Gabriel Westling made his Clippers season debut on Nov. 10 and the team has since rolled to four consecutive victories. (Island Images Photography))

By Dan Marshall

Delayed Start

VIDEO: Westling returns to lineup as Nanaimo Clippers heat up

Nov 22, 2023 | 4:14 PM

NANAIMO — Gabriel Westling was on the cusp of beginning his BCHL career with the Clippers but an injury in the club’s final preseason game held him back.

Just a week before the regular season, Westling was sidelined and final played his first game on Nov. 10 against Victoria.

The Swedish born forward transitioned from playing U20 hockey in his hometown of Mora, Sweden in the 2021-22 season to the North American Hockey League in Maryland last season.

He admitted it wasn’t easy being hurt unable to make a difference with his teammates.

“Sitting there and watching all the games is super hard, you just want to get out there. Finally getting out there for warm-ups, hearing the crowd and that first puck drop was awesome.”

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Westling has a goal and an assist in his first four games as he’s working his way up to speed.

“It’s a lot different than practice. As soon as you get out there it’s a completely different thing. It takes time to get back to it, especially the pace. My lungs are starting to get better. Reading the game and getting to back to where I was before, hopefully I’ll keep getting better.”

The 20-year-old believes he has many attributes that can help the team win.

“I’m a two-way centre. I can play in the defensive zone and the offensive zone. I’m usually good at using my size to protect the puck, making good offensive plays and I like to pass the puck a lot.”

Since his debut the Clippers haven’t lost.

Nanaimo took down Victoria and Alberni Valley with identical 5-2 scores on Nov 10 and 11 and then recorded victories of 5-3 in Trail and 6-3 in Cranbrook on the club’s longest road trip of the season Nov. 17 and 18.

Heading into back to back games with the Bulldogs Nov. 24 and 25 Westling is confident the team can continue it’s run of stong play.

“We feel like a whole different team now and we just have to keep it going now. I feel like we’re definitely a top team. We still have some things to fix but I feel like we’ve had a restart now and the team feels great,” Westling told NanaimoNewsNOW.

CLIP NOTES:

Forward Joel Plante has been named the BCHL’s third star of the week after scoring four goals in two games, including his first BCHL hat trick in Cranbrook.

Willyam Gendron is on an 11 game point streak with 20 points in that span while Mike Murtagh is on an eight game streak with 11 points.

The Clippers will conclude their seven game season series with Alberni Valley on Nov. 24 and 25. The seven games will be played in a span of 57 days.