Nelson with the Prince Albert Mintos this season. (Submitted photo/Owen Nelson)

By Nolan Kowal

WHL bound

P.A.’s Nelson excited for next step in hockey career

Feb 14, 2024 | 5:00 PM

Owen Nelson continues to make great strides in his hockey career and could soon find himself in the Western Hockey League.

The 16-year-old forward from Prince Albert signed a Western Hockey League Scholarship and Development Agreement with the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Monday. This comes with Nelson enjoying a stellar season with the AAA Prince Albert Mintos, leading the team in scoring with 46 points.

“It’s always been a dream of mine since I was a little kid,” said Nelson of taking another step towards the major junior level. “Just watching the (Prince Albert) Raiders growing up, our family actually billeted the Raiders. So it was kind of cool seeing it up close when I was little and to have it come full circle made it that much better.”

Nelson said he hopes to stick with the Hurricanes next year as a 17-year-old and has aspirations to play pro hockey in the future.

“Obviously to play professional hockey, to play at the highest level would be great,” he said. “That’s kind of been the only thing I ever wanted to do, is play professional hockey and kind of make a career out of it, so that’s what I’m looking to do and this is just a stepping stone on the way to that.”

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Nelson’s current team, the Mintos, are having a good season with 21 wins in the bank. He said the team’s success this year boils down to a few things.

“We started really hot. Everyone was clicking, snapping it around, coaches were keeping us all accountable, it’s been great,” he said. “Had some games in the last couple weeks that we want back but we’re just trying to get back into a groove before playoffs here and just trying to get our momentum going as we roll into playoffs in the next month.”

Finally, Nelson touched on what it means to follow in the footsteps of other P.A. hockey stars.

“There’s a lot of P.A. kids that have came before me and guys that I’ve looked up to like Tanner Howe, getting to skate with him a couple times, it’s been cool to see what he’s been able to do. Obviously Ashton Tait and Jayden Kraus, guys that I played with last year that are in the league (WHL) now.”

“It’s just cool to have my name mentioned among those guys.”

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nolan.kowal@pattisonmedia.com