He scored his first goal at the age of four, playing at a level called ‘Cookie Monster.’
There will likely come a time, sooner than later, that Burnaby, B.C. native Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be one of TSN hockey analyst Pierre McGuires’s favourite ‘monsters.’
The 17-year-old Red Deer Rebels centre will be a prominent figure in the 2011 National Hockey League entry draft, likely among the first three players called to the podium. The superbly skilled Nugent-Hopkins will then be offered every opportunity to compete at the top level as early as next season.
He’s come a long way in a relatively brief period of time, but the talent was there right from the start. Not that he didn’t work long and hard at honing his skills. Living on the west coast, he didn’t have the luxury of stepping out his door and onto a backyard patch of ice. However . . .
“The good thing about Burnaby is that there was always open ice,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “The club that I played at, the Burnaby Winter Club, was always available, so I’d just go find open ice there . . . go skate and shoot some pucks.”
The future phenom went for his first skate at the age of two and a half.
“He took to it right away, he quite liked it,” said his mother, Deb Nugent, from her home in Burnaby. “But that’s because he had watched his older brother (Adam, now 22 and a kinesiology student at Langara College in Vancouver) play hockey. Ryan was born in April and hockey season started up in December, and he was at the rink from there on.”
Nugent-Hopkins played his first two seasons of minor hockey in North Vancouver, at the North Shore Winter Club.
“Both years he was there they moved him up a couple of levels. When he was seven he was playing against 10-year-olds,” said Nugent.
From there, Nugent-Hopkins kept his foot to the pedal and starred at the peewee and bantam ranks. He helped the Burnaby Winter Club Bruins win the 2007 B.C. bantam title and led the team to another provincial crown the following year.
The 2007-08 Bruins were runners-up at the Western Canada bantam championship in April at Airdrie, where Nugent-Hopkins, the team captain, was the leading scorer and was named the most outstanding player in the tournament.
The dozens of Western Hockey League scouts present at Airdrie were in awe of his talent, and the Rebels, who had been granted the first overall pick — via a lottery process — selected Nugent-Hopkins in the bantam draft in early May.
The youngster had received overtures from junior A teams and even a few U.S. colleges, but playing in the WHL was his first and only goal.
“I made it pretty clear to everybody that I wanted to go the WHL route,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “Ever since I was in bantam and even before that, I always wanted to play in the WHL. When I was drafted I knew it was the right choice.”
As a 15-year-old, he attended the Rebels spring prospects camp and quickly caught the eye of head coach Jesse Wallin.
“You could see his ability right away. It was pretty evident,” said Wallin. “He was clearly at the top of the crop (of prospects) in terms of his ability, with the way he could skate, with his acceleration and his ability with the puck . . . he was just at another level, and still is.”
Nugent-Hopkins joined the midget Vancouver Northwest Giants in the fall of 2008 and also played five games with the Rebels that season, scoring twice and adding four assists while still 15 years of age. He led the BC Major Midget League in scoring with 40 goals and 87 points in 36 games, setting up his initial full-time foray into the major junior ranks.
As a first-year Rebel last season, he notched 24 goals and collected 65 points en route to being named WHL rookie of the year.
“Definitely, there were adjustments I had to make coming out of midget,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “The speed at this level is so much faster and the players are bigger and stronger. You have a ton less time with the puck, so you have to make your decisions so much quicker. But once you get used to it, it’s pretty good.”
And he has been very good with the Rebels as well as at the international level, scoring the lone goal in Canada’s 1-0 gold-medal win over the U.S. in the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament last summer in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
“He’s quite happy playing in Red Deer and we’re really happy he’s there,” said his mother. “I think it’s a really good experience for him, living in Red Deer. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind which route he wanted to go, but for me it’s been really hard having him away.”
National Hockey League scouts have been following Nugent-Hopkins from rink to rink for some time now, but never more than this season as he heads into his draft year. Central Scouting has him tabbed as the top WHL player eligible for the entry draft and he’s listed as the No. 2 prospect overall by the International Scouting Service.
All of the hoopla has led to extensive media interest. He’s made himself available for numerous telephone and live interviews and has been featured on national television. That’s a ton of attention for a 17-year-old, but he’s handled it well.
“I don’t let it bother me. I embrace it and have fun with it as much as I can,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “I just try not to let it affect my game.”
“He just has a real strong character and a very good foundation,” said Wallin. “He comes from a great family, his parents did a great job with him and I think he’s just very grounded.
“He’s very humble and team-orientated. All those things keep him very level-headed. He understands that being the type of player he is and where he sits into his draft class, that there is going to be a certain amount of attention that he gains. He understands that and respects that, yet it’s nothing that he seeks out or particularly likes. He just deals with it in a very professional manner and goes about his business. But when he steps on the ice it’s all about doing his job and helping his team win.”
Nugent-Hopkins’ talents are, quite simply, exceptional. He’s capable of feeding Gretzky-like saucer passes to his teammates, has an accurate shot, can weave in and out of traffic with liquid lateral movements and is quick off the mark and capable of reaching top speeds while controlling the puck.
But there are intangibles that bring out the best of his skills — namely his willingness to compete and his work ethic.
“He wants to win and he wants to be an elite player,” said Wallin. “The thing with Ryan is he understands that it’s not just a given. He knows that he has an elite ability level, yet he also feels a responsibility to use that and to hone it. He works very hard at the game. He practises with a purpose and he spends a lot of time after practice working on his game . . . . working on his shot and his passing. He takes a lot of pride in that and I think that’s all part of that competitiveness when he steps on the ice come game time.
“He wants to be the best player he can be and he’s just very driven to succeed. He competes on both sides of the puck, he backchecks hard in his own zone. He gets keyed on a lot and teams try to play physical against him and a lot of times he’s matched up against team’s older players. He’s only 17 years old and often he’s up against 19- and 20-year-old guys and he handles that very well. He’s able to stay focused and composed and he doesn’t let the physical play back him off.
“That’s all a sign of how competitive he really is.”
A western Canada NHL scout, who preferred to remain anonymous, labelled Nugent-Hopkins as a can’t-miss prospect.
“Certainly his hockey sense sets him apart from a lot of players, not just in his draft class but a lot of players on the ice every night,” he said. “He reads the game faster than anyone, he makes decisions faster than anyone, and when you roll that in with his compete level and his talent, it takes him from a great player to an extraordinary player.”
But will Nugent-Hopkins, who currently carries 160 pounds on his six-foot-one frame, be capable of playing in the NHL next season?
“Every case is different,” said the scout. “Patrick Kane didn’t weigh a whole bunch when he first started with the Chicago Blackhawks, but he was also a year older because he has a late birth date. I think his (Nugent-Hopkins’) talent and sense and overall game says that he’s going to play in the NHL. When a player is that talented, he finds a way.”
But next year?
“With his weight, it could be a question of durability,” the scout conceded. “But the special players find a way to play sooner than later.”
Nugent-Hopkins, who carries two surnames to honour both parents — including father Roger Hopkins — who are divorced, admitted that he started thinking about a potential career as an NHL player when he was competing at the bantam level.
“But mostly I played for fun, and I still do,” he said.
His mother, Deb Nugent, has never harboured such dreams.
“No. I’m one of these people who go one day at a time. It was overwhelming when he went first overall in the bantam draft, and then to be playing in the Red Deer organization is a thrill in itself,” she said.
“Ryan has always played for the love of the game. After a hockey game he and his friends and his brother would go out and play street hockey. That was their passion.
“I’m very proud of him and I miss him a lot.”
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com