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| Jesse Forsberg has become a star offensive defenceman with the Huskies. |
It was a “Back to
the Future” type season for Jesse Forsberg who has relived his minor hockey
days offensively with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s team.
In his third year
with the Huskies in 2016-17, the 24-year-old Waldheim product broke out as an
offensive defenceman. Appearing in all 28 of his team’s regular season games,
Forsberg topped all defencemen in Canada West conference scoring netting career
highs with 11 goals and 16 assists.
He was also a plus-eight in the plus-minus
department, named a Canada West first team all-star, captured honours as the
Mervyn “Red” Dutton trophy winner as the top defenceman in Canada West and was
named a second team all-Canadian all-star.
Forsberg’s
production bettered all but one of the five complete seasons in the WHL. The
last time he was near a point a game pace was in his only full season in the
midget AAA ranks in 2008-09, when he picked up eight goals and 33 assists in 44
regular season games with the Beardy’s Blackhawks.
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| Jesse Forsberg works with the puck along the wall for the Huskies. |
In his first
appearance with the Huskies this season last Saturday, Forsberg recorded a goal
and two assists in a 6-0 victory over the University of Regina Cougars at the
ancient Rutherford Rink.
“It has been a lot
of fun,” said Forsberg, who stands 6-feet and weighs 226 pounds. “Obviously, I
was given a little more opportunity. I took it in full stride.
“I am part of a
really good power play unit, so that helps. I think I am just poised with the
puck, and I don’t give it away.
“I’ve always liked to
jump into the play. I’ve got a little more confidence and a little more
opportunity.”
Way back in the 2008
WHL Bantam Draft, Forsberg was selected in the first round and 11th
overall by the Prince George Cougars. Over five seasons in the major junior ranks,
Forsberg appeared in 296 career regular season games split between the Cougars,
Seattle Thunderbirds and Moose Jaw Warriors collecting 24 goals, 83 assists and
619 career penalty minutes.
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| Jesse Forsberg works the point. |
His best campaign
offensively came as an overager in 2013-14, when he had 10 goals and 26 assists
split over 60 regular season games with the Thunderbirds and Warriors.
“I think I kind of
got type cast into a certain role in junior,” said Forsberg. “You go in when
you are 16, (and) you are the young guy on the outs looking in.
“After a couple of
seasons playing a role that maybe you weren’t used to and pretty soon that is
how you start playing, you find success at it. I found success at being a good
defensive (defenceman) and being tough, so that is kind of the way I played
until I was 19 and 20 where I found my offence again.
“Obviously (last
season), I got to take a few steps and be an offensive guy.”
When Forsberg first
arrived with the Huskies, he still played a defensive defenceman and tough guy
role.
Huskies head coach
Dave Adolph, who saw Forsberg play in bantam and midget, believed the rearguard
still had the talent to be a major contributor offensively. While the offensive
breakout has come, the Huskies bench boss said Forsberg’s forte is still his
play in his own zone.
“He probably is a
better shutdown defenceman than he is an offensive defenceman, because he is so
intense,” said Adolph. “I think he has just been allowed to grow here, and it
is not me.
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| Jesse Forsberg wheels up the ice with the puck. |
“He is just so
passionate. There isn’t enough players in our game anymore that are passionate
like him.”
One of the drawbacks
Forsberg had in his game was his temper, and opponents would often try to
trigger that to draw him into a penalty. Forsberg’s temper came to the surface
during his rookie year, when the Huskies were eliminated from the 2015
post-season.
In the final seconds
in a 3-0 first round series deciding Game 3 loss to the Mount Royal University
Cougars in Calgary, Forsberg was involved in a scrum. He was given a major
penalty for spitting at an official, and the incident came when Forsberg was
trying to say something in the heat of a frantic moment.
The incident
resulted in a 10-game suspension. Adolph said the Cougars were trying to
agitate his club during that contest, and they succeeded in getting the best of
Forsberg.
“Jesse, obviously,
decided he was going to protect our whole team,” said Adolph. “He got a little
rambunctious.
“He was kind of
demoralized about it. I told Jesse that if he could suck it up and handle that
and if he could come back and be twice the guy, we would put a letter on him
just for persevering.
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| Jesse Forsberg can play sound defensively in his own zone. |
Forsberg admitted it
was gut check moment during that point in time.
“I really had to pay
for it,” said Forsberg. “It kind of slowed down my whole season.
“I was late coming
in. I kind of had trouble finding the pace right away. It was kind of a reality
check to just make sure I play the game within the rules, even though in my
mind I thought I did there.
“It is just kind of
a reality check. It was a big turning point for sure.”
After returning to
full-time duty in his sophomore season, Forsberg was named one of the Huskies
assistant captains.
“It was a big
honour, especially as a second year guy to get to wear that,” said Forsberg. “I
am a pretty vocal guy.
“It is something I
have always been used to doing on every team that I have been on. To come in
and have that honour as a young guy like that was definitely huge. It kind of
made me think about the big picture.”
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| Huskies D Jesse Forsberg has always enjoyed joining the rush up ice. |
In the two game
sweep that saw the Huskies earn a berth to the University Cup national
championship tournament in Fredericton, N.B., Forsberg didn’t take a single
penalty.
After helping the
Huskies win the Canada West title and finish fourth at nationals in 2015-16,
Forsberg experienced falling in the Canada West final 6-3 in a series deciding
Game 3 at home against the U of Alberta Golden Bears last season.
At the
single-elimination University Cup tournament last March, the Huskies rebounded
to down the York University Lions 1-0 in overtime in a quarter-final match and
bomb the St. Francis University X-Men in 8-0 in a semifinal contest. The Dogs
dropped a 5-3 heartbreaker to the powerhouse U of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in
the championship final.
Forsberg had a goal,
an assist and was a plus-five in the Huskies three tournament games.
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| Jesse Forsberg celebrates scoring an OT winner for the Huskies last season. |
“You have to keep
growing. You can’t be the same team over and over again. I think we’ve found
that.”
Away from the ice,
Forsberg focuses on his studies in agriculture and bioresources. While he wants
to be prepared to enter the working world after his time with the Huskies wraps
up, he admits he would still like to take a crack at the professional ranks.
“I think you are
always keeping your options open,” said Forsberg, who is playing beside brother
and skilled forward Alex with the Huskies this season. “Just keep playing for
now and focus on winning here and getting an education, if the right
opportunity come about, it would be hard to say no.”
The Huskies (2-0) return
to action tonight and Saturday when they host the University of Lethbridge
Pronghorns (1-1) at 7 p.m. both nights at Rutherford.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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