Hope eager to improve for WHL dream

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This article was published 02/06/2022 (1368 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ask Brandon Wheat Kings prospect Gradey Hope what areas of his game he would like to improve, and he just smiles.

“Pretty much everything,” Hope said. “I have to get better at everything. I’m not Connor McDavid. I’m not the best.”

Brandon picked the six-foot, 169-pound product of Kelowna, B.C., 78th overall in the fourth round of the Western Hockey League draft on May 19.

If the defenceman can crack Brandon’s lineup in the future, he won’t be the first member of his family to skate in the WHL. Hope’s father, Jared, was a forward with the Spokane Chiefs and Edmonton Ice, and was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1996.

He said that wasn’t a huge help because so much has changed since his father’s last WHL season in 1996-97, but added the fact his dad does some scouting now was useful because he could let him know how he was doing.

Gradey started skating when he was three or four with his father, mother Krista and 17-year-old sister Kenzie, who also plays at the Okanagan Hockey Academy.

He began as a forward and changed to defence four years ago, saying the appeal is easy to understand as he likes “quarterbacking the play.”

Last season, in 20 games with the OHA U15 prep team, he contributed two goals, six assists and 22 penalty minutes. He also was called up to the U16 team for three games.

“I do love the work, it keeps me busy,” Hope said of playing hockey. “All the buddies in it, you’re always making new friends and you’re all over the place travelling. It’s so fun.”

Hope, who turns 15 in July, played baseball and a little bit of soccer when he was younger, but is now entirely focused on hockey.

He wasn’t sure what was going to happen on WHL draft day, although he was, well, hopeful.

“I had a few people talking to me but it was still nerve-racking because I didn’t know if it was true or not,” Hope said. “I watched it and it was ‘Wherever I go, I go.’”

When Brandon took him, he admitted it was a big moment.

“I was really happy,” Hope said. “I want to go to the WHL.”

Like third-round pick Emerson Clark, another defenceman, Hope played in the Brick Invitational in Calgary in 2016-17. He earned three assists in six games with the B.C. Junior Canucks, although points aren’t his primary focus.

“I’m a two-way defenceman,” said Hope, who shoots from the left side. “My D is really good, and if I need to, I can jump up into the play.”

Wheat Kings director of player personnel Chris Moulton sees it the same way. After the draft, he said Hope is a complete defenceman.

“He has the ability to play with physicality and defend hard but also has the skill and hockey sense that he can join the rush and create offence with the puck,” Moulton said.

Both sides of Hope’s game were on display when the Wheat Kings hosted their annual prospects camp on the weekend. Hope admitted to some nerves as he tried to make a good first impression on the team that now holds his WHL rights.

“It’s stressful for sure,” Hope said. “That first practice, all these kids are so much older and bigger, I just went with the flow.”

While his major junior future now rests with a city an awfully long way from his hometown Rockets, Hope has quickly adjusted to his new reality.

Just like he was trying to make a first impression on team brass, he was also building his own impression of the franchise and the city that hosts it.

It apparently worked out just fine on both sides.

“It seems awesome,” Hope said. “Brandon is awesome. Everyone in this town loves hockey, you can just tell. The arena is crazy nice.”

He certainly found the prospects camp experience motivational. The hard worker is ready to pour even more energy into his new dream to skate for the Wheat Kings.

“I think coming here will really push me this summer to train and get better.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson