Brady Leinenweber sampled a taste of his Western Hockey League future when he participated in a June camp at Regina for his agency’s clients born in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
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Leinenweber is a 15-year-old defenceman from Kerrobert, Sask., whom the Vancouver Giants selected in the second round (26th overall) of this spring’s WHL prospects draft. He has since signed with the major junior team.
His eventful off-season included the Newport Sports agency camp, where the high-profile prospects included Regina Pats’ 16-year-old forwards Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue.
“Yeah, they’re unreal,” Leinenweber said. “Crazy good players.
“It makes you better, just playing with those guys. Like, I would do a drill with Schultz, and I think I was turning it up a little bit. You’ve got to try and match him.
“It went really well. It was a lot of fun.”
It’s been that kind of a spring and summer for Leinenweber, drafted from the Northern Alberta Xtreme U15 prep program after playing the previous year with the 14U Lloydminster Athletics.
Now poised to play with the Saskatoon Contacts for the coming Saskatchewan U18 AAA Hockey League season, Leinenweber’s future with Vancouver became that much more secure after the Giants signed him in June, just a few weeks after drafting him.
“It’s kind of just closing it,” Leinenweber said about signing his WHL scholarship and development agreement.
“You’re nervous before the draft, and then you get picked and it’s a sigh of relief. And then, signing is like that final (affirmation). You know that they want you, and that they’re willing to sign you, so now you’ve just got to prove them right.”
The Giants delivered team paraphernalia to Leinenweber’s house, including a cap and personalized jersey bearing his name. After signing, he received another congratulatory call from Vancouver director of player personnel Greg Batters.
“He said they’re really looking forward to having me,” said the six-foot-two, 173-pound Leinenweber, a standout last season in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.
“They think I’m going to impact the game positively on both sides of the puck and be someone that will positively impact the team going forward. He said they wanted to sign me sooner rather than later.”
Just days into his job, the Giants’ new coach and general manager, Michael Dyck, contacted Leinenweber as July began.
“He said he’s just been catching up and wanted to introduce himself,” Leinenweber said. “That was nice.
“He seemed like a really nice guy. He knew what he was doing.”
Dyck is most familiar with Vancouver and the WHL. He had success in previous stints as coach of the Giants and the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Most recently, he won a Calder Cup this spring as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
WHL draft this May. John MacNeil – Meridian Source
Leinenweber’s first WHL training camp with the Giants is set for Aug. 24-27.
Afterward, he’ll settle in with the Contacts in Saskatoon, which is where his maternal grandparents reside. He’s been skating with the U18 AAA team regularly this summer.
Leinenweber, who attended Holy Rosary High School during his Grade 8 year in Lloydminster, is enrolling in Grade 10 at Holy Cross High School in Saskatoon.
He’ll live with two of his Contacts teammates while billeting with the family of Wyatt Bitz, a defenceman whom the Everett Silvertips selected 13th overall in this year’s WHL draft.
Also moving in with the Bitz family is another one of Leinenweber’s buddies, Cullen Stephenson, the Outlook, Sask., forward whom the Portland Winterhawks picked 10th overall in May’s WHL draft.
“So, it’ll be a fun house,” said Leinenweber, noting Bitz’s father Byron and Stephenson’s dad Shay both played in the NHL.
Speaking of hockey connections that span generations, Leinenweber’s uncle, Ryan Wandler, skated in the WHL with the Calgary Hitmen back in the 1990s.
Leinenweber’s teammates in Saskatoon include his longtime friend, Landon Reschny, a forward from Macklin, Sask., also drafted to Vancouver this year. The duo played together with NAX in the CSSHL and Lloyd Athletics in the JPHL, along with West Central AA Hockey Association teams.
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