OLDS — Throughout his career, hometown Olds Grizzly Kyle Venneman saw himself as more of an offensive defenceman, but now he has a greater appreciation for the purely defensive side of the game.
Venneman, 19, attributes his growth in that area to Grizzlys head coach-GM Scott Atkinson.
"He is really helping my game out in the defensive way for sure, in battles, in corners and in front of the net," Venneman said during an interview with the Albertan.
“It’s really making my game more of a two-way game, because I like to be more offensive as a defenceman. But knowing the defensive way of the game too is never a bad thing at all, so I’m really thanking Scotty for that.”
Venneman was born and raised in Olds. He came up through the Olds minor hockey system.
Venneman can thank his brothers for sparking his interest in the game
“My older brothers were playing hockey so I thought it was kind of cool for me to join as well. I thought it was a cool sport,” he said.
During the 2015-16 season, Venneman played on the Western Canada Selects U13 team. During that time, he scored one goal, picked up one assist and was tagged for six minutes in penalties in eight games.
He joined the Grizzlys in the 2021-22 season after playing U18 AAA hockey in Red Deer, although he only got in five games in his last year, due to COVID restrictions.
“It was kind of a throwaway year, I didn’t develop too much,” he said. “But I was lucky enough to have Olds come and talk to me so yeah, it’s pretty awesome.”
Venneman admits at first, the transition from U18 AAA hockey to junior A hockey was quite an adjustment.
“It was pretty hard, I think,” he said. “It was definitely faster, definitely bigger, definitely stronger, but it took me a couple of games in and then I started to get used to it a little bit and I kept up pretty well.”
At five-feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 175 pounds, Venneman is not the biggest defenceman in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
But he brings versatility and blazing speed to team, assistant coach and assistant general manager Pete deGraaf says.
“Kyle is a very versatile player. He’s been playing forward and defence for us,” deGraaf said.
“He’s one of the fastest players in our league, so he uses his speed to his advantage.
“Sometimes he’ll bring the puck up the ice as a defenceman and be the first player in on the forecheck, which is unusual. But when you have his speed, you can do that.”
In order to improve, Venneman just needs to grow though experience, and maybe shoot more, deGraaf said.
As of last week, Venneman had played 39 games this season during which he scored one goal and picked up seven assists for eight points.
Last season, Venneman scored four goals and obtained two assists for six points in 32 games.
“If he can find the back of the net or capitalize on scoring chances on a more regular basis, he’s another player that has all the tools to get to the next level,” deGraaf said.
“He just needs to maybe be rewarded by picking up some points; especially goals, because he does create a lot of chances with his speed.”
Like virtually all junior A hockey players, Venneman’s goal after he ages out of the Alberta Junior Hockey League is to play hockey at the NCAA Division 1 level in the U.S. or U Sports hockey at one of the universities in Canada.
“We’ll see where the road takes me. If not, it happens, it’s not a big deal, but that’s definitely the goal,” he said.
After hockey, Venneman is not sure what he wants to do for a living.
“I haven’t thought about this too much, but part of me wants to be an engineer, actually, so I don’t know,” he said.
Venneman said he might look for a way to stay in the sport as well, maybe by going into physio or sports medicine or coaching hockey.
