Prospects share ice with idols

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This article was published 27/06/2019 (2264 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Reid Stefanson and Tristan Mullin come from a generation of local players who fell in love with hockey because of the Manitoba Moose.

Stefanson considered Jimmy Roy his favourite player, while Mullin was a big Mike Keane fan growing up.

This week, the city kid and country kid are rubbing shoulders with their hockey heroes at Winnipeg Jets development camp at Bell MTS Iceplex.

Stefanson, 22, from Winnipeg, recently completed his first season with the University of Massachusetts (Lowell) River Hawks, while Mullin, also 22, from the southwestern Manitoba farming community of Cartwright, has two seasons with the Cornell University Big Red under his belt.

Neither player is a Winnipeg draft pick but accepted invitations to join some of the NHL club’s top prospects for the camp, which wraps up Friday with a scrimmage. The action begins at 10 a.m.

To say slipping on a Jets practice jersey and taking directions from the team’s coaching staff (along with Keane and Roy from the hockey development side) is a dream come true for the two forwards would be a colossal understatement.

“Obviously, it’s really exciting. Growing up, I was a big fan of the Moose and there are a lot of ex-Moose guys on the staff, which is pretty cool, actually,” said Stefanson. “I have a picture of Jimmy Roy and myself from back in the day when I was about five or six. It’s pretty funny seeing him around here. But it’s a great opportunity, being a hometown guy, and I’m just trying to soak it all in and take advantage of it.”

Growing up in Charleswood, Stefanson played out of Varsity View Community Club, played bantam with the Monarchs and AAA midget with the Wild before spending two seasons with the Winnipeg Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

He chose to head south to play one year of junior in Minot, N.D., under head coach and former Brandon Wheat Kings and NHL player Marty Murray and then jumped to Sioux Falls (S.D.) of the USHL before committing to the UMass (Lowell), Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s alma mater.

Stefanson, pursuing a degree in finance, scored eight goals and chipped in 12 assists in 36 games in his freshman season.

“I like to see myself as a 200-foot guy who plays on the right side of the puck and has some offensive upside,” he described. “Ultimately, I want to be that 200-foot centre.”

Stefanson is getting a chance to hang out with Winnipeg goaltender prospect Logan Neaton, a fifth-round pick at last weekend’s draft in Vancouver, who will play for the River Hawks this fall. He’s also familiar with Mullin, as the two battled in a few MJHL games, including a playoff series in 2015.

Mullin spent one year with the Dauphin Kings and another with the Swan Valley Stampeders before heading west to play for Powell River of the B.C. junior league. He committed to Cornell as a way to compete with a top NCAA Division I program while focusing on a degree in agriculture.

Mullin registered four goals and two assists in 26 games with Big Red as a freshman but beefed up his stats considerably last year with eight goals and 13 helpers in 34 games.

A huge Jets and Moose fan, he hopes to model his career path after Winnipeg forward Brandon Tanev, an unrestricted free agent who could be with another organization as of Monday. Tanev was undrafted but played four years at Providence College before signing a contract with the Jets in 2016.

“I think I’m a gritty power forward. I like to take pucks to the net, get to the dirty areas. I’m fairly physical, Just be a good teammate, do all the little things. I think coaches generally like me,” Mullin said.

The Mullin family operates a grain farm, while the extended family runs horse and cattle operations.

“I think my parents (Murray and Lisa) are my idols. My dad is a farmer and my mom’s a nurse. They’ve given a lot to get me here and I can always look up to them and how hard they work. I’ve had a lot of talks with my dad, sitting in a combine, just talking about hockey. My family’s huge hockey fans so it’s always on our minds, always a topic at the dinner table,” Mullin said.

“It’s every Manitoba kid’s dream. It’s just really cool to be here and see the inner workings of the team and all the people you watched on TV. I remember going to Moose games when I was seven or eight and watching Mike Keane play, so it’s kind of funny seeing him out there. But even with (Winnipeg head coach) Paul Maurice, seeing him on TV, too.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell