A familiar face to Edmonton Oil Kings fans hit the ice at the Vancouver Canucks training camp over the weekend. Former Oil Kings captain Ashton Sautner attended his fifth Canucks training camp since turning pro in 2015.
Sautner was one of 22 defencemen invited to the Canucks camp, with former Oil King Will Warm one of those d-man also attending. The Flin Flon, Manitoba, native had a brief spell with the Canucks the last couple of seasons, playing 17 games last year and five games the season before.
“I want to make the team out of camp and give myself that opportunity to start here,” said Saunter. “It was a great opportunity to get called up and just continue to build on what I did last year.”
Before joining the Canucks organization, Sautner was a well known face around the Edmonton area. He played a pivotal role in the success of the Oil Kings throughout his time there, going to three WHL finals and two Memorial Cups.
“It’s one of the highlights of my career. It’s a very tough thing to do to go on and win the Memorial Cup like that,” Sautner mentioned when talking about his time in Edmonton.
“The whole year was just fantastic and was just so much fun to be a part of. I still keep in touch with a lot of those guys today.”
Sautner was selected in the eighth round of the WHL Bantam Draft in 2009. He came close to cracking the roster as a 16-year-old, but instead spent one more year in the Saskatchewan Midget Hockey League with the Moose Jaw Generals before eventually making the team in 2011.
He then went on to put together a spectacular junior career, playing 265 regular season games, along with 58 postseason contests. His 265 games played sit fourth in the Oil Kings all-time list.
Now, in his fifth year as a pro, the 25-year-old defenceman has his sights set ahead as he looks to become a full time NHLer.
“It’s crazy how time flies, and it’s been a blast,” he concluded. “I’ve had a great time in the Vancouver organization. They gave me a chance to play my first game and, obviously, a few more after that, too. So it’s been great to this point.”
