Brooks and Steel sounds like a country duo. And that鈥檚 probably appropriate since they represent Regina.
They are, in reality, forwards on the hottest thing going up the charts in the Western Hockey League.
Sam Steel leads the WHL with 37 points in 16 games while captain and defending WHL scoring champion Adam Brooks has 26 points in just 12 games with a Pats team that comes into
Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre undefeated in regulation time at 15-0-3 and with the top ranking in the Canadian Hockey League.
Add Filip Ahl鈥檚 and Dawson Leedahl鈥檚 25 points each, and Jake Leschyshyn鈥檚 and Connor Hobbs鈥� 24 points each, and there are six Pats in the top-20 of league scoring as they ready to play the Victoria Royals tonight.
This isn鈥檛 a hockey team. It鈥檚 a Gatling gun that fires pucks.
鈥淲hen you win it鈥檚 a fun ride,鈥� said Steel, a 2016 first-round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks.
He was talking about the
16-hour bus ride from Edmonton to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal following Wednesday night鈥檚 4-2 victory over the Oil Kings. That also could have been a metaphor statement for the Pats鈥� entire season to date.
鈥淓verybody is buying in and we have good chemistry,鈥� added Steel, a five-foot-11 centre from Sherwood Park, Alta.
It wasn鈥檛 always like this. A struggling Pats team missed the playoffs in 2012-13. But that allowed Regina to select Steel with the second overall pick in the 2013 WHL bantam draft.
鈥淚t was a rebuilding phase when I joined the team as a 16-year-old. All the moves management has made have paid off,鈥� said Steel.
That might be the understatement of the WHL season.
鈥淲e are a fast-skating team that is very offensive,鈥� said Brooks.
The 20-year-old wasn鈥檛 noticed by the pros until late in his junior career, and selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fourth round of the 2016 draft. Recording 120 points, which Brooks did last season for the Pats, is bound to get you noticed.
Now comes a final year of junior that could be one to remember for Brooks and his Pats mates. But with being undefeated comes that target on the jersey.
鈥淓very team wants to knock us off,鈥� said the five-foot-10 Brooks.
The Royals (12-8-2), meanwhile, look in the mirror and see everything Victoria was last season in winning the WHL regular-season championship with a fast and furious approach despite being undersized.
鈥淭here is so much speed on this Regina team,鈥� said Royals sniper Tyler Soy.
A fellow draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks, Soy has gotten to know Steel. When asked what Steel does well, Soy replied: 鈥淓verything.鈥�
鈥淸Steel] is such a sweet skater and such a smart player,鈥� added Soy.
鈥淣ot many teams have been able to defend against him so far.鈥�
The Royals will have to if they are to make a statement to the league tonight.
鈥淭his will be a good test to see where we are at,鈥� said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.
Jack Walker got to see fellow Leafs draft pick Brooks in Toronto training camp. The Victoria forward also sees many other reflections back at him throughout the Pats roster.
鈥淩egina is similar to us. They have fast skaters and we have to tighten up in the defensive zone and stay out of the penalty box,鈥� said Walker.
ICE CHIPS: Former Royals forward Ty Westgard is back in the sa国际传媒 Hockey League. The Royals traded the WHL rights to Westgard to the Portland Winterthawks on Wednesday for a conditional bantam draft pick. But Westgard decided not to report to Portland and instead return to his former BCHL team, the Surrey Eagles.
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