Rookie defender Thurston growing his game one step at a time
A two-way defenceman by trade, Derek Thurston is currently concentrating on playing a safe, one-way game.
The Red Deer Rebels rookie has seen more action in recent weeks since fellow rearguard Nicholas Andrusiak was dealt to the Saskatoon Blades, and he’s taking it step by step.
So far, so good.
“When you’re playing more it’s always nice to get that little extra confidence from the coaches and gain confidence in myself,” the 17-year-old native of Delta, BC, said Thursday. “Hopefully it keeps going.
“I’m just trying to get the reins of the game and feel it out more.”
Thurston, a sixth round pick of the Rebels in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, has looked right at home on a pairing with 20-year-old Elias Carmichael.
“He’s earned our trust more with just being dependable and making simple decisions,” said assistant coach Mike Egener, who works with the team’s blueliners.
“And with him he also has that element of physicality when the time is right for that. He’s a young defenceman just learning the ins and outs and trying to be consistent with simple, reliable hockey.”
Thurston showed his offensive abilities during the 2021-22 season when he scored 12 goals and collected 36 points in 33 games with the Delta Hockey Academy U16 Prep team. And last winter he put up 20 points, including four goals, with the DHA U18 Prep squad, so he’s accustomed to playing a two-way role.
He has yet to produce a point in 19 games with the Rebels but is confident that part of his game will eventually come around.
“Right now I’m just trying to get settled in a bit and then hopefully in the future I start bringing more points and getting better that way,” said Thurston. “I feel like I can make good plays when I can and I feel confident when I have the puck on my stick.”
Egener sees Thurston contributing more offensively as he continues to grow his game at the major junior level.
“With Derek, he will have the ability to provide offence,” said Egener. “He makes real good passes, he sees the options that are available to him.
“He’s solid at transitioning the puck, breaking the puck out. On the offensive side, what we really like is he’ll pound the puck from the blueline and he’s good at getting shots through. We certainly think that will come out more with the two way ability that he has.”
Thurston also enjoys being paired with Carmichael, a veteran of five WHL seasons.
“He’s just a good, older guy who brings confidence and helps me on the ice and off the ice as well,” said Thurston, whose older brother Trevor played in the WHL with Prince Albert, Lethbridge and Kamloops and is currently in the ECHL. His father Brent won a Memorial Cup with Spokane in 1992 and also played pro in the ECHL and Sweden.
Just being a contributing member of the Rebels’ top end defence group has been an honour in itself, said the six-foot-one, 181-pound blueliner.
“I feel like we’re one of the better defensive corps in the league and to be a part of it is great,” said Thurston.
Notable: The Rebels will host the Tri-City Americans Friday and will welcome the Edmonton Oil Kings to the Peavey Mart Centrium the following evening . . . The Americans carried a 16-18-2-1 record into Thursday’s game in Edmonton, good for seventh place in the Western Conference and fourth spot in the US Division. C Jordan Gavin is the club’s top scorer with 17 goals and 42 points in 37 games, while C Jake Sloan follows with 34 points, including 11 goals. LW Parker Bell, a Calgary Flames prospect, has notched 16 goals and contributed an equal number of assists in 29 games, while deceptive D Lukas Dragicevic, a second-round pick of the Seattle Kraken in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, has scored 10 goals and garnered 31 points from the back end. Netminder Kyle Kelsey recorded some impressive stats with the Rebels — a 2.49 goals-against average and .917 save percentage — in six games this season before being dealt to the Americans in late October. Since then his numbers have slipped to 3.69 and .891.
(Photos by Taylor Lachance)
