Mannville’s Cobin Garnett was at a school badminton practice, of all things, when he heard all the racket about his selection to the Alberta Cup hockey prospects tournament.
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“I looked at my phone and a bunch of people were congratulating me,” said Garnett, the 14-year-old captain of the U15 AAA Lloydminster Lancers.
He then checked the Hockey Alberta website to confirm that he indeed had been chosen to participate in the scouting showcase tournament, which runs April 23-27 in Red Deer.
Garnett, a Grade 9 student at Mannville School, has honed his sound defensive skills during the past two seasons with the U15 AAA Lancers in the Alberta Elite Hockey League.
“I’m a little more of a defensive defenceman,” he said. “Not much of offence. Make that first pass. I like to stay back and play D.”
The NHL player he most tries to emulate is Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman.
“Yeah, he’s really big,” Garnett said of the Tampa captain. “I think he moves the puck really well, moves the puck on the blueline and gets to open areas.”
A young Garnett became a Hedman fan after watching the Lightning win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021.
From making progress hockey-wise and as a leader, Garnett has learned his lessons well, drawing on the inspiration of people like Hedman.
As the Lloydminster captain, Garnett guided the Lancers through the tough times that sometimes go with playing competition from bigger cities in a provincial league.
“We didn’t have the greatest year — it started off pretty rough — but I feel like we developed as the season went on,” he said. “We just didn’t get a lot of wins, though.
“(Facing adversity) made me feel like a better leader. It gave me more confidence as a leader.”
His leadership role begins at home. Garnett is the oldest of three siblings. His sisters Findlay, 12, and Rowan, who turns 10 in May, participate in hockey and figure skating, respectively. Findlay was a provincial bronze-medallist this past season with the 13U AA team out of Lloydminster.
Cobin drew a cluster of young minor hockey players who watched him being interviewed at the Servus Sports Centre during Easter weekend.
“Cobin Garnett is one of those natural captains,” said Scott Pratt, who coached Garnett two seasons ago with the U15 AAA Lancers and for parts of this season during call-ups to the U17 AAA Lancers. “You walk in the room and he’s the first person there to shake your hand and introduce himself. He just carries himself very, very well.
“Cobin is just a phenomenal defender and great first-pass D-man, but he has a heck of a shot, too.”
On and off the ice, Pratt sees similarities in Garnett and fellow defenceman Peter Osman, the other member of the U15 AAA Lancers chosen to the Alberta Cup.
“They’re both very rugged, physical players, but have a skill set, too,” Pratt said. “You don’t always get that (combination of) size and the aggressiveness and offensive ability, too.
“Off the ice, as soft-mannered and kind of gentle kids as you can imagine, but as soon as you get them on the ice, they’re both very strong competitors.”
After a solid showing at the regional tryouts in late March, Garnett welcomed more intense competition this week at the six-team Alberta Cup in Red Deer.
“I think I did really well,” he said of the initial camp. “It was really fun. Met a few people.
“I’ll just play my game (this week) and keep it simple. Don’t do anything too fancy. Just play a simple game.”
His even-keel strategy seems to be effective. The Saskatoon Blades sent him a questionnaire in preparation for the Western Hockey League draft, set for May 7 and 8, but Garnett isn’t dwelling on whether a team drafts him then or not.
In the longer term, he’s also thinking about playing university hockey at the NCAA level in the U.S., or within U Sports in Canada. As of this year, major-junior players now are eligible to play in the NCAA, so that possibility of doing both opens more doors down the road.
Garnett is going to Minnesota in late May as part of an Edmonton entry in a 22-team tournament, the Kings of Spring Finale.
“It’ll be a highly scouted tournament, I bet,” he said. “Just another chance to get myself out there.”
Two of his biggest fans will accompany him to Minnesota, his father Robert and his Gido, his Ukrainian grandfather on his mother’s side.
“My Gido has given me jerseys over the years,” he said. “He’s a really big fan. He comes to all my games and is a big supporter.”
Garnett, about five-foot-11 and 190 pounds, plans to devote much of his summer to hockey training, while also finding time to umpire minor baseball and relax at the lake.
“I’m not playing baseball this year,” said Garnett, a Level 2 umpire who reached the A provincials as a player with his Mannville team the past two summers. “I’m going to train for hockey a lot in the summer. I’ll make money (umpiring) for the most part. I’ll go to the lake, enjoy the summer, and work out and skate.”
While his goals for the coming season are to shoot for the highest level, Garnett believes he can best develop at the U17 AAA level.
“It just would be a good year of conditioning before U18,” he said. “Because it’s a big jump from U15 to U18. It’s much faster hockey.”
Already well-conditioned and physically gifted for his age, Garnett doesn’t turn 15 until October.
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