WHL Throwback Thursday: World Junior memories still vivid as Steenbergen establishes professional career

 

The holidays are a special time of year for most, but it rings true more so for Tucson Roadrunners forward Tyler Steenbergen these days.

While joyous thoughts of the holiday season no doubt creep into anyone’s mind, Steenbergen’s memories of this time of year have been molded by the events at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in a moment he won’t soon forget.

As a leading member of the Swift Current Broncos, a historic start to the first half of the 2017-18 Western Hockey League Regular Season put him on the radar for Canada’s National Junior Team.

When the final cuts were made, he wasn’t a surprising choice for the roster, even as the team’s 13th forward. However, the annual showcase of the world’s elite junior hockey talent would serve as his first-ever on-ice taste of international hockey.

“It’s pretty neat to see what they’re going through knowing the pressure and what it’s like,” Steenbergen said of the World Juniors selection process.

While the tournament progressed and Canada battled their way into the gold-medal game, the product of Sylvan Lake, Alta. remained the lone forward without a goal. Still, he was just happy to be there and occupy the role that kept his team playing deeper into the tournament.

“I had never played for Hockey Canada at any level yet, so I was just pumped to put on the Canadian sweater,” Steenbergen said. “Watching it back as a kid, it was always a dream of mine to be playing on that stage at the World Juniors.

“I was fortunate enough to have that opportunity.”

As destiny would have it, Steenbergen’s moment to shine came in the championship final against Sweden. With the score tied 1-1 late in regulation, Steenbergen tipped a point shot by defenceman Conor Timmins past the Swedish goaltender with exactly 100 seconds left in regulation.

That goal vaulted Canada to their 17th championship in the tournament’s history and first since 2015.

“I definitely blacked out,” Steenbergen said of the moment. “It was just a bunch of emotions. I hadn’t scored all tournament and I struggled with that after scoring lots during the year. Being able to put that one in, it was definitely a big weight lifted off my shoulder.

“It’s hard to remember the exact things that I did right in the moment, but looking back at it and watching videos of it, it’s a pretty special feeling.”

Alongside the likes of another WHL Alumni in Jordan Eberle and others to come through at clutch moments at the tournament, they’re remembered fondly each holiday. Asked of himself, Steenbergen doesn’t embrace using that label, but doesn’t mind if others do in the politest of Canadian characteristics.

Now far away from his home of Sylvan Lake and even further away from the KeyBank Centre where he scored that memorable goal, Steenbergen is carving out the start of his professional hockey career in The Grand Canyon State with the American Hockey League’s Roadrunners.

In the middle of his second season, he’s adapted well to the game, learning that you can’t take a shift or a game off and the need to be going strong each night or you may find yourself watching from the stands.

Steenbergen compared his first 88 games in the AHL to the early part of his WHL career when he managed just five goals in his first season and 20 in his second.

“I started off a little bit slower and worked my way up,” Steenbergen said, crediting the staff and Arizona Coyotes organization for helping him continually find improvement in his game. “I’m starting to finally find my stride a bit here. A year-and-a-half through it, it’s been awesome.”

Though he scored just 25 goals through his first two regular seasons in the WHL, an impressive 98 in his final two campaigns more than made up for it.

His final taste of WHL action, the 2018 WHL Playoffs, saw him post 12 goals and 27 points as the Broncos claimed their third WHL Championship in franchise history. With each passing goal and major achievement, it made the Coyotes’ decision to use a fifth-round selection on him at the 2017 NHL Draft look more and more like a shrewd move.

With the stark contrast in what it means to be a 50-goal scorer at the WHL level and in the professional ranks, it’s a fair label for Steenbergen to not place on himself or for others not to give him based on previous achievement at a different level.

Instead, he’s embraced the defensive side of his game more in the AHL, something he credits his coaches in Swift Current with helping him realize early on and develop throughout his time there.

There’s still the opportunity to put the puck in the back of the net and help his teammates do the same, though he’s now more mindful of all areas of the ice against players of a higher skill level.

As much as the scenery has changed, some faces have stayed the same as well, albeit now sporting different jerseys.

With both now pursuing the same dream in different organizations, he’s had a chance to battle his friend and former captain Glenn Gawdin, a member of the AHL’s Stockton Heat.

Though Gawdin holds bragging rights over Steenbergen in the scoring race, Steenbergen holds bragging rights in the standings after the Roadrunners scored four wins against the Heat in November. Now undefeated in the month of December, the Roadrunners sit first in the AHL’s Pacific Division.

“He was one of my best buddies there,” Steenbergen said of Gawdin in Swift Current. “It’s different seeing him on the other side, but we went through it for a whole year last year and this year we’ve played them a couple times too.

“You get used to it now.”

A hero in every sense of the word at the World Juniors and a WHL Champion, Steenbergen has lived for the big moments throughout his still-growing hockey career. What took one second of real time to accomplish two years ago will remain with him forever as proof of him being able to compete and succeed with the best each game has to offer while also keeping him motivated to continue pushing forward.

It also helps that Steenbergen will forever remain a part of Canadian hockey lore, cementing his name among those important to Canada’s perennial success on the international stage at all levels.

“Looking back at it, it was nothing but great memories.”