The Victoria Royals have a history of developing defencemen within their program.
Ryan Gagnon and Chaz Reddekopp are examples of defencemen spending their entire Western Hockey League careers with Victoria, including serving as 20-year-old leaders.
Following that precedent is Ralph Jarratt, an over-ager who has spent his junior career playing in Victoria.
“Coming in at 16-years-old, I wasn’t really supposed to stay,” said Jarratt. “But then a couple trades happened, and I ended up staying my entire career in Victoria. So, I feel very fortunate to spend it as a Royal.”
(Photo: Christoper Kelsall, Victoria Sports News)
Developing in the league
Playing in 268 regular season games, the native of Fort St.John, BC has been able to elevate his game and has been a steadying force on the blue line.
“The Royals organization has really been a big part of who the man I am today. The management isn’t all about just winning. Obviously, that’s a goal of ours but it’s also developing us for the next level, preparing us to act on and off the ice. Coming in at 16-years-old I was a little loose, but when you come here, you really got to dial things in or you won’t be saying,”
Royals Assistant Coach Doug Bodger, a veteran of 1,071 NHL games, had advice for this young defencemen in developing his on-ice game. “Initially, I think he [Jarratt] thought he had to get a lot of points to get noticed. I told him that I don’t care about the points. If you can play in your own zone and defend, you can make the jump to the next level. If you can’t defend, they [scouts] are not going to look at you.”
Working on defensive fundamentals allowed Jarratt to develop and round out his game. “We really concentrated on him defending well. Being creative in the offensive zone is something we really can’t teach. You teach defense and it’s up to him to create what he does it offensively the blue line in. We just worked on the defensive zone and he’s really tool to it. He’s played so good last year and was our top defenceman. It’s great to see the progress that he’s made.”
Passing the torch
As players have moved through the organization, Jarratt has become a veteran leader to the current young players on the roster. Matthew Smith, Parker Malchuk and Remy Aquilon have all benefited from the experience the 20-year-old can offer. “It’s just the way that junior hockey is,” said Jarratt. “The young guys come and learn from their peers that are older than them. I was fortunate with the guys that I got to look up to, being Joe Hicketts, Travis Brown and Keegan Kanzig to name a few. You pick little things up from each of them. Then you try to pass that to the young guys and help them along with those guys helped us.”
Returning from injury
This year was a trying one for Jarratt, as he only suited up for 32 regular season games. Injuries took their toll and the Royals were forced to fill the void. Now that the playoffs are here, the defenceman is healthy. “It was a little bit of a difficult year but that’s sometimes the way of the road and I’m feeling healthy for the post-season.”
Bodger added “He was injured and that was a huge hole for us back on the defensive side. So, it’s a bonus when he’s in the game. Ralph’s a guy that can play 30 minutes a night, special teams including the power play and penalty killing. He has tremendous first-stride power, with his first three or four strides being very powerful. And you don’t see in this league very often. It’s great to have him in the lineup.”
Playoff memories
With this year’s playoff series versus Kamloops, Jarratt has now experienced the playoffs in each of his five seasons in the WHL. Of course, with the playoffs comes a wide range of experiences. When asked about making the post-season in each year with Victoria, Jarratt said “I feel very fortunate. However, we’ve also had some heartbreaking moments. From that 0.2 second goal versus Kelowna when I was 17-years-old, to the following year of playing five overtimes in that CHL record game.”
When asked of a memory of the marathon Game 6 in 2017 versus the Everett Silvertips, Jarratt said, “I remember it was do or die for us, but by the time you’re going out there for the fifth overtime period, it was almost kind of a laughing matter. It was crazy. But to lose when you worked so hard, and how sore your legs were, I think they hurt a little more with us losing.”
Second home
With the final chapter currently being written in Jarratt’s junior hockey story, he already looks fondly on his time with the Royals.
“In five years, you get a personal connection with everyone here. At the Royals’ year-end award ceremony, they have the 20-year-old players do a speech, talk about their time here and give a little thank you. It really hit home when I was writing that speech, talking about how many people you end up having a personal connection with, as well as the fans in the city. So Victoria will always be a second home to me.”
