Chase Pirtle is chasing the dream. And came a long way to do it, from Far Hills, New Jersey, to pursue his sports career in the sa国际传媒 Hockey League with the Victoria Grizzlies.
Chase, who goes by his middle name and not his first-name Anderson, knows the best chase route. There are 404 BCHL alumni in the NCAA this season, which makes up 23 per cent of all Div. I hockey players. There is at least one former BCHL player on each of the 64 NCAA Div. 1 teams, including Nanaimo native, former Grizzlies player and NHL 2023 first-round draft pick Matthew Wood of the UConn Huskies and former Grizzlies forward Jack Gorton on the No. 1-ranked Boston University Terriers. The 2023 NCAA-champion Quinnipiac Bobcats boasted 14 BCHL alumni. Pirtle will add to the mix in future seasons when he joins the Cornell Big Red, which just happens to be where former Grizzlies defenceman Hoyt Stanley, a draft pick last summer of the Ottawa Senators, is playing.
Pirtle is off to a big start in his Junior A career as the 18-year-old, six-foot-two winger was named BCHL player of the week for his three goals and five points in two victories last weekend. Those were his first points for the 3-1 Grizzlies but it projects to 41 goals and 68 points over 54 games.
“I had a good week and it was a cool acknowledgement by the league,” he said.
“Now we just want to keep rolling and getting wins. The BCHL is impressive. It’s a really good league with lots of really good, fast and skilled players.”
Grizzlies GM and head coach Rylan Ferster coached at the elite development level in Philadelphia, where he first came across Pirtle. One thing eventually led to another as the Grizzlies landed the prize recruit, who is also an excellent golfer and enjoying Victoria’s courses.
“There was a lot of back and forth [Pirtle was also considering the USHL] but I decided this was the best route for me in hockey,” said the American forward.
Pirtle also has representative experience with the East Coast Selects and USA Hockey’s U-16 and U-17 programs. Although he wasn’t taken in the 2023 NHL draft, the authoritative Elite Prospects website lauded Pirtle: “Mature habits persist across Pirtle’s game. A stout, off-puck driver in the middle of the ice, he constantly looks to push defenders back to create space for his teammates. He’s physical and aims to get under defenders’ sticks on the forecheck.”
That all spells good news for the Grizzlies.
“A big, skilled forward,” was Pirtle’s response when pressed for a self-description.
Teams can never have too many of those.
Pirtle had 20 goals and 44 points in 47 games last season for the Mount Saint Charles Academy U-18 Triple-A team in sa国际传媒icut and was heavily recruited by NCAA Div. 1 teams before settling on Cornell.
Pirtle and the Grizzlies host the defending Coastal Conference champion Alberni Valley Bulldogs (2-2) tonight and the Coquitlam Express (1-2-1) on Saturday night at The Q Centre.
