It’ll be hard to find anyone who is more anxious to get out on the ice at the Art Hauser Centre at the moment than Jakob Brook.
The second-year forward for the Prince Albert Raiders is not expected to suit up for the team’s training camp this weekend as he recovers from an undisclosed injury that he suffered at Hockey Canada’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup selection camp in Calgary last month.
“I’m feeling a lot better as time goes on and I’m healing as quickly as I can,” Brook said during the Raiders’ annual golf tournament at the Cooke Municipal Golf Course Wednesday.
“I’m planning just to ease back into things but it’s really a wait and see approach at the moment and (Raiders athletic therapist Duane) “Puff” (Bartley) is keeping me posted on what’s going on.”
The 17-year-old from Roblin, Man. sustained the injury on July 28 during the first scrimmage of the camp.
“It was nagging a little bit going into the next scrimmage and I just aggravated it,” Brook said.
“I knew right away that it wasn’t smart to keeping playing and make things worse, so I made the call that I shouldn’t be out there.”
Although his quest to join teammates Kaiden Guhle and Ozzy Wiesblatt on the final roster ended earlier than he hoped, Brook’s first trip to a Hockey Canada camp was one that he won’t soon forget.
“My older brother Josh (who spent the last four seasons on the Moose Jaw Warriors blueline and is set to start his pro career in the Montreal Canadiens organization this fall) has been to the Hockey Canada camps many times so he gave me a good idea of what to expect going in there,” Brook said.
“It was awesome just to be invited and to have the chance to represent my country. It’s really cool to play against the best of the best there and it really opened my eyes for this coming season as I hope to play a bigger role with this team.”
A second round pick in the 2017 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft, Brook had six goals and six assists in 61 regular season games last season and dished out a pair of helpers in 23 playoff contests as the Raiders won their second league title.
“My approach to this off-season was pretty similar to what it was coming into my rookie year,” Brook said. “My focus was to continue to build muscle, in addition to making sure that I still have that speed element to my game.
“Having won the league last year, our entire team has become even tighter and we have a real brotherhood here. We’re hoping to share some of that experience with the new guys that are joining us this year.”
Brook will also be keeping an eye on what happens at the Medicine Hat Tigers training camp, as his younger brother Aidan looks to make their blueline.
“I’m hoping that I can play a few shifts against him this year and let him know that we aren’t brothers out there,” Brook joked.
“Our whole family is really happy for him and we’re hoping that he can crack their roster and play in this league.”
The Raiders opened up their 2019 camp with a quartet of scrimmages involving rookies and veterans on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
The goal scorers from the four contests were as follows:
- MacKenzie Carson
- Shaw Cathcart
- Devin Jameson
- Landon Kosior
- Colton Koran
- Logan Linklater
- Justin Nachbaur
- Rylin Nelson
- Jayden Plamondon
- Eric Pearce
- Dallyn Peekeekoot
- Aliaksei Protas
- Bryce Warkentine
Hayden Prosofsky and Guillermo Salazar also found the back of the net in a shootout.
Training camp will resume Saturday with scrimmages set for 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Around the WHL
Aiden Bulych, who was a ninth round pick by the Raiders in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, signed a standard player agreement with the Swift Current Broncos Friday.
The 17-year-old forward, who was listed by the Broncos last fall, had 49 points in 58 games this past season with his hometown Yorkton Terriers in the SJHL.
Meanwhile, the Red Deer Rebels acquired 17-year-old defenceman Joel Sexsmith and a conditional draft pick from the Vancouver Giants on Friday afternoon in exchange for the rights to 19-year-old forward Brendan Budy and a conditional draft pick.
Sexsmith, who was the ninth overall pick by the Broncos in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft, played in six games for the Giants over the last two seasons and had 12 points in 15 games last year for the Delta Hockey Academy in an injury shortened campaign.
Budy, who the Rebels took in the fourth round of the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft, started off last season with the NCAA’s Denver Pioneers but left after six games to join the USHL’s Tri-City Storm.
He had 31 points in 31 regular season contests and later committed to the NCAA’s North Dakota Fighting Hawks.
Prior to heading to the United States, Budy spent two seasons with the Langley Rivermen of the BCHL and had 101 points in 105 games.
Friday’s Pre-Season Scores
- Seattle 4 Vancouver 2 (Thomas Milic – 29 Saves)
- Swift Current 8 Moose Jaw 5 (Josh Davies – Three Goals – Jake Kustra – One Goal and Three Assists)
- Portland 6 Spokane 5 (Robbie Fromm-Delorme – Two Goals)
- Saskatoon 8 Regina 3 (Colton Dach – Two Goals and One Assist)
- Everett 3 Tri-City 2 (Reece Vitelli Overtime Winner – Talyn Boyko – 58 Saves)
- Kelowna 4 Victoria 0 (Kyle Crosbie – One Goal and One Assist – Cole Schwebius and Cole Tisdale – Combined 14-Save Shutout)
Saturday’s Pre-Season Schedule
- Vancouver vs. Portland – 12:30 p.m. (in Everett)
- Saskatoon vs. Moose Jaw – 3 p.m. (in Regina)
- Tri-City vs. Seattle – 4 p.m. (in Everett)
- Swift Current vs. Regina – 7 p.m.
- Spokane vs. Everett – 8 p.m.
- Victoria vs. Kamloops – 8 p.m.
