WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Winnipeg ’ s Brooks Tearing Up Western Hockey League
By
Johnston Hall Photos by Keith Hershmiller
BRANDON , MB . -- Granted he ’ s only 5-foot-10 , 175 pounds and he wasn ’ t drafted by an NHL team until he was 20-years-old , but Winnipeg ’ s Adam Brooks has become a monster in the Western Hockey
League . The 20-year-old captain of the Regina Pats , who led the WHL in scoring last season with 38 goals and 120 points , was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fourth round ( 92nd overall ) of the 2016 NHL entry draft . He spent the first month of the 2016-17 season at Leafs camp and then with the American Hockey League ’ s Toronto Marlies for the pre-season schedule before returning to the Pats after missing the first 10 games . When he returned , he seemed disappointed . During his first interview in Regina , Brooks talked like a young man who truly believed he could have made the Leafs . “ At first there ’ s obviously that bit of disappointment ,” Brooks said . “ You never like getting cut from a team especially when you put a lot of work into it in the summer , but in saying that , I ’ m super excited to be back here with the Pats .” Super excited indeed . Since returning to Regina , Brooks and linemate San Steel have ripped up the Western Hockey League . At press time , Brooks had 25 goals and 80 points in 38 games . That ’ s 10-11 games fewer than many of his followers in the scoring race . Brooks is second in scoring to Steel , the 5-foot-11 , 175-pound 18-year-old from Sherwood Park , Alta ., who had 34 goals and 83 points in 38 games ( at press time ). The two of them even kill penalties for Pats coach John Paddock and they might be the most dynamic and dominant 1-2 punch in WHL history . “ He won the scoring race last year and should have won most outstanding player ,” said Pats coach John Paddock . “ As a 16- and 17-year-old , he didn ’ t get a real chance . It ’ s just the way the pecking order went . When I came in , he didn ’ t play on the power play and then , when I traded away a bunch of our older players , I got him on the power play and he ’ s blossomed since . He ’ s also a good penalty killer . A great 20-year-old player . “ However , because he didn ’ t get much chance as a 16-year-old or 17-year- old , he ’ s really only a third-year player in our league .” A former member of the Winnipeg Hawks Bantams and the Winnipeg Thrashers of the Manitoba Triple A Midget League , he played for Team Manitoba at the Western Canadian U-16 championship in 2011-12 , Team Canada at the first ever Youth Olympic Games in 2011- 12 and then played for Team Canada West at the 2012-13 World U-17 Hockey Challenge . In City Bantam in 2010-11 , Brooks had 53 goals and 90 points in 30 games . “ He ’ s always been able to score ,” said Paddock . “ That ’ s what should give him the chance to be a good pro .” n
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