Silvertips’ star Bear proud to be a role model for Indigenous youth

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This article was published 30/10/2024 (327 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you’re looking for a breakout star in the WHL this fall, you don’t need to look any further than West St. Paul’s Carter Bear.

Entering Wednesday’s action, the 17-year-old Everett Silvertips left-winger was tied for the league lead in goals with 12 in 14 games and his 21 points were a single point behind the league leaders.

“I’m a hardworking guy and I’m a leader on this team and I embrace that,” Bear told the Free Press this week from Everett, Wash., where the Silvertips are off to a sizzling 12-2-0-0 start and the No. 4 slot in the weekly Canadian Hockey League rankings. “I don’t really think about goals or points. Those will come if you just do the right things during the game.”

Bear was born in Winnipeg but his parents, Conrad and Misty, come from Peguis First Nation and Carter is cognizant he is already a role model for Indigenous youth as he rises in the rankings for the 2025 NHL Draft.

“Most of my family is there in Peguis and so I always hear a lot of stuff about people watching me and talking about me there,” said Bear, recently named to participate in next month’s the CHL-USA Prospects Challenge. “It’s something you have to think about — that you’re a role model for those kids and keep showing these kids what’s right and what’s wrong…

“I take my culture pretty seriously. I embrace it. I don’t hide away from it.”

Bear, who recently notched his first career hat trick and leads the WHL with three game-winning goals, has found a formula for success in his second full season of major-junior hockey. He’s made a lasting impression on head coach Steve Hamilton, hired in the off-season to replace the departing Dennis Williams.

Hamilton loves Bear’s speed and relentless pursuit of the puck.

“He’s just got outstanding instincts for the game and he’s ultra competitive when he’s out there and super smart,” said Hamilton. “That’s one of the things I noticed right away was how smart he is, how well-positioned he is in terms of going to hard areas to get pucks, his second and third efforts in small-area battles. I just really appreciate that in a player.”

Bear was one of Everett’s sixth-round picks in the 2021 WHL Draft and a particularly good find after the club had traded away its second-, fourth- and fifth-round selections.

“I don’t know if it was a sneaky pick,” said new Silvertips GM Mike Fraser, the club’s director of player personnel at the time. “We didn’t have a ton of early picks, but he was a player that I really liked from the first time that I’d seen him. Without sounding cliche, when he was still available at that point in the draft, you’re pretty excited to get a player like that.”

Bear, who doesn’t turn 18 until Nov. 4, came close to earning a regular spot on the WHL roster for his 16-year-old season. He was sent home after training camp only to be recalled as an affiliate several times during the season, finishing with 19 regular-season games and five playoff games on his resume.

In 2023-24, he earned a permanent promotion to the big club and started flashing his offensive skill by racking up 25 goals and 57 points in 67 regular-season games.

“When I got picked in the sixth round it didn’t really get to me that much,” said Bear. “When I got sent home my first year there are probably guys that would rethink the decision (to play major junior) but that wasn’t my mindset. I took it as a good thing. I took it as something that was meant to be. I stuck with the process and took what the coaches told me.”

Added Fraser: “He’s such a low maintenance player. And what I mean by that is you can tell him that he messed up and he wants to learn from it. He doesn’t get upset about it. He doesn’t pout about it. He wants to know and he wants to correct it and he doesn’t want to do it again.”

The 6-foot, 177-pounder has found chemistry playing on a line with centre Julius Miettinen, a second-round choice of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken in 2024, and undrafted right-winger Jesse Heslop. Hiettinen and Heslop have registered 12 and 16 points, respectively.

“He isn’t just a one-dimensional player,” said Hamilton of Bear. “He can play all three forward positions and kills penalties. He plays on the power play and in multiple spots — wherever we need him. He’s been excellent.”

Bear is happy to have found his niche with the Silvertips, a young team already making a push for title contention.

“They’ve done so much for me,” said Bear. “It’s an amazing city to play in and an amazing first-class organization to play with. I’m grateful to be here.”

Hamilton named Bear one of the club’s alternate captains and management also handed Bear and Heslop the off-ice task of serving as the billet brothers for first-overall 2024 draft choice Landon DuPont. DuPont, a defenceman, is the second player after Connor Bedard to to be granted exceptional status to play major junior as a 15-year-old.

“Oh, my god, he’s gifted for sure,” said Bear. “And honestly, he’s a great guy off the ice. He’s very humble and funny to be with. Just a great guy overall. He’s so mature for his age. I keep forgetting he’s a 15-year-old.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca