22 hours Ago By By Perry Bergson
Bad luck has been a familiar companion to Nick Johnson for the past two seasons. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support.
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Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! Bad luck has been a familiar companion to Nick Johnson for the past two seasons. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Bad luck has been a familiar companion to Nick Johnson for the past two seasons. The big Brandon Wheat Kings forward from Calgary, who was in action Tuesday night against the Lethbridge Hurricanes in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, has suffered a pair of injuries in both of the last two seasons, missing a combined total of 39 games.
Johnson, who is six-foot-two and weighs 200 pounds, prefers to talk about what he’s gained rather than what he’s lost. Brandon Wheat Kings forward Nick Johnson has a gap in his smile after a puck bounced off the crossbar and hit him in the mouth during practice earlier this season. The big forward, who is shown during practice on Monday at Virden's Tundra Oil and Gas Place, has set offensive career highs this season despite a couple of injuries.
(Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun) “Sometimes I’m lying in bed and I’m thinking to myself, ‘What did I do?’” Johnson said. “I’m looking back on it all now, and I’ve grown just as a human being honestly, besides hockey. “I think I’m a better person for it, and when I see maybe my teammates or other people kind of going through similar stuff, I can help them and I can relate to them.
That’s pretty important to me.” Johnson’s misfortune started in the second game of the season in Regina on Sept. 21.
He had a hat trick that night when he was pulled down from behind by a Pats defenceman as he watched a scrum in the distance, and had to be helped from the ice after injuring his leg. He missed nearly two months, returning on Nov. 15.
He was nicely recovered from the leg injury and playing well when, during practice, a puck dinged off the crossbar and hit him in the mouth, damaging his teeth. As a result, he missed time and then played in a cage when he returned to protect the work done in his mouth. The biggest focus of Johnson’s life is junior hockey, so to have it taken away over and over is almost an existential threat.
He’s overcome the adversity by focusing on becoming better as he dealt with both the physical pain and the emotional pain of being away from his teammates and unable to contribute. “There were a couple of times when the team is on the road and you’re just sitting at home, and in my case, I wasn’t really able to move too great,” Johnson said. “It really takes a toll on you mentally but I like to think that when you get pushed down, you can either mope around about it or figure out a way to change and get better and adapt to it and come back even stronger.
“I took that mentality and I think it paid off.” The Wheat Kings acquired Johnson and defenceman Rhett Ravndahl, plus first-round picks in 2025 and 2027 and a fifth-round pick in 2026 from the Portland Winterhawks in exchange for captain Nate Danielson on Jan. 10, 2024.
He said it was pretty easy to fit in with his new team. “When I first got here, all the guys were very happy when I first came in,” Johnson said. “I’ve got great billets and they’ve been nothing but welcoming and warm hearts to me.
The community is awesome. “Sometimes you walk around the mall and someone sees you and it’s, ‘Oh, that’s so and so.’ “That’s really cool, especially coming from Portland, where you’re on the Portland Winterhawks but nobody really knows your name.
That’s a really neat thing here. It’s really special when you see a young kid knows your name, and pretty heart warming.” Portland absolutely stole Johnson in 2020 when they grabbed him in the 10th round with the 220th overall pick of the WHL draft.
At the time, he was a five-foot-eight, 144-pound forward who had nine goals and 19 assists in 30 games with the Edge School’s under-15 prep team. Nick Johnson, shown on the bench as he watches a drill during practice on Monday, said the adversity he has suffered with injuries has made him a better person. (Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun) “I was a lot smaller back then,” Johnson said.
“Over the years obviously I grew and put on some size too and that’s developed into one of my strengths. Being one of the bigger guys, I think I’m able to capitalize on it and take more pucks to the net, for example.” He earned a spot with the Winterhawks in 2022-23 in his 17-year-old year, with three goals, five assists and 35 penalty minutes in 63 games.
In the 2023-24 season, he had five goals and 13 assists in 29 games before sustaining a lower-body injury on Dec. 10, 2023 when he was hit from behind into the boards during a game against the Everett Silvertips. Johnson was still injured when he was traded, and made his Brandon debut against Lethbridge on Jan.
20, 2024, which just happened to be his 19th birthday. He played eight games, and then suffered a different lower-body injury on Feb. 4, missing a month.
But he showed some real promise, with eight points in 16 games with the Wheat Kings despite the setbacks. In 52 games this season, he has career highs across the board, with 16 goals, 27 assists and 43 points while mainly playing on a line with overagers Nolan Flamand and Marcus Nguyen. “It’s been two kind of long seasons for me,” Johnson said.
“I think overall I’m pretty happy with where my game went to. It was a long ride and there were a lot of ups and downs but overall I’m pretty happy with it.” A defining part of Johnson’s game is that big frame, which allows him to physically overmatch opponents at times.
He also happy to do the hard work along the boards. “It shapes my game style, getting into the corners and taking pucks to the net,” Johnson said. “I like to take advantage of it, especially being an older guy too.
It’s certainly an advantage of mine. I look at what I’ve got and I play to my strengths.” Johnson, who turned 20 on Jan.
20, will be one of four 2005-born players currently on the roster who may be competing for an overage spot next season, alongside defenceman and team captain Quinn Mantei, and forwards Matteo Michels and Dominik Petr. The other 2005-born player on the roster, Carson Bjarnason, is expected to turn pro in the Philadelphia Flyers organization. Brandon Wheat Kings forward Nicholas Johnson (62) digs at the loose puck in front of Saskatoon Blades goalie Evan Gardner (35) and three Blades defenders as he camps out in front of the net.
His willingness to embrace a role as a power forward is something he considers a huge part of his game. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun) Johnson would no doubt be happy to stay. Johnson said he enjoys playing in Brandon because it’s a smaller city.
That allows the players to interact in a way the simply couldn’t in Portland. “When my parents ask ‘How’s it going there?’ it’s just like, ‘I was at so-and-so’s house,’” Johnson said. “It’s a big change.
In Calgary, guys are sometimes 25 minutes away and in Portland, add in the traffic too. Everything adds up to time, and that’s why I think our team is as close as it is. “We’re able to do things outside the rink and that’s as beneficial off the ice as it is on the ice, trusting each other and being there for one another and wanting to go through a wall for each other.
“We all love each other and want to see each other succeed. We would do anything for each other, and I think that’s awesome.” » pbergson@brandonsun.
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