Game On Magazine - April 2017 Game on Preview Edition | Page 10

G r e e n B l ad e J U N I OR P L AYER O F THE M O N TH
H ay d e n
20 O s t i r
HEIGHT 5’11 | W EIGHT 180 | AGE 18
GOALS 8 | ASSISTS 11 | POINTS 19
Hayden Ostir Gets Set to Lead Chiefs
Drafted by the Spokane
Chiefs in the second round
of the WHL Bantam Draft
(36th overall) in 2014
35
Had 35 goals and 75 points
in 47 games for the Pursuit
of Excellence Bantams
in 2014-14
37
Had 37 points in 43 games
with the Triple A Midget
Winnipeg Wild in 2014-15
From Winnipeg
Manitoba
Hayden Ostir can barely remember a time in his life when
hockey wasn’t a big part of it.
After all, his father, Grant Ostir, played for the Blues and
then played at the University of Denver, before getting
injured and returning to finish his career at the
University of Manitoba. Seems Hayden and his dad
always seem to have been around the rink.
These days Hayden Ostir is a hard-working
centre/rightwinger for the Western Hockey
League’s Spokane Chiefs and our first Green
Blade Junior Player of the Month for
2017-18.
“I remember that I started when I was
about three years old, skating with my
dad,” Ostir recalled. “It’s funny, I’ve always
thought of myself as a hockey player. I’ve
never really give a lot of thought as to what
I’m going to do next.
“I have an older brother who played
hockey, too, so when I was really young,
I would practice with his team. And then,
I moved on to play for the St. Boniface Seals
and Riel Cats and won two Peewee championships.
I played for the Warriors and then went to Pursuit of
Excellence for a year in Kelowna. I played my second year of
bantam there and it really helped me a lot.”
Scouts call him “a hard worker.” In fact, he’ll admit it
himself. He’s a guy who plays better than his raw talent and
experience because he works harder than everybody else.
“I want to make it to the next level, but if I don’t get
a pro contract or things don’t work out, I’d like to
play at the U of M,” he said. “But if I got the
chance to play in the ECHL, I’d say, ‘Yeah,
let’s go.’ I want to play pro.”
By Scott Taylor
Photos by Larry Brunt/
Spokane Chiefs
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