One wouldn’t say this of too many 16-year-olds in the WHL, but the Brandon Wheat Kings really felt Cruz Jim’s absence when he was away from the team, and they don’t need him to change too much now that he’s back.
The right-handed defenseman represented Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge over the past two weeks and is now back practicing with the Wheat Kings and ready to resume what had been a strong, at times stellar, rookie campaign. He had four points in 13 games before departing and was fresh off scoring his first WHL goal, an OT winner against the Prince Albert Raiders.
“It was obviously an honour to wear the maple leaf and represent your country with some of the best guys and play against some of the other best players in the world,” Jim said of his experience. “To go up against them, head-to-head, it was a short tournament but it was a really great experience overall.”
Thanks to a summer camp with other Team Canada hopefuls, and thanks to his time in the WHL against quite a few of them, Jim had a sense of how the pace would be when he got into games in that tournament. He expected fast hockey, and sure enough his opponents and teammates alike did not disappoint.
“It was fast, and obviously if you get to that level there’s going to be a ton of skill and a ton of pace and structure within the game, even if you’re just coming together as a team like we did,” said Jim. “It was really fast and it was a lot of fun.”
Jim wasn’t there just to soak in the experience, however. Team Canada White used the former first-round pick in all situations, and he was regularly on their top pair, something that didn’t surprise the Wheat Kings given how well he’d been playing prior to his departure.
“He’s really come along,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “It’s nice to see your young players make strides like he was. He was playing some good hockey for us. He took part in a big role with Hockey Canada. Hopefully his confidence is high and he keeps within himself and keeps playing the way he did before he left.”
In a critical moment in the tournament, Jim rewarded Hockey Canada’s faith in him. In the quarterfinals against Finland, he picked up an assist in the first period on a two-on-one, and followed that up with what proved to be the game-winning goal.
“It’s not something you get to do a lot and it was just really cool to be able to do it wearing that jersey and in front of that crowd,” Jim said, “especially in that quarterfinal game it was a pretty big goal. It was special.”
As much as the Wheat Kings were proud to send Jim to the tournament, and pleased to see him succeed there, they’re just as excited to get him back. His return to action coincides with an impending return for Finnish import Ilari Kapanen, and gives them access to a full blue line of regulars for the first time since Josh McGregor suffered an injury in Prince Albert on October 28.
“I thought (Marko) Malbasa did a nice job but it’s nice to get our regular guys back, and we’re chipping away at some injuries too,” Murray said. “It’ll be good to get Cruz back in the action. I know he had a great experience with Team Canada but we’re looking forward to getting him back in black and gold jersey again.”
So once Jim is back in action, what do the Wheat Kings want out of him? More or less exactly what he’s already provided.
“Cruz is a guy that has a lot of layers to his game,” said Murray. “He was dependable defensively before he went, and creating offense and jumping up into the play. That’s part of his game, moving pucks is kind of his go-to and he was doing a really good job of that. When you go in those tournaments and play against kids your own age, hopefully that helps his confidence level so he can be even more impactful for us.”
The Wheat Kings host the Portland Winterhawks at 4:00 tomorrow in their annual Remembrance Day game.
