Sibling rivalry led to Hawryluk’s fierceness

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This article was published 11/05/2016 (3677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KENT, Wash. — If you’ve ever wondered where the utterly relentless nature of Jayce Hawryluk’s game comes from, all you need to do is visit the basement of the Roblin home he grew up in.

The 20-year-old Brandon Wheat Kings forward, who scored the unlikely winner in overtime on Saturday in Game 2 of the Western Hockey League final when he threw a pass out front to Nolan Patrick and it hit Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Landon Bow and went in, said his style of play grew out of fierce struggles with his three older brothers.

“As a young kid we used to play hockey in my basement pretty much every single night and there was no shortage of battles down there,” Hawryluk said. “Fistfights, hitting, you name it, we did it. It got pretty intense down there at times. I credit a lot of my competitiveness to that, growing up as a kid and having those three older brothers push me to be my best at all times.”

It apparently worked.

The five-foot-10, 194-pound forward was picked in the second round (32nd overall) of the National Hockey League draft by the Florida Panthers in 2014, exactly the spot that the Brandon Wheat Kings chose him in the 2011 WHL bantam draft.

Playing bantam A with the Russell Rams in his bantam draft year, the then-undersized forward put up 138 goals and 126 assists in just 54 games, an average of nearly five points a game.

He’s played four seasons with the Wheat Kings, piling up 119 goals and 159 assists in 232 regular season games, and adding 54 more points in 42 playoff games.

The Wheat Kings won Game 3 of the league final 3-2, with Reid Duke scoring the game-winning goal in overtime. 

“I think I’ve matured a lot,” Hawryluk said of his time in Brandon. “I think my defensive game mostly has come a long way and that’s probably the biggest part that I’ve improved on. I think over the years you get more comfortable in the league and you’re the older guy and playing against younger guys now and guys your age. I’m a little more comfortable out there, a little more confident with the puck and I think that just reflects all over the ice, (defensive) zone, (offensive) zone, everywhere.”

While Hawryluk was always a consistent point producer, he took his game to another level this season, finishing fourth in WHL scoring with 106 points in just 58 games.

After a terrific October in which he had 20 points in 13 games and sat near the league leaders in scoring, Hawryluk cooled in November, posting nine points in 10 games, with three of them coming in the last game of the month.

In December he headed to the Team Canada selection camp and was taken all the way to Finland before being released just before Christmas. After an ill-advised hit on fellow Roblin product Josh Brook of the Moose Jaw Warriors led to a five-game suspension that began in late December, Hawryluk returned on Jan. 15.

In the next 64 days, a stretch of 30 games, Hawryluk put up 71 points, including 29 goals.

A big part of his success was teaming up with Nolan Patrick and Tyler Coulter, a line that works in part because of the unselfishness of all three.

“I just try and make the best play whenever I can,” Hawryluk said. “If that’s shoot, I shoot. If it’s pass, I pass. I feel like I see the ice pretty well and I feel like if I have a shot, I can take that shot. Sometimes it’s better to feed my teammates … It doesn’t really matter who scores the goal as long as the team scores.”

Hawryluk appreciates the fact that he’s been able to play in the league final twice, and while the team lost to the Kelowna Rockets a year ago, he said assistant coach Darren Ritchie’s experience also has an impact on him.

Ritchie, a 62-goal scorer in his final season with the Wheat Kings in 1994-95, lost in the league final that year to the Kamloops Blazers.

“He always tells us that he looks back on his final year there and how they lost in the final and how it still hurts to this day and how he wishes he could relive that,” Hawryluk said. “The only thing we can do is cherish our time and make our memories when we can.”

For Hawryluk, the good memories also come from the fact that he played his junior career just 235 kilometres from home.

As a result, he doesn’t take his experience as a Wheat King for granted.

“It’s been an honour to be able to be drafted to Brandon and to have such close support from my family and friends,” Hawryluk said. “I don’t think my dad has missed more than a handful games in my entire career … To be able to follow my whole junior career has been incredible. It’s the same with my mom and dad and brothers, all my family and friends. For them to be able to watch me so much over my junior career has just been special.

“I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

ICINGS: Brandon netminder Jordan Papirny has been named the CHL goaltender of the week. He posted a 2-0 record as well as a 1.80 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage in a pair of 3-2 overtime wins … The Wheat Kings kept their lineup intact from the last series, scratching D Schael Higson, F Garrett Armour, F Caiden Daley and D/F Mark Matsuba … Seattle scratched F Owen Seidel, F Garan Magnes, F Luke Orsnby and D Luke Osterman …Former Winnipeg Blue Bombers punter Jon Ryan, now a member of the Seattle Seahawks, dropped the puck before the game in a ceremonial faceoff … Wheat Kings forward Duncan Campbell fought Thunderbirds forward Cavin Leth to an early draw on Tuesday.

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