WHEAT KINGS CAMP: Bjarnason back on track for WHL dream

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This article was published 07/09/2021 (1722 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Carson Bjarnason’s draft day disappointment may ultimately carry the Carberry youngster a long way.

The six-foot-three, 176-pound netminder went unselected by the 22 Western Hockey League clubs on April 22, 2020, which he called a nerve-wracking experience. But rather than feeling sorry for himself, he vowed to show people he can play at the WHL level. 

The Brandon Wheat Kings listed him soon after, and now he’s back on track.

“Once you have a setback, you only want to bounce back stronger,” Bjarnason said after his first practice with the team on Tuesday morning at Westoba Place. “I was actually excited for that. I want to prove myself and prove that I can be a good goaltender.”

Not many people understand Bjarnason’s game better than Wheat Kings goaltending coach Tyler Plante. The Carberry product has been attending Plante’s goaltending schools for years, and after he went undrafted, Plante suggested to Wheat Kings management he should be listed.

He added that Bjarnason has taken a big step in thez last year.

“He moves very well,” Plante noted. “Being a big guy. It’s hard to move, especially with all that equipment on. There is more to movement than just going side to side, it’s up and down as well and attaching to that post, and he does all of those things at a very high level. That’s something hard to teach for a big guy and that’s something that might come in time: When you have a big guy who already has it, it’s just an advantage.”

While the 2005-born Bjarnason is a little too young to have watched Plante play with the Wheat Kings — the Florida Panthers draft pick graduated after the 2006-07 season — the youngster does look up to some more recent Brandon netminders.

He grew up coming to games at Westoba Place and carefully watching the masked men in the crease.

“(Jiri) Patera, I loved (Jordan) Papirny, he was amazing, Logan Thompson and obviously (Ethan) Kruger,” Bjarnason said. “All of them, I can’t name a bad guy.”

Bjarnason lived up north in Gillam until age five, when his family moved to Carberry. He had the good fortune of playing with goaltender Gavin Renwick in Carberry, and the pair drove each other to be better.

He later paired with Owen Larocque of Wawanesa in Southwest with the Cougars.

“I was very fortunate to have two great guys who pushed me,” Bjarnason said. “I couldn’t say enough good things about them.”

Bjarnason left Southwest to head to the Rink Hockey Academy in Winnipeg last season, hoping he would have more opportunities to grow his game there. While he only played in a pair of games with the U16 prep team — posting a 2.01 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage — he enjoyed the experience.

“Great development,” Bjarnason said. “When things got shut down, we found ways to keep going. It tripled my development. It was crazy there. I loved it.”

Bjarnason is moving from Carberry to Brandon soon, and has received his release to play at the under-18 level in the city rather than returning to Souris-based Southwest. If he plays in Brandon, he will also train at the newly established Western Canada Hockey Academy.

He could potentially play with the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Winkler Flyers.

Bjarnason hopes to build on what he sees as the strengths of his game.

“I have great eye work,” Bjarnason said. “I keep my nose attached to the puck. It’s taught to be on a string. That’s something Tyler put on to me. Tyler also developed me into a deep goaltender. I can play out of the crease and have a lot of depth with it, and puck handling, I’m super calm with it.”

At the same time, Bjarnason knows he has to continue to improve to take his game to higher levels. He has targeted some specific areas for growth.

“I just have to work on foot speed, getting there faster, arriving at the play before the puck gets to the other player,” Bjarnason said. “And you can always work on depth too. You can never be too big in the net.”

The big step he is working toward is becoming a WHL netminder. He did research on his options and arrived at the conclusion that major junior is where he wants to eventually be.

That makes this week an important one for him, and he’s eager to make the right kind of impression on Wheat Kings management. 

“I want to leave a good one as a person,” Bjarnason said. “I’m not just a goalie. Off the ice you have to be personable. I just want to go to main camp and prove myself, being a listed guy, and hopefully sign. I want to make the team first of all but I’m just excited to be here.”

 

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