There isn’t much West Coast sea spray in Alberta. In fact, none. But there’s a whiff of it on the University of Calgary Dinos as three players who grew up together in Saanich Minor Hockey lead the team into the U Sports national championship tournament beginning today in Toronto.
Former BCHL Victoria Grizzlies captain Marty Westhaver and former WHL players Sean Strange and Brendan De Jong again have the Dinos into the U Sports championship tournament, this time looking to make up for last year when they went in as the top seed only to lose in a first-round upset to host UPEI.
“It’s a cool story and a unique connection because the three grew up playing together and our families are all friends and interconnected,” said Mena Westhaver, mother of Marty.
So much so that Marty Westhaver and Sean Strange are roommates in Calgary and have spent recent evenings watching online their younger siblings play in a second-round Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League playoff series between the Victoria Cougars and Saanich Predators. Jack and Jake Westhaver play for the Predators and Kieran Strange is a forward for the Cougars.
“There’s a [VIJHL] side bet going on and it gets kind of tense watching between us,” said Marty Westhaver.
But it’s common cause when it comes to the Dinos.
“We’ve all come full circle the three of us after starting out together [at Pearkes Arena],” said Westhaver.
“It’s kind of a special time and we are all cherishing the moment.”
The six-foot-five defenceman De Jong played five seasons in the WHL for the Portland Winterhawks and was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL. Six-foot-one blue-liner Strange played four seasons in the WHL for the Kamloops Blazers. Westhaver, a forward, played four seasons for the Grizzlies and skated one season in the NCAA at Long Island University before joining the Dinos.
“You never know where hockey is going to take you and where you are going to end up playing,” said Westhaver, an economics major at the U of C.
And in perhaps the most under-appreciated level in the game.
“Almost everybody in U Sports played in the [major-junior] CHL, some have returned after pro careers [ECHL or Europe], and it is fast-paced and intense hockey,” said Westhaver.
Playing the host team again to open, Metropolitan Toronto University [formerly Ryerson], has the Dinos rightfully wary after what happened last year against the upstart hosts in PEI.
“It’s a familiar situation. We learned our lesson for sure last year,” said Westhaver.
Also playing in the U Sports championship tournament are Griffen Outhouse, arguably the WHL Victoria Royals’ greatest goaltender, and now backstopping the top-seed University of New Brunswick Reds. He will be facing former Royals blue-liner and 2017 third-round Montreal Canadiens draft-pick Scott Walford, gold medallist for Canada in the 2023 World University Games in Lake Placid, and who stars for McGill University. Former Royals forward Carson Miller and former Grizzlies goaltender Cole Schwebius are with the UBC Thunderbirds, who won their first Canada West championship in 53 years, to advance to the U Sports tournament.
