White looking to resurrect WHL career

Jaeger White hasn’t had much good fortune so far in his Western Hockey League career.

Now the 19-year-old is looking to make his own luck.

A pair of shoulder injuries limited his ice time as a 16 and 17 year old and after undergoing shoulder surgery he played two games with the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits before deciding he wasn’t yet 100 per cent healthy.

“I tried to go back, but I felt it was early, so I tried to be cautious with it and took the extra months off to recover,” White said. “Now it’s stronger than it’s ever been and I’ve had no problems with it at all.”

Jaeger White

Now, after essentially missing an entire season, the younger brother of former Warrior Torrin White is looking to resurrect his junior career in Moose Jaw.

“It means a lot that they’re giving me opportunities. They’re playing me with good players. There’s no excuses for me,” White said. “They’re a good team with lots of older players and a lot of skilled players, so I’m going to have to be at my best to make it.”

The Warriors have a dozen forwards who could return this season. Given his age, White knows he will have to show he is ready to contribute every night to earn a roster spot.

“He’s a guy that has to show us that he wants to play at this level and wants to play the way we play — fast, hard, honest hockey,” said Warriors head coach Tim Hunter. “We’re giving him a lot of chances here to play with some better players and find his way. He has to do his part. We’ve got two more games to see how that unfolds.”

White played five games as a 15 year old with the Lethbridge Hurricanes before scoring four goals and finishing with 16 points in 40 games as a rookie. He separated the AC joint in his shoulder that season.

The next year he was traded to Everett and after three games with the Silvertips was dealt to Brandon. After 13 games with the eventual 2016 WHL champions, he re-injured the same shoulder when Saskatoon’s Luke Gingras hit him while he was looking for the puck in skates off of a face-off.

“I had my doubts after I had my surgery. It was a tough injury and tough to recover from,” White said. “Things weren’t looking good for awhile, but I worked hard in the gym and put a lot of hours in away from the ice. I came to a point in time when I had to decide if it was what I wanted and at the end of the day it was.”

White was back home in Medicine Hat where his step father, Shaun Clouston, is the head coach and general manager of the Tigers.

“It was tough, especially being in Medicine Hat and watching the Tigers’ games. Teams roll in and you think you could be out there,” White said.

“I was around the rink a lot watching and I did some coaching too.”

White worked mostly with Pee Wee players and also helped a Bantam team.

“I was helping minor hockey in Medicine Hat and doing whatever I could to stay involved,” White said. “It was different and when you get on that side, you realize that some of the things that coaches are telling you are things you should do and listen to. You definitely pick up some habits that are good for you.”

White put up staggering stats in his youth. In Pee Wee AA in Medicine Hat he scored 124 goals in 30 games, smashing records in the process. Two years later, as a second-year bantam, he scored 72 goals and finished with 165 points in 58 games with the Burnaby Winter Club in B.C.

“During my minor hockey days I had a lot of pressure on me. I think there came a point in time where maybe the pressure became too much,” White said. “I was pretty young and I thought things were going really smoothly, but once you hit junior it’s a whole other ball game. It was a tough transition and injuries set me back. I’m here now and hopefully it will go smoothly from here.”