Parker Schellenberg is a promising young hockey player – that’s evident through just his first two junior games with the Bonnyville Pontiacs this past weekend.
The 16-year-old native of Irvine, California made his debut against the Grande Prairie Storm on Friday. Twenty-four hours later, he played against the first-place Whitecourt Wolverines and looked confident, poised and sturdy.
In fact, he recorded an assist on Liam Reed’s first AJHL goal on the powerplay in the 3rd period. “It was great to just be out there again, especially after not playing for so long. It’s great to be out there with the boys,” Schellenberg said.
Schellenberg’s bright future is not news. The 6’4″, right-shot defenceman was selected third overall in the 2024 WHL US Prospect Draft by the Calgary Hitmen. In February, Schellenberg put pen to paper with the Hitmen, inking a scholarship and signalling the intention to come north to Canada.
At that time, he was playing with the Chicago Mission U15AAA program, who practice at Chicago Blackhawks facilities, and have boasted many notable alumni, including Dustin Byfuglien and Christian Dvorak.
However, a gruesome injury threatened to slow this shooting star.
In September, Schellenberg went down just as his season was about to get going, where the bone ripped apart from his hip. Due to the strength of his muscle, the tear did not require surgery.
After successful time to heal, and just one practice with the Pontiacs, he hopped on the bus Friday morning to join the Yaks for the road trip. While he remarked about the “cold” Alberta weather, Schellenberg was grateful to be back playing, as he roomed with Maxwell Pendy.
“A lot of workouts, doing a lot of my work in the gym,” he said about his recovery. “I got on the ice probably about a month ago, it was no contact for awhile. I definitely felt like I was getting back into the speed of things in that first game. The longer it went, the better I felt.”
That elevation in his game was evidenced by playing just over 20 minutes of ice-time, third amongst Pontiacs defenders against the Wolverines. He’s made a great impression on head coach Chad Mercier.
“You can see why the Hitmen are so high on him,” Mercier said, commenting on his intensity and willingness to engage in the hard areas, especially as both games were tight-checking.
“That’s one of the things I noticed with him. He competed and he almost did it with a smile on his face. He has an intensity to him, and a focus to him that hopefully rubs off on us a little bit.”
The Bonnyville Pontiacs organizational philosophy continues to be to acquire high-end talent as a place to develop for the next level. With Schellenberg’s addition, there are three 16-year-olds, and four 17-year-olds, who all play elevated roles in the Yaks lineup, including locals Gavin Harrison and Rylan Emigh.
General manager Chad Nelson believes building relationships with WHL teams, especially the Alberta teams, is extremely important, citing the transparency of working Calgary Hitmen GM Garry Davidson.
“Parker’s potential is very exciting on our end. We all believe Parker has the potential to play professional hockey in his future, and being under the leadership of Coach Mercier, we hope to assist Parker as a step in his hockey aspirations,” Nelson said.
Tonight Schellenberg will play his first game the RJ Lalonde Arena in Bonnyville at 7:00pm for a rematch with the league leading Whitecourt Wolverines.
