The players on midget hockey teams are generally made up of 17-and 18-year- old kids.
A lot of the players are developing their game before they make the jump to the next level, whether it be junior A or major junior. Playing midget for a year or two gives them the proper amount of training and experience to prepare themselves for that jump to play against players as old as 20.
Sometimes, however, there are kids who make the jump from bantam to midget earlier than others.
This year, one of those players will play his home games at the Civic Centre, as 2001-born defenceman Luke Reid has decided to skip his second year of bantam hockey.
Last season with the Sask Valley Vipers, Reid scored five goals and added five assists in 31 regular season games, before exploding for three goals and eight assists in just 10 playoff games.
Battlefords AAA Stars head coach Martin Smith feels the young defenceman will have no troubles adjusting to the higher age group.
“You don’t find defenceman with that much upside offensively,” Smith said. “He’s got exceptional lateral movement and he sees the ice very well. We know there’s going to be some growing pains because he’s an underager, but we play six defenceman so he’s going to get some time on the power play and we’re excited to have him.”
Smith says despite all the potential and skill Reid has, he knows there might be struggles to begin.
“Where it’s going to be challenging for him early is he can’t hold on to the puck too long,” Smith said. “He has to make that quick pass becaue he doesn’t have as much time as he did in bantam. We have him paired with Dawson Bacon who’s a third-year veteran and I think he’ll help mentor Reid along the way.”
It’s not always easy for kids to leave home for hockey, but especially at the age of 14. Smith says he was in close contact with Reid’s dad regarding any concerns.
“We talked abut all the different scenarios and what would be best for him,” Smith explained. “If he was coming to our team and he wasn’t going to play regularly, then the best thing for him would have been to go back and play bantam.”
When it comes to his team as a whole, Smith says he believes they’ll still be an offensive team despite losing their top players from last season.
“I think we’re going to have to score by commitee,” he said. “You look at some guys who have scored at other levels like Kent Hanson, Jayden Nachtegaele and Mason Mullaney who were among the leaders on their midget AA teams last year. So we’ve got some scoring to go along with veteran players like Keelan Saworski and Owen Lamb who are going to be counted on to provide offence.”
In goal, the Stars will have two new goalies this year as Talen King and Brett Pongracz aren’t returning.
“We’ve signed Lance Alm who was a pick of the Edmonton Oil Kings in last year’s WHL draft,” Smith said. “He’s our goaltender of the future. I think he has the capability of playing a lot of games in the league this year, even though he’s a younger goalie. In terms of our other goaltender, we have three others at camp so we’re looking at finalizing that other spot and seeing how they play in exhibiton.”
Alm, a native of Rockhaven, played for the Battlefords Barons last season and finished with a 6-9 record and a 3.77 GAA.
The 15-year-old was drafted in the fourth round, 76th overall, by the Oil Kings earlier this year.
The Stars play their first exhibition game next Saturday when they welcome the Beardy’s Blackhawks at 2 p.m. They play at Beardy’s the following afternoon.
Their regular season begins Sept. 26 when as the Regina Pat Canadians visit the Civic Centre.
Which is, coincidentally, Reid’s 14th birthday.
