Jake LeBrun was hoping to celebrate a milestone moment in his career. Instead, he was left to deal with crushing disappointment when none of the 22 Western Hockey League teams called his name during the 2010 bantam draft.
LeBrun didn't dwell on the unwelcome development for long. Rather, he promised himself he'd work harder than ever before to achieve his WHL goal.
Now, just shy of a year later, he has been rewarded.
LeBrun, a 15-year-old right winger, has been added to the protected list of the WHL's Portland Winterhawks. He received the news from Winterhawks scout Trevor Sprague, shortly after Sprague coached him at a B.C. Hockey Under-17 regional camp a couple weeks ago at the Elksentre.
"I was really excited," said LeBrun, born and raised in Prince George.
"I was upset about [not getting drafted] for the first couple days but then I got over it and realized it wasn't that big of a deal," he added. "I just had to keep working and keep my head up."
On Monday, see The Citizen and pgcitizen.ca for more.
