Different players will have different reactions to big goals. Some say they black out, others describe a surge of adrenaline. For Brandon Wheat Kings’ first-round pick Chase Surkan, it was a feeling of satisfaction meeting a high standard.
Surkan’s Regina Pat Canadians won the TELUS Cup, Canada’s national U18 AAA championship, in thrilling overtime fashion on April 27. When the goal went in, it was a season-long objective fulfilled.
“It was a huge sigh of relief, knowing that we’d finished the job,” Surkan said. “It was so surreal, such a surreal feeling. It was awesome.”
The next few days turned into a celebratory blur. Surkan (a Regina native) gets to come back home as a national champion. He’ll be meeting Regina’s Mayor tonight along with his teammates, and he’s been relishing sharing the experience with them.
“We have such a great group, we’re so tight in there,” Surkan said. “Doing it with that group was awesome and to celebrate with all the guys, coming back home knowing we were national champions was awesome as well.”
The TELUS Cup is one of the hardest trophies in the sport to win, as not only do you have to win your provincial title, you then have to win a regional championship before facing off with the best teams from across Canada. But with multiple WHL draft picks on the roster (including Wheat Kings’ fourth-rounder Ethan Young) and the presumptive first overall pick in this year’s WHL draft in Maddox Schultz, the Pat Cs knew all along they could accomplish great things.
“Right from the start of the year, we knew we were a contender in Saskatchewan,” he said. “Winning that was huge. Regionals weren’t the greatest competition but we powered through that to the TELUS, with all the best teams in Canada. It was crazy.”
Surkan described the games in Chilliwack as fast-paced and physical, but he had played three games for the Wheat Kings during the season so fast-paced hockey was nothing new to him. He finished tied for third in tournament scoring with 12 points in 7 games, showing off his set-up skills with 11 assists.
“I thought I had a great tournament,” said Surkan. “I couldn’t really score but I kept finding my teammates for great scoring opportunities when pucks weren’t going in.”
The offense he piled up in the TELUS Cup was just a continuation of a long-running pattern of production. After putting up more points (135) in the Sask U15 circuit than anyone else in the last 20 years in 2023-24, Surkan lit up the U18 ranks this past season with 73 points in 41 games. Surkan credits time with the Wheat Kings with boosting his confidence on his return to Regina.
“That first game I was a little shaky,” he said. “I was just getting my feet wet in the WHL. The third game, I felt way more comfortable out there and had a lot more confidence. After coming back from that third WHL game I played, I had a lot more confidence and I was playing a lot better in the Sask league for sure.”
Surkan added between now and Wheat Kings’ training camp he wants to get stronger, as his WHL stints showed him strong players at that level are.
