One day in late December was an interesting one to say the least for the new Red Deer Rebel forward Jake DeBrusk. He was told by his coach in Swift Current he was going to be traded but due to a freeze on information he didn’t know where he was going to end up. All he knew was he was going the next morning and he was playing for that team.
“I was really kind of excited and shocked that it happened, the reality of it. It’s the first time I’ve ever been traded and then trying to figure out what team it was,” said the 19 year old from Edmonton. “ A couple of guys here (Red Deer) messaged me that maybe I was coming here so I kind of had an idea and then when I was packing I got tagged in a tweet and I was like-holy smokes I’m going to Red Deer and that was just unbelievable.”
He immediately put aside the shock of leaving the team which drafted him as a bantam player and focused on what a great opportunity he had in front of him, being able to help a team which is going to be hosting the Memorial Cup.
Even though he’s a WHL veteran player there are still some dressing room culture changes he’s slowly making in order to be a good fit for the Rebels.
“My whole routine is different now, even in warm up, even in there ( the dressing room). The whole team has a routine,” he said. “ I was asking questions in the room like what’s going on, where’s stuff in the room, like where’s tape and stuff like that so it’s little things like that that add up so I’m starting to get used to it now so it’s good.”
The six foot, 180 pound draft pick of the Boston Bruins is viewed as a smart hockey player with skill around the net (42 goals last season) and he’s expected to add more punch to the Rebels offence .He did just that in his first game where he scored once and assisted on another goal against Edmonton in a 5-4 overtime win for Red Deer.
“The adrenalin was pretty high at the start of the game and it was a great pass from (Ivan) Nikolishin. I literally just put my stick on the ice and kind of chipped it up in case the goalie was there but he wasn’t,” he said about that initial point for his new team. “One of the things I was told about the trade was get the first one out of the way as quick as possible. You don’t want that to be on your back.”
Being the son of former NHL’er Louie DeBrusk there had to be some influence on his play and Jake was quick to explain what his dad taught him during those formative years.
“He taught me not to fight,” he said.
His dad was not so much on the goal scoring side of the ledger so he impressed on his son the importance of being able to put the puck in the net given the fact he wasn’t of the same physical stature. Now he’s catching up size-wise with the rest of the WHL and his dad still has a role to play in his development.
“We talk after every game. He’s around the game a lot and he gives me tips. He’s not super hard on me but he is hard on me when I’m not working hard. That’s one of the things he preaches. You can go look in the mirror at the end of the day and say you gave it your all.”
He’s willing to play any role the coaching staff brings to him and he has the flexibility to fit in on any line which he did in Swift Current.
“For me personally I’m comfortable with all three (forward) positions and I’m comfortable with playing with new players,” he said. “It’s obviously a little different when you come to a whole new team. Communication is probably the biggest thing, just talking on the bench and letting each other know where you are.”
He’s into his final year of junior hockey and he gets to play in a Memorial Cup as a sendoff which is something you just can’t bury deep in your mind as the games roll by.
“I’m not going to lie. I think about it quite a lot but I use it as my motivation personally and I think everyone in the room does that. We don’t want to go in there as a team that gets knocked out in the first round. We want to go in there as a team that competes and has a good chance to win it.”
Coach Brent Sutter may not be finished adding pieces to this contender but it appears he now has an important ingredient in the recipe to winning with the addition of Jake DeBrusk.
