but , unfortunately I wasn ’ t able to make it this year .”

Not surprisingly , Stotts is undeterred by that inability to make Team Canada .

“ Every aspect of my game needs to step up more and more each day ,” says the proud Winnipegger . “ I feel that if I just keep working towards it , there could be a possibility ( of playing for Canada ) again . I ’ m hoping for it and I ’ ll keep working towards that .”

“ Proud Winnipegger ” always comes up when it comes to Stotts as the Hockey Canada website for the World Under-17 Challenge attributed the Nashville Predators as his favourite NHL team and the now-retired Mike Fisher as his favourite player . Neither of those was the case during an early September conversation for this profile .

“ I ’ ve always got to cheer for the Jets because of my hometown and I love going to watch their games . It ’ s a great atmosphere ( at the BELL MTS Place ) in there ,” said Stotts . “ I like the players . I know they all work hard and they ’ re a fun team to watch .”

As for his favourite player , Stotts hesitated for a moment before saying , “ That ’ s a tough one . I like ( Jets ’ centre Mark ) Scheifele . Seeing how much he ’ s improved over the past couple of years . He was a young guy in the league and all of a sudden he stepped up and is a huge player on the Jets now . He ’ s a great player to watch .”

By saying that , it should come as no shock that Stotts feels Winnipeg ’ s first line centre is someone whose game is worth

patterning his own after .

“( Scheifele ) is strong on the puck and he worked for that ,” explains the 10th overall pick in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft by Swift Current . “ That ’ s something I want to improve on a lot – be strong on the puck and not being able to be pushed off . That ’ s something he ’ s really good at . He sees the ice well and is a really good player for the Jets .”

Becoming “ strong on the puck ” is the biggest adjustment for young players making the jump directly from Midget AAA to the Major Junior level . According to many , many coaches , managers and scouts . Stotts found that to be the case in moving from the Winnipeg Wild of the Manitoba Midget AAA Hockey League , where he was the third-leading

scorer in the 2015-16 season , to Swift Current .

“ There are big guys here and you ’ ve got to get a whole different body position , otherwise you don ’ t get the puck ,” explained Stotts . “ And even when they ’ re trying to come and get it off of you , you ’ ve got to change up everything . But , it ’ s something I ’ m working towards every day , ( during ) every practice and every game , and just trying to be stronger on the puck .”

That determination to be better , while playing on one of the WHL ’ s top teams , at least in the early season – the Broncos were second in the CHL Top 10 rankings in the second week of October – should help Riley Stotts realize his dream and be the NHLer in his family . ❍