Moose maximizing veteran presence of physical forward

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This article was published 03/04/2019 (2573 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you ask Manitoba Moose head coach Pascal Vincent what veteran Ryan White has meant to his team this season, expect a long answer.

“How much time do you have?” Vincent said after Wednesday morning’s practice at Bell MTS Place. “What a man. He’s been doing so much.”

White, a 31-year-old from Brandon, has 11 years of pro hockey on his resumé, including 313 NHL games between the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Arizona Coyotes and Minnesota Wild.

For White, last season was disappointing. He found himself in the AHL full time, as he played 44 games between the San Diego Gulls and Iowa Wild. It was the first time since he was a rookie in the Montreal Canadiens organization in 2008-09 that the forward was a full-time minor leaguer. There were no guarantees for White coming into this season, as the Moose signed him to a professional tryout contract.

“Last year was rough for me, I think being down for the first time in a long time and maybe being a little upset about it,” said White, a third-round pick by the Canadiens in the 2006 NHL draft. “I think I came in with a better attitude this year. I’ve already been to the bottom, so we’re going back to the top. If I can’t play in that league, I might as well have some fun in this league and work on my game and keep trying to improve. I think this has been a good spot for me to do it.”

The season didn’t get off to a great start for White, who suffered a concussion on Dec. 1 and missed 36 games. But he’s rebounded nicely and been a key reason why the Moose are in a battle for a playoff spot with five games remaining in the regular season. Going into Wednesday night’s meeting with the Bakersfield Condors, White had five goals and two assists in the 12 games since returning from injury. For a guy who’s been labelled as an enforcer — White had 447 penalty minutes and 61 points in his NHL career — White has provided a scoring boost for the Moose.

“The energy that this guy has is quite amazing. I can’t imagine the amount of energy he had when he was 20 years old and starting out as a pro player,” Vincent said. “He’s got courage. He’s been scoring big goals for us. He’s all in and asking questions about what we need to do. I mean, he’s done it all.”

White has embraced the fact he’s the oldest player on the team, and taken on a leadership role.

“I still try to think I’m younger than I am, I think. But being the older guy and being around the block a bit, guys kind of look to me. I’ve been through a lot of things before and I’ve had lots of great older guys coming up with that I played with to bounce ideas off of and talk to and talk through things,” White said.

“It’s tough. We go through a lot of different things throughout the season and you get some guys that have been through it before and it makes a difference. The kids are pretty receptive here. They want to get better. They want to learn. That’s why you bring in older guys.”

Moose captain Peter Stoykewych has noticed White’s impact.

“You can see the experience he’s had in this league and in the NHL and what he brings to our room,” Stoykewych said. “He’s kind of our dad out there. He’s the oldest guy in the room by quite a bit. A great guy to bounce ideas off and a great guy to go to if you need anything regardless if you’re my age or an 18-year-old in the league. He’s great to have back and obviously he’s been producing for us as well.”

White knows the game is changing in a way that hasn’t been kind to enforcers, which has led to him putting a bigger emphasis on his skating. If a return to the NHL isn’t in the cards, the six-foot, 200-pound player said he’d like to pass on the things he’s learned in the game and hopefully help some of the young guys on the Moose get similar opportunities to the one’s he had. He wouldn’t mind a Calder Cup ring, either.

“I’d like to win. I haven’t had a chance to win a championship,” White said. “I think we have a good group here. I think we have a better group than a lot of people give us credit for. I think with the way things have gone this year, we fortunately got some depth down the stretch here for the playoff run. To me, I’m getting older and later in my career. Not too many chances to win anymore. That would be my goal — to try and win something.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31