Relationships made in the WHL will last a lifetime for Carson Haynes
Regina, Sask. – This week, the Regina Pats will be highlighting the impact that each of their overage players made on the team and community this past season. We began by highlighting Keagan Slaney on Wednesday. Today, we move over to defenceman Carson Haynes as we thank him for his time and contributions to the Pats organization this season.
Haynes, 21, finished off his four year Western Hockey League career this past weekend, playing 163 career games with 39 points (8G-31A) and 121 penalty minutes split between the Tri-City Americans, Vancouver Giants and Pats from 2020-2024. This past season, Haynes played a career-high 65 games and tied his career-high with 15 points (4G-11A) as well as 56 penalty minutes between the Pats and Giants.
“It was surreal and the people I met and the experiences I had, you don’t realize it until it was done,” Haynes said. “I’m more than happy with my experiences and my career. [I’m going to miss] the relationships you build with teammates, staff and coaches. I built relationships between those three teams and they will be lifelong ones.”
The 6-foot-3, 192 lb. left-shot defenceman began the 2023-24 season with the Giants, playing in four contests before being placed on waivers at the 20-year-old roster deadline where the Giants had to cutdown to three overagers. General Manager Alan Millar had scouted Haynes and liked the different ingredients he brought to the Pats.
Millar claimed the Taber, Alta. product on October 10, 2023 – later making his Pats debut on October 11 vs. Calgary.
“I have a lot of friends from the province and all of those guys are Pats fans,” Haynes explained. “That just shows how prestigious this organization is and how kids look up to the Pats players. I couldn’t be more proud to graduate from this organization. I came in and him [Keagan Slaney], Bergy [Parker Berge] and Simmer [Drew Sim], and the other guys on the team really accepted me. They let me join in to what they were building. It was great to know Slans [Keagan Slaney] and Gibby [Ty Gibson] for sure.”
Haynes quickly became a reliable shutdown defenceman for Head Coach Brad Herauf who needed another veteran defenceman on the backend. The towering defenceman played on the Pats top penalty kill unit and was tasked with shutting down the opponents top line night in and night out. He also chipped in with a career-high four goals with his biggest night coming on December 15, scoring twice in his hometown in a 5-2 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Despite not being overly gifted offensively, Haynes was always effective in his WHL career. Keeping his game very simple, Haynes was very good at getting the puck out when needed, blocking a shot in key situations and dumping the puck down the ice to get an important line change. Never known as the most flashy player, Haynes knew his role and played it to the best of his ability in 2023-24, and throughout his career.
Prior to coming to the Western Hockey League, Haynes grew up playing minor hockey in Taber with the Taber Oil Kings from age six to 10. After playing U13 with the Taber Golden Suns, Haynes took the next step by playing for the Lethbridge Golden Hawks U15 AAA team from 2016-2018 where he was named captain during the 2017-18 season, posting 24 points (8G-16A) in 36 games before being drafted by the Tri-City Americans in the third round of the 2018 WHL Prospects Draft.
“You learn how to be a a leader growing up and some responsibilities,” he said. “I just tried to be someone who you could talk to and have respect from the guys. Guys look up to you and that’s the relationship you have to build with people.”
Every player improves as they get older in the Western Hockey League, and for Haynes it was trying to be a physical force on the backend and a steady defenceman that most importantly kept the puck out of his teams net.
“Physicality is huge but when you’re a young kid you don’t think it’s all that important,” he added. “You can get by with your stick play and your speed or whatever else you have. My self awareness and hockey IQ got better throughout the years. I had different coaches and learned different things. That was another thing about playing on different teams, I had multiple coaches with different styles of play. I feel like that helped me read other teams and read my team, and allowed me to help play within the systems.”
That improvement in his game led to Haynes being a first off the bench penalty kill player, while also playing in situations where his club was up by a goal in the third.
“I took pride in being on the penalty kill,” Haynes continued. “Being four vs five, it takes a lot of skill for sure and that’s something kids don’t realize growing up. You have to work 20% harder. You have to be able to fill in for that last guy who is not there. You have to be smart enough to be in the right spot and have your stick in the right spot. It’s something I enjoy and pride myself on.”
Haynes did not crack the Americans roster until the 2020-21 season where he played 12 games in the bubble with the Americans before dressing in his first full season in 2021-22. On July 25, 2022, Haynes was dealt to Vancouver for a fourth round pick and played the 2022-23 season with the Giants where he racked up 15 points (3G-12A) in 50 games.
“I was a young kid breaking into the league and I looked up to a lot of the guys [on Tri-City] when I was 15 and 16-years-old,” he said. “Finally getting that chance to play even if it was when I got called up. That is an experience I’m going to remember forever and even the first year I was there, we were handcuffed by COVID. They still treated us like we were pros and I’m really grateful that Kelly Buchberger and Don Nachbaur took their time to develop us. I’m going to think about that forever.”
His greatest takeaway from playing for three different WHL clubs was the fact that he had the neat opportunity to experience different parts of North America, from playing on the coast to the prairies.
Not a lot of people before they turn 21 get the chance to live in different places and in the states and live on the coast,” he added. “Those places are going to live with me forever and I’m grateful to leave and say my life worked out like that.”
Although Haynes appreciates his time with the Pats and Americans, some of his greatest friendships created were in Vancouver where he billeted with goaltender Brett Mirwald and became close with their coaching staff.
“Vancouver is a special place and my billet family was really special,” he said. “They were awesome people to me and they really treated me like family. Brett Wirwald and I had a really good bond and even other guys on that team from Skyler Bruce to Kyren Gronick and some of the graduating players. We were all very close. From Michael Dyck and Adam Maglio, they were all like pros and they treated us like we were going to move onto the next level. They taught us how hockey is supposed to be played.”
Unfortunately, Haynes dealt with many injuries over the course of his WHL career, limiting him to just 163 career games. Dealing with a handful of concussions, a shoulder injury, groin and hip issues and a hand injury, Haynes was grateful to finish his final season without going on the injured list for the first time in his career.
“It felt unbelievable,” Haynes said on staying healthy this season. “It was a tough season and my body was falling apart a little bit but Andrew [Kutnikoff] and the whole staff helped our bodies recover so we were able to play every game. It was so satisfying to be able to play every night and to not have setbacks.”
Haynes gives credit to all four of his parents; step mom Mel and step dad Ryan Haynes as well as his mom Michele and step dad Shaun Rombough. Haynes says he’s really proud of both sides of his family as they have all played a role in helping him fulfill his dreams of playing in the WHL and helping him get to where he is today.
“All four of my parents deserve recognition,” he said. “They all made sacrifices for me and they all supported me. Whether they were there at the rink or back at home working, or bringing me to he rink early or bringing my sister to school. All those people in my life changed it for the better and taught me life lessons along the way. I couldn’t be prouder to have four parents in my life.”