Aiden Reeves’ progression to the WHL this season has been somewhat unconventional.
After a strong training camp which led to him signing with the Prince George Cougars in September, Reeves began the season playing major midget hockey with the Cariboo Cougars. In late September he was called up to the junior A Spruce Kings and played seven BCHL games before returning to the midget ranks.
The undrafted 17-year-old defenceman made his WHL debut Nov. 16 in Langley, then returned to his midget team in time to help the Cariboo Cats advance to the semifinal round at the prestigious Mac’s Invitational tournament in Calgary. At the start of the new year, Reeves re-joined the Cougars and played one game on their East Division road swing. He made his home debut Friday in what turned out a 3-0 loss to the Kamloops Blazers.
“That was a cool experience, I’ve watched the team since I was six years old, playing mini-sticks at the rink,” said Reeves, who played minor hockey in the city until his first year of bantam when he moved with his family to Kelowna.
“I’m less focused on the whole experience of just being on the team and more focused on building myself up in the lineup and playing regular minutes and building myself for next year. We want to be winning games and we’ve got some work to do if we want to catch up to Seattle and make a run in the playoffs.”
Reeves did not dress for Saturday's 3-1 win over the first-place Blazers, which left the Cats within eight points of the Seattle Thunderbirds for the second wild-card playoff spot.
Reeves played major midget last season for the Okanagan Rockets and was a regular point producer with five goals and 17 assists in 28 games. He had three goals and 12 assists in 20 games this season with the Cariboo Cougars.
“This year has kind of been a roller coaster,” said Reeves. “I started off not knowing if I wanted to play in Kelowna (where his dad Steve lives) or P.G. (where he lives with his mom Andrea Hawco and his brothers). I decided to come home, even though I had a decent season and had a good relationship with the coaches in Kelowna, they developed me well last year.
“Spraguer (Cariboo Cougars GM Trevor Sprague) helped me out, he got the Cougars to come watch me and they listed me and I got an invite to the camp, got signed, kind of grinded my way through. I set a goal for myself playing on Cariboo that I wanted to be on this team by Christmas, I didn’t want to wait until next year, so I worked my butt off and everything worked out good. The Cariboo Cougars gave me opportunities to play big minutes and set me up. Now I’m here and I just have to keep grinding away.”
The Spruce Kings went through a rash of injuries early in the season and that icetime helped the six-foot-one, 170-pound defenceman adjust to the frenetic pace of junior hockey.
“It was a good leap, the jump from major midget to (the WHL) would have been way harder if I didn’t play the seven games,” he said. “I thought it was huge jump playing BCHL my first one and then I got comfortable by five of six. And then I played my first WHL game in Vancouver for the Cougs and thought, ‘wow, this is a step up.’”
Reeves said his Cariboo midget coaches, Tyler Brough, R.J. Berra and Jordan Duncan, stressed the need to try to keep his game simple, chipping pucks out of the zone as soon as possible, rather than looking to make pretty plays, and that’s eased his transition to the WHL.
“I think he’s done really well in the couple games he’s played, to pump up the level of play and be able to adjust and play with confidence,” said Cougars associate coach Jason Smith. “His habits in practice are great, which allows him to catch up to the speed and step in and play.
“You don’t know what to expect when you have somebody come up and join your team but he’s comfortable. Being around and having some time to practice with us has been great throughout the year. He’s a good kid and he wants to learn and get better and when you’re coachable and you compete and work you’ve got a great chance to fit in.”
The Cougars are back on the ice at CN Centre Friday to host the Tri-City Americans in the first game of a weekend doubleheader.
