Terrace’s Ben Reinbolt is taking on his first year of Junior A hockey with Manitoba’s Winkler Flyers.
And the Flyers are off to a fantastic start so far, they are currently ranked as the number one team in the country – after an impressive 11 wins and one loss so far in the season.
“It's going great, it's a lot of fun. They have a good facility and the team gets along well,” Reinbolt said.
The 18-year-old forward has played 12 games with the Flyers so far, grabbing two goals and two assists in the season to date.
“He is doing quite well for us,” said Ken Pearson, general manager for the Winkler Flyers.
He praised Reinbolt’s physical presence on the ice, which at 6’2”, and 215 pounds, is considerable.
“He just pounds the opposition’s defence, he finishes all of his checks,” Pearson explained.
Pearson notes Reinbolt’s attitude as another strong contribution to the team.
“We’re really happy with him, he has probably played above expectations on the ice and way above expectations off the ice,” Pearson said.
This is Reinbolt’s third year of hockey away from Terrace: he spent the last two hockey seasons playing Junior B for the Princeton Posse, where head coach Dale Hladun said he became an absolute leader for the team.
“Ben in his first year was a very exciting rookie, he worked very hard and we liked his physical presence – he liked to finish hits and his hands are really good,” Hladun said.
In his first year with the Posse, Reinbolt scored five goals, 11 assists, and ended the season with 16 points.
In his second year, while leading the team as an assistant captain, Reinbolt doubled his scoring to 10 goals, 16 assists, and ended the season with 26 points.
“[In] his second year he was a presence throughout the league (KIJHL),” Hladun said. “He was very valuable to us.”
Reinbolt said he has two years left of eligibility with Junior A, and is interested in pursuing hockey at a university level as well.