NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers prospect Riley Steen looks to make a pass during a scrimmage at the Tigers prospects camp over the May 26-28 weekend.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Riley Steen had one goal for the Medicine Hat Tigers prospects camp – make an impression.
It’s safe to say the defenceman achieved it.
The WHL club announced Wednesday they had signed Steen to a WHL Scholarship & Development Agreement. The Penticton product was selected in the sixth round, 127th overall by the Tigers in the 2023 WHL draft and joins Liam and Markus Ruck as the first three players signed from that draft class.
“Being with the Rucks and coming here with them and being drafted with them is cool,” Steen said.
The three players all suited up for the Okanagan Hockey Academy U15 team this season. The 14-year-old Steen had six goals and 36 points in 26 games on the blue line for Okanagan.
Steen says he was looking to not only make an impression at the camp but also get people to like him and his game and eventually sign with the Tigers. He was equally as impressed with the camp his new team hosted.
“It was a professional camp, fitness testing was good, the presentations really did a good job and the on-ice sessions were fast paced, it was a lot of fun,” Steen said.
Head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins was encouraged they were able to sign all three Okanagan players at the camp and says they showed well on the ice.
“It is certainly unusual to ever get three guys off the same team but they have some chemistry and it’ll be exciting to get them in here and start our culture as well,” Desjardins said.
“These three guys stood out, they had a great camp. The Ruck boys have great vision, Riley sees the ice well as a really good skater on the back end. All of them are certainly high level players. But I think overall the camp, there was lots of good things out of the camp.”
The biggest takeaway Steen and a lot of other players had from the weekend camp, was what it takes to become a professional and what it means and what is asked of you to become a Tiger.
“You need to work way harder than you think you’re working,” Steen said. “You need to work as hard as you can if you want to make it big, and I think going into the summer, I’ll just work hard, get bigger, faster, stronger and get back here.”
When he’s not in the gym this summer he says he will be either out on the golf course or getting on the boat for some fishing time. He was able to share the joy of signing with the Tigers with his dad Marty. He says his mom was back home with his sister at a provincial dance competition. Steen says the two were reminiscing on the moments of the weekend before going to bed.
“Just in the hotel room, just (thinking how cool it is and how perfect it is for me in the situation that’s going on,” Steen said. “How I’m having a lot of fun and I think it’s a great place here.”
