Game On Magazine 2017 Game On Magazine - Regular Season Edition | Page 92

PROFILE
BRADLEY
SCHOONBAERT
Firing on
all Cylinders
BY JIM TIMLICK
Photos by Laurie Anderson
BRADLEY SCHOONBAERT has
been a model of consistency
since joining the Steinbach
Pistons two years ago.
The third-year left-winger
finished fifth on the team in
scoring as a rookie during the
2015-16 Manitoba Junior
Hockey League season with
25 goals and 52 points.
He followed that up last
season with 29 goals and
72 points, which ranked
second on the Pistons and
fourth overall in the MJHL.
So, it really shouldn’t
come as much of a surprise
that Schoonbaert, 20, has
been among the MJHL’s top
point-getters all season long
in 2017-18. The 5-foot-
11, 187-pound forward
was leading the league
in scoring with 23 goals
(including a league-best
9 2 | G AME ON | R EGU L A R SEASON ED ITION 2018
five game-winners) and 57
points after 34 games.
While Schoonbaert
acknowledged such a
strong start feels pretty
good, he feels much of
the credit for it belongs
to the guys around him.
“Playing on such a good
team helps and I’ve got
some really good linemates,”
said Schoonbaert, who has
played much of the season
on a line with centre Drew
Worrad (now committed
to Western Michigan
University) and right-winger
William Koop. “With team
success individual success
usually follows that.”
Schoonbaert was
originally selected by the
Dauphin Kings in the
MJHL bantam draft but
was dealt to Steinbach
just prior to the start of
the 2015-16 campaign.
Although the deal came
as a bit of a shock to him
at the time, it didn’t have
any impact on his on-ice
performance. He immediately
established himself as a
go-to performer and has
been given more and more
responsibility each season.
A key factor in his
development was his decision
to play an extra year of
midget with his hometown
Brandon Wheat Kings
rather than make the jump
to junior A as 17-year-old.
“I could have played junior
when I was 17 but I chose to
play another year in Brandon
because it’s such a good
program and it really helped
me to develop,” he said.
“Playing that extra year