FIVE MINUTE MAJOR

By Derek Harper

While the goal for major junior hockey players is to make it to the National Hockey League (NHL), some don’t always make it there or at least not early in their career. Some take alternate routes and start at lower levels. That was the case with a couple of Western Hockey League (WHL) graduates this offseason.

The Portland Winterhawks saw forward Jack O’Brien sign with the Minnesota Wild’s ECHL affiliate, the Iowa Heartlanders.

O’Brien put up 63 goals and 131 assists for 194 points in just over the timespan of five regular seasons and a total of 255 regular season games. In the playoffs, he collected nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points in three different seasons and a total of 38 playoff games.

Another WHL alum that recently signed with the Edmonton Oilers’ ECHL affiliate, the Fort Wayne Komets. That player is right winger Chase Bertholet. During his time in the WHL, he spent the course of just over five seasons with two different franchises. He spent most of his major junior career with the Spokane Chiefs after a few seasons with the Winnipeg ICE.

Bertholet played 52 regular season games with the ICE before joining the Chiefs for 178 regular season games for a total of 203 regular season games and eight playoff games. In his 203 regular season games in the WHL, he collected 78 goals and 129 assists for 207 points. In the eight playoff games he participated in he dished out two assists.

So, while some players may not shine to the point they make the NHL, at least initially, they’re noticed to where they still get to play at the professional level and grow their game.

However, it can be argued that the ECHL isn’t as good of a level of play compared to the WHL. One potential instance of this was when the Chilliwack Bruins were purchased and relocated to Victoria where they became the Royals. At the time there was an ECHL franchise, the Victoria Salmon Kings. The Salmon Kings would simply end up folding rather than moving to a new market.

This isn’t the first instance of a major junior team moving into an ECHL market. However, it hasn’t kicked out a team more recently than that. The ECHL’s Brampton Beast folded a few years ago and now their venue will welcome a new tenant from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). That team isn’t moving too far as it’s just a short drive down the road from where they currently are. That team is the Mississauga Steelheads who will be rebranded as the Brampton Steelheads and play at the 5,000 seat CAA Centre.

A similar thing happened out west when the Bruins moved to Victoria. The Quesnel Millionaires ended up being relocated to Chilliwack and rebranded to the Chiefs.

This shows that major junior hockey is not only a stepping stone for hockey players, but also venues when a team relocates whether it’s moving into a current team’s building or making way for a new tenant.

Despite this, the ECHL has seen stability as they sit with 29 teams. Their goal is to match the AHL and NHL with 32. The league has seen its fair share of struggles with the loss of a few teams but has also gained a few teams.