Oak Lake’s Hunter Wallace helped the Brooks Bandits win a league championship and now will be competing against the country’s top Junior A hockey teams.
Last Saturday night the Bandits shut out the Spruce Grove Saints, 2-0, to win the Alberta Junior Hockey League title. The Saints had prevailed in the first game of the league finals, but Brooks stormed back to win four straight.
“As (the clock) counted down, we were getting really excited on the bench,” said the son of Tod and Penny Wallace. “When the buzzer went, it was a great feeling knowing that we came back in four games after losing the first one. … We chucked the gloves up in the air and ran out to our goalie.”
Brooks head coach and general manager Ryan Papaioannou said that Wallace was “an extremely key contributor to our playoff run.” The 5-foot-7, 165-pound forward had four goals and six points in 13 AJHL postseason contests.
“His speed and offensive skill are obvious but the physicality he brought to the league final was impressive,” Papaioannou said. “He invested in the series from the drop of the puck and was certainly a guy you didn’t want to be on the ice against. He also brought us really meaningful minutes on penalty kill, which is something he transitioned to late in the regular season."
The Bandits now head to Canada’s national Junior A hockey championships. The Centennial Cup presented by Tim Hortons will be held in Estevan May 19-29. Wallace will be supported at the event by family, friends, at least one former coach, and his Brooks billet family.
“I’m super excited,” Wallace said. “Our group is super excited as a whole. I think we’re just going to go in there with confidence and act like we’re the Brooks Bandits and we belong there.”
In the last Canadian Junior Hockey League rankings of the regular season, the Bandits were No. 1 in the country. The squad won the AJHL regular season title with a 52-6-2 record. What has allowed the team to succeed?
“It’s a really good group of guys,” Wallace said. “We’re really tight knit. We hang out lots. I think our coaching staff is the best in the league and I think it showed this year a lot.”
He certainly played a part in the Bandits’ successful season. As an 18-year-old rookie, Wallace posted 18 goals, 40 points, and 48 penalty minutes in 58 games. Early in the season, he earned a college scholarship offer and committed to NCAA Division I Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.
“I just gained confidence in my game early I think and with the help of my coaches I thought I had a strong rookie season,” he said.
Wallace praised the coaching staff for helping him grow his game. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was limited to only eight games – in which he scored 11 goals – with the U18 AAA Southwest Cougars last season.
“Coming into this year, I knew I had to be ready,” Wallace said. “I think the adjustment I made to my game was just the physicality grew in my game a bit and I took on that more physical role. Obviously, we’re in the gym four, five times a week all year so just getting better and getting faster.”
The player, who turned 19 in early May, praised his parents for their support of his hockey career.
“Starting hockey at a young age, you can’t do it by yourself,” he said. “My parents when I was playing minor hockey were taking me to the rink constantly, paying for the fees, gas…I can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done for me. I definitely wouldn’t be in the position I am now without them.”
