Cougars' Foster off to Tampa Bay after Bolts select him in NHL draft

For as long as he’s been a hockey player, Aiden Foster has been hearing stories about his dad Aaron, who made his mark as a WHL forward in four seasons in the WHL with the Prince George Cougars before going on to play pro in the ECHL.

Aiden followed his dad’s junior hockey footsteps to Prince George and with two years as a under his belt, now he’s got something to brag about nobody in the Foster family can match.

Aiden was one of the 211 players chosen in this year’s NHL draft and the Tampa Bay Lightning made that official Saturday when they picked him in the fourth round, 127th overall.

Listed at six-foot-two, 183 pounds, Foster plays likes he’s four inches taller and 50 pounds heavier. The Lightning obviously like the physical side he shows and his habit of ramming opponents with bone-crushers into the boards.    

In his second WHL season he finished with 11 goals and 20 points and led the Cougars with 136 penalty minutes. He also had six assists in seven playoff games.

It was an emotional day in the Foster household in Lloydminster, Alta., Saturday while everybody gathered around the TV screen waiting to find out if he would be selected.

“The broadcaster was talking and my sister jumped up and said, ‘You got drafted,’ and I said, what? And saw my name popped up - no words can explain it, I guess,” said Foster.

The Lightning had the second-last pick of the fourth round, acquired in a trade from Edmonton, and the Florida Panthers had the final choice that round.

“It was pretty hard, I didn’t expect anything and then towards the end of the third (round) and then in the fourth I was just hoping every pick, I guess,” said Aiden. “I saw Tampa back-to-back with Florida and I was hoping it was one of these two because I talked to them both a lot and I got kind of stressed out and it happened.”

Aiden’s grandfather Ron, who got Aaron into hockey, was also there to share the moment.

“My dad just kind of broke down, saying, ‘I’m so proud of you, just keep working, go there and learn lots and have fun and take everything in .”

Foster’s Cougar teammate, Joshua Ravensbergen, selected in the first round 30th overall by the San Jose Sharks on Friday, offered the first congratulatory text.

“He was the first guy to text me today, I think our TV feed was a little behind and he was there (in Los Angeles) watching” said Aiden. “When my sister saw it I got up and moved my phone and he’d already sent four messages.

“At the end of the day you never know what teams think and want, so seeing it actually happen was super-cool for him and for all of us to watch it.”

Shortly after he was selected Foster got a call from Brad Whelen, the Lightning director of amateur scouting.

“They said they’ll give me everything, they want me to play in the league,” said Foster. “So I’ll go down there and work and try to showcase myself and see what I can do.”

Foster left for Tampa Saturday evening. He got in his car and drove 247 kilometres to Edmonton and was due to board the red-eye flight to Toronto, later connecting to Tampa.

The Lightning development camp starts Monday.

He’s been on the ice about 20 times since the off-season began and went to Utah to attend the Mammoth’s NHL combine.

Foster didn’t own any Lightning gear leading up to the draft. Friends in Lloydminster took care of that and showed up at his house after they visited a sports clothing store in town.

“I did a Zoom call with a bunch of media and walked into the garage and two of my buddies were standing there literally 30 minutes after I got picked with Tampa hats on,” he said. “They went to the store and bought two and surprised me, that was pretty cool.”