Matthew Thiessen’s hockey fantasy continues. Before dozens of scouts, the stand-out Steinbach Pistons’ netminder put on quite the show in helping Team West earn a 5-2 win over Team East at the Canadian Junior Hockey League Prospects Game President’s Cup at Port Credit Memorial Arena in Mississauga, Ont.
Thiessen’s Piston teammate Riese Gaber also played, earning an assist.
“It was a great experience,” Thiessen told the MJHL Website. “It was really exciting. Of course I wanted to play well knowing there were scouts in the stands. I really enjoyed the whole experience, not only from the hockey part, but also just meeting other CJHL prospects. The calibre of play was very high. It was a good challenge.”
Thiessen played the first half of the game and explained that the ice surface was smaller than a normal-sized rink.
“The pace of play was really fast and everything was coming at me pretty quick because of the smaller rink size.”
With the result, Team West won their second straight President’s Cup crown and now lead the all-time series 8-5.
Meanwhile for Thiessen, his hockey journey continues. Earlier this week it was announced by the CJHL that the Pistons goaltender was the top ranked CJHL netminder in the mid-term rankings by the National Hockey League Central Scouting for the 2018 NHL Draft this June in Dallas.
Thiessen, 17, was one of 20 CJHL players ranked by Central Scouting. The native of Altona is having an outstanding season, reflected in his 20-3 record and league-leading GAA of 2.00. He also has two shutouts this season.
Recently, Thiessen was named the CJHL’s Gongshow Gear 3rd star for December, in addition to being named the MGEU MJHL Goaltender of the Month for December. Thiessen, 6-foot-2, 195-pounds, also recently committed to University of Maine where he’ll join fellow MJHL alumni Brady Keeper (OCN).
