They say good things come in small packages.
That’s exactly what the Victoria Grizzlies are hoping for from newcomer Ethan Nother.
Nother is five-foot-eight and weighs in at 155 pounds, but Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon says don’t let the size fool you because Nother can put up points — a lot of them.
“He’s 20 years old and this is his fourth year of junior hockey so he’s dealt with the size thing now for several years and like most other smaller guys, they’re tougher than they look,” Didmon said prior to Saturday night’s B.C. Hockey League preseason game against the Powell River Kings at Juan de Fuca Arena. The Grizzlies won 6-2 thanks to a goal from Nother, two from Justin Michaelian and singles from Alex Newhook, Marty Westhaver and Carter Berger.
“Ethan is very agile and skilled, so it’s tough to hit him. We think he’ll eat up some top-six forward minutes for us,” Didmon said.
Nother played last season in the Junior B Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League for the London Nationals in his hometown of London, Ont. He scored 19 goals and 28 assists in 38 regular season games, and added another 31 points in 25 playoff games as his Nationals went to the league final before losing to Elmira.
He was all set to play U Sports hockey this fall for the University of Western Ontario when the Grizzlies came calling.
“We got a call from one of the Western Ontario scouts and he said you have to take a look at Nother because they felt he had NCAA Div. 1 skill and should try to go that route,” Didmon said. “So we signed Ethan and expect him to have a big year for us.”
And Nother felt he was ready to give Junior A a shot.
“When the Grizzlies came calling, I felt this was the best way to get more exposure to try to get a [NCAA] scholarship,” said Nother, who scored twice in his first BCHL preseason game against the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Friday night.
“The college route allows for a little more time to develop both physically and mentally, so I really wanted to go that way.”
Nother said the BCHL looks a little more physical than what he’s used to.
“I noticed Friday it’s a faster game and more physical, but you just have to make the plays quicker and be faster on the puck,” he said. “But the league I played in the last couple of years was physical, too, so I’m used to that now so this transition shouldn’t be a problem.”
Nother grew up watching his hometown London Knights of the major-junior Ontario Hockey League and a lot of Toronto Maple Leafs games, but he says his heart bleeds red when it comes to the NHL. “I’m actually a huge [Detroit] Red Wings fan,” he said. “I grew up kind of halfway between Toronto and Detroit, but we would always go see games at the Joe [Lewis Arena in Detroit], so I became a pretty big Red Wings fan.”
From what he has seen of Victoria in the six days since he arrived for training camp, Nother expects to enjoy life on the Island. “Oh, I love what I’ve seen so far. I’ve been busy with camp so haven’t seen a whole lot of the city, but the parts I have seen, seem really nice and the weather has been awesome.”
Didmon expects to cut his roster to about 25 players today as the Grizzlies don’t have another preseason game until Wednesday, when they head to Nanaimo to take on the Clippers. The Grizzlies are expected to be down to 23 players before the start of the regular season on Sept. 8 in Powell River.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Grizzlies said Saturday that netminder Tony Rehm has accepted a scholarship to the NCAA’s University of Alaska-Fairbanks for this season. The 20-year-old from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, played in 18 games last season after being acquired from Brooks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League and finished with a 2.51 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.
