By Vinny Gillespie
Photos by Dylan Asmundson
Seth Jarvis // RINK Hockey Academy 2016 to 2018
Seth Jarvis started his journey with the RINK Hockey Academy Winnipeg program during the 2016-17 season where he managed to put up 42 goals and 24 assists for 66 points at the CSSHL U15 Prep level and even earned himself a call-up to the U18 Prep team where he had 2 goals in 6 games. After that very successful season, the Portland Winterhawks were very proud to select Seth Jarvis with the 11th overall pick in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft. During the 2017-18 season with the RHA U18 Prep team, Seth Jarvis managed to put up 32 goals and 28 assists for 60 points in 32 games which earned him a call up to the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks where he had 2 assists in 11 games. During the 2018-19 season, Seth Jarvis put up 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points in 61 games with the Portland Winterhawks. Seth Jarvis also made his IIHF debut with the U17 Canada Red team where he put up a team-leading 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points in 6 games. In his NHL Draft year, Seth Jarvis put up an incredible 42 goals and 56 assists for 98 points in 58 games. With that impressive stat sheet, Seth Jarvis was named to the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference First All-Star Team and was a finalist for the WHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year Award.
After the cancelled 2020 WHL playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes were ecstatic to select Seth Jarvis with the 13th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Seth Jarvis had the chance to share this moment with his skills coach and brother Kayden and the rest of his family in his living room. Since there were concerns about the WHL season starting, Seth Jarvis and several other CHL prospects had the option to play for in the AHL where he had an unbelievable start to his pro career and put up 7 goals and 4 assists for 11 points in 9 games as an 18-year-old playing against men. Since the WHL was playing a 24-game season, Seth Jarvis had to go back to the WHL since NHL-drafted CHL players aren’t usually allowed to play in the AHL. In the WHL bubble, Seth Jarvis put up 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points.
With a taste of the pro game. Seth Jarvis was very motivated to make the Carolina Hurricanes in his 19-year-old season because he knew if he didn’t make the big club, he had to pack all his things and make his way back to Portland to suit up for the Winterhawks. In his NHL rookie season, Seth Jarvis turned many heads and put up a staggering 17 goals and 23 assists for 40 points in 68 games and had 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points in 14 playoff games and finished 13th in the Calder Memorial Trophy race! In his second NHL season, Seth Jarvis had 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points in 82 games in the regular season and put up 5 goals and 5 assists for 10 points in 15 playoff games. After lots of summer training with RINK’s skills coach, Kayden Jarvis, that off-season, Seth Jarvis managed to put up 33 goals and 34 assists for 67 points in 81 regular season games and put up 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points in 10 playoff games with the Carolina Hurricanes! An amazing season like that earned Seth Jarvis the “Jersey Guy” Award for exemplifying the best qualities of a stereotypical New Jersey resident.
Carson Lambos // RINK Hockey Academy 2016 to 2019
Carson Lambos made his RINK Hockey Academy debut during the 2016-17 season with the U15 Prep team where he put up a remarkable 15 goals and 23 assists for 38 points in 30 games as a 13-year-old defenceman. In the 2017-18 season, which was his WHL draft year, with the RINK Hockey Academy U15 Prep team, Carson Lambos kept up his offensive prowess and managed to bump up his point totals to 40 in equally as many games as the season prior. Carson Lambos earned himself a call up to the U18 team where he put up 4 goals and 2 assists for 6 points in 7 games! With a stat sheet like that, it very clearly made Carson Lambos a top prospect in the country for his age group; in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, the Kootenay ICE were very proud to select Carson Lambos with the 2nd overall pick! During the 2018-19 season, Carson Lambos played a full season with the U18 RINK Hockey Academy where he managed to put up an incredible 16 goals and 18 assists for 34 points in 27 games. With impressive stats like those, the Kootenay ICE decided to call up the young prodigy where he played 5 games and scored his first WHL goal against his brother Jonny’s team, the Brandon Wheat Kings, which made that moment that much more special!
On January 29th, 2019, the Kootenay ICE announced their relocation to Carson Lambos’ hometown, Winnipeg for the 2019-20 season which would eventually allow the young prodigy to play in front of his friends and family. In his first full season in the WHL, Carson Lambos put up 8 goals and 24 assists for 32 points in 57 games which is extremely impressive for a 16-year-old defenceman in the Western Hockey League. With a season like that, Carson Lambos garnered Hockey Canada’s attention where he got named to Canada’s U17 White team; he led the team in assists with 5 in 6 games. During the 2020-21 season, with complete uncertainty that the WHL season would start again, Carson Lambos decided to take his talents to JYP Jyväskylä in Finland where he very quickly climbed up the ranks! Carson Lambos started off his journey on JYP’s U18 team where he played two games; played 13 games for their U20 team; played his final pair of games on JYP’s Liiga team alongside 8 other (as of 2024) NHL drafted prospects. Once the 2020-21 WHL season started up again, Carson Lambos suited up as an assistant captain in 2 games with the Winnipeg ICE in the WHL bubble in Regina before suffering an injury.
After the hectic 2020-21 season which took him around the world, the Minnesota Wild were very excited to select Carson Lambos with the 26th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. During the 2021-22 season, Carson Lambos put up 10 goals and 37 assists for 47 points which earned himself a spot-on Team Canada’s World Junior team where the tournament was unfortunately cancelled due to a COVID outbreak, but he still managed to play a game. In the 2022-23 season, Carson Lambos was named the captain of the Winnipeg ICE and lead them all the way to the Ed Chynoweth Finals where he had the chance to play against his former JYP teammate, Brad Lambert and the Seattle Thunderbirds. In the 2023-24 season, Carson Lambos suited up for the Iowa Wild of the AHL where he put up 4 goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 69 games.
Josh Filmon // RINK Hockey Academy 2019 to 2021
Josh Filmon made his RINK Hockey Academy debut with the U15 Prep team in the 2018-19 season where he had 8 goals and 20 assists for 28 points in 29 games. After a great season like that, prior to the MJHL Draft, the Winnipeg Blues decided to use one of their auto-protects on Josh Filmon. For the WHL Draft, the Josh Filmon got drafted in the 4th round, 67th overall in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft. For the following 2019-20 season, Josh Filmon was named an assistant captain for RHA’s Elite 15’s (U16) team and even earned himself a call-up to the U18 Prep team. In 2020-21, Josh Filmon had an absolute breakout season where he put up 6 goals and 8 assists for 14 points in 4 games. Once the WHL season started up again for the 2020-21 season, Josh Filmon played his first “full” season in juniors and scored 2 goals in 17 games.
After a long summer of training preparing for the 2021-22 season, Josh Filmon had a huge breakout season where he had 23 goals and 22 assists for 45 points in 67 games. With a season like that, Josh Filmon earned himself a roster spot on team Canada’s U18 World Junior Championship squad, where he played alongside his Swift Current Broncos teammates Connor Hvidston, Mathew Ward, Owen Pickering, Josh Davies, and Reid Dyck and managed to put up 1 assist in 3 games. Josh Filmon also had the pleasure of partaking in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game where he got to play against RHA Alumnus and Swift Current Bronco teammate, Owen Pickering. After a great season with the Swift Current Broncos, the New Jersey Devils selected 38th ranked North American skater, Josh Filmon 166th overall, in the 6th round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
Prior to the 2022-23 season, Josh Filmon was named an assistant captain for the Swift Current Broncos and took another big step in his game. That season, Josh Filmon put up an incredible 47 goals and 28 assists for 75 points in 64 games. On December 16th, 2022, Josh Filmon was the first WHL player to score 6 goals in a single game since 2009. Once his season ended in the WHL, the New Jersey Devils reassigned Josh Filmon to the Utica Comets of the AHL. In his first taste of professional hockey, Josh Filmon managed to put up 1 goal in 4 games. The following 2023-24 season with the Swift Current Broncos, Josh Filmon had 27 goals and 40 assists for 67 points in 64 games. That season, the Swift Current Broncos made the playoffs for the first time since winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup back in 2018. In 9 WHL playoff games, Josh Filmon put up a very impressive 7 goals and 2 assists for 9 points in 9 games.
Owen Pickering // RINK Hockey Academy 2019 to 2021
Owen Pickering started his journey with the RINK Hockey Academy Elite 15s (U16) team during the 2019-20 season as a recent 9th round, 177th overall WHL draft pick where he had 5 goals and 16 assists for 21 points in 34 games as un under-sized smooth-skating defenceman. Owen Pickering also earned himself a call-up to the U18 team where he played 3 games. Not only was there progression in his game, but Owen Pickering also had a huge growth spurt where he went from 5’8” to 6’3” from the start to the end of the season and re-modeled his game to fit his new and improved stature. At the start of the season, the Swift Current Broncos didn’t hold a single conversation with Owen Pickering about the possibility of him signing his WHL Standard Player Agreement, but on April 20th, 2020, pen was put to paper, and it was announced publicly. The 2020-21 CSSHL season wasn’t very long, but Owen Pickering still managed to play 3 games where he got 2 assists.
Fortunately for him, the Swift Current Broncos decided to bring Owen Pickering to the 2020-21 WHL Eastern Division bubble in Regina where he suited up in 23 games and put up 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points. The following 2021-22 season, Owen Pickering had a breakout season where he garnered some draft experts’ attention and his name started showing up and moving up very quickly throughout the season. That season, Owen Pickering put up 9 goals and 24 assists for 33 points in 62 games. Hockey Canada got hold of the young prodigy and named him to the U18 Canadian World Junior team where Owen Pickering put up 2 assists in 4 games and was even named an assistant captain for a game or two. The leadership group on the Canadian U18 team that year included generational 1st overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Connor Bedard, and 3rd overall pick in 2023, Adam Fantilli. On July 7th, 2022, at Bell Centre in Montreal, Kris Letang announced that with the 21st overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins were selecting Owen Pickering.
On October 14th, 2022, the Swift Current Broncos proudly named Owen Pickering their next captain. During the 2022-23 season, he managed to put up 9 goals and 36 assists for 45 points in 61 games. After the huge hike in production, the Pittsburgh Penguins reassigned Owen Pickering to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL where he made his pro debut and played 8 games. The following 2023-24 season, the Swift Current Broncos’ captain led them to their first playoff birth, since they won the 2018 Ed Chynoweth Cup, after putting up 7 goals and 39 assists for 46 points in regular 59 games. During that playoff run, Owen Pickering managed to get 1 goal and 6 assists for 7 points in 9 games. Next season, we can expect the hard-working defenceman to turn pro and keep improving like he has since he joined the RINK Family.
Tristen Robins // RINK Hockey Academy 2016 to 2018
Tristen Robins started playing at the RINK Hockey Academy in the 2016-17 season as a newly-drafted player in the WHL where he got drafted in the 4th round, 76th overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft by the Regina Pats. For the MJHL draft however, the Steinbach Pistons drafted him with the 2nd round, 21st overall. After an amazing 2017-18 season with the RINK Hockey Academy, where Tristen Robins put up 20 goals and 34 assists for 54 points in 31 games, he earned himself a call-up to the Regina Pats where he made his WHL debut. Midway through his season, Tristen Robins got traded to the Regina Pats’ rivals, the Saskatoon Blades, along with defenceman Dawson Davidson, and a 2019 first round pick in exchange for Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, at the time, Libor Hajek. During the 2017-18 season, Tristen Robins also made his MJHL debut with the Steinbach Pistons where he scored in his first and only game of his MJHL career. Tristen Robins also suited up that season for the Saskatoon Blades where he got his first WHL point in 3 games.
In the 2018-19 season, Tristen Robins was a full-time WHL player with the Saskatoon Blades where he played in all 68 games where he had 9 goals and 16 assists for 25 points. In the 2019-20 season, which unfortunately ended early, Tristen Robins had a breakout year in which he had more than tripled his point totals compared to the season prior. That season he put up 33 goals and 40 assists for 73 points in 62 games which was good enough for the San Jose Sharks to draft Tristen Robins with the 56th overall pick in the 2nd round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Due to the uncertainty of the WHL season starting, Tristen Robins had the opportunity to make his pro debut early in the 2020-21 season where he played a couple games with the San Jose Barracuda. In the WHL bubble however, Tristen Robins was fortunate enough to be named as an assistant captain for the Saskatoon Blades where he played 16 out of the 24 potential games and managed to put up very impressive numbers! During the 2021-22 WHL season, Tristen Robins played his final season with the Saskatoon Blades and put up a remarkable 33 goals and 45 assists for 78 points in 62 games!
For the 2022-23 season, Tristen Robins played his first full year of pro hockey in the AHL with the San Jose Barracuda where he put up 17 goals and 21 assists for 38 points in 64 games. His incredible first year in the AHL earned him the opportunity to make his NHL debut in front of his friends and family against his hometown (province) Winnipeg Jets. That season he got to play 3 games for the San Jose Sharks in the NHL. In the 2023-24 season which was his second full year of professional hockey, Tristen Robins played 42 games for the San Jose Barracuda.