REGINA PATS - JORDAN EBERLE'S FAREWELL

(Photo: Whl.ca)

By: Greg Harder, Regina Leader Post Sports

Friday, March 12, 2010

Regina Pats' star Jordan Eberle's farewell

REGINA — The Regina Pats won't be punching a ticket to the WHL playoffs, but they are anticipating a sellout for their final home game of the season.

Jordan Eberle might have something to do with it.

Friday night's meeting between the Pats and the Brandon Wheat Kings will be the last chance for local hockey fans to say good-bye to a home-town hero who has represented his team, city, province and country with distinction over the past four years.

Eberle's farewell has transformed a meaningless game into the hottest ticket in town — and he hopes to give the fans their money's worth.

"I want to cap it off with something special," offered the 19-year-old sniper, who took part in his final practice with the Pats on Thursday. "It'll be a little weird playing my last game at the Brandt Centre. Four years have flown by so quickly. Coming in as a 16-year-old, playing my first game here, I remember looking up in the stands and seeing where I used to sit. Now I'll come back (Friday night) and think of all the success I've had in this rink and how much fun it has been."

Eberle isn't the only person in the mood for reminiscing. Pats captain Colten Teubert is equally nostalgic about the farewell performance of the Pats' odd couple — a dynamic duo which has become virtually inseparable over the past four seasons while sharing numerous experiences, including back-to-back tours with Canada at the world junior championship.

"It's too bad we have to go our separate ways," said Teubert. "When we were 16 we battled in practice every day. He knows how to push my buttons. It's a brother relationship. I'm going to miss him a lot."

So will the entire Pats' franchise.

"In my 15 years, he's the best player we've had in terms of the whole package, his leadership, his on-ice abilities, the type of person he is, everything," offered GM Brent Parker. "What he has meant to the organization has been huge. He's the type of person that you dream of having in terms of a guy who can be the face of your franchise. I hope we can hit the jackpot with another guy like that but it's fair to say those type of people and athletes don't grace you very often. They're rare individuals. The fact that he's a local kid really adds to it. Everyone has a Jordan Eberle story that they can't wait to tell."

The best of them all might belong to Pats director of scouting Todd Ripplinger, who selected Eberle in the seventh round (126th overall) of the 2005 WHL bantam draft. His selection with the 126th overall pick will go down as arguably the biggest steal in team history.

"When he was eight years old, he was this phenom coming up," said Ripplinger, who recalled reading about Eberle's early exploits in the Leader-Post. "Then I started asking around about him. I kind of kept track of him, watched him as a first-year bantam playing in Regina. Then he went to Notre Dame. The rest is history. It has been fun to watch. Even watching him as a 10-year-old on video at the Brick tournament (in Edmonton) scoring the overtime winner against Steve Stamkos and (Michael) Del Zotto and (Alex) Pietrangelo. He always had talent. (Now) he's one of the all-time greats."

Eberle scored 216 goals in Hockey Regina's novice tier I division during the 1999-2000 season. Despite his goal-scoring prowess, the 10-year-old told the Leader-Post's Rob Vanstone that he preferred to pass the puck and be a "team player."

"I sound like Jordan's biggest fan, but I have a lot of respect for his ability and his team play," Kings head coach Neil Tulloch said at the time. "Against the weaker teams, a lot of guys like to step up their production and add to their stats. Jordan is the exact opposite. He likes to use those situations to pass the puck and set up his teammates. I never heard him say, 'Give me the puck' or 'I can do it.' He bought into every philosophy about winning as a team and losing as a team."

The knock on Eberle was always his size, listed at about 5-foot-6 and 120 pounds when the Pats drafted him in 2005. Ripplinger jokingly remembers thinking at the time that Eberle never missed on breakaways, so at the very least he'd be good in shootouts.

Little did he know Eberle would eventually blossom into a world junior MVP, a first-round NHL draft pick and one of the best clutch scorers in Team Canada history.

"If he grew, we thought he'd be a good player — first- or second-line guy," added Ripplinger. "But I never thought he'd play in the world juniors and all that stuff. If anybody tells you that — about any player — they're full of it. You don't know."

Turns out size didn't matter for Eberle, who's now ranked eighth on the Pats' all-time goals list (153) and 12th in points (308). Heading into his 253rd career game Friday night, he leads the league with 104 points and is just two goals away from 50.

"I came into my first training camp not even expecting to make the team," recalled the Edmonton Oilers' top prospect, who's on the verge of securing the Bob Clarke Trophy as the WHL's top scorer. "I kind of just came in for the experience, had a good camp, ended up staying and ended up doing well. It has been a whirlwind ever since. Obviously it has been a disappointing season, not making the playoffs with the team we have. It's frustrating. But it's not going to help to be negative all the time and be bitter. You might as well find something positive. It has been a great junior career, being from here, the atmosphere and everything this organization has given me. You dream of playing in the Western Hockey League but you never expect any of this.

"Like I said, hopefully I'll cap it off with something special."

gharder@leaderpost.canwest.com