Winnipeg Ice's Conor Geekie, Matt Savoie living a dream after being drafted to NHL

Conor Geekie and Matt Savoie hugged and then began separate NHL journeys this week — though as they have so many times in their young hockey careers, the Prairie boys will still be skating similar paths.

Both players joined the Winnipeg Ice the same year, after being drafted first (Savoie) and second (Geekie) overall in the 2019 Western Hockey League bantam draft.

They were the newest recruits on a rebuilding team that relocated from Cranbrook, B.C., to Winnipeg before the 2019-20 season, both playing centre.

They helped carry the team from the bottom of the WHL standings to the peak of not only that league, but the entire 60-team Canadian Hockey League (which includes the Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League).

On Thursday, the two 18-year-olds both had their names called in the first round of the 2022 NHL draft. 

Savoie, from St. Albert, Alta., was selected ninth overall by the Buffalo Sabres and Geekie, from Strathclair, Man., was taken 11th overall by the Arizona Coyotes.

As Buffalo announced their pick, "when I heard 'Winnipeg Ice' … I never thought I'd get so nervous so quick," Geekie said during a Zoom conference with media on Friday. 

"Me and Sav looked at each other because we didn't know what was happening. Obviously, he went there, which is super exciting."

Television cameras caught the former teammates hugging in the stands.

"It was awesome to have Geeks right there alongside me," Savoie said in a separate Zoom call Friday. "Supporting each other through every step of the way was pretty special — to go through it with a teammate and a guy like that."

After a couple of years of virtual NHL drafts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Savoie was thankful for a live experience — and at the Bell Centre in Montreal, a hotbed of hockey and home to one of the NHL's original six franchises.

"It was definitely buzzing in there last night," he said. "Walking [on] that stage and putting on the jersey, it was a great experience and just a dream come true, for sure."

The experience was a whirlwind, said Geekie, who tried to stay focused and soak it in alongside his family.

"My mom helped me with that a little bit," he said.

So did his two older brothers — Noah, 22, and Morgan, 23. The latter went through it all in 2017, drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes 67th overall.

3 Manitoba-born picks

Geekie was one of three Manitoba-born players drafted on Thursday. The Columbus Blue Jackets chose defenceman Denton Mateychuk, from Dominion City, immediately after Geekie's name had been called.

The Pittsburgh Penguins then selected St. Adolphe's Owen Pickering with the 21st pick.

"It's a proving point that Manitoba is an easy place to play hockey and good players can come out of Manitoba, too, not just the bigger provinces," Geekie said.

"We're all pretty — very proud, actually — to come out of there."

Coincidentally, the last time he was in Montreal was with Mateychuk and Pickering — in 2017, they were teammates on Manitoba's squad at the 13U national baseball championships.

"And this time we're at the NHL draft, so very cool, and just very honoured to go through it with them," he said.

Though headed in different directions now, Savoie and Geekie are once again on parallel and familiar paths, going to teams in the rebuilding stage. 

The Sabres and Coyotes have been in the NHL's cellar for a few seasons, drafting young players they hope will become solid foundations for growth.

"I guess you could say I'm used to it in a way," Geekie said, headed to an Arizona team that was 31st in the 32-team NHL this past season. "But [I'm] super excited, ready to be a part of their organization and their rebuild."

Buffalo finished 24th this season.

"There's a huge opportunity here. It's a really young roster, a young core group of guys," Savoie said of his new club. "I think time-wise and age-wise, it kind of lines up perfectly for me."

Manitoba connections

Both he and Geekie have been contacted and congratulated by a number of their new teammates. For Savoie, that includes former Winnipeg Ice teammate and captain Peyton Krebs.

"Gonna be good to get down there and see Krebsy again. Haven't seen him in a couple years," he said, noting they once roomed together when they were with the WHL team.

Krebs, who also hails from Alberta (Okotoks), was drafted 17th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019 but remained with the Ice through part of the 2020-21 season. Later that year, he was traded to Buffalo. 

Geekie's new team also has a Manitoba connection. Former Jets captain Andrew Ladd is there and the team is actually the original Jets club, which left Winnipeg in 1996 and relocated to Phoenix.

But the player he's most interested in meeting on the ice is his brother, Morgan, who now plays for the Seattle Kraken.

"It'll be something pretty cool — really looking forward to that moment," he said, adding the brotherly competition has been taken to a new level.

"I hope he gives up sometime soon, though, because I might have to keep proving him wrong."

Mikey Milne, another Ice alumnus and teammate of Savoie and Geekie, also has a new jersey. The 19-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., was drafted Friday by the Minnesota Wild, 89th overall.