Sourdif playing wise beyond his 16 years
Giants rookie forward impresses coaching staff with his poise under pressure
STEVE EWEN
Justin Sourdif is 16 years old. We’re sure — we double-checked all the identification we could find.
He’s certainly doesn’t come across as that age on the ice for the Vancouver Giants. He has been part of the WHL team’s core group this season, usually skating on the first line with Milos Roman and Brayden Watts, regularly on the ice in critical moments late in games.
Players are picked in the WHL bantam draft at 14 and they can’t become a full-time member of their team until 16. There’s usually two or three on each team each year and the vast majority play sparingly, having their matchups cherry-picked for them. They usually take some time to get used to the jump. Sourdif is an anomaly. “He doesn’t play like a 16-year-old,” Giants coach Michael Dyck said of the 5-11, 166-pound Surrey athlete. “I don’t know if the average fan would understand, but the coach or the scout watching the game understands how well he makes plays in tight, in traffic, under duress. He’s very good that way.”
This is the second consecutive campaign that Vancouver has had this type of story, following defenceman Bowen Byram’s efforts last season.
Like Byram, Sourdif was picked third overall in his bantam draft year, going in that spot in the 2017 selection process.
Like Byram, Sourdif’s absence from Vancouver’s lineup in his 16-year-old campaign for a stint in the World Under-17 Challenge was easily noticeable, which isn’t common for most WHL teams when one of their youngsters heads off to the Hockey Can- ada assignment.
Sourdif missed three Vancouver games while helping Team Canada Red to a fourthplace showing in New Brunswick. He returned to the Vancouver lineup this past weekend, scoring a highlight-reel goal against the Regina Pats on Friday in one of his first shifts back.
Going into a Wednesday visit to Seattle, Sourdif was tied for fourth on the team in goals (five), while sitting eighth in points (10) and tied for fourth in plus-minus (plus-four).
“He’s aggressive, he plays fast, he can make plays in tight,” Dyck said following a 3-1 loss on Sunday against the Victoria Royals. “Obviously we were looking for that depth (with his return), and we got it.”
Sourdif is a centre by trade and he played in the middle at the Under-17. Dyck has been using him on the wing with Vancouver, teaming him usually with Watts to flank Roman. Sourdif maintains he has no personal position preference.
Roman and Watts are both
19. Roman was a fourthround pick of the Calgary Flames last June. He has already played in two world juniors with the Slovaks.
Watts got into 57 games as a 16-year-old with the Moose Jaw Warriors three seasons ago and Wednesday’s game against Seattle was slated to be the 220th of his WHL career, which puts him among the leaders with the current Giants.
Dyck has been regularly trying to match that trio against the other team’s top line. They’re out there often against the best 19- and 20-year-olds in the league. That’s again rare territory for a 16-year-old such as Sourdif.
“They’re both super smart players,” Sourdif said of Roman and Watts. “They always know where I am. They have great poise and they can both finish. I can always count on them to bury passes that I give them.”
Sourdif led the B.C. Major Midget league in scoring last season, tallying 73 points, including 23 goals, in 35 games. He was an underage call-up for the Giants for the first round of the playoffs, and saw duty in all seven games of the first-round loss to the Victoria Royals.
He’s a product of the Delta Hockey Academy, which is run by former Giants strength and conditioning coach Ian Gallagher.