Morden pair thrives in Maritimes

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This article was published 04/05/2022 (1441 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Trent Crane and William Irvine could not have envisioned how the 2021-22 season has unfolded.

Last fall, the life-long buddies from Morden were preparing for their first full seasons as WHL regulars. Crane, a forward, was set to play with the Victoria Royals while Irvine, a defenceman, was preparing to do battle with the Kelowna Rockets.

Then the unhappy reality of major-junior hockey took hold.

Crane played four games with the Royals before his ice time dried up and he was reassigned to the MJHL’s OCN Blizzard. Irvine went to training camp and played two pre-season games with the Rockets, but he was also shipped back to the Blizzard, where he scored a goal and three points in eight games.

Crane took time to consider his future and then asked for a trade.

By November, he got his wish. He was dealt to the Maritime Junior Hockey League’s Summerside (P.E.I.) Western Capitals and it just so happened that his maternal grandparents and other members of his extended family live nearby.

“I wanted to kind of have a fresh start and I wanted to go somewhere new, somewhere I hadn’t been before and I got an opportunity with a trade to come to Summerside…,” said Crane Wednesday by phone during a break in his work duties in the maintainence department of the New Glasgow Hills Golf Course.

“I was really lucky to get to traded here. We’ve been playing some really good hockey and it’s been a really good experience. A great bunch of guys, good coaching. They treated me very well and I’m very happy to be here.”

Good hockey might be an understatement.

The Caps went 31-4-1-2 to claim a Maritime Junior Hockey League regular-season crown. On Monday, Summerside wrapped up a league title with a 4-1 win over the Truro Bearcats in the decisive Game 5 of the final while also earning a trip to the Centennial Cup in Estevan, Sask., later this month.

Making the experience even sweeter is the presence of Irvine, who joined Summerside after a trade in February. The 19-year-old Irvine’s arrival was delayed by the league’s lengthy COVID-19 shutdown but he eventually registered five points in nine regular-season games.

In the playoffs, he’s erupted for four goals and 13 points in 14 playoff outings.

“It’s been really cool,” said Crane. “Obviously, we both went through the same thing with teams in the Western League and we got really lucky to come back to get a chance to play together and win a championship and I think that was really special for the two of us.”

Crane urged Caps general manager Pat McIver to make a deal for Irvine.

“I knew he would be a really good defenceman for our team,” said Crane, 19. “He’s very offensive and he’s scoring a lot of goals — some big goals — and he’s very good defensively, too. I thought it’d be a good suggestion to Pat if we could get him and he’s played really good so far.”

Crane’s scouting report has hit the mark.

“(Irvine) has a cannon for a shot and he’s had a great post-season, especially offensively, but he’s really stabilized our D and he’s given us some good depth on the back end,” said McIver.

The Caps, ranked the country’s No. 3 team in the latest Canadian Junior Hockey League poll, have two lethal scoring lines and Crane, with linemates Aaron Brown and Jacob Stewart, is firmly established in the top six. He had 12 points in 18 regular-season games and added 10 more points in 14 playoff dates.

“At the start of the year we didn’t feel we were a contending team; we thought we’d be in the middle of the pack but we slowly kept adding some pieces and some guys had career years that were back from last year,” said McIver. “So it kind of all added up to us being a really really good hockey club.”

BUYDENS BOUND FOR USHL

It’s been an eventful season for Carson Buydens of the Virden Oil Capitals.

At mid-season, the 18-year-old centre from Gladstone committed to attend Princeton University in 2023-24. He followed that up by being named MJHL rookie of the year (after scoring 53 points in 54 games) and was recently named one of five finalists for CJHL top rookie honours.

On Tuesday, the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders chose him in the first round (eighth overall) in the USHL Phase II Draft.

“I know it’s probably the best route to the NCAA so if I could, I would obviously love to play there,” said Buydens. “But it’s not something I really thought about or somewhere expected myself to be playing.”

The Riders weren’t finished with MJHL players, selecting 19-year-old forward Jordan Hughesman of the Selkirk Steelers in the second round the Virden left-winger Braden Fischer in the seventh round.

LUCIUS TO WINTERHAWKS?

The Winnipeg Jets signed University of Minnesota forward Chaz Lucius to an entry-level contract last week amid speculation over where the 19-year-old centre would playing in 2022-23.

Lucius could jump immediately to the NHL or spend time with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. There is also a scenario where the 2021 NHL first-rounder could get a season of development with the Portland Winterhawks, who own his WHL rights.

“I know the Jets are going to do what they feel is best for them and the player,” said Winterhawks general manager and head coach Mike Johnston, who chose Lawrence, Kansas, product in the fourth round of the 2018 WHL Prospects Draft.

“We will probably have some discussions with them as training camp goes along to see how he’s doing and what the scenarios might be. But that wouldn’t be something we would do ahead of time.”

Portland has been in a similar situation before. In 2017-18, the New York Islanders signed 2016 NHL first-rounder Kieffer Bellows out of Boston University and assigned him to the Winterhawks.

Johnston is content to see how the situation unfolds.

“We’ve had good relationship with the family,” said Johnson. “We kept in touch with them when he was with the national team program. When we recruited him originally we had good rapport with the family all along so I feel the relationship is strong that way. But I know how these things work. We’ll kind of see what transpires with the NHL team in late September/October.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14