Aiming for a title
Eagles prospect showcasing his talent at National Aboriginal Hockey Championship
SYDNEY — Wynston Iserhoff was quite surprised to be coming back to Cape Breton Island this late in the hockey season.
The 17-year-old was first introduced to Cape Breton when he was drafted by the Eagles in the eighth round of the 2021 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft last June.
The Maniwaki, Que., product, who now calls Gatineau home, first arrived on the island with his family for the start of the Eagles' training camp last August and quickly fell in love with the local area.
“My family and I drove 19 hours straight to get here for camp and I was pretty excited when I finally arrived,” said Iserhoff. “I remember seeing the water and how beautiful the island was – it was nothing I had seen before, so it was really exciting for me.”
Iserhoff had a strong rookie camp with the Eagles and was able to make the team's main training camp. He was later reassigned to under-18 ‘AAA' and expected to once again come back to Cape Breton for the club's camp later this summer.
While training camp isn't expected to get underway until mid-August, Iserhoff finds himself back in Cape Breton this week, but not for the Eagles.
Instead, the forward will suit up for Team Eastern Door and North – a club made up of players from the province of Quebec – for the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Membertou.
“It's quite the coincidence because it was supposed to be in Regina last year, so I didn't expect it to be in Membertou,” said Iserhoff, the team's captain, who also attended the tournament in 2019 in Whitehorse, Yukon.
“I was really excited to come back to Cape Breton because I know the area a little bit, so it's pretty cool to be able to show the guys and also showcase my talent to the fans.”
Iserhoff and Team Eastern Door and North opened the tournament Monday with a 4-2 loss to Saskatchewan. A recap of the tournament will be online at www.saltwire.com/cape-breton/.
PUSHING THROUGH DISAPPOINTMENT
He began his hockey career in Val-d'Or, Que,, before his family moved to Maniwaki, a community located about an hour-and-a-half away from Gatineau, Que.
During his minor hockey days, Iserhoff admits he never played at the highest level, suiting up for teams in the double-B and double-A divisions over his career.
When he reached the under-15 division, Iserhoff played in the Quebec Under15 ‘AA' Hockey League, but his talents were recognized by the Gatineau L'Intrépide, who invited him to attend the club's training camp for the 2020-21 season.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the L'Intrépide were forced to reduce the number of players allowed at its camp and Iserhoff was uninvited, forcing him to come up with a new plan for the season.
Instead of returning home, Iserhoff elected to stay in the Gatineau area and play in the Quebec espoir league with the Gatineau Outaouais Intrepide league. However, due to the pandemic, the club never played a game during the season.
“The first year in Gatineau, I stayed with a billet family and I was a little shy at first, especially with them being new people and having new rules to follow,” said Iserhoff.
“The billet process turned out to be an amazing experience. They were friendly people and I had an opportunity to do a lot of things that I had never done before with my family, so I enjoyed my time with them.”
While disappointed he wouldn't be playing in the under-18 ‘AAA' league, Iserhoff used that as motivation to be better and began working harder than he did in previous years.
He went on to attend practises and a showcase and found himself among the players on the QMJHL Central Scouting Rankings list for the league's entry draft. Iserhoff was later selected by Cape Breton.
During the offseason, Iserhoff spent seven weeks in Ottawa training and preparing for his first major junior camp with the Eagles. He later returned to Quebec and continued his preparation from home.
“When I got to the camp it was something different and I had never experienced anything like it,” said Iserhoff, noting his last real game prior to camp was during his under-15 ‘AA' days due to the pandemic.
“I worked hard, made some new friends and met a lot of great guys – I was grateful for the opportunity.”
Last year, Iserhoff received his chance with the under-18 ‘AAA' team and earned a spot on the roster. In 37 games with Gatineau, he recorded nine goals and 19 points.
FRIENDSHIP THROUGH THE DRAFT
One round after Iserhoff saw his name at the draft, Membertou product and Team Atlantic member Alexander Christmas was selected by the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
Little did Iserhoff know, a friendship would be born shortly after the selection.
“His mother reached out to me and then he reached out to me,” said Iserhoff. “I was looking at the draft and when I saw a fellow Native get drafted, I responded and texted him back to congratulate him on the draft.”
While Iserhoff was at Eagles camp, Christmas had attended his first major junior camp with the Titan. He was later reassigned and returned to Cape Breton.
In the meantime, Iserhoff had been reassigned by the Eagles. Knowing Christmas was from Cape Breton, he didn't leave the island without first meeting his new friend.
“He invited me to come out and skate in Membertou and I thought it was a good opportunity for a skate and to meet him,” said Iserhoff. “It was a fun experience and I enjoyed it a lot.”
During the time, Christmas and Iserhoff spoke about the Quebec product potentially joining him on the Sydney Mitsubishi Rush roster for the 2021-22 season, a year the club was originally scheduled to host the TELUS Cup in Membertou.
“I thought about playing for the Rush with the goal of hopefully getting a chance to be called up by the Eagles,” said Iserhoff. “I wanted to stay here, but I changed my mind and thought it would be best for my development to go back to Quebec.”
The two remain friends.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP
With the under-18 ‘AAA' season over, Iserhoff, for the time being, is focused on helping the Eastern Door and North team compete for a National Aboriginal Hockey Championship title.
“We have a lot of young skilled guys and we have a couple of skilled guys from up north that we never seen play until Monday,” said Iserhoff, noting there are several players who didn't try out for the team because of the lengthy travel for tryouts in Quebec.
“The only thing for some of them will be the difference when it comes to the physicality. Some of the guys on our team are not used to that, so I've been giving them some tips and hopefully they will learn along the way.”
Iserhoff and Team Eastern Door and North will wrap up the round robin portion of the tournament on today when they face Manitoba at 11 a.m. in Membertou.
The semifinal games will be Friday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., while the bronze medal and championship contests are slated for Saturday at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. respectively.