It was only three months ago that Wes McLeod was struggling just to make the British Columbia Hockey League playoffs with the Prince George Spruce Kings.
But on January 10th, after three seasons in the league, the Kamloops native went from being a Spruce King to playing for Spruce Grove in the Alberta Junior Hockey League — the nation’s No. 1-ranked team.
“It was really overwhelming going from a team battling for a playoff spot to the first-place team in Canada,” says McLeod, one of the Saints' top defenseman. “It was quite the experience first coming here and I think I’ve fit in quite well with the group of guys. They have welcomed me with open arms and the coaches have given me every opportunity with a lot of ice time to play a key role in the team’s success.”
Now he gets the unique opportunity to compete for a Doyle Cup championship against a Vernon Vipers squad that he is all too familiar with from his time in the league.
“I know exactly what they like to do,” says McLeod, who faced off against the Vipers 15 times in his BCHL career, including seven trips to the Wesbild Centre. “They’re really offensive off the cycle, especially with the Jones’ twins [Connor and Kellen], who I played with at the World Junior A Challenge. They’re a very good team, but I think we’re a better team.”
The inside knowledge that McLeod has on the BCHL champions may be able to help Spruce Grove in what is projected to be a long championship series.
“The fact that he’s got experience against them is important,” says Steve Hamilton, the Saints’ head coach and GM. “We need to recognize that `yeah, they’ll be an outstanding team,’ but it’s not beyond what we’ve prepared for all year. He’s a guy who’s played against them and will be able to provide some insight.”
It’s been a long and winding hockey journey for McLeod, who has come a long way to the point where he’s competing on the nation’s top-ranked Junior A hockey club.
After playing AAA back home in Kamloops and experiencing limited opportunities to move up the hockey ranks, the young defenseman was already looking ahead to a career as a fireman or police officer before he caught the attention of Spruce Kings’ head coach Ed Dempsey, who subsequently invited him to Prince George for a tryout in 2007.
If it wasn’t for Dempsey's foresight in recognizing his talent, McLeod would not be playing for the right to advance to the RBC Cup tournament.
“It almost feels like it’s not real,” McLeod says. “If I were to look back three years ago, I wouldn’t have seen myself here. I would have seen myself going to school or having a part-time job. But now that all of this is happening, it’s too good to be true.”
The 19-year-old has developed into one of the top Junior A defenseman in the country, competing in last season's BCHL All-Star game and making his international debut at the World Junior A Challenge last November. He helped Team Canada West capture a silver medal in Summerside, P.E.I. and equalled a tournament record with four assists in a 9-1 semi-final win against Team Canada East.
“He’s an unbelievable skater and has all the tools,” says Hamilton. “He has the ability to play against other teams’ top lines and he’s just a well-rounded defenseman. Those kinds of players don’t come around very often, so we felt strongly that we needed to make a pitch for him.”
Upon joining the Enerflex Cup champions, the 6’2″ 190-pound defenseman recorded four goals and six assists in 14 regular season games. In the playoffs, McLeod has pitched in offensively with a pair of goals and five helpers during Spruce Grove’s deep run in the AJHL postseason.
“We felt we needed to add a little more depth on our backend and Wes was a pretty big piece,” says Hamilton. “He’s a guy who brings big-game credentials, having been in the World Junior A Challenge. We felt that he would be a good partner for Dillon Simpson. Dillon was a Rookie of the Year in our league and they compliment each other very well. He plays in every situation for us.”
This is McLeod’s final season of junior hockey before he makes the trek up to the University of Alaska-Anchorage in the fall and he wants to make the most of the opportunity he’s been given with the Saints.
“It's a great opportunity to build as a team and potentially go to the RBC Cup. I’m really looking forward to it,” he says.
The path to junior hockey has never been easy for McLeod and it’s about to get harder as the Saints meet up with the defending RBC Cup champion Vipers on Friday night.
