The 2024-25 season is going to be the biggest of Roger McQueen’s career so far. He’s up for the NHL draft (and listed as a possible top-ten pick on many lists) but it’s the potential for team success that has the young man really excited.
Billed as a contender within their division ahead of the season, the Saskatoon-born forward has even loftier goals in mind for the Wheat Kings. With their bevy of returning forwards, promising crop of young defensemen, and rock-solid tandem in net, the team has their sights set high.
“The end goal is to win the league and that’s what we’re going for this year,” said McQueen. “We have the team to do it. To go 4-0 really helps in preseason, we have a lot of rookies this year who’ve gotten their feet wet and they all look unreal, especially our d-corps is looking really solid this year. We’re really excited for what we have. Our expectation is we want to win the league.”
If it sounds like McQueen is eager to get going, it’s because he is. After a long offseason than anyone wanted for the Wheat Kings, he and his teammates have been looking forward to opening night for quite some time.
“We’re prepared,” McQueen said. “We’ve been waiting for a while. It’s been a long summer. It’s always awesome to have a break but it’s time to go. Hockey season is ready.”
On a personal level, it’s a huge year for McQueen as well as his NHL future will be determined at the end of it. He watched as Charlie Elick, Nate Danielson, and Carson Bjarnason went through the same thing over the last two years and did his best to learn from them.
“It only happens once in your lifetime so it’s something you just want to enjoy,” McQueen said. “You try and block out the noise a little bit, it’s probably tough when so much is going on around you. But they said to enjoy it, it only happens one time in your life so there’s nothing better than just to let it roll.”
McQueen is also looking forward to potentially being part of a new contest for draft eligible players: the two-game series between Canada’s top prospects and the U.S. National Team Development Program. McQueen has already faced the Americans internationally and knows what those kind of games entail.
“The Americans are a great team and they have such good hockey over there,” said McQueen. “We’ve gotten lucky enough to be 2-0 against them so we’ll have to try and keep that up here, but they’re a great team and I think it’s a great addition.”
The Wheat Kings open their season against the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday, September 20.
