HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR T-BIRDS’ BARZAL
(Pictured: Mathew Barzal accepts the trophy after leading Team BC to Gold at the 2012 Western Canada U-16 Challenge Cup) — Mathew Barzal hasn’t played a game in the WHL yet and he already has nearly 1,500 Twitter followers.
That should give you some idea of the expectations on the Seattle Thunderbirds rookie centre, a 5-foot-11, 170 pounder from Coquitlam. He highlights this year’s 16-year-old class in the WHL after being the first overall choice of the 2012 bantam draft.
“It comes with some pressure,” he said of that No. 1 selection, “but I’m focusing on playing hockey. I’m putting that aside for this season.”
Playing it down could be a challenge. Few players have come into the WHL with the stats that Barzal can claim. He totalled 153 points, including 55 goals, in 51 games with his Burnaby Winter Club bantam juggernaut in 2011-12, and then followed that up last season with 103 points, highlighted by 29 goals, in 34 regular season games with Vancouver North East Chiefs of the B.C. Major Midget league.
He won the scoring title by 18 points, despite having six fewer games played than the runner-up. Maybe more impressively, he also put up better Major Midget numbers than the likes of Evander Kane (54 points, 30 games, 2006-07), Brendan Gallagher (56 points, 39 games, 2007-08) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (87 points, 36 games, 2008-09).
The mere fact that he signed a player contract with Seattle in May, showing he was committed to them rather than going the NCAA route, received decent play from various media outlets.
He said that he had visited various schools in the Boston area during a trip there, and admitted “their campuses were unbelievable.
“It was a tough decision,” he continued. “I know the WHL is the best junior league in the world. I think it’s going to give me the best opportunity.”
Barzal has been part of the training group in North Vancouver that’s working out under coach Billy Coupland, who’s best known for his days coaching the North Shore Winter Club bantams. Barzal says he’s keen on seeing how his work this off-season “translates,” on the ice come league play.
He says that he tries to model his game after that Jonathan Toews, saying he loves “the two-way game he plays and that he’s a great leader.
“He knows how to win.”
(By Steve Ewen, The Province)
