GR EE N B L A D E L A W N C A RE JUNI OR PLAYE R OF TH E MON TH
RIESE
22 G A B E R
HEI GHT 5’ 8” | WEIGHT 160 | AGE 18
GOALS 23 | ASSISTS 17 | POINTS 40
B Y S C O T T TAY L O R
Photo by James Carey Lauder
GABER WINS GOLD AT WORLDS
COMMITS TO WESTERN MICHIGAN
STEINBACH – Success just seems to follow
Riese Gaber around. The 18-year-old rightwing/
centre played on the provincial Triple A Rural
Bantam Champion Parkland Rangers in 2013-14,
helped Team Western win the gold medal at the
2017 World Junior A Championship and now has
a chance to win an MJHL championship with the
first-place Steinbach Pistons.
Back in December, the Pistons made a deal to
acquire Gaber from the struggling Dauphin Kings
and he’s a player who has helped Steinbach lock
up a playoff berth before the end of January and
streak to a record of 43-8-2-1 through the first
54 games.
“Everyone who has seen Riese play
knows that he’s an electrifying player,” said
Pistons head coach Paul Dyck. “We feel
like he’ll add to our depth up front. We
were already pretty good up front,
but with the addition of Riese, we
just felt we were going to get better.”
In his first 18 games with
Steinbach, Gaber had eight goals and 19
points. He’s a small forward, but a major
offensive force every time he steps on the ice.
And it seems Andy Murray, the man from
Gladstone who coaches Western Michigan
University, felt the same way. Murray recruited
Gaber and last summer the 18-year-old from
Gilbert Plains, committed to join WMU where he’ll
team up with Colt Conrad from St. Alphonse and
Wade Allison from Myrtle and current teammate
Drew Worrad.
“It’s a huge opportunity and really makes me
look forward to my future” Gaber said. “It’s a little
bit of weight off my shoulders. Now I can just play
and not have to worry. It’s a great school and it
would have been very tough to pass up the offer.”
1 0 | G AME ON | PL AYOF F EDITION 2018
Gaber has twice played for Team West
at the World Junior A Championship
and in 2017, helped Team West win
the gold medal.
39
In 2015-16, Gaber had 22 goals and
61 points in just 44 games for the
Parkland Rangers Triple A Midgets. He
was a first team all-star and led the
league with 39 assists.
32
In 2016-17, as a 16-year-old playing
his rookie season with the MJHL’s
Dauphin Kings, Gaber had 13 goals
and 32 points in 42 games. He made
the MJHL’s all-rookie team.
From Gilbert Plains, Manitoba