Jared Freadrich was acquired by the Portland Winterhawks during the Bantam Draft in May to provide veteran leadership and impact the Winterhawks power play this year.
The Winterhawks are five games into their season. Freadrich already has seven points (1G, 6A) and all have come via the power play. Suffice it to say, so far he is more than delivering on what they expected of him.
Entering the season the Winterhawks knew their defensive core would have a drastically different look and feel. Dennis Cholowski and Henri Jokiharju were selected in the first round of the NHL draft, and both will make their NHL debuts this week. Keoni Texeira, last year’s captain, departs via graduation after playing 344 games with Portland; only Troy Rutkowski played more games (351) for the team in franchise history. As a result, Portland lost three key players presenting head coach and GM Mike Johnston with a void along his blue line. So far, Freadrich has seized the opportunity in front of him. He has paced the Winterhawks to the league’s second best power play.
Assistant coach Kyle Gustafson is excited to have Freadrich as a member of the Winterhawks, “Jared is a guy who is a veteran in the league. He has a ton of game experience. He is going to be someone we will count to play quality minutes.” Gustafson would describe Jared’s game as “a player who handles the puck well and makes smart plays with it. A late-game guy when we need a goal or take some chances. He’s an offensive defenseman who fits our style.”
Making a transition to a new team is not something new for Jared as Portland becomes his fourth WHL team. However, “this one has been the biggest transition I would say – different country, big city, biggest city I’ve played in for sure. It was a little confusing at first, but I’m starting to get dialed in for sure” Jared said.
Freadrich made a positive first impression on his coaches and teammates. Don Hay, new assistant coach for the Winterhawks, said, “Jared is a real quality 20-year old. He’s played with top teams in the league. First and foremost, he knows what it takes to win. He’s got a great work ethic and he displays it every day in practice. Jared has been a great addition to the Winterhawks.”
Jared’s hope is “to be a calming influence on the younger guys, as I’ve been through it. There are a lot of ups-and-downs in this league. You can’t dwell on anything for too long, things move quick with a 68-game season now. You have to forget about the past sometimes and move on. Know you are here for a reason.”
As the only right-handed defenseman on roster, Freadrich has been playing alongside the reliable John Ludvig. “It has been awesome playing with Ludvig. He’s really responsible defensively and smart with the puck. He doesn’t put me in trouble ever and talks out there a lot. I can’t ask for much more from a defensive partner”
Gustafson believes Jared “is a guy that can really generate some offense from the blue line and will impact our power play.” Last season Freadrich scored nine power play goals to go along with 11 power play assists while quarterbacking Victoria’s second unit. The Winterhawks felt Jared’s impact on the power play immediately. The goal he scored on Saturday proved to be the game-winner. One area he excels in is his ability to get his shot through to the net. Freadrich shows a tremendous hockey IQ knowing when to take the big slap shot or when to just get off a quick wrist shot on target.
“My whole life I’ve been a power play guy,” Freadrich said, “I really like to shoot the puck. I think I have good vision out there finding guys who are in a spot to shoot and put it in the back of the net.” Jared considers seeing time on the power play a great opportunity, “especially playing with guys like [Cody] Glass, and [Joachim] Blichfeld.”
As the season progresses, Freadrich hopes to “get better every day and make my teammates around me better. Hopefully I can provide a little bit of leadership to the younger guys. I want to lead by example both on and off the ice.”
