Hard work paying off for Steele

By Ryan McCracken on January 5, 2019.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

Jaxon Steele is making the most of his opportunities.

The 18-year-old Medicine Hat Tigers centre just missed out on a full-time role in the Western Hockey League last season, but with every roadblock, Steele has grown stronger.

“It’s just all hard work. I think this year I’ve just really taken that mentality and I’ve been in the gym a lot every day, the day before the game even, I’m just trying to get in the gym as much as I can,” said Steele, who has two goals and two assists in 27 games this year, including a helper in Wednesday’s 4-3 win over the Vancouver Giants. “Getting sent home to junior A last year, I think it was a big motivator for me. The summer was big. I just really tried to work hard and use it as motivation instead of quitting.”

Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston says he understands how difficult it can be to fight for minutes in the WHL, but he has been impressed with the way Steele has adapted to the adversity as a full-time member of the team this season.

“This is really hard, you go from being a star in bantam and minor midget and AAA midget, and it’s a big jump to this league,” said Clouston. “I think he learned a lot from that. He was extremely disappointed when we sent him back to junior A, but I think it was the right thing.”

See CENTRE, Page A10

Steele spent 17 games with the Tigers last season, then went on to record nine goals and nine assists in 20 games with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Calgary Canucks before returning to training camp in September with a new outlook.

“He was able to handle the puck, he did well at that level, and this year when he’s been taken out of the lineup — there was a stretch at the start of the year where he was hardly playing — he had a completely different approach,” said Clouston. “He went right back to the weight room. He was committed, he wants to be here and he knows he’s got to keep getting better. He knows he’s got to improve his strength and conditioning and skating, and he’s working on those things. It’s really nice to see when somebody does that, that they’re able to take advantage of their chances.”

Steele did just that in Wednesday’s win over Vancouver, keeping the pressure up on the forecheck alongside linemate Baxter Anderson, forcing a turnover and finding captain James Hamblin for a tying goal in the second period.

“It was a good forecheck by all three of us,” said Steele. “Andy went right onto their D and the puck just popped right to me there and I found Jimmy for a partial break. He’s been awesome for us lately so he made no mistake of it.

Hamblin —who spends a good amount of time on the fourth line, as well as the first line, when the team opts to play with seven defencemen —says he has been impressed by the output from players like Steele and Anderson in recent weeks.

“Our entire fourth line has been able to come in at key moments and really put pressure on,” said Hamblin. “Jaxon made a great play, got it up to me and I was able to put it in.”

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