Originally posted Aug 16, 2019.
Ridly Greig has opened a lot of eyes throughout his young hockey career. In the 2016-17 season, he compiled 89 points in just 48 games.
That success came with the Lethbridge Golden Hawks Bantam AAA team. He won the league award for most assists. He also won an Alberta Cup title that season.
Fast forward to that off-season and Ridly was eligible for the WHL Bantam Draft. It wasn’t long before he heard his name called. He was picked in the first round, 8th overall by the Brandon Wheat Kings, a team he now plays for.
Now we fast forward to last month. The 17-year-old from Lethbridge was invited to Team Canada’s Under-18 Selection Camp, ahead of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Ridly was one of 44 invited and he was one of 22 that were named to the final team after a few rigorous days of tryouts.
That meant Greig would wear the Canadian jersey for the second time. He also played in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
“It was an amazing feeling to make this team, especially because I did so with some buddies,” he added. “My family was so proud and it meant everything to me.”
With the thrill of making it in the rearview window, Ridly’s next task was helping the team win. He was able to achieve that goal, until the finals. That’s when the Canadian squad came up just short against a hot Russian team.
All in all, it’s still a silver medal for Ridly and it’s a week he’ll never forget.
“It was an amazing experience and it was a great opportunity,” he continued. “Everything about it, the atmosphere and competition were top-notch.”
Ridly was able to contribute on the score sheet as well. He had three points (2G). He was also a plus five.
“I think I performed pretty well. I just did whatever I could to help the team,” he continued. “It sucks the way it ended, but it is what it is.”
Despite the silver medal and the great time he did have, falling short in the gold medal game was and is still a tough pill to swallow for the Brandon Wheat King forward.
“It was a crappy feeling when we saw all the Russians celebrating,” he added. “They deserved it, they played solid and their goaltender was on fire. Other than that, I don’t really have any other words to explain it, it just sucks.”
“It’s going to push me moving forward, I don’t want something like that to happen again,” said Greig.
Ridly is now spending as much time with his family and friends as he can before he’ll head out once again. This time, it’ll be to join the team that drafted him, the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Greig is all set for his second full year as a Western Hockey League player. His first full one provided 35 points (14G) in 63 games. Unfortunately, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.
“I’m really excited to get back to the Wheat City,” he added. “I can’t wait to see the guys and just get things going.”
When it comes down to what he’s expecting from himself this season, it’s all about winning games.
“I don’t really have any expectations for points. It’s all about having a good season wins wise,” he added. “I just want to help this team win. A deep playoff run is the goal right now.”
Last year, Brandon went 31-29-4-4 for 70 points. That was two shy of Red Deer, who earned the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. It actually looked like Brandon would make the playoffs, but they struggled heavily down the stretch.
In their final 10 games, they went 2-7-1.
“Our team is going to be better this year,” he concluded.
Ridly will pack his bags and depart Lethbridge for Brandon on August 24. He and the rest of the veterans hit the ice on the 26.
