The Success Starts Here series features profiles on SJHL Alumni who are currently, or have played hockey at a post-secondary institution. Check out the full interviews every Thursday on the SJHL Insider Podcast and check back at SJHL.ca for profile pieces Wednesdays.
There were all sorts of special elements to Chase Friedt-Mohr’s 2023-24 season with the Melfort Mustangs.
Friedt-Mohr, a 2003-born defenceman, parlayed a 24-point post-season into the first blueliner to win the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff Most Valuable Player Award since La Ronge’s Dayton Fossum in 2011 (a co-winner with his goaltender Adam Bartko).
On top of that, Chase’s Mustangs upset a powerful Flin Flon Bombers team in the Canterra Seeds Cup Final, and went on to fall in the national championship game by only a single goal.
A Prince Albert, SK native, Chase spent most of his 131 Western Hockey League games before joining the Mustangs as a defence-first defender.
Yet while maintaining a rugged focus on his own end in 23-24, he was also able to explode for 56 regular-season points from the back end to go with the 24 in the playoffs, and the four in five games at the Centennial Cup.
At the time, his coach Trevor Blevins credits geography – he spent most of his WHL career in far-off Washington State – as much as anything for Friedt-Mohr’s genesis as a two-way defender.
“He was always a great defender,” Blevins said, “but now he’s a lot more of an offensive threat.
“There are a lot of factors in Chase’s success this year, one being that he was a lot closer to his family, which was very important to him. He was really looking to be that guy when we first acquired him, and he took that role and really flourished.”
A 6-foot-1, 207-pound right-shot defender, Friedt-Mohr was drafted by both the Kindersley Klippers of the SJHL and the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL out of his hometown Prince Albert Raiders U15S in 2018.
Split between Kindersley and Melfort, he counted 85 points in 90 SJHL games. Of his 75 games in Mustang blue, a majority of them were on a pair with Leith Olafson, then Melfort’s captain and current Mount Royal University Cougar in USports.
“Playing with Chase was great,” Olafson says.
“he brought positivity and humour to the rink every day. Having a guy like that not only on your team, but as a d-partner and a good friend, made coming to the rink each day a blast. His play helped propel us through the season and into the national tournament, as he found his offensive spark coming to the SJ. Playing with him throughout the year was a pleasure and helped my game out a lot.”
Friedt-Mohr’s play in 23-24 caught the eye of the University of Regina, and while he played a handful of games for the Cougars, his heart was elsewhere.
Chase had wanted to be a police officer since he was a kid in Prince Albert, and even though he was mid-season in 24-25, he felt it was the right time to move on to be what he dreamed of.
He attended police college in Regina, graduated, and is currently serving in his hometown.
Yet he feels the lessons he learned wearing an SJHL crest prepared him perfectly for wearing an officer’s badge.
“I think throughout my junior career (playing in the SJHL), it definitely matures you,” he says.
“Being away from your family, you learn a bunch of skills and qualities. Just being involved in the community and being mature away from the rink, too, really helped me. Ultimately, the team aspect in junior hockey is something that’s often emphasized in policing. So, I think all those great qualities helped me move into this career, which is honestly quite similar to a hockey team.”
Even though Chase is no longer a competitive player, he could not stay away from the game he loves.
Friedt-Mohr’s old U18AAA club, the Prince Albert Mintos, hired Melfort Mustangs scout Dennis Pott as their new general manager in May 2025, and from that relationship, Chase felt there was an avenue to get into coaching.
The now 22-year-old cop was hired as an assistant coach soon after, where he shares a bench with another ex-SJHLer, Dion Antisin, who played for the Notre Dame Hounds between 2011 and 2015.
“(I wanted to) kind of be a player’s coach and help out some of the players go up to the next levels,” Friedt-Mohr says. “And I thought it was a great fit.
“I wanted to get back into the game soon, and I’ve loved helping out with the Mintos every day. Many of these kids are overly concerned about the next level and constantly think about their game and how they’re playing. So, I tell the guys to enjoy it. I wish I could go back and kind of enjoy these moments a bit more because…as a coach now, you kind of wish you could go back and just be one of the guys again and enjoy it.”
As we wrote about two summers ago, long-time Melfort boss Trevor Blevins’ coaching tree continues to grow, and Friedt-Mohr is just the next to take what he learned from him to try to help the next generation of young players.
Like almost all of the ex-Mustangs who played under Blevins, Chase’s level of gratitude toward the Melfort native is high.
“I think just Blevins really cares about his players,” Friedt-Mohr says.
That was the big thing I really took away from Blavs—he’d have weekly interviews with players and ask how things are going away from the rink. Just stuff like that, I really took away from him. He was great with the on-ice stuff and all that, but I think how he handles himself with his players off the ice is something I’m trying to take away from Blevs.”
Indeed, the SJHL is proud of those who go on to long hockey careers, but it is just as proud of those who, like Friedt-Mohr, understand and act on their vocations away from the game.
As a police officer, as a man, and as a hockey coach, it is fair to say that much of Friedt-Mohr’s success started right here in the SJHL.
Find the full episode of SJHL Insider, featuring the full interview with Chase, right here:
