been working out all summer and out on some good size. I just got back on the ice recently because I have a pond in my backyard.”

He initially returned to the ice in June at the Rink training centre. Along with the weight work, he had a to-do list on the ice.

“I think it was just getting quicker off my starts,” Sekundiak said. “I think I have pretty good top speed but I think it’s a matter of getting to top speed quicker.”

The toughest challenge for players is the moving target for their return. After initially being set for October and later rolled back to December, the league is currently eying Jan. 8. Sekundiak admitted it has been hard to deal with over the past few months.

“It’s obviously difficult,” Sekundiak said. “The best thing you can do is prepare for the expected date, but when it’s been changed once already, you don’t even know if the January start will happen. You just have to prepare like it is going to happen.”

With a strong core of returnees and a promising crop of youngsters coming in, spots on Brandon’s roster will certainly be highly sought-after by players. Sekundiak thinks the team has the ability to make a long playoff run this season, whenever it begins.

That quest begins when he returns for camp. He didn’t visit Brandon in the summer to train, but can’t wait to come back soon.

“It’s going to be really special,” Sekundiak said. “It’s a day I’ve been waiting for, for a long time all summer. Once it finally comes it will be exciting and also a relief that it’s happening.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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