Meet Saige Weinstein
Saige Weinstein was born in Edmonton, AB, on May 30, 2005. The defender stands 6’0 and weighs in at 174 lbs. When I asked him how he originally got into hockey, he said, “I’ve played hockey my whole life, probably since I was four years old. I started taking it more seriously around (when I was) seven. My mom made me pick between soccer and hockey, so I picked hockey. And that’s when I started playing more seriously.” Clearly, his choice led him down the path to what would become a great career, and this year’s NHL draft will only help him go further.
There are lots of aspects to hockey that everyone enjoys. Saige says that his favorite thing is “Making the memories. I think creating new friendships with your new teammates every year and just building those friendships I think is my favorite part.”
Player Highlights
In this season, which was his second full season with the Spokane Chiefs, Weinstein played 57 games, scored four goals, assisted 14, and had 96 total penalty minutes. When I asked him for his thoughts on his performance and development in the WHL, he said “Talking about this season, I think there’s a lot of things coming into this season that I knew I needed to work on, and my coaches helped me out a lot with that. I think we developed many skills that I wanted to work on and needed to improve on. So they helped me out with that.”
When asked his opinion on the hardest and best parts of playing his position, Saige told me that “The hardest thing is probably when you’ve got a fast forechecker coming after you, and you’re the last guy back; He’s coming at you full blast, and it’s just you against the boards, and he’s right behind you. Probably the funnest thing is to be on the back end and just quarterbacking the plays. I mean, you can literally see all the ice; no one really can. You have the puck, and you’re looking forward, and you see everybody. So I’d probably say that’s the most fun.”
Draft dedication
With the NHL draft being about a week away, Saige is mainly looking forward to spending time with his family and the people who helped him get to where he is now. “If I do end up getting drafted, (I would be) appreciating that moment.”
Some of Weinstein’s rankings are as follows:
#113 by ELITEPROSPECTS.COM
#155 by FCHOCKEY
#132 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING
Personal Perception:
As I was talking with Saige Weinstein, I could definitely see that he has a lot of confidence in his skills but also takes responsibility in keeping himself grounded and down-to-earth. I asked him to compare his skill set and playing style to a current NHL player, and he told me, “I’d probably go with Radko Gudas of Florida. I think he plays with a chip on his shoulder, just like I do. He’s physical, he can skate, and he has an offensive side to him.”
One thing that he told me that sticks out among his other responses was from when I asked him about what he thinks he can bring to whatever team he gets drafted to. He responded by saying, “I think I can bring good skating and physicality. I think I’m an offensive player as well, I can bring some offense to my game. I think I’m a good leader as well, I think I’m a good teammate in and out of the locker room, as well as on and off the ice.” Leadership is one thing that a lot of athletes often admire seeing in their fellow teammates and that coaches look for in their players. I hope to see Saige as a leader in the NHL in the near future.
