Ritchie pleased to beat dad in one area

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This article was published 28/04/2022 (1408 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon Wheat Kings forward Nolan Ritchie smiles when he discusses one of his favourite parts of winning the team’s scoring title.

If you know the teenager and his father Darren — a former Wheat Kings player, assistant coach, director of player personnel and general manger — you have an idea what’s coming next. The two are famously competitive with each other on the golf course.

“It was pretty cool,” Ritchie said. “I didn’t really know until after that my dad didn’t win one when he was here but obviously Marty (Murray) was on this team and he racked up a lot of points so that would have been pretty tough. “It’s pretty cool after growing up here and watching the Wheat Kings all the time.”

Darren played with the team from 1991 to 1995 — in a far more wide-open era of the game — contributing 152 goals and 278 points in 232 games. In his finest season, the 1994-95 campaign, the Minnedosa product with the wicked shot scored 62 goals and added 52 assists in 69 games and still trailed his linemate Murray by 14 points for the scoring title.

This season, Nolan had a team-leading 33 goals, 43 assists and 76 points to earn the crown. (To illustrate the difference in eras, Ritchie finished 24th in league scoring. In 1994-95, his 76 points would have landed him 39th.)

Perhaps the bigger story than the friendly competition with his father — who remains one of the purest goal scorers in recent Wheat Kings history — is that Ritchie found his way back to an elite level at all.

Ritchie was the breakout star of the Wheat Kings 2018-19 training camp and pre-season, and after a slow start to the regular season, accumulated 11 points in 24 games and appeared to be breaking out offensively.

On Nov. 22, 2019, however, the Wheat Kings rookie came in on the forecheck in a game against the Calgary Hitmen at Westoba Place, lost an edge near the blue-line and slid into the side boards near the door of the Calgary bench. He broke his femur, sending him into a recovery phase initially, and then a year of hard work to find his way back into the lineup.

He never wavered in the belief he would make it.

“I don’t think there was anything like that in my mind,” Ritchie said. “When I first got injured, I had no clue how bad it was going to be. After I got the news that I was going to be fine, I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to be back.”

Indeed.

After the 2020-21 Western Hockey League season was delayed, eventually shortened and the East Division reported to a hub in Regina, Ritchie completed his recovery by skating in all 24 games, scoring 10 goals and adding 17 assists.

The five-foot-nine, 178-pound forward built on that success this season, suggesting his game has changed a lot since he joined the team for his ill-fated 17-year-old campaign.

“I think I had to make plays quicker and be stronger on the puck, battle harder for sure and compete,” Ritchie said. “This is one of the toughest leagues for junior in the world so I’m just coming here and putting my best foot forward every day.”

His efforts haven’t gone unnoticed, as he was named the team’s top Manitoban in their year-end awards.

Wheat Kings head coach Don MacGillivray said he’s been excellent all season as the team coped with a nonstop series of injuries, and has been especially good on a line with Jake Chiasson and Riley Ginnell that came together recently.

“Nolan did a really nice job,” MacGillivray said. “He’s had a terrific year. He’s played physical, he’s played hard, he distributes the puck, he quarterbacks our power play, he’s gotten into the penalty-killing side of things and done a nice job there. He’s been a really solid player for us all year long but moreso when some of your key guys are out.

“We’ve had a lot of situations this year where we’ve had different linemates and since he’s settled down with Ginnell and Chiasson, they’ve been a real good line, and a line that can play against anybody.”

Ritchie has one point in four games so far in the Red Deer, but it was a massive one. Seven minutes into overtime in Game 2 last Saturday, he won a draw cleanly back to Chiasson, who sent a quick shot on net with the rebound deposited behind Red Deer goalie Chase Coward for a 2-1 Brandon victory.

Ritchie grew up around the Wheat Kings as his father worked with the team, and they selected him in the third round of the 2017 WHL draft with the 56th overall pick.

In his 16-year-old season, he was sent back to the under-18 AAA Wheat Kings to join a group that included future WHLers Rylan Thiessen, Calder Anderson and Cole Jordan as they won the 2018-19 Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League title. Ritchie led the league with 94 points in 47 regular season games.

Until Brandon’s series with the Rebels started last Friday, Ritchie hadn’t been in a playoff since but he expected the long post-season run at the U18 level would help.

“Any experience in the playoffs in any league helps, especially that high up,” Ritchie said. “It’s three years ago now so it’s been a while since I had a playoff game. It’s going to be real exciting.”

It’s an excitement that goes well beyond the playoffs, however. Ritchie is just grateful his childhood dream of building on the family connection to the Wheat Kings came true.

“It’s pretty cool growing up in this organization and getting to play for them,” Ritchie said. “It’s really cool to be here now.”

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