Ice have high hopes for big, right-handed D-man By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 5:24 PM CDT Tuesday, Jun. 4, 2019 Last Modified: 10:11 AM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 5, 2019 Updates

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This article was published 03/06/2019 (1935 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In baseball, left-handed relievers have a special place in the minds of talent evaluators. In the elite levels of hockey, right-handed defenceman with an above-average skill set are a commodity difficult to find in satisfactory numbers.

That’s where Anson McMaster comes in.

He’s big, shoots from the right side and has uncommonly good wheels for a man of his stature: 6-4½, 195 pounds. The WHL’s Winnipeg Ice, who drafted the young blue-liner in the second round of the 2017 bantam draft, have high hopes for McMaster, who hails from Siksika First Nation in southern Alberta.

McMaster wanted to make a full-time commitment to the WHL in 2018-19 but the Ice wanted to see a more seasoned player after another year of AAA midget hockey in Okotoks, Alta.

And so McMaster, who turns 17 next month, played a pivotal role on his team while adding another 20 pounds, which served him well when he was called up to the Ice during two brief stints with the big club. In 10 games with the Ice, he registered one assist, two penalty minutes and a minus-3 rating.

Ice head coach James Patrick said McMaster’s transformation is right on schedule.

“He’s come a ways in the two years since he was drafted,” Patrick said during the club’s annual development camp for its prospects last weekend. “He’s gonna to play for us this year. When he fills out, he can be a force in this league. A bomb of a shot. Anson was real wet behind the ears in November. When he played in March for us, (it was a) night-and-day difference…

“He still got knocked off the puck a bit, but he can play, he can keep things simple, he can defend. When he gets stronger, he can be a punishing defenceman.”

Basketball is the sport of choice for many kids in McMaster’s hometown but he found his way to hockey, instead, commuting 45 minutes each way to play for the Rocky Mountain Bantam Raiders in Okotoks during the 2016-17 season, piling up 40 points, including 16 goals, in 39 regular-season and playoff games.

“After coming out of of my bantam year I really had a breakout season,” said McMaster. “That’s really when I felt that I had something special and something I could work for. It was a big points year and I ended up winning the top D-man (award) for the South Division.”

McMaster said making the move to Winnipeg this fall won’t be a problem, and he and his parents came away impressed with the Ice’s new practice facility at the Rink Training Centre in the southwestern corner of the city.

‘He still got knocked off the puck a bit, but he can play, he can keep things simple, he can defend. When he gets stronger, he can be a punishing defenceman’
– Winnipeg Ice head coach James Patrick

”Coming into camp I was excited to see the facility — it’s amazing what they’ve done here,” he said. “I just wanted to see what I can work on with the new staff they’ve (got) here, the skating coaches and everything. Everything’s about development and I really got a feel for what I need to work on.”

‘When he’s on his game and when he’s engaged, he’s playing mean, he’s playing hard. That’s part of what’s going to make him successful, not only in our league, but moving forward as well’
– Winnipeg Ice director of scouting Jake Heisinger

McMaster admitted he is already viewed as a role model for First Nations youths, but he isn’t worried about the expectations placed on him.

“Having people look up to you is a little more pressure but if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll be fine,” he said, adding he had a chance to speak with the game’s most prominent First Nations role model, Jordin Tootoo, at a function and came away inspired. “He’s a pretty good example, a First Nation (guy). Met him last year. He’s been through a lot and just to see what he’s accomplished and what he’s doing after hockey (was impressive).”

Ice director of scouting Jake Heisinger has been impressed by the edge he’s seen in McMaster’s game.

“When he’s on his game and when he’s engaged, he’s playing mean, he’s playing hard,” said Heisinger. “That’s part of what’s going to make him successful, not only in our league, but moving forward as well.”

The Ice were the WHL’s worst defensive club last season and Patrick is expecting a major turnaround in 2019-20. Part of the upgrade will come with the addition of highly touted 16-year-old blue-line prospect Carson Lambos, but after more than three decades of playing and coaching in the NHL, Patrick believes having enough right-handed defencemen is essential in the modern game.

Last season, only the only right-handed regular on defence was Slovakian import Martin Bodak.

“The game has gotten faster forever — noticeably faster in the last 15 years and I think that 15, 20 years ago it was a lot easier for defenceman to play on the off side,” said Patrick. “He still had enough time to pivot and move the puck… I’ve never seen players knock the puck down the way they do now.

“To make a cross-ice pass now, it’s gotta be 100 miles an hour, it’s gotta be two inches off the ice — because if it isn’t, it’s getting batted down…. Because of that, it’s so important to have left and right (defencemen).”

To that end, Patrick is expecting to have McMaster in a major role and right-handers such as 2018 draft pick Karter Prosofsky of Saskatoon and Decker’s Owen Murray, a 16 year old coming off a season with the Portage Terriers where he was named the MJHL’s rookie of the year, could also fit the bill.

Murray attended Winnipeg’s development camp last week but is believed to be heading back to the Terriers in fall.

“We all want Owen to be on our team real bad,” said Patrick. “I think he’ll be a pro, an NHL player.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14