Zack Smith in action with the Mustangs earlier this season. (Facebook/Broad Leaf Media)

By Mat Barrett

Local Connections

Plenty of Mustang, Trojan, Hawks connections in WHL’s East Division hub

Mar 12, 2021 | 3:30 PM

The Western Hockey League’s (WHL) East Division kicks off their 24-game season tonight and all five Saskatchewan teams and two teams from Manitoba have converged on Regina.

There’s also a number of connections to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s (SJHL) Melfort Mustangs and Saskatchewan U18 AAA Hockey League’s (SMAAAHL) Tisdale Trojans.

Zack Smith – Regina Pats

Eighteen-year-old forward Zack Smith enters his second season with the Regina Pats looking to build off a strong season.

Smith has connections to both the Trojans and Mustangs as he played two years of U18 AAA hockey with the Trojans from 2016 to 2018. In 79 career regular season and playoff games with Tisdale, Smith scored eight goals and added 35 assists for 41 points.

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He then joined the Mustangs full time in 2018/19 after playing two games as an affiliate in 2017/18. In his 17-year-old season in the SJHL, Smith tallied nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points in 55 games. That early success stretched into his next season in 2019/2020 as he scored 14 points in 15 games with Melfort before the Pats came calling. Smith ended up scoring 12 goals and adding nine assists in the WHL in 2019/2020.

Smith also began the 2020/2021 season with Melfort on loan before the SJHL paused again. He had one assist in five games.

Cade Hayes – Moose Jaw Warriors

Cade Hayes spent two full seasons with the Tisdale Trojans between 2017 and 2019, which included being an integral part of the Trojans 2019 run to a Telus Cup bronze medal.

Hayes played a total of 108 games for the Trojans, including regular season, playoffs, the Telus Cup regionals, and the Telus Cup national tournament. Hayes scored 49 goals and added 57 assists for 106 points during that time.

Hayes was also named to the SMAAAHL’s Second All-Star Team in 2019.

The Eatonia, Sask. product was an eighth round pick of the Warriors in 2017 WHL Draft, and a first round draft pick by the Mustangs in the SJHL’s Draft.

Landon Kosior – Prince Albert Raiders

Another member of the 2019 Telus Cup bronze medal winning Trojans, defenceman Landon Kosior spent two seasons in Tisdale with the Trojans between 2017 and 2019.

Kosior played a grand total of 109 games for the Trojans between regular season, playoffs, the Telus Cup West Regionals, and the Telus Cup national tournament. Between those 109 games, the Regina product scored 13 goals, and added 75 assists for 88 career points.

He had a year full of accomplishments with the Trojans in 2018/2019 as he led all defencemen in points, was named the SMAAAHL’s top defensive defenceman, named to the first all-star team, and was the top defenceman at the Telus Cup.

Kosior was never WHL drafted, but impressed the brass of the Raiders enough to sign with the club prior to the 2019/2020 season.

Roddy Ross – Regina Pats

Another connection to the Tisdale Trojans with the Regina Pats, goaltender Roddy Ross played one season with the Tisdale Trojans in 2017/2018, his last of U18.

Ross put up tremendous numbers with the Trojans that season playing in 22 games. He sported a 2.94 goals against average, and a league best .940 save percentage, earning him SMAAAHL first all-star team honours.

That performance earned Ross a spot with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Camrose Kodiaks in 2018/2019 where he had a .920 save percentage, which earned him a look in the WHL with the Seattle Thunderbirds. Ross went on to spend the rest of that season with Seattle, tallying a .919 save percentage and a 16-5-3 record. Then, in 2019/2020, Ross remained with the Thunderbirds and posted a .908 save percentage and 20 wins over 49 appearances.

Ross would go on to be traded this summer to the Regina Pats as he enters his final junior season.

The Meadow Lake product was also drafted in the sixth-round by the Philadelphia Flyers at the 2019 NHL Draft.

Alex Moar – Swift Current Broncos

Alex Moar, a 2001-born defenceman with the Swift Current Broncos has a small connection to the Melfort Mustangs.

Moar joined the Mustangs in November on loan from the WHL prior to the SJHL’s pause. He ultimately didn’t play in any regular season games.

The Prince Albert product has 27 points in 96 games in three seasons, mainly with Swift Current.

Carter Stebbings – Swift Current Broncos

A 2001-born forward, Carter Stebbings joins the Broncos after three tremendous seasons with the Saskatoon Blazers in the SMAAAHL.

His connection to the northeast lies with the Nipawin Hawks as he joined the club for the start of the SJHL season in November and scored one goal for the Hawks in four games before the league paused again.

Stebbings was a former second overall pick by the Melville Millionaires in the WHL, but was traded over the summer to the Mustangs, before subsequently being traded to Nipawin prior to the start of the season.

Logan Hammett – Brandon Wheat Kings

Another small connection to the Melfort Mustangs, Logen Hammett played in one career SJHL game with Melfort.

That game came in 2019/2020 as the Mustangs battled the Weyburn Red Wings in Weyburn on Dec. 13.

Hammett was a fifth-round pick by the Wheat Kings in the WHL’s 2018 Draft, and was a first-rounder, ninth overall by the Mustangs in the 2018 SJHL Draft.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6