A defenceman from Didsbury suited up for his first Alberta Junior Hockey League games over the weekend.
Aaron Sawatzky (2008) officially joined the active roster for the Olds Grizzlys last week. The 17 year old blueliner explains how he wound up on the ice at the Sportsplex. Sawatzky says “yeah, I’ve been battling an injury for about a year now almost and got a chance to come here and kind of get restarted and get back on the ice, so it has been good.”
Sawatzky was chosen 16th overall in the first round of the Western Hockey League’s Prospects Draft in 2023 by the Moose Jaw Warriors. He had plenty of supporters on hand for his first game in Olds on Saturday, December 6th. Sawatzky says “yeah, lots. My family was super pumped to see me back on the ice here and yeah playing local it is pretty sweet.”
While he did not register a point during his first two AJHL contests, Sawatzky notes that his ability to make that first pass out of the defensive zone is probably his best asset. He listed winning a provincial championship with current Olds Grizzlys Head Coach Tyson Soloski as his coach during the 2022-2023 season for the Airdrie Xtreme U15 AAA in the Alberta Elite Hockey League as his favourite minor hockey moment. He put up 10 goals and 38 points in 33 games that year and was named the league’s top defenceman and earned a first all-star team nod as well. Soloski says “yeah, Sawatzky is an excellent player. He is going to step in and do a great job. He has been hurt for a while and hasn’t played a game since last January. I think that is the biggest reason he is probably here right now is that he hasn’t played in a long time. We are super excited to have him. We are big on development and we are hoping we can help him get back to his game and get back to the Western League that would be great for him and great for our organization and if he is here for a little bit longer I know he is going to help us on the ice, so it is great.”
Sawatzky wasn’t the only new addition to debut on the blueline with the Grizzlys on Saturday against the Bobcats, as Owen Hutzul (2006) from Edmonton was also in the line up for the first time. Hutzul joined the team via a trade with the Grande Prairie Storm last week. He had a goal and 5 points in 22 games with the Storm so far this season. Forward Ayaan Vira discussed the pair of new defencemen for Olds. He says “two amazing players. I think they bring a lot of skill and bring a lot to our roster. So I mean, looking forward to keeping them with us and, you know, they are two great players and we love having them.”
The Grizzlys (9-16-1-1) will spend this weekend on the road with stops in Devon (10-11-1-1) on Friday, December 12th and Whitecourt (18-6-0-1) on Saturday, December 13th.
Their final two home games before the holiday break are on December 17th versus Grande Prairie (13-10-0-1) and December 20th against Fort McMurray (13-8-4-1).
Listen to 96.5 The Ranch’s post-game conversation with Aaron Sawatzky from December 6th.
