Brian Liesse

Woo hoping to wow scouts with complete game

By Matthew Gourlie

A name like Jett Woo’s doesn’t lend itself to mediocrity.

Fortunately for the 17-year-old Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman, he has the talent to go with his superhero-sounding name.

While Woo’s name grabbed attention when he was drafted, his talent has been opening eyes ever since.

Woo has seven goals and 19 points in 22 games so far this season and his plus-20 rating has him in the top-15 in the WHL despite having missed close to half of the season to date.

“I think the season has been going fairly well — not only my game, but the team as well. You can see we’re really building. With the last couple of deals we’ve made have helped us, not only on the ice, but in the dressing room,” Woo said.

Jett Woo, left, from the Moose Jaw Warriors fights off Seattle Thunderbirds captain Nolan Volcan.

He has quickly become a fan favourite in Moose Jaw thanks to his big shot and bigger open ice hits. As a rookie, it wasn’t unusual to see larger opponents bounce off of Woo when they tried to hit him. At Mosaic Place, his bigger hits are punctuated by a Ric Flair-esque “woooo!” from the crowd.

When Josh Brook broke his wrist during the pre-season, Woo was thrust into a top-pairing role and logged big minutes. In early November, the Warriors won four straight games with with four rookies on the blue line — including three different midget call-ups — and four regular defencemen injured.

“It’s something I prepared for in the summer. I was mentally prepared for this,” Woo said about being asked to do a lot more in his second season. “We didn’t know when Brooksy would be back, but I was prepared.”

Woo came into the WHL physically mature for his age and this off-season, the six-foot, 201-pound Winnipeg focused on his cardio as he prepared for his draft year.

“I did a lot of lifting, but I also did a lot of cardio. It was a lot more cardio than I was used to. Going into the draft, all of these little parts of the game will help me,” Woo said.

Woo missed 16 straight games with an upper body injury before returning after the holiday break. He worked diligently to make sure his work in the off-season didn’t go to waste. He said he focused on keeping his cardio as high as he could and made sure his diet, stretching and hydration were where it needed to be to be ready to seamlessly return to the lineup.

Jett Woo

Woo’s professionalism is due in part to good bloodlines. His father Larry Woo spent two seasons in the WHL with the Victoria Cougars and Swift Current Broncos before finishing his career at the University of Manitoba. He coached Jett when he was younger and currently coaches Jett’s younger brother in St. Boniface.

Larry also has the distinction of appearing as player Park Kim in the movie Goon and its sequel.

“He helped me, especially in my first year, when I didn’t really know what to expect. He helped me gear up for that,” Woo said of his father.

Woo’s unique name was inspired by the stage name of another athlete turned actor: Chinese martial arts star Jet Li.

It doesn’t take long to see Woo’s maturity and leadership qualities when speaking to him. To wit, He captained one of Canada’s teams at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and was an assistant captain for the gold medal-winning Canadian under-18s at the Hlinka Memorial Tournament this past summer.

Originally selected fourth overall in the WHL bantam draft, Woo looked WHL-ready from his first prospects camp. He earned a B rating — indicative of a second or third round prospect — from the NHL’s Central Scouting for their 2018 draft watch list.

While the Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman has the tools to dazzle, his head coach Tim Hunter wanted to see him take a simple approach and not try to do too much with the puck early in the season.

“That’s what Josh Brook went through last year, earlier in the year. He wanted to turn a simple pass into a home run,” Hunter said. “Defencemen are guys that have to hit singles. The first short pass you see is the one you make — and not some miraculous play that is going to turn a pass into a home run or a breakaway. It just doesn’t work. Teams check too well and are too organized for that.”

That being said, when Woo sees an opening he will take it. Two weeks after Hunter’s comments about keeping it simple, Woo used the extra space in overtime to send an inch-perfect 100-foot pass to spring Brett Howden for a breakaway goal.

“Coming into my second year I think it was something I learned last year to try to make the simple plays and not always try to do too much. I think that will help my game a lot,” Woo said.