Hauser Feeling Right At Home With Team’s Move to Wenatchee

WENATCHEE, Wash. – When goaltender Daniel Hauser steps onto the ice in the Wolves’ Den, he’ll be nearly 600 miles from his hometown of Chestermere, Alberta…but somehow, he’ll still feel right at home.

Some of it is likely to be the Wenatchee Wild faithful, who have made kids from hundreds or even thousands of miles away feel right at home for the past 15 years. In Hauser’s case, though, he’ll likely spot a familiar face or two in the crowd during home games.

“I’ve been asking around (about Wenatchee),” said Hauser. “I have a lot of family in the Okanogan area – I’ve got some aunts and uncles out there. They’re down there (in Wenatchee) quite a bit.”

He’s set to be one of the Western Hockey League’s most experienced goaltenders when the season gets underway in September – after coming up through the Chestermere Minor Hockey Association, he moved into AAA hockey with the Okotoks Oilers program just south of Calgary and went into the city for a two-year Canadian Sport School Hockey League run with the Edge School. After notching nine wins for Edge’s under-15 team during the 2018-19 season, he stepped up to the school’s under-18 prep program and tacked on 11 more in 2019-20.

Hauser could not have gotten off to a better start to his junior career – in fact, no major junior goaltender ever has. The 2020-21 season was a brief one across the Western Hockey League, and an unusual way for Hauser to get his feet wet in junior hockey – he more than made the most of it, winning seven of his eight decisions, with the only loss coming in overtime against the Brandon Wheat Kings. By the time the Saskatoon Blades finally tagged him with a regulation loss in January of 2022, he’d rattled off 22 WHL decisions – the most ever without a regulation loss to begin a WHL career.

He closed the 2021-22 season with 34 wins, the most in the WHL, and led the Winnipeg ICE to eight postseason wins and a spot in the final round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. He was named the East Division’s top goaltender, and repeated the feat last year with 37 wins, again leading all Eastern Conference netminders in getting the ICE to within three wins of an Ed Chynoweth Cup.

“The last three years I’ve spent around the team, we’ve had some pretty special groups of guys,” said Hauser. “I’m pretty fortunate, and I’m pretty grateful that I could share in the team success and a lot of personal success. I’m really excited to bring that experience and knowledge I’ve gained over the years into Wenatchee.”

Depending on how the next two years go, Hauser has a chance to rewrite the league’s record book for goaltenders entirely – entering the season, Hauser sits just 22 victories shy of 100 for his career, a feat that only 18 WHL goaltenders have ever accomplished. He’ll have a chance to improve upon a 2.23 goals-against average, which already ranks 12th in WHL history, and his .914 save percentage ranks among the 25 best marks in the league over the last 25 years.

“This year, I want to come in and prove again that I can be a starter in the league and that I can handle a big workload,” said Hauser. “Hopefully I can be one of the top goalies in the league again and help the team win, and do what it takes to make this first season in Wenatchee pretty successful. All I’m really focused on is working hard, doing the right things, and hopefully someone out there somewhere likes what they see and they take a chance. Right now, I’ll focus on my game and what I can control.”

He’s remained in the gym throughout the summer working on his strength and agility, and spending time in Alberta with his family. With family just an hour-and-a-half up Highway 97 from his new home, Daniel Hauser will be a natural fit in the #WildFamily as well.

(Note: this is the ninth in a series of offseason profiles on players set to join the Wild following the relocation of the Winnipeg ICE. Previous profiles are linked below.)