Game On Magazine - April 2017 GameOn-Apr2017-P001-144-ONLINE | Page 60

RHA NATIONALS
With Evan Herman you
know what you’re getting every
time he steps on the ice, as good
a hockey player as he is, he’s an
even better person
and I developed a love for the game and just kept playing.”
Brook, meanwhile, grew up on a cattle farm in Western Manitoba,
near Roblin.
“I started playing when I was three or four years old,” he said. “I
started with my dad. He was a really good hockey player. He came
home and got me involved. He always wanted his kids to be good
hockey players. I grew up in a small town and I always got lots of
ice time. Every weekend I’d be skating and practicing. I played all
my minor hockey in Roblin and last year I played Triple A Midget in
Parkland.”
Brook is a tall, lean young kid who should grow into his body. Her-
man is smaller, but he’s still a feisty player on the ice.
“With Evan Herman you know what you’re getting every time he
steps on the ice’” said Purdie. “As good a hockey player as he is, he’s
an even better person. He’s super polite with a real good character
from a real good family. Those are the kind of guys you want on a
team.
“When we started recruiting, there was a group of eight or 10 kids
who ran together. They played spring hockey together and that
group included Winnipeg’s Seth Jarvis and Brandon’s Ty Thorpe. So
I’d watched Evan play a couple of times, but this year, he’s just ma-
tured as a player and as a person. He’s just a hard-working guy that
you can count on on every shift.”
Purdie knew little or nothing about Brook, although he was cer-
tainly aware of Jakob’s older brother.
“I didn’t know anything about Jakob coming into this year, but I
had coached his brother Josh at the Canada Winter Games,” Purdie
said. “I saw Jake play in the summer and obviously he has good size.
He’s a kid who has developed this year. His outside speed and his
shot are at the top of the charts. He’s had a quiet year in the sense
that he’s a guy who leads by example. At the same time, both Jake
and Evan aren’t afraid to say something if it’s needed.
“Jake has come into his own as a player this year. He has devel-
oped by leaps and bounds. Good things are going to happen to both
those guys because of the kind of people they are. Not just in hock-
ey, but in life in general.”
Brook has been thrilled with his decision to play at RHA.
“It’s been really good,” he said. “We’ve had lots of ice time to do
special skills. We’ve been able to get lots of tips from the people who
work at The Rink and school is really good. The teachers are great
with us. They get us through all the schoolwork so we can get our
schooling done. It’s been great.
“Coming here has been worth it. We’ve all improved a lot. It just
hasn’t improved my game, but playing here has improved every-
body’s game. Myself, I’ve been able to get better, but so has our
whole team. The boys are working out all the time and being on the
ice every day has been great for everybody. It’s made everybody
better.”
And with the WHL Bantam Draft a month away, that’s all these
young men could have asked for. n