Former WHLER makes noise for Huskies
Jared Dmytriw was a late commit to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, but he’s a big commit.
It’s no surprise that Dmytriw — who served as captain of the 2019 Western Hockey League finalist Vancouver Giants — is making an immediate impact on the Huskies.
“He can play in all situations,” says U of S head coach Dave Adolph, whose Huskies are at home Friday and Saturday (7 p.m., Merlis Belsher Place) to the firstplace University of Calgary Dinos.
“He’s absolutely game to do anything you want him to do. He’s in the Edwards School of Business with about an 86 average, so he’s blue-chip.
“He’s a nice player.”
Dmytriw, who calls Craven home, spent five seasons in the WHL with the Victoria Royals, Red Deer Rebels and the Giants.
He scored 15 goals in each of his last three seasons in the WHL. Last season, he had 15 goals and 23 assists for 38 points in 68 games but then really turned it on in the playoffs with nine goals and 21 points in 22 games.
“It’s kind of exciting here the last couple of months transitioning from junior hockey now into university hockey and, at the same time, being a student,” Dmytriw offered. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
After an extended final season with the Giants, which ended in overtime with a Game 7 loss to the Prince Albert Raiders, Dmytriw admits he took his time mulling over different hockey offers.
“It came down to Saskatchewan being the best fit for me,” he said.
“It kind of made the most sense with the most connections I had here and then, looking at the history the Huskies have had and being a perennial contender here in the Canada West, that was a big draw for me.”
Dmytriw describes himself as more of a two-way “utility guy” who can play both centre or the wings. He developed the defensive side of his game when he first got into the WHL at age 16, before he started getting more opportunities offensively between the ages of 18 and 20.
“Last year, I played down the middle but, right now, I’m on the wing with Shirls (Collin Shirley) and Loges (Logan Mcveigh) and it’s been good for us the last couple of weeks,” he said. “We’ve been playing well. Pucks haven’t gone in for us on some occasions but we’re getting the chances and, eventually, those pucks are going to go in.”
Adolph said he likes the way Dmytriw evolved during his 20-yearold season.
While Dmytriw was “on everybody’s (recruiting) list,” Adolph started paying extra attention to him at the insistence of NHL scout Brent Mcewen, a friend and former head coach of the Huskies.
“He said, ‘You need to watch him because he’s developing into somebody who I think could sign (a pro contract),’ ” recalled Adolph.
“I spent some time in December going out and watching the Vancouver Giants play and I spent a lot of time watching him, on TV, or on the WHL website, and then, in playoffs, he was unbelievable. He was playing power play and penalty killing and they were playing in the league final. He was a guy I thought we had to have, but, like everybody else, he’s got three fly-downs and he’s going to every school in the country. I didn’t know until August that he was coming here. It was real late.”
Dmytriw has been impressed with the calibre of U Sports hockey. While the Huskies have got off to a slow start thanks to a rash of injuries on the blue line, Dmytriw feels they built up a bit of momentum last weekend with a sweep over Lethbridge.
“Hopefully we can carry it into this weekend (against Calgary),” he said.
“They (Dinos) are the top team in Canada West right now coming in. It’s going to be a good challenge for us, but it’s also really exciting for us to go up against a good team like that, the top team right now, and get ourselves back on winning ways.”