FORT WORTH, Texas – To say that Fort Worth Brahmas goalie Kristofer Westblom took the road less traveled really doesn’t fit the situation. It most likely isn’t the road most traveled, but he has surely racked up a ton of miles as he has made his way from the small town of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan to the bright lights of Fort Worth, Texas.
Westblom grew up in Meadow Lake but would go on to play his midget hockey three and half hours down the road in Saskatoon before heading all the way out to Kelowna, British Columbia for four seasons of Major Junior.
While playing with the Kelowna Rockets, Westblom would hear his name called during the third round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft when he was selected 65th overall by the Minnesota Wild. After he exhausted his junior eligibility, Westblom had a decision to make – try his hand at professional hockey or head off to college.
“I spent a month with Wilkes-Barre in the American League so I definitely had that in the back of my mind,” Westblom said. “As the summer progressed, jobs were a little tight at the pro level, so I decided to go to school and make the most of that.”
Westblom traveled to Wolfville, Nova Scotia to attend Acadia University, where he studied Business Administration. He played in 62 games over three seasons with the Axemen, putting together a 34-27 record. After the completion of his senior season, Westblom got his first actual taste of professional hockey with the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads.
Kristofer Westblom
“I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to go there at the end of my college career to have a brief tryout,” Westblom said. “I happened to get in all four starts when I was there for the week. I had to come back to finish up school but it was a nice little run with them.”
After getting his degree, Westblom participated in the Philadelphia Flyers’ prospect camp in the summer of 2011 before he eventually signed with the Central Hockey League’s Dayton Gems. Things in Dayton didn’t go quite as he had hoped with the team struggling out of the gate and having made some mistakes himself. “There was a short leash there,” he said.
Westblom returned to Saskatchewan to finish off the season, joining the Lloydminster Border Kings of the Chinook Hockey League. He saw the Border Kings as a great fit for him due to several factors. Lloydminster is only about two hours away from Meadow Lake and that allowed his parents to come to a lot of his games.
Not only was the team full of talent, they were also hosting the 2012 Allan Cup tournament, the top prize for Canadian amateur hockey. Lloydminster fell short of their ultimate goal but Westblom still considers it a valuable experience.
Westblom got another shot at a job in the CHL when he was invited to the Fort Worth Brahmas’ training camp. He won the competition in training camp to be named to the team’s opening night roster but before the Brahmas even played a game, he found himself in the stands as the Brahmas gave veteran Larry Sterling a shot at the backup spot.
Westblom didn’t let this get him down and kept working hard.
“I stayed here, kept practicing with the team and everything,” he explained. “Although I wasn’t on the roster, I was told I was still on the team. So I just fought my way until I got a start and things have gone well since then.”
Westblom fends off a Quad City Mallards attacker
Since that initial sidetrack, Westblom has been virtually lights out. In the past two-and-a-half weeks, Westblom has appeared in seven games, starting six of them, and has earned a record of 4-1-1 with a 1.47 goals against average and a .935 save percentage.
Last week, Westblom was named the Oakley/Central Hockey League Goaltender of the Week for the period ending December 2, 2012 after going 3-0 with back-to-back shutouts. He stopped 59 of 60 shots on the week, allowing just one goal.
The 25-year-old started the week with an 18-save shutout effort against the Quad City Mallards and followed that up with his league-leading second shutout, stopping 24 shots against the Arizona Sundogs. On Saturday night, Westblom stopped 17 of 18 shots in the Brahmas’ 5-1 win over the Tulsa Oilers.
He describes the last few weeks as a “whirlwind” after sitting on the sidelines for about a month and a half.
“Things are going really well and the team is starting to play well so I think it’s only going to go up from here,” Westblom said.
If this proves to be true, Brahmas fans are sure to be happy and it will make Westblom’s long, winding road to Fort Worth well worth it.
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