Métis draft pick now in Calgary Flames camp

The wait is over for Eric Roy, but there is still plenty of work for him to do in order to realize his National Hockey League dreams.
Roy, an 18-year-old Métis defenceman, was selected in the fifth round, 135th over-all, by the Calgary Flames in this year’s NHL Entry Draft.

The draft, which was staged June 30 in New Jersey, ended the daily questions and speculations about their futures that Roy and other draft-eligible prospects endured during their draft year.
Roy, who is from the small Saskatchewan town of Beauval (population of about 700), has spent the past three seasons with the Manitoba-based Brandon Wheat Kings, members of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Early on this past season there was some talk that Roy, who is a hair under 6-foot-3 and weighs 185 lbs, would be a first-round selection at the draft.

But since he was on a rebuilding team this year, and admittedly had his own up-and-down struggles, Roy ended up being listed as the 41st best North American prospect in Central Scouting’s year-end rankings of draft eligible players. He was projected to be either a second- or third-round pick, once European prospects were added into the mix.

Roy does not seem too concerned he slipped into the fifth round before hearing his name called.

“It didn’t really matter where I went,” Roy told Windspeaker on July 10, after attending his first day of the Flames’ week-long rookie prospects camp in Calgary. “I have a great opportunity now and I’m just going to work hard.”

It remains to be seen, however, whether Roy impressed the Flames’ brass enough to also earn an invitation to Calgary’s main training camp this September.

“I haven’t heard anything about that,” he said. “It is a goal of mine to make it to the main camp this year. I’m just going to train hard this summer and see what happens.”

Even if he does receive an invite to the Flames’ September camp, it is expected that Roy will return to the junior ranks in Brandon for some more grooming. He has two seasons of junior eligibility remaining.

Should he indeed rejoin the Wheat Kings, Roy will be looking to have a more consistent season.

“I thought I had my ups and downs,” he said of his 2012-13 campaign.

Roy did score 17 goals for Brandon this past year, the most he’s netted in his three seasons in the WHL.

But he had 22 assists, considerably down from the 42 helpers he had the year before that.

The significant drop in the number of assists Roy had can be explained by the fact the Wheat Kings did not have as many prolific scorers this year as they did in the past. Offensively-challenged, Brandon ended up finishing dead last in the league’s 12-team Eastern Conference and did not qualify for the post-season.

Early on this past season Roy felt he was trying to do too much, on a rather youthful squad.

“My coaches pulled me aside and told me to try and keep things simple,” he said, adding he felt his play improved over the second half of the season.

Roy said officials from 13 NHL teams had talked to him prior to the draft. Though he had met members of the Flames’ staff twice he said he was not given any indication at that point of Calgary’s interest in him.

Roy and his family members had to wait about five hours at the draft before his name was called.

“There were a lot of anxious times, just waiting for it to happen,” he said.

Roy’s mother Karen echoed this sentiment.

“We couldn’t leave or go and eat anything in case he was drafted at that point,” she said.

While Roy said it did not matter whether he was drafted by a Canadian franchise or a team in the United States, his family members are pleased it was a team north of the border that drafted him, as it will be easier for them to drive to some of his pro contests should he eventually make it to the NHL.

“That’s the first thing we said that at least we could drive to some of his games,” Karen Roy said.

The closest NHL rink to Beauval is in Edmonton, about a six-hour drive away. As for Calgary, it’s about a nine-hour road trip from Beauval.

Roy is believed to be the only player of Aboriginal descent selected in this year’s draft.

“It means a lot to me,” he said. “And I hope there will be a lot more Aboriginal people that get drafted in the future.”