NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat defenceman Blake Ekren-Bratton looks up ice with the puck on his stick during the Tigers training camp scrimmage on Sept. 3.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Blake Ekren-Bratton has wanted to be a Medicine Hat Tiger since the day the WHL club drafted him 61st overall in 2020. His dream came true on Monday.
The 17-year-old defenceman signed his player agreement deal with the Tigers on Monday as he is one of the eight remaining d-men on the Tabbies’ roster ahead of the 2022-23 season. Ekren-Bratton said he spent the last two seasons since this draft working to earn himself a spot.
“The last couple seasons were dedicated to getting to this point, off ice in the gym and on ice, staying on after practice, getting extra work in,” Ekren-Bratton said. “Then come this camp, just going out there and showing everything I have and trying to convince the coaches that I deserve a spot on this team.”
The Porcupine Plain, Sask. product made his training camp debut in 2021 where he skated for a couple weeks before returning to the Moose Jaw Warriors U18 AAA team, where he scored three goals and had 17 points last season. He said he’s made a lot of improvements since that camp.
“Definitely my speed and my playmaking abilities last year weren’t as fast and guys were catching up. I couldn’t make plays that I wanted to make,” Ekren-Bratton said. “I definitely feel like I’ve gotten bigger, faster, stronger than last year and it’s really helped me get to this point.”
Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer said the team was excited to sign the defenceman and said he brings a physical game to the team.
“He’s a big strong defenceman who is physical, hard to play against and kind of a throwback defenceman who’s mean and guys don’t want to play against,” Frazer said. “He can shoot the puck and he was really good in Lethbridge. He can move the puck quick to the forwards, so lots of tools to work with and we’re excited to do so.”
Ekren-Bratton suited up for the Tigers in their Sept. 9 7-3 loss on the road to the Hurricanes. He had an assist in the game. He said he was all smiles the first time he saw the Tigers crest and put the jersey on and is looking to do it again come the regular season.
“I definitely had a huge smile on as soon as it went over my head because this is the team I to play for,” Ekren-Bratton said. “I was nervous before, I had some butterflies and I was in my head about it, but as soon as I stepped on that ice for warmups and got into my first shift for that game, everything slowed down. It was just hockey and I’m really excited to put the crest on my chest.
“I’m really excited and hoping to play that home opener. If not, just looking forward to my first regular season game,” Ekren-Bratton said.
With Tigers defencemen Dru Krebs at Washington Capitals camp, there is a good chance the 19-year-old misses the first couple games of the WHL schedule, which could open the door for Ekren-Bratton or rookie Matthew Paranych to crack the lineup.
Frazer said it will be a good chance for their young players to get some early experience.
“Get the young guys some experience, get them more practice time against our guys and see who plays the best in the preseason,” Frazer said. “I’m expecting Dru probably not to be here for the home opener, so we’ll see who earns that opening day lineup spot.”
Ekren-Bratton, like all young players looking to crack a lineup, would play alongside Roary the mascot if it earned them a roster spot. But the young d-man says he has found some chemistry and luck playing alongside 18-year-old Pasha Bocharov.
“Playing with him or even Josh Van Mulligen, those are probably my two favourite guys to play alongside,” Ekren-Bratton said. “Pasha helps me out there, he can explain things to me so I think he’s probably beating Josh a little bit.”
