Jett Woo | D

[Lancaster]

I don't mind him staying on the big squad for a few games to train and practice with men.  Even playing a few games if injuries occurs.  

 

If he gets overwhelmed, it will just be a good teaching lesson for him, that he has lots to work on.  That junior hockey shouldn't be just to coast, but an opportunity to really use the feedback given by the coaches to improve his technique, decision-making, and strength to make the next step to the pros.  

 

Should he look very comfortable in the NHL, then it will be a good thing for him.  Either he can stick and thus the Canucks may have assets to move around... or that it will be a real confidence booster that he isn't far from making it to the NHL.  That he will take what he learned and dominate juniors.  

 

There is no such thing as "ruining" a prospect, short of injuries.  If players get so shell-shocked over simple adversary, they won't have much of a career anyways.  

[aGENT]

12 hours ago, Lancaster said:

I don't mind him staying on the big squad for a few games to train and practice with men. 

Unless we have a slew of injuries (which would suck), roster limits prevent this sort of thing.

[stawns]

On 7/11/2019 at 3:06 PM, kloubek said:

Even if Woo COULD play in the NHL, one more year to develop isn't a bad idea.  When he is ready, I'm sure he will get an opportunity.

It's unlikely we see JW in Van inside of three years.  Two if we're very lucky.

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, stawns said:

It's unlikely we see JW in Van inside of three years.  Two if we're very lucky.

Benn’s got two years.  Woo will play one more year of junior and one in the A.  

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[filthycanuck]

On 7/7/2019 at 7:18 PM, lmm said:

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

On 7/24/2019 at 5:10 PM, NorthWestNuck said:

"Even in some opposing rinks I could still hear a lot of fans cheering for me, and the number of fans I've met has been unbelievable," said Woo. "I take it as a positive, people know me, they want to watch me play, want to see how I am off the ice."

 

Every time a fan “Woo”’s he thinks they’re cheering for him. That’s adorable. lol

Could be cheering for Jett's mom. Shes a hottie!!! <3 <3 <3

[GoldenAlien]

 

[VancouverIteinSanDiego]

Is he at WJHC trying out? Just saw a tsn video talking about the d didn't mention Woo

[DeNiro]

12 minutes ago, VancouverIteinSanDiego said:

Is he at WJHC trying out? Just saw a tsn video talking about the d didn't mention Woo

Button always likes to hype the 17 year old kids but chances are guys like Barron will not make the team.

 

This is a 19 year olds tournament and Woo has the offensive production to go along with a physical edge that coaches will be looking for.

 

Unless he’s injured or has a slow start he should be on the team.

[dpn1]

8 hours ago, VancouverIteinSanDiego said:

Is he at WJHC trying out? Just saw a tsn video talking about the d didn't mention Woo

He is at the tourney and played for Canada against the Fins.  He had an assist in the game.

[Psycho_Path]

Article on Woo in the Athletic: https://theathletic.com/1111427/2019/08/08/hes-a-throwback-canucks-prospect-jett-woo-plays-a-different-brand-of-hockey/

 

‘He’s a throwback’: Canucks prospect Jett Woo plays like he’s in a different era of hockey

By Scott Wheeler Aug 8, 2019 10

Alan Millar has been a CHL general manager for more than 20 years, overseeing the Guelph Storm, the Sarnia Sting and, since 2010, the Moose Jaw Warriors. Before that, he also worked as the Saint John Flames’ director of hockey operations in the AHL. He remains a senior advisor to Hockey Canada’s under-18 program.

It’s safe to say he has made a lot of hard decisions over the years.

 

But few — if any — were as hard as the decision he had to make at the beginning of May, the one that sent Jett Woo to the Calgary Hitmen for import defenceman Vladislav Yeryomenko, the WHL’s No. 29 overall pick in 2017 (Ryder Korczak), the No. 11 overall selection in the 2019 WHL bantam draft and a second-round pick in 2021.

 

“It was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made because we have a young man who is a fourth overall pick (in the WHL), he grew up here in Moose Jaw, I have a great relationship with the family, and the challenge for me is that you have to manage today but you have to manage the big picture as well,” Millar said on a recent phone call.

“In terms of the quality of the player and the person, I’ve been doing this a long time and negotiating that deal in the days before the draft, it was as tough a decision as I’ve had to make.”

 

His Warriors had put together some good teams around Woo. They’d tried to push the envelope to get over the hump. But eventually, they needed to retool. And that meant rebuilding, which meant exploring trade options at this year’s bantam draft while keeping Woo’s best interests at heart. In Calgary, he’ll get to play for a championship in his final year of junior hockey so Millar settled on pulling the trigger.

 

It was tough because Woo had endeared himself to everyone — to Millar, his coaching staff, his teammates and a city.

 

They appreciated Woo because he played the kind of hockey Warriors fans love the most. He played a hard-nosed, physical, straight-at-you brand. It’s the same brand many of the Moose Jaw favourites have played over the years.

 

Dylan McIlrath. Deryk Engelland. Troy Brouwer. Travis Hamonic. Joel Edmundson. The Howden brothers. They all played that way, too.

Only in Woo’s era, it’s a dying art.

 

“You don’t hear this term as much as we used to, but he’s a throwback. He’s just a hockey player. He comes to the rink, he does his thing, he plays hard, he competes, he’s got some nastiness in his game, and he wants to take on the best players on the other team. He wants to shut them down, he wants to make the game hard for them to play,” Millar said.

 

“So he combines a good all-around skill level and hockey sense with a real throwback, old-school type player in his game. I think he’s a unique package in today’s game.”

Last year, that unique package allowed Woo, the Canucks’ No. 37 overall pick in 2018, to more than double his production. The result was 66 points in 62 games, which tied him for second among under-19 WHL defencemen in points per game (1.06) with Avalanche No. 4 overall pick Bowen Byram — and behind Devils first-rounder Ty Smith.

A week ago, it also brought him to Plymouth, Mich., as a member of Team Canada for the World Junior Summer Showcase.

 

(Woo appeared in just one game in the tournament, picking up an assist and a -1 rating in Canada’s 8-3 loss to Finland. He was not made available for this story as he continues to recover from a knee injury that resulted in meniscus surgery this offseason.)

 

In September, the showcase will land him in Calgary, where the decision to acquire him was easier than the one to move him.

 

“You very rarely get an opportunity to acquire a No. 1 defenceman at any level,” Hitmen general manager Jeff Chynoweth said. “We looked at our team from last year and we got swept by Edmonton in the second round, and we really felt we were exposed on the backend. We knew this season that our No. 1 need was bringing a top defenceman into the fold.

 

“We’re trying to compete for a WHL championship, and you’ve got to pay to get players who are the quality of a Jett Woo.”

 

That quality of Woo’s is as much about the off-ice person he’s become as much as the on-ice player he is.

 

(Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)

Staff on both teams credit Woo’s parents, Larry and Dolly, for the demeanour of their eldest of three children. Some of Woo’s throwback style comes from his dad, who played two seasons in the WHL (racking up 172 penalty minutes in just 95 games) before playing another four at the University of Manitoba where he added another 245 penalty minutes in 91 games. In 2011 and 2017, Larry played the role of Park Kim in the “Goon” film franchise.

 

Jett Woo was named after actor Jet Li, who once considered moving to Winnipeg with the help of Woo’s grandfather whose Marigold restaurant branches operate out of the city.

 

Millar refers to Jett Woo and his dad as “characters” who are “real pros.”

 

“He’s diligent in terms of wanting to be a player,” Millar said. “He’s a young guy that is really proud of his heritage, proud of his family, and I think that’s part of what drives him just in terms of wanting to be successful. For me, he was a pleasure to have. He’s a quiet leader, but he’s a character guy.”

 

Steve Hamilton, Woo’s new head coach in Calgary, already knows that much as well. He saw it when he picked him to play on Canada’s under-18 team as a 16-year-old, making him the youngest defenceman on the team.

 

“He was a real pleasure to work with,” Hamilton said. “We spent a month over there, and he’s in a situation where he’s an underaged player at that tournament and he just had a very, very calm approach to his game and to the way he handled situations.

 

“We used him a ton because he never seemed overwhelmed and he had a very poised demeanour, which is what you want to see out of a young defenceman. I thought he performed very well over there. There was no panic in his game.”

 

And he has seen it ever since, coaching against him on the other side.

 

“In the last couple of years, he has really developed his offensive game,” Hamilton said. “The growth he has shown in the last couple of years has been very impressive.

“He’s really a very complete player in the sense that he brings a ton of offensive element to his game, he’s really good on the (power play), but he also plays a very physical, consistent defensive game. He has worked hard at his craft.”

 

Chynoweth admits to being a fan of Woo’s old-school style since his bantam year with the Winnipeg Warriors.

 

“He’s a premier player,” Chynoweth said. “He does everything very well and that’s so important. In today’s game, he sees the ice well, he skates well, he makes a good first pass, he’s got an offensive presence, he can play gritty, he’s not afraid to get his nose dirty. He checks off all the boxes you look for in a player.

 

“He’s an NHL-drafted player and signed, he knows where he wants to get to, and we want to help him to achieve that goal as fast as we can.”

 

Woo reaffirmed that in each of their conversations after the trade. Chynoweth said Woo already knows teammates Riley Stotts (a Leafs draftee) and Carson Focht (a fellow Canucks prospect).

 

“He’s very articulate,” Chynoweth said. “He’s going to fit in real well. It’s one of those deals where even though I don’t know him, we all feel like we know Jett Woo. We’re very impressed with our conversations and what he wants to achieve this year.”

 

In Millar’s goodbye, he told Woo that he felt he had what it takes to get to where he wants to go.

 

“He’s a throwback in terms of his edge and his competitiveness, but he can play,” Millar finished. “He has started to show more offensive upside, I think his adjustment will be smooth. I think he’ll be a top-five defenceman in our league next year, a key guy on the world junior team, and he’ll play in the NHL.

 

“I think it might take him some time in the AHL because that doesn’t hurt anybody, but I think Jett will have a long, solid NHL career.”

[Hairy Kneel]

Great compete level. Excited to see him develop this year.

[dpn1]

Really interesting to hear how both teams hold him in high esteem. 

[EP Phone Home]

One more year of junior with the Hitman and he will move to the Comets,then like OJ will have opportunity to make the big club. Add in Rathebone coming in possibly after his collage career and our young D core is coming up nicely. Lots to be excited about. Woo is the gritty rock we need back there to balance skill with hard nosed old time hockey grit. 

[aqua59]

I hope there's a few Hitmen games on we can catch. I like watching players play with their peers before the big step up.

[Kobayashi Maru]

He is basically this generations Bieksa.  Seems to be the exact mold of playing with intensity in the D zone and having an good offensive presence.  Seems like pretty much a lock for the second pair in two years.

[Ihatetomatoes]

How did Woo look for those who watched that game?

[stanleysteamersmyl]

Future shut down defensemen:  Woo and Tryamkin

[cuporbust]

On 9/7/2019 at 8:08 PM, Kobayashi Maru said:

He is basically this generations Bieksa.  Seems to be the exact mold of playing with intensity in the D zone and having an good offensive presence.  Seems like pretty much a lock for the second pair in two years.

Bieksa was a legit fighter and 45 point d man. Not seeing this comparison. Maybe Willie Mitchell 

Edited September 17, 2019 by cuporbust

[Pure961089]

Woo has elite potential. https://canucksarmy.com/2019/09/15/2019-preseason-prospect-rankings-6-jett-woo/