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Buziak thrilled to sign with Pats

Sep 8, 2016 | 5:00 PM

Former North Star Braydon Buziak is thrown off by the question, just for a second.

He’s not sure how to answer.

“Why did you choose hockey as a kid?”

For him, and many other Saskatchewan kids, it’s just the natural thing to do.

“Well I don’t know,” he begins. “I guess my dad just put me on skates.”

Buziak has seen the pictures of his younger self in an Eric Lindros jersey, playing mini sticks in the basement. Then there are vague memories, aided by his dad, about how he used to sing along with NHL players as they sang the Canadian national anthem before games on his television.

Buziak’s dream of one day becoming one of the players he sang along with as a kid is still alive.

Last week, he signed a contract with the Regina Pats of the WHL, after impressing at what was his second training camp.

“It was very very special,” the undrafted winger said in a phone interview after practice on Wednesday. “Even a couple years ago I was questioning whether I’d be here so signing that contract was an unbelievable feeling.”

At the 2015 Pats camp, the team cut him, so he went back to the North Stars and joined the team for an incredible year where they finished first in the regular season.

Buziak put up 19 points and 62 penalty minutes in 55 regular season games.

“I’m not the type of guy to go out there and dance around defenders, you know, carry the puck from one end to the other and put the puck in the back of the net,” Buziak said when asked to describe his game. “I’m the type of guy that will go in the corner, come out with the puck, win battles, [and] get to the front of the net. If somebody’s trying to rough me up, I’m going to stand up to them. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get to the front of the paint.”

Unfortunately, the North Stars were bounced from the 2016 playoffs in the second round, losing in five games to the Flin Flon Bombers.

“We didn’t have the run in the playoffs we wanted to but it was a great season,” Buziak said of last year. “I definitely learned what junior hockey was about. I think it helped me come in [to Regina], knowing the bond you have with your teammates. It’s a lot different than you have in minor hockey.”

When the season ended, Buziak wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he knew he wanted to give WHL camp another try. So in the summer, he texted Regina’s head scout, Dale McMullin, and asked if he could attend camp again.

McMullin’s response was exactly what Buziak was hoping to hear: Absolutely.

And so Buziak went into Pats camp hoping to do what he couldn’t do the year before — earn a contract.

Helping motivate Buziak along the way is an interesting family connection: his mom’s cousin is NHLer Derek Dorsett. Dorsett, who at six-feet tall is on the smaller side when it comes to NHL players – just like Buziak, who is 5’11” – was constantly told he would never make the pros, yet he battled the odds and is now entering his ninth NHL season.

Buziak is reminded of that every time he hears the same criticism.

“Whenever people say, ‘Yeah, well you’re not skilled enough, you’re not in the best shape’ I always just remember, look what happened to Derek, right? He put those things behind him and he just moved forward and it ended up working out for him,” he said.

The contract is certainly an accomplishment, but Buziak is well aware things won’t get any easier with his NHL dream still alive.

First, he still has to make the Pats because his contract doesn’t guarantee a spot.

There are 17 forwards listed on the Pats roster at the moment and five pre-season games still to go for Buziak to prove he deserves to make it. The final roster likely will carry 14 or 15 forwards, so he’s certainly right on the cusp.

“Skating, my stick handling, all that – my shot – it can always get improved, right?” Buziak said. “So every time I’m out at practice, that’s what I’m focused on – trying to make all the little things better about my game so that when I get into the game, the little things can help me win a battle in the corner or when I get the puck in the slot, my shot is that much harder than it was two months ago.

“It’s just the little things that can mean a world of difference.”

The other thing is Buziak knows his WHL path won’t take him directly to the show.

“I want to play in the NHL but there’s going to be a step in between the WHL and the NHL, right?” Buziak said. “I’m going to have to go to the AHL … or an East Coast League or something, you know? And I think the best way of getting there is through the WHL and that ended up being my decision.”

It’s a decision he’s sticking with and one he’s proud of.

 

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11