For at least a couple of reasons, NHL draft prospect Aiden Foster is the kind of player Don Cherry would probably like.
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Foster, a feisty forward from Lloydminster, doesn’t plan to attend the draft proceedings June 27 and 28 in Los Angeles. It’s the same approach Cherry preached for years as a colourful commentator on Hockey Night in Canada, advising young players to stay home — and avoid potential disappointment — unless they were considered top prospects and probable picks.
Most notably, Cherry would respect Foster for his toughness, as evidenced through his two years with the Prince George Cougars in the Western Hockey League.
Foster is just 18, but he’s already considered one of the most feared fighters in the WHL and has enough highlight videos to fill an episode of Don Cherry’s Rock’em Sock’em Hockey.
While the game has changed from Cherry’s era of tough hockey, there’s obviously still room for fighters, or at least those like Foster who can back it up with considerable skill as well.
While he made a name for himself as a willing fighter during his 16-year-old rookie season, Foster broadened his game during a breakthrough sophomore year.
He spent a large chunk of this past season on Prince George’s top line with Washington Capitals first-round draft choice Terik Parascak and Minnesota Wild second-round selection Riley Heidt. Both of those players are already signed to NHL contracts.
Foster collected six points in seven playoff games, after scoring 11 goals and 20 points in 68 regular-season games, while amassing 136 penalty minutes and making room for the most talented Cougars to create offence.
“Yeah, me and Riley aren’t the most physical guys, so I think Aiden definitely brought that little extra grit to our line, kind of connected our skill, and his aggressiveness just opened up a lot of ice for us to do our thing,” Parascak, 19, said from Calgary, his off-season training base.
“As much as Aiden is a heavy forechecker and more of an aggressive guy, he does have that skill and shows good flashes of that and can put the puck in the net. So, he added a great deal to our line and was an awesome addition.”
Parascak, the 17th overall selection in last year’s NHL draft, has also become best buddies with Foster. They began their WHL careers at the same time. They also bonded as roommates on the road during the season.
“He’s definitely become one of my best friends,” said Parascak, a Lethbridge native. “Such a good kid and obviously a really good hockey player. I’m excited for this next week, for him, with the draft. Hopefully, all goes well. He’s definitely deserving of it. There’s not enough good things I could say about him.
“He’s a guy that’s willing to do anything for other people. You see it with his style of game — he’s willing to fight for teammates, he’s willing to play the hard game and do that side of things. I got to experience that, playing on a line with him for a lot of the season. He was always right in there, ready to stick up for guys, especially me.”
Foster racked up 88 penalty minutes (along with 34 points in 38 games) in his lone U18 AAA season with the Lloydminster Bobcats (now Lancers), so aggressive play wasn’t exactly foreign to him when he arrived in the WHL.
But he knew that to stay in major junior, he would need to make a strong first impression at training camp.
“Going into it, I didn’t know what to expect,” Foster said. “I just put my head down and trained hard. In the summer, it was obviously my goal.
“And then, coming in as a young guy, just did whatever it takes to get a roster spot, to get a role on the team. So, I kind of found my role, being physical, and coaches liked it, and I just tried to add to that. Then, I was fortunate enough to make it as a 16-year-old.”
Now six-foot-three and 180 pounds, Foster weighed about 165 pounds at that 2023 training camp, during which he didn’t play like a lean 16-year-old. He challenged older teammates, and eventually veteran opponents, asserting himself in old-school hockey fashion.
When a 20-year-old knocked off Foster’s helmet during camp, he dropped his gloves, despite the four-year age gap.
“Then, I just wanted to showcase myself, no matter what happened,” he said. “Just instinct, I guess. It kind of went from there. I didn’t have too much practice of it from before. Just went with what I’ve watched and learned.
“Last year, I wasn’t big at all. I tried to lie about my weight a lot and put weights on me for weigh-ins and stuff like that. So, it was more just the fight in me, fighting guys 40 to 50 pounds heavier than me. I mean, I’m tall, so I’ve got a long reach, but it’s more of just who wants it more.”
Foster soon became a fan favourite in blue-collar Prince George, where work ethic and scrappiness are appreciated among the red-white-and-black faithful. Some of those Cougars’ fans even remembered his father Aaron playing with Prince George more than 20 years ago, en route to his ECHL minor-pro career.
Aiden, a third-round pick (61st overall) in the 2022 WHL draft, progressed so much in the second half of this season that he was ranked 89th among North American skaters eligible for this year’s draft. In those final NHL Central Scouting rankings, he jumped up 45 spots from the mid-season report.
“I was pretty shocked to see that kind of improvement,” said Foster, who was hoping to crack the top 100.
While he’s mild-mannered off the ice, Foster brings an emotional spark to the Cougars when he hits the ice, regardless of whether he fights. He has dropped the gloves — and held his own — against WHL heavyweights like Andrew Petruk and Reggie Newman, both two years older than Foster.
“There’s been a lot of big boys that I fought, just way bigger than me and you can just feel the strength when you’re fighting them,” he said. “They’re all tough and all spirited fights.
“I fought three fights in my first eight games, so lots of guys started coming after me. But I feel it brings the best out of me, when I’m emotionally invested in the game. I like that edge that I bring to the game. I feel like when guys are giving it to me, it lights a fire under me and gets me going.
“I found my teammates and my coaches, they all respected it and liked what I did. It was more of just finding the balance in when to fight. I feel like I learned the right way on how to fight and kick-start the guys in the room, and how it can impact a game.”
NHL ROLE MODELS
Foster remains cautious about serious injuries that can result from fighting in hockey, but he also believes it’s an important role to protect players.
He was encouraged to see the towering Matt Rempe embraced this season as a tough player with the New York Rangers, right from a fight on his first NHL shift.
Long-serving NHL forwards like Jamie Benn, Adam Lowry and Tom Wilson are among the physical yet skilled players that Foster likes to try to emulate.
“They’re all guys that play with skill but then play physical and are not afraid to drop ’em,” he said. “All leaders on their teams, too. Gritty hockey in a way. That’s kind of what I like to play.”
His buddy Parascak believes Foster’s style is rare in hockey nowadays.
“You look at the game it is today, there’s not many players like him,” said Parascak, who has 211 points overall in two seasons with Prince George. “He’s got size, he’s got that bit of skill, and he works hard. He plays a hard game. I’m really hopeful for Aiden that come draft day, he’ll hear his name called. If not, I have no doubt that he’ll keep working and he’ll find his way.”
Parascak likened Foster’s determination on the ice to that of “big-name players” like Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk, two hard-nosed forwards fresh off a Stanley Cup championship with the Florida Panthers.
“Just the way they play the game — they’re in front of the net, they battle hard, they’re willing to do anything for their teammates, they’re willing to fight — they do a lot of those things,” he said. “Those are the guys that win Stanley Cups.”
Foster has grown up cheering for the Calgary Flames, just like his father and grandfather. Multiple teams have contacted him in advance of the draft. The Utah Mammoth invited him to their combine in early June.
If he’s not drafted, Foster is still hopeful an NHL team invites him to its development camp in July.
He planned to celebrate his high school graduation from Lloydminster
Comprehensive this week and watch the draft from home this weekend with family and friends.
Don Cherry would likely approve.
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