Joel Patsey is not the kind of hockey defenceman who instigates offensive rushes up the ice and he's not about to put up forward-like point totals.
He'd much rather stay in his own comfort zone as a punishing shutdown defenceman and let guys like Todd Bredo, his Cariboo Cougars defence partner, get their names on the scoresheet.
It takes all types to turn a team into a success and Patsey, a 15-year-old rookie in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League, has been a key ingredient for the first-place Cougars.
Patsey got to know his major midget coach in April 2013 when Trevor Sprague saw him at the under-16 team tryouts in Vanderhoof. Patsey advanced to the next two stages of the selection process and just missed making the B.C. team Sprague coached at the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup. This year, Patsey was in the mix at tryouts for B.C.'s Canada Winter Games team as one of 20 defencemen invited to the camp in Nanaimo.
"He's been outstanding since he's been here and he's getting better and better every week," said Sprague. "When I met him in Vanderhoof he was a quiet and shy guy, which he still is, but he's getting more confident in his abilities. He understands he has some talents that are going to get him to the next level."
The Cougars host the North Island Silvertips Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 8:30 a.m., their final home games before the Christmas break. The Cougars visit the Greater Vancouver Canadians in Richmond next weekend. The Cats wrapped up their 10th straight win Sunday at Kin 1 with a 5-1 victory over the Thompson Blazers.
"It's been a nice ride, I'm enjoying this," said the six-foot-one, 185-pound Patsey. "The coaches have helped me develop my game and it's a good team to be on. They're fun players and we've been winning a lot and that makes it better."
In 22 games, Patsey has two goals and seven assists as well as 27 penalty minutes.
"I'm more of a stay-at-home defenceman," Patsey said. "I get the odd little offensive bite in it and I'm playing some power play but I just want to improve my defensive skills."
The WHL Cougars drafted Patsey in the eighth round in the 2014 bantam draft. Patsey and teammate Justin Almeida, who was taken in the first round by the Cougars, practice regularly with the junior team. Patsey has yet to sign with the Cougars but is hoping that will happen soon so he can play his first WHL game.
"Getting to work with Mark Holick and the coaches once a week is nice and the guys are nice and have helped me get comfortable," said Patsey. "It's just helping my development even more, getting icetime with them every week. The speed is a lot faster and it's helping me with my skills. They've been working a lot with me."
