Woo Ready For Year Two, Excited For Move to Wenatchee
WENATCHEE, Wash. – Two years ago, defenseman Jonas Woo got a taste of life in the Western Hockey League, playing in five games during the holiday stretch before adding 10 more at the end of the Winnipeg ICE regular season. He wasn’t fooling around when he scored his first goal on April 1, a third-period marker to help propel the ICE past the Regina Pats in a 7-0 win. He tacked on another one April 29, adding to a lopsided postseason victory over Prince Albert.
Last year, he got a smorgasbord of experience in the WHL, posting 21 points in 63 games, and appearing in 19 playoff games as Winnipeg won a record-breaking 57 games and made a run to the WHL Final.
This year, he’s looking to feast on U.S. Division competition as the ICE roster relocates to Winnipeg. Woo came up through the youth ranks in Winnipeg, playing U14 and U15 hockey for the Winnipeg Warriors in 2019-20, and again during the pandemic season of 2020-21.
2021 was a breakout year for Woo, impressing the scouts at the WHL Cup that October by notching a pair of assists in five games and being named to the event’s all-star game. The majority of players who compete in that event will either be selected in the WHL Prospect Draft that follows shortly afterward, or will be rostered by WHL teams in some other fashion.
He must have made a good enough impression on Winnipeg coach James Patrick’s crew – the ICE took him in the first round of their annual Prospect Draft, before he appeared in his first WHL game in December. He also suited up with the Winnipeg Bruins after moving to the Manitoba U18 Hockey League, and posted 28 points in 37 games in his new program.
“My first full year of juniors with these guys was great,” said Woo. “As a young guy, getting the chance to come to the rink every day and learn from the top-end players that we had was special, and the coaching staff really went out of their way to improve me as a player every day and help me settle into my first year.”
Woo has already followed the trail into the WHL blazed by father Larry and older brother Jett – Larry played in the WHL for Victoria and Swift Current in the late 1980s and early ’90s, while Jett played four full WHL seasons and will enter his fourth season in the AHL when the Abbotsford Canucks drop the puck this fall. He’d love to follow in another of Jett’s footsteps, after Jett was taken by the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft.
At 5’8″ and 153 pounds, he’s far from the biggest kid on the ice. However, he’s turned a number of heads for his insistence on being in the middle of the play in the defensive zone, and his outstanding hockey sense and positioning. He’s also displayed an impressive skill-set when it comes to his skating, and a willingness to play a physical game despite his smaller stature.
Wild fans are likely to enjoy what they see, and Woo says he’s just as excited to come to Wenatchee as the local fans will be to watch him play.
“The offseason has been real fun, working out and skating as much as I can during the week and getting out to the lake to fish and surf on my days off,” said Woo. “I’m excited to experience this new city and play in this division. I know we will have a great group of guys that will push each other day in and day out, so I’m just looking forward to becoming brothers and growing as a team.”
