Game On Magazine - April 2017 GameOn-Apr2017-P001-144-ONLINE | Page 90

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE REPORT presented by IBAM
It’s my goal to make the NHL.
But I just keep wanting to do well in
school and keep filling in roles on this
team and trying to keep earning my
coaches’ trust and make sure I do
everything I can to help this team win
post-season with a sports hernia injury that
required off-season surgery. He played five
of the first six games before being sidelined
three months (35 games) because of com-
plications arising from the procedure. Dur-
ing that time, the cloud of uncertainty about
his future and his likelihood of being the first
overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft was a hot
button topic that brought intense national
media attention to the Wheat Kings.
“(It was) kind of cool,” said Bettens of
the circus-like atmosphere surrounding his
high-profile teammate before his return to
the line-up on Jan. 13. “Just seeing someone
with that much talent getting all that recog-
nition for how good he is. He’s a very special,
he’s very intelligent on the ice and always
makes the guys around him better. But, just
all the media around us was pretty cool to
see. It gives you a feeling of what you could
end up doing later on (in your career).”
The latest distraction was a lot more seri-
ous as the Wheat Kings were the first WHL
team to confirm that some team members
90 GAME ON
2017 PLAYOFF EDITION
had contracted the mumps virus. That hap-
pened in late January with head coach Da-
vid Anning plus players Reid Duke, Caiden
Daley and Cole Reinhardt being sent home
for various periods of time to battle the vi-
rus.
“Obviously guys go down with injuries ev-
ery now and then, but this was a little dif-
ferent,” said Bettens, who attends classes at
Crocus Plains High School in Brandon dur-
ing the hockey season, but will return home
to J.H. Bruns in Southdale once the Wheat
Kings are done.
“It’s unexpected. You wish the infected
team-mates could’ve been with us, but our
team (stuck) to what we needed to do to
have success. Those guys are key players,
but we had a lot of guys who stepped up and
filled in spots. That’s, in part, why we had
success.”
At press time, the mumps situation con-
tinued to be an issue in the WHL. Several
members of the Medicine Hat Tigers were
infected and quarantined with the league is-
suing orders to all clubs to suspend player
interaction with fans -- i.e. post-game au-
tograph sessions, post-game skating ses-
sions with fans, etc. -- until such time as the
mumps situation was cleared up.
All in all, the eldest of three children of
Mike and Bridget Bettens, Rylan also has
younger brothers, “Kyle, an ’01 and Owen,
an ’03,” is enjoying his rookie campaign in
the WHL. Naturally, the goal is to make it to
the National Hockey League, but Rylan is
also prepared to look at life beyond playing
hockey.
“It’s my goal to make the NHL,” he said.
“But I just keep wanting to do well in school
and keep filling in roles on this team and try-
ing to keep earning my coaches’ trust and
make sure I do everything I can to help this
team win.”
Winning. That would be the ultimate end-
ing to any book Rylan Bettens – as the cen-
tral character – could ever hope to write. n