Alumni Spotlight: Weal Excited to Represent Canada at Winter Olympics

Regina, Sask. — It’s not the first time he’s donned the Maple Leaf, but this time will be different for Regina Pats Alumni Jordan Weal.

Last week, the 29-year-old was named to Canada’s 25-player roster for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in China.

“It’s been such a cool last week, hearing the news and meeting up with the guys here in Davos [Switzerland],” Weal said. “It didn’t sink in as much until we got here and around the guys. Everyone started chatting and you get excited about the opportunity that we got. It’s going to be so cool. We’re going to soak in every moment and play some great hockey. If all things go well, we’ll bring home gold.”

Weal will represent his country for the first time since the 2009 IIHF World U-18 Championship, when he led Canada in scoring with nine points (3G-6A) in six games and was assistant captain.

“It has been awhile, but life is life,” Weal said. “Sometimes crazy things happen and you get opportunities like this, so you just need to take it and enjoy every moment. That’s all I’m doing: just having as much fun as I can here with this great group of guys. Getting a chance to wear that jersey is just something different. Every guy will tell you the same thing.”

Weal was just in his first season with the Pats when Sidney Crosby scored the “Golden Goal,” but he says his favourite Olympic Hockey memory was the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where Joe Sakic ended Canada’s 50 year Olympic Hockey gold medal drought.

“Part of the reason why I chose my number,” Weal laughed, who will wear #91 for Canada. “He was always 19 and then he went with 91 in the tournament and I was like you know what, I love that. I’m going to do what Joe [Sakic] did.”

This season, Weal has been playing in the Kontinental Hockey League for Ak Bars Kazan in Kazan, Russia where he has amassed 30 points (12G-18A) in 36 games, which puts him in second in team scoring. This comes after a nine year professional hockey career split between the NHL and the AHL, where he spent time with the Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Arizona Coyotes and Montreal Canadiens. The 5-foot-10, 179 lb. forward has played 218 career games games in the NHL to this point, totaling 69 points (32G-37A).

But it was in Regina where Weal developed his skills and played his way to being drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of the 2010 NHL Draft, after breaking out with 102 points (35G-67A) in 72 games as a 17-year-old in 2009-10.

“I had so much fun in Regina,” Weal said. “There’s so many good people in the organization and good people on the team. You just learned so much from the age of 16 to 20. You grow as a person, you grow as a hockey player and to do it in a city like Regina, especially living with my aunt and uncle made it just a really fun time in my life. It was really cool.”

Weal played for the Pats from 2008-2012 and ranks fourth in franchise history in points with 385, third in assists (250) and tied for sixth in games played (266). The Saskatoon, Sask. native recorded the most assists by a rookie in 2008-09 (54), represented the Pats at the 2009-10 CHL Top Prospects Game and was a 2011-12 WHL First Team All-Star, thanks to a 116-point campaign. He scored more than 90 points in three straight seasons with the Pats from 2009-2012 and tallied more than 50 assists in each of his four seasons with the franchise.

“I was aware [of those records] and I hadn’t thought about it in a long time,” Weal said. “I was given an opportunity to play very early in my career by Dale [Derkatch] and I’m so thankful for that because he was confident in what I could do. I was fortunate enough to play with some great players. With Ebs [Jordan Eberle] we had so many great games together and as I got older we had so many hard working players come through there. I remember my last year, playing with Lane Scheidl, Andrew Rieder and Chandler Stephenson. It’s pretty cool to hear those numbers. We had so much fun and we were just working to get better. It was just a product of that because when you have a lot of guys doing that, good things will happen.”

 

Weal is one of five Western Hockey league alumni named to Canada’s Olympic team, along with Adam Cracknell (Kootenay ICE), Landon Ferraro (Red Deer Rebels, Everett Silvertips), Adam Tambellini (Calgary Hitmen) and Tyler Wotherspoon (Portland Winterhawks). He is also joined on Canada by two AK Bars Kazan teammates: Jason Demers and Mark Barberio.

Canada will play a pre-tournament game against the Switzerland in Zug on February 1 before they travel to Beijing. The men’s hockey tournament will take place Feb. 9-20 at the National Indoor Stadium and Wukesong Sports Centre. Canada will aim for its 10th men’s hockey gold medal and first since 2014 when it opens preliminary-round action against Germany on Feb. 10.