Johnson heads west for hockey pursuits
Published Wednesday July 15th, 2009
Hockey | From prep school to B.C. junior for Fredericton native
Jeff Johnson has gone coast to coast to score goals in his hockey career before. He's doing it again next season in pursuit of his next hockey goal.
Johnson, 18, is moving from Holderness Academy in Plymouth, N.H., where he was a dominant player in New England Prep School Hockey League, to the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League next season.
"It's mainly a hockey decision," admitted the Fredericton native, who came up through the Fredericton minor hockey system and played a year at Fredericton High School before pursuing the prep school route in the U.S.
"My academics were fine in the States. Hopefully, I'll be able to get straight A's in a regular high school. It's a hockey decision, too. Hopefully there will be more scouts and it will help me find a college."
Johnson has already had feelers from a few schools, with the University of Miami at Ohio - NCAA finalists last season - expressing the most interest.
"They're looking for someone for two years from now and they told me I'm the kind of player they would want," said Johnson. "I think two years of junior would do me really good to develop, and then I'd head to college somewhere."
Certainly, the BCHL has an impressive track record in sending players on to higher levels. Between 2000 and 2008, 60 players were drafted directly from the BCHL by National Hockey League teams, with between 80 and 100 players advancing to NCAA and CIS hockey programs.
Kyle Turris of the Burnaby Express was drafted third overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in 2007.
That track record, and the longer, tougher schedule in the BCHL - teams play a 60-game regular season schedule - is part of the attraction. The Vees finished fourth in the eight-team Interior Conference of the 16-team league last year with a 36-17-0-7 record for 79 points. Three of the team's top four scorers from a year ago, including the top two, are committed to NCAA schools, including leading scorer Curtis McKenzie, who is slated to attend the University of Miami at Ohio this fall.
Alain Roy, the family's representative, made contact with several teams in the BCHL last January, but it was the Vees, through assistant coach David Small and head coach Fred Harbrinson, who expressed the most interest.
"He's a big forward who can skate well for his size," said Harbrinson. "We think he can be a power forward and we're going to make sure we put him with the right guys to open up ice. He's got a very good skill set, and I think he's got a lot of drive to get to the next level."
The Johnsons - Jeff and his father Brian - checked things out and decided in March that Penticton was the place to be for 2009-10. The Vees have promised him a spot on the roster. Where he fits is up to him.
"I expect to do well there, and hopefully I do," said Johnson, a 6'2'' 180 pounder. "I don't want to go out there and just completely suck. I've been training a lot with (UNB strength and conditioning coach) Ken Seaman, so I think I'll be able to make the top six."
"I look at him as a top nine forward," said Harbrinson. "The way I coach, I try to find a role for everybody. That's going to sort itself out a month from now when we get into camp and we see where everybody fits. One thing we wanted to do was get a little bigger and get a little harder to play against up front and he's one of the pieces that helps us get that way."
Harbrinson expects there will be a transition period for Johnson, "but he's been training really hard, and physically, he'll be fine," he said. "It's just a matter of teaching him the ropes of Junior A hockey. "
"Being at prep school was a great experience," said Johnson, "but the level of hockey only goes so high. The BCHL will help me a lot by playing against men, really. You're playing against 18-19-20 year olds. I just think it would be better for me to develop as a player."
Johnson had been bird-dogged by NHL Central Scouting as a prospect last season, but he sees the move to the west as a chance for increased exposure, for university or NHL scouts.
The Vees, for instance, have sent players like Brett Hull, Paul Kariya and Chuck Kobasew, to name a few, on to NCAA programs and subsequently to the National Hockey League.
The Vees have a solid core coming back. Harbrinson called them "the youngest team in Junior A hockey in Western Canada last year." Johnson is part of a recruiting class which also includes Ben Sexton from the Nepean Raiders of the Central Junior A Hockey League. He was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the seventh round of the draft in Montreal a couple of weeks ago.
Johnson looks forward to the move west and the hockey opportunities his decision may open up.
"We took some time to make our final decision, but we decided this would be best," said Johnson, who will travel to the B.C. interior in August. Penticton is located in the Okanagan Valley. Greater Penticton is a city with a population of 43,000. The Vees play home games at the South Okanagan Events Centre, which opened in September, 2008. Capacity is 5,200 for hockey.
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