It’s always special for Tisdale product Connor Hvidston when he gets a chance to play at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert with the Swift Current Broncos.
Hvidston was in Prince Albert with the Broncos on October 28, a game which the Broncos lost to the Raiders 4-2. He has not appeared in a game since Oct. 14 in Victoria due to injury.
Despite being out of the lineup, Hvidston says it was still special to come to Prince Albert.
“It’s nice being able to come just down the highway from Tisdale. Got a lot of family here. Even came up, had a meal with them before the game. It’s too bad I couldn’t play, and they (couldn’t) get to watch me.”
Hvidston was drafted by the Swift Current Broncos in the seventh round of the 2019 WHL Prospects Draft, 133rd overall.
In his WHL career, he has posted 108 points in 124 games, including a career high 65 points in 59 games last season.
Hvidston was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the fifth round of the 2022 NHL Draft with the 139th overall selection. He has not signed with the Ducks and will look to play well enough in the WHL to ink an entry level deal with the organization.
He says the entire experience of being drafted is something he will never forget.
“It’s obviously a dream come true. Every kid from when they start playing hockey wants to get drafted and play in the National Hockey League. Super special moment being drafted and (I’m) just trying to work towards a contract.”
Swift Current currently sits in seventh place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a record of 9-8-1-0, but only sit two points behind the Prince Albert Raiders who hold third place in the conference.
Hvidston says the parity in the conference this season is something he hasn’t seen in his WHL career.
“Every game, it’s like a four-point game right now, because the standings are so tight. You can go from winning two, jumping up to second place, and then losing two, and you’re down to eighth or ninth place. You look at it as going into every game like it is a must win.”
sports@paherald.sk.ca
