Whalers rookie Josh Wesley out to make a name for himself
By Matt Mackinder –
Josh Wesley may have the Wesley name on the back of his jersey and may look like his famous NHL father, Glen Wesley, but on the ice, all the Plymouth Whalers’ rookie defenseman wants to do is play his own game his own way and create his own identity.
And that’s not a bad thing, even if he’ll be the second Wesley to skate for a team known as the Whalers.
“It’s not my dad out there these days,” said Josh Wesley, who turned 17 in April. “It’s all me now. I know I’ll always have that target on my back and people will always want to compare me to my dad, but that’s something I’ll always carry with me. I just have to create an identity that’s all my own and make people talk about me for me and for who I am.”
Drafted by the Whalers in the fifth round (92nd overall) of the 2012 Ontario Hockey League draft, Wesley skated in Ann Arbor during the 2012-13 season with the United States National Team Development Program’s Under-17 Team, recording seven assists in 56 games. He played for the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes program in 2011-12, scoring seven goals and six assists for 13 points in 18 games.
Wesley is the latest in a long line of American-born players to commit to the Whalers and the OHL, but the only one to ever call North Carolina home.
“I was born in Hartford when my dad was playing for the Hartford Whalers (in 1996) and then when I was two, we moved to Carolina after the Whalers moved to Raleigh (N.C.),” explained Wesley. “It was an inspiration to watch my dad play for all those years (Glen played 20 with Boston, Hartford, Toronto and Carolina) and then when Carolina won the Stanley Cup in 2006, just so many memories – and I was only 10 years old. I just remember all of the emotion and then when my family was with him on the ice and to see him cry tears of joy was just something special.”
As has been the case for a number of years, high-level American-born players have to choose at an early age between the major junior route or waiting it out for an NCAA offer. Wesley went to the NTDP and after just one year there, left to forgo his collegiate eligibility and sign with the Whalers.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve gone to games in Plymouth and always thought it was cool to watch those guys,” said Wesley. “Then when I went to the NTDP, I was near Plymouth a lot and when I could, I’d come watch the games and the more I watched the OHL, I loved the style more and more. (Plymouth coach and general manager) Mike Vellucci gave me a great opportunity and now it’s up to me to prove that it was the right choice. I always knew I’d have to leave home at some point because hockey in North Carolina just isn’t what it is here.
“It was hard to leave the NTDP, all the memories and all the guys there, but I just felt it was my time to start a new chapter.”
In choosing to embark on a career in the OHL, Wesley consulted his father, who also went the major junior route with the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks from 1983-87.
“When I had the choice to make between Plymouth and college, all my dad said was that he would support me either way,” Wesley said. “My dad is a very special man, a very special father and I don’t think I’d be where I am today if it wasn’t for him. We’ve always had a close family (with Glen and mother, Barb, older sister, Amanda, 20, and younger brother, Matthew, who is 14) and having that helps when you have to make a decision that takes you away from them.”
And with the OHL season right around the corner, Wesley is ready to drop the puck.
“I just want to go out and show people what I can do,” said Wesley. “If the numbers are there, great, but I just want to bring my game and help the team win however I can.”