Hotshot takes Portland by storm

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This article was published 20/06/2020 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is the look. Kayden Jarvis has seen it countless times from his brother Seth.

“When he was really young, he always had a tell when you knew he was about to kind of lose it and snap a little bit,” recalls Kayden, who is six years older than his sibling. “He would tilt his soother in his mouth and then his eyes would narrow.

“He was probably two or three — before he could even talk, really — and you always knew it. And immediately you had three seconds to get out of the way because he was coming (with a) full-force attitude.”

Years later, Seth Jarvis is still coming and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get out of his way.

The 18-year-old Winnipegger is locked in as one of the top prospects for this summer’s NHL draft after vaulting himself from a likely second- or third-round pick to a potential lottery choice with an explosive post-Christmas surge with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks.

After posting 35 points in 32 games to start his sophomore season, Jarvis returned to Portland after the Christmas break to take the WHL by storm with 63 points in his final 26 games.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a premature end to the season but the 5-10, 175-pound right-winger still managed to finish second in league scoring with 42 goals and 98 points in 58 games and second in plus-minus rating at plus-53.

He was rewarded with first-team Western Conference all-star honours and an invite to Team Canada’s world junior evaluation camp.

But how did Jarvis get to this point?

Part of his story is a typically Canadian hockey experience. He had already learned to skate by the time he debuted in novice hockey as a four-year-old, playing against five- and six-year-olds and as a call-up against even older kids that same season.

He had a rapid rise on the development curve as he advanced along in the minor hockey system. More unconventional, probably, was Seth’s support system at home.

His mom Tracey Shields-Jarvis, a point guard on the University of Manitoba national championship women’s basketball team in 1988, has no background in hockey while dad Ray, a football player in his youth who suffered a knee injury that ended his gridiron career at the University of North Dakota before it started, was also a neophyte when it came to Canada’s game.

Almost from birth, the Jarvis brothers were playing a wide variety of sports. Football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse and hockey — everything was in play.

“The bottom line is you just get to do some other skills in a different environment and they’re all transferable, and the multi-sport pieces serve both (boys) super well in terms of the fact that you have a little bit of confidence, and then they can plunk you in anywhere and you’re going to be OK,” says Ray.

“I know that for us, we didn’t take ourselves seriously. We wanted them to play whatever they wanted to do and we supported them in doing that. And we certainly knew the value of trying to do different things.”

Ray Jarvis also became a student of the game.

As a vice-principal at Dakota Collegiate, he built the Lancers football program into a provincial powerhouse from its inception in 2010. Soon he was coaching his kids in hockey and applying many of the learning techniques from the gridiron. Instructional video was a big piece.

“My dad put a lot of time and effort into me,” says Seth. “He grew up with no hockey background at all. I don’t know how he did it. He just used YouTube videos and stuff like that and just taught me how to take all my shots and spent time with me in the backyard.

“He coached both of us growing up. He didn’t know a lot about hockey but he’s smart. A smart sports guy.”

Dedication on the field or on the ice was also a priority. Football, for six seasons with the Charleswood Broncos program, and hockey had equal connection for Seth until he was 12. Hockey won out.

“I think the part we took seriously was that, whatever you were gonna play,” says Tracey. “You’re there all the time. You never, never miss, and you’re doing your best. You prepare and you’re ready to go every time.”

Preparation also helped to fuel the intense reactions on the ice.

When he was 11, at 5-2 and 100 pounds, Jarvis was often challenged by bigger opponents.

By his first year of bantam with the Winnipeg Monarchs, he recalls being on the receiving end of a cheap shot and pursued his opponent for the next couple of shifts, nearly hitting him over the boards and getting ejected for his troubles.

Jarvis transitioned to the newly formed Rink Hockey Academy for his second season of bantam in 2016-17, when his offensive skills continued to flash with 42 goals and 66 points in 30 games.

“He scored a lot of goals for us for sure but the first goal ever scored by an RHA player was Seth against Shattuck-St. Mary’s,” recalls RHA head coach Brad Purdie. “(He comes) across the blue-line, a one versus three, and he comes out on the other side and just goes right under the bar. So, it was a pretty nice way to start off.”

It was at RHA, where Kayden combines work as a skills instructor with his academic program at the U of M’s Asper School of Business, where Seth became a top prospect in the minds of WHL scouts and NCAA recruiters. His skating and puck skills stood out.

“I think coming into RHA, that was my thing,” says Seth. “Skilled and fast but still a little bit on the edge. I think I still played on the edge into bantam but then I went to midget and I was with (coaches Ian) Duvall and Rob Smith, and they really helped me mature.

“They really sat me down a lot, and really preached to me the importance of staying calm and not freaking out.”

The irony of Jarvis’s maturation hit home this spring when he was named the WHL’s most sportsmanlike player after being assessed only 24 penalty minutes in 2019-20.

Scott Bonner, who has served on Jarvis’s agent team with Gerry Johannson since Seth was chosen 11th overall in the 2017 bantam draft, isn’t surprised.

“That’s where I found Seth’s demeanor and willingness to learn and compete was very similar to (Montreal Canadiens forward) Brendan Gallagher’s — because if you look at Brendan’s numbers in junior, they were elite and Seth’s are elite,” says Bonner. “Brendan, when he was a minor hockey player, he had a real bad temper.

“Seth had a bad temper in minor hockey. Brendan, his temper got better in junior and he put up a lot of numbers. You know his numbers are off the charts. And, you know, both of them come from good backgrounds, good families. The dads are football guys, competitive guys. Seth is very low mainintenance, wants to play hockey. He’s not a drama queen at all — he’s a hockey player.”

Jarvis has also displayed good off-ice instincts and a willingness to learn.

When Winterhawks head coach Mike Johnson added Don Hay as an assistant prior to Seth’s rookie season, the grizzled veteran bench boss and budding star hit it off.

“Don has been so beneficial to me,” says Jarvis of the 66-year-old Hay, the winningest coach in WHL history. “He made me realize how many details there are in the game and how much there is to work on. He’s one of those guys, you can go into his office and really talk to.”

Their connection proved to be crucial building block last fall.

“In the mid-October stage I had a little bit too much pressure on myself, trying to perform well,” says Seth. “He really preached to me the importance of never letting your emotions get too high or too low. He wanted me to stay even-keeled, not affected by anything. You slowly implement it over time, because I’m an emotional player. I had to work on it.”

Coming from Hay, who helped to mould future NHL stars such as Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan, Scott Niedermayer and Darryl Sydor, the reassurance felt genuine.

“I just said, ‘You know, just relax and go play your game,” says Hay. “‘You know you’re a good player. You know your skills. Trust yourself and believe in yourself’ and he had a great second half. He just took off.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14