Spencer’s WHL Swan Song Swings through Wenatchee in 2024-25

WENATCHEE, Wash. – Tye Spencer has never been the biggest hockey player on the ice, but it’s never kept him from aiming to be the best.

Though he stands just 5’8″ and 144 pounds, the veteran forward walked tall this past year, playing his final season in junior hockey and bringing an extra spark of leadership to the Wild in the final three months of the season. Spencer joined the club in a deadline deal with the Regina Pats, where he had played the past three seasons and had risen to the rank of alternate captain before his departure.

The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native started playing the sport at just 4 years of age, with a dream of one day playing in the Western Hockey League. Naturally, he grew up closely following the hometown Blades, as well as the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings. He rose through the minor hockey ranks in his home city before earning a selection by the Kamloops Blazers in the third round of the 2019 WHL Prospects Draft.

The 2019-20 season saw Spencer make his WHL debut, scoring a goal in both of his preseason games for the Blazers before playing his first official games in December on an Eastern Conference road trip.

The following season looked a little different, to say the very least. The Saskatoon Contacts U18 team managed just six games before its season was canceled in November, and featured a loaded roster, including future WHL stars like Berkly Catton, Riley Heidt and Brayden Yager. Another Contacts teammate from that season, Kevin Korchinski, has already made the jump to the NHL with 11 games under his belt this year for the Chicago Blackhawks.

At long last, the WHL did squeeze in an abbreviated schedule in the spring, with Spencer earning his first two junior goals. His first goal came in Kamloops’s season opener on April 1, in a 6-1 win over the Prince George Cougars. Not only did Spencer start his junior career in the B.C. Division “bubble,” but that season also marked his first true stint away from home as a junior hockey player.

“Being away from home was tough. We got pretty lucky,” said Spencer. “Kamloops was one of the teams that was allowed to stay with their billets. There were about four of us in a little bungalow, and we made the most of it. That was pretty awesome for me, dipping my toes in the water. I used it as a stepping stone, just because there were no fans. There wasn’t as much pressure, with thousands of fans looking at you.”

Spencer was involved in another deadline deal early in his career, moving from the Blazers to the Regina Pats during the 2021-22 season. The move brought him back to Saskatchewan alongside yet another NHL star in the making, as he joined Connor Bedard during his second WHL season. The future Chicago Blackhawk was in the midst of the first of his back-to-back 100-point seasons with the Pats, and Spencer quickly noticed the habits and patterns that made Bedard the success that he became.

“Habits are the biggest things that people don’t really see,” said Spencer. “We would all show up to the rink at 12, and he’d show up two hours before we would get there. He’d already be shooting pucks or in the gym stretching, doing the little things. I try to pattern myself after him as much as I can, get here early and do what I have to do to get ready, staying after and going through video. The coaches here want you to get better. They want to do what it takes to get you to the next level.”

That first half-season with the Pats also allowed him to return occasionally to SaskTel Centre, where he had spent so much time watching the Blades and dreaming of one day being part of a WHL roster. He played his first game in that building on February 12, 2022, just four weeks after departing Kamloops and joining his new group in Regina.

The 2022-23 season brought a challenge or two of its own, with a high ankle sprain keeping him out of action for two months. He finished the year with just 39 games on the ice but totaled 18 points, including 11 goals. Staying healthy would be no issue at all the following year – Spencer suited up in all but one regular-season game, piling up 23 goals and 24 assists over those 67 appearances.

He was one of the top scorers on the Regina roster halfway through this past season as well, ranking third on his team with 21 points over 33 games before making the move to Wenatchee on January 3. While he had played in the Western Conference before, moving across the border brought a few new challenges, which Spencer – of course – turned aside easily.

“The biggest one is probably not having a car. That’s a long drive,” said Spencer. “Otherwise it’s all the banking stuff, the new food and restaurants – you’re learning the new names and seeing what’s good here.”

Both Spencer and the Wild got moving that weekend, with the team navigating a three-game road trip and their new 20-year-old forward making the jump to Wenatchee at the same time. He stepped right into the mix for the Wild the following Friday, setting up new linemate Dawson Seitz for a third-period goal against the Victoria Royals. A week later, he also had his first Wild goal as part of a win at the Tri-City Americans. Though he didn’t wear a letter for the Wild as he had in Regina, he immediately earned the respect of his new teammates.

“It was obviously a little nerve-wracking at first,” said Spencer. “I came in here and only knew one guy, and that was Reid (Andresen). There are different personalities here, and there are on every team. Every team is going to have their talkers, their quiet guys, but in the end, that’s hockey. Maybe you do have to talk to that quiet guy a little more and get him to open up a bit.”

Even as a younger player, Spencer didn’t have size on his side, but that allowed him to put a different emphasis on his game – over the years, he has used his speed and agility to his advantage. He says he saw some of the same attributes in Johnny Gaudreau, who became an NHL star and played 11 seasons in the league despite standing only 5’9″. Gaudreau was one of many smaller players who proved to Spencer that physical stature isn’t always necessary to be an impact player in the sport.

“I was always a smaller player. I knew that,” said Spencer. “One of the things that I’ve found in my game is that you don’t need to be a six-foot, 200-pound player. As long as you can think the game and you’re fast enough, that’s all that matters, and that’s the mindset that I had playing at those levels. Obviously having size is nice – it’s tough being a small guy out there, but you work your way around it. I use speed to my advantage, and my smarts to make those plays.”

He’ll take those skills even further west next season, after announcing an NCAA Division I commitment last week to the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Spencer says he will pursue either a kinesiology or business degree while continuing his on-ice career with the Seawolves.