Latrell Charleson seems to be adjusting well to all his mid-season changes.
In December the 16-year-old Charleson was living with his mother, attending his Grade 11 classes at Burnsview Secondary School in North Delta and playing for the Surrey-based Valley West Hawks of the British Columbia Major Midget Hockey League.
But these days Charleson, whose father Jason is Hesquiaht and lives in Vancouver, is leading a completely different life.
That's because in early January he signed a contract with the Prince George Spruce Kings, a Junior A club that competes in the British Columbia Hockey League.
Charleson had to move about 10 hours from his home in order to join the Spruce Kings. He's being billeted with a Prince George family, and he’s now attending Prince George Secondary School.
“I'm just getting used to the jump and everything about junior hockey,” Latrell said.
Charleson is the only 16-year-old on the Spruce Kings’ roster. The club and league includes some players who are considerably older, as they are turning 21 this year.
Despite being the youngest on his team, Charleson said he’s blended in nicely.
“Everyone is treating me really well,” he said.
Charleson’s grandfather, Alf Thompson, who lives in Port Alberni, can take some of the credit for his grandson landing in Prince George. Thompson told one of the Spruce Kings’ owners to keep an eye on his grandson.
Shortly afterwards Charleson joined the Spruce Kings as an affiliated player (AP) for a late December game in Chilliwack. The Spruce Kings then asked Charleson to play two more games as an AP in Prince George.
“From those games I really liked what I saw,” said the Spruce Kings’ general manager Mike Hawes of Charleson’s play.
Then on Jan. 8 the Prince George squad added Charleson, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound defenceman, to their roster for the remainder of the season.
As of Jan. 30, Charleson had appeared in 11 games with the Spruce Kings. He earned his first point, an assist in Prince George’s 7-2 home victory against the Vernon Vipers on Jan. 28.
The Spruce Kings have 15 regular season contests remaining. The team's next game is this Friday (Feb. 3) at home versus the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
Prince George’s roster features seven defencemen. While most clubs usually dress six blueliners per game, Charleson does not anticipate being a healthy scratch for any period of time.
“They said I'd be dressing for a lot of the games,” he said of the team’s brass.
Charleson has suited up in every game he's been with the Spruce Kings.
“He's been great for us,” Hawes said. “And he's a player with tremendous size.”
The Prince George club, however, is still easing Charleson into their lineup.
“As a young guy we're getting him out there in certain situations,” Hawes said, adding Charleson is not among the team's top four defencemen at this point and is getting the amount of ice time that most rearguards who are ranked fifth and sixth on a team’s depth chart can expect.
As for the biggest difference between midget and junior hockey?
“Probably the speed of the players,” Charleson said. “But now that I'm getting used to that I'm just trying to do what I can.”
The BCHL features 16 squads. The Spruce Kings are in the eight-team Interior Conference.
Prince George is currently in fourth place in its conference standings with a 22-17-2-4 record. The Spruce Kings are faring considerably better than last season when they finished in the conference basement and failed to advance to the playoffs.
Because of his age, Charleson is eligible to suit up for the Spruce Kings for as many as four more seasons.
“I expect him to be here a few years,” Hawes said. “By the time he leaves he’ll be a dominant player.”
But there is the possibility that Charleson’s stay in Prince George will be a relative short one. That’s because he was selected by Saskatchewan’s Moose Jaw Warriors in the 2010 Western Hockey League (WHL) bantam draft.
Charleson has attended the Warriors’ training camp in each of the past two years. Because of his age, however, he was not realistically anticipating to crack their roster either time.
He plans to go to the Warriors’ camp again this year. And he’d welcome the chance to play in the WHL, a step above the BCHL.
“If Moose Jaw takes me, I’d go there,” he said.
