Oakbank’s Davis hopeful he’ll be drafted
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/06/2017 (2471 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
BRETT Davis and Cody Glass are friends, off-season training partners and prospects for this weekend’s NHL draft.
While Glass, a Winnipegger who stars for the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks and a probable top-10 pick in today’s first round will attend the festivities in Chicago, Davis is taking a decidedly low-key approach to the whole thing.
The 18-year-old Oakbank product will be hanging out close to home if and when his name is announced on the weekend. Ranked 142nd among North America skaters by NHL Central Scouting, Davis could be a late pick on Saturday afternoon.
“It would be a pretty special moment if I was to get drafted, but I think, either way, if I was to get drafted or not, it won’t really change my mindset,” said Davis, a versatile 6-1, 184-pound right-winger with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. “It’s not going to change anything with the way I train and the goals I set.”
Davis and Glass, who were teammates at the under-17 level for Hockey Canada and the Winnipeg Junior Jets program, train together “five or six days a week” at NRG Athletes Therapy Fitness.
“We’re pretty good friends on and off the ice,” Davis said.
“Both of us are pretty competitive guys, so there’s quite a bit of competition over who can lift more weight or who can run faster. It’s all fun, though.”
Davis, who began his WHL career as a 16-year-old with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, got a surprise at the league’s 2016-17 trading deadline when he was dealt to the rebuilding Ice in a multi-player swap.
The change of scenery and increased opportunity seemed to help. Davis, who had seven goals and 11 points in 29 games before the trade, finished the season with 11 goals and 22 points in 30 games with Kootenay.
“Being traded was a bit of a shocker,” Davis said. “It was a good move, I think, because at the end of the day it did help me because I did get a lot more playing time and playing in all situations.”
Davis believes he has qualities that would serve an NHL organization well.
“I would say I’m a skilled offensive forward who can play in all situations, penalty kill and power play,” he said. “A good team player who will always be a good teammate and a leader, too.”
Davis comes from some solid hockey heritage. His uncle, Kelly Davis, was a sixth-round (101st overall) pick of the New York Islanders in the 1978 NHL Draft and had a five-year minor pro career as a defenceman in the late 1970s and early ‘80s. Kelly Davis never played in the NHL but did suit up in 18 games for the Cincinnati Stingers during the World Hockey Association’s final season in 1978-79.
mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14
Mike Sawatzky
Reporter
Mike has been working on the Free Press sports desk since 2003.