Tanner Gold (right) competes with South Alberta Hockey Academy's U18 prep squad in this undated photo. Gold recently signed on to compete with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Battlefords North Stars. -- SUBMITTED PHOTO
ktaniguchi@medicinehatnews.com@kellentaniguchi
The South Alberta Hockey Academy men’s U18 prep team’s captain, Tanner Gold, is making the jump to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League this upcoming season.
Gold says he started talking with Battlefords North Stars general manager and head coach Brayden Klimosko about a month ago and signed with the team before SAHA’s two games on June 19 and 20.
“It was nice just knowing that I’ll have somewhere to go next year. It was definitely a relief and a little bit less nerves going into the games,” said Gold. “I was excited for sure.”
Gold says he brings a solid defensive game with an offensive touch to the North Stars and he says he won’t shy away from a physical game.
Although SAHA only played two games to end the season this year, Gold says the team was on the ice five days a week and in the gym, which gave them an advantage over some other leagues.
He was also a leader in the dressing room and although he admits it was tough leading without having games to look forward to, he was able to keep the guys on track, focused on their goals and getting better.
“He’s been with us since SAHA’s inception … to see him grow the way he has it’s just a testament to who he is as a kid and as a person,” said SAHA head coach Brayden Desjardins. “He was our captain for a reason. He’s just such a true professional the way he carries himself on and off the ice, the way he is in the classroom, how he treats his teammates, you just can’t help but pull for a guy like that.”
Gold has played junior hockey in the Hat his entire life. Desjardins says it’s nice seeing a Medicine Hat product get recognition and he believes the sky’s the limit for Gold.
“We’re really excited he’s going to move on to the next level,” said Desjardins. “I’m sure that won’t be the end point of his career, I’m sure he’ going to go on to do great things inside of hockey. I’m super excited to see and watch his career grow.”
Desjardins adds if he could pick one person to exemplify what SAHA stands for, it’s Gold. He adds Gold has great marks, is a hard worker and he came to the rink every day excited, and was a great leader.
“You look at our weekend, we lose 9-1 the first night and the next day would have been pretty easy to throw in the towel and kind of go through the motions at 9 a.m. with whatever we had, 15 skaters or whatever it was, but our leaders had them ready,” said Desjardins. “Quintin (Unreiner) and Tanner were there, and they knew we had a job to do and we won through our leaders.”
Torrin White, SAHA assistant coach, says he got in touch with the Battlefords coach who watched a couple of games on HockeyTV and was impressed by Tanners play.
“He watched some clips of Tanner and he called me right after and was blown away,” said White. “He couldn’t believe he wasn’t with a team yet. That was a pretty easy decision for Battlefords I think, and they’re going to love Tanner once he gets there.”
White says Gold is a great player and person and he was very easy to vouch for and find a place to play.
Gold says he’s learned a lot from his time at SAHA and appreciates everyone who helped him get to this point.
