Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Dru Krebs leads his team back to the bench after scoring a goal in a Western Hockey League game against the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019 at what is now Co-op Place. Krebs was drafted 176th overall to the Washington Capitals in the sixth round of Saturday's NHL draft. - NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
After achieving a milestone that can only be described as a lifelong dream, Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Dru Krebs celebrated by taking in his sister’s success.
Krebs was drafted 176th overall to the Washington Capitals in the sixth round of Saturday’s NHL Entry Draft. After a short but lively celebration alongside his parents and highly-talented siblings, Krebs and his family went out to watch his sister, singer-songwriter Maddison Krebs, perform live.
“It’s been a whirlwind of emotions. I think it started with the high of getting drafted,” Krebs told the News. “My sister was singing in Penticton so we went and watched her play live. It was unreal.
“The entire family was out there, it was nice. That was really cool. It was the first time we’ve all been together since last summer.”
Krebs – who put up 11 assists in 23 games with the Tigers this season – admits it was a nervous wait as pick after pick made their way onto the board, but when his name was finally called, all the emotion came flowing out.
“It was really weighing down on me, how much anticipation I was feeling. When it finally happened, I was so relieved,” he said. “I was outside so I sat up and my dad told me. Dakota was around me and my dad, I started hugging them and tears started falling around them. Then everybody started filing out of the house. There were a lot of hugs, and it was pretty emotional for everyone.”
Along with the outpouring of emotion from his family members, Krebs says the news came with a dizzying flurry of phone calls and text messages. By Thursday the pace had began to subside.
“It finally has, yeah,” he joked.
One of those reaching out was current and potentially future teammate Garin Bjorklund. The Tigers goaltender was drafted by Washington in the sixth round of last year’s draft at 179th overall. Given that training camps weren’t held last year due to COVID, this fall will be the first chance for both of them to get on the ice with the Capitals.
“We’ll be newbies together. It’ll be fun to experience this with Garin,” said Krebs. “He congratulated me and he was pretty fired up that we’re both going to the same camp and we’re both drafted to the same team. It’s really cool to be selected to a team where I have a guy I know on the team, especially Garin, he’ such a great guy.”
Krebs added he grew up watching battles between Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins and Alexander Ovechkin’s Capitals, and the thought of having a chance to compete in that storied rivalry really drove home the gravity of the situation.
“I think, just growing up watching the Pens versus the Capitals with Ovechkin and Crosby, you really feel how surreal this opportunity is, to be drafted by the Capitals,” he said.
The 5-foot-11, 182-pound Okotoks product says he’s been in talks with Washington’s defensive coaching and player development staff to work on the path forward – something he knows will take a lot more work if he hopes to be out there for an opening draw against the Penguins.
“I need to prove myself as a draft pick, and that I’m able to make the next step to pro hockey, which I aspire to do,” he said.
The Tigers are scheduled to open the 2021-22 Western Hockey League season on Oct. 1 against the Swift Current Broncos
