Slater Strong

When a player is brought in in exchange for a pair of local fan favorites, the expectations can be overwhelming, but Slater Strong appears to have taken that all in stride.

Strong, a 6-foot-0, 173-pound forward from Calgary, was the player the Yorkton Terriers received (along with a player development fee) from the Camrose Kodiaks for the Welke twins – Carson and McKenzie – last summer. The Welke’s had both spent two years with their hometown Terriers and were both among the team leaders in points in each of those two seasons.

The surprising move brought the 19-year-old Strong to Yorkton and while the Terriers have struggled he has managed to already eclipse his entire output from last year with Camrose. In 19 games with the Terriers, Strong has two goals and eight assists which works out to him being involved in 20 per cent of the Yorkton offense.

Last season with the Kodiaks, Strong had three goals and six assists in 34 games while as a 17-year-old with Camrose he managed one goal and three helpers in 32 games.

Strong got his first taste of junior hockey as a 16-year-old when he collected one assist in one game with the Kodiaks, but he split the remainder of that season with the Calgary Buffaloes of the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League and Calgary Blackhawks at the Midget AA level. With the Buffaloes, Strong scored twice and set up four others in 20 games while with the Blackhawks he tallied 11 goals and five assists in 12 games.

The Terriers have won just four games to start the season, but with players like Strong continuing to develop it won’t be long before they get back to their winning ways.