It may have come as a surprise to most outsiders, but it wasn鈥檛 one for either Jacson Alexander or Victoria Grizzlies head coach and general manager Craig Didmon, for that matter.
On Friday, the talented, offensive 16-year-old defenceman put pen to paper, opting to sign on with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western hockey league as opposed to staying in the sa国际传媒 Hockey League and taking his scholarship to Denver University.
The Victoria native, who was selected 17th overall by the Broncos in the 2016 WHL bantam draft, has decided the major junior route is the quickest and best way for him to work toward a professional hockey career.
鈥淚 feel like I want to make hockey my priority. I was trying really hard in school because I thought college was the road for me, but over the last two years I don鈥檛 think it has been,鈥� said Alexander, who will join the Broncos on Dec. 29 and goes from the second-place Island Division Grizzlies to one of the best teams in the WHL, if not the country.
鈥淥bviously, I can go to a [U Sports] school after the WHL should hockey not work out, but I feel this is something I need to do to, get to the Western League this year.
鈥淵eah, I could have finished the season off with the Grizzlies this year, but I just think, with the draft in two summers, I needed to make the step this year to get used to the league so that next year I can perform as well as possible and I wouldn鈥檛 be just coming into the league,鈥� he added.
Alexander had three goals and 10 points in 29 games, playing as a 16-year-old rookie with the Grizzlies. He did miss a little time with an injury and also played five games at the World U-17 Hockey Championship where he had one assist.
鈥淚 was with Jacson week by week with everything. I knew if things didn鈥檛 work out that he would be going, so it鈥檚 not a surprise,鈥� said Didmon. 鈥淗e was struggling on the school side, so he鈥檚 going to focus on hockey as his primary goal.
鈥淕ood for him,鈥� added Didmon. 鈥淗e had a good first half so let鈥檚 see how he does there now. His draft is in a year and a half and now he can focus on that.
鈥淲e were happy to help him along and we wish him the best.鈥�
Alexander had discussions with his adviser as well, Jay Batchelor of the Octagon Group in Burnaby, which handles the likes of NHLers Vladimir Tarasenko, Mark Scheifele, Ryan McDonagh, Victor Hedman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, to name a few. So it wasn鈥檛 a quick decision.
鈥淲e would talk about how I could do better in school,鈥� Alexander said of discussions with Didmon. 鈥淚 kept trying real hard, but my grades weren鈥檛 coming up and I told him [Thursday] that I have been thinking about it for a couple of weeks and I thought it best that I was going to Swift Current.
鈥淗e really understood it. He knows it鈥檚 nothing against the hockey club, because it鈥檚 not,鈥� stressed Alexander. 鈥淚 really enjoyed my time with the Grizzlies. Craig and the staff were great and I like all the guys on the team, too. I鈥檓 just looking to start fresh with Swift Surrent and hopefully do well there, too.鈥�
Didmon now has a hole to fill on the defence and the trade deadline for major junior and junior A is on Jan. 10.
鈥淲e can now look for another defenceman,鈥� said Didmon, who has open spots for a 20-year-old and an import. 鈥淚t鈥檒l work out and our group is prepared to move on. Other defencemen will look forward to some of that ice time that Jacson had and life goes on.鈥�
The Broncos, who are 25-7-2-0 and second overall in the WHL behind Moose Jaw and ranked No. 6 in the country, have kept tabs on Alexander and are glad to have him.
鈥淲e are very excited to have him here,鈥� Broncos head coach Manny Viveiros said in a statement. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tremendous day to announce his dedication to the Broncos and the WHL.
鈥淗e left a great impression at training camp as we were impressed with his skill set on the ice and he has made great progress this season while he was playing for the Victoria Grizzlies. We look forward to him continuing his development as a Bronco.鈥�
