
Ty Pratte grew up in Moose Jaw, home of the 2024 Western Hockey League champion Warriors.
He loves to travel, hunt, fish, spend time with his loved ones and play hockey, among other things. Pratte has been a fan of hockey for as long as he can remember and jumped into the competitive scene with his hometown U-15 AA Warriors, where he played 31 games from 2018-2020.
After a 14-point season during the 2019-20 campaign, Pratte was ready to ramp things up and take his game to the next level. He enrolled at Prairie Hockey Academy (PHA) a mere 25-minute drive from his hometown in Caronport, Saskatchewan. In the Canadian Sport School Hockey League, Ty spent three years at PHA between the U-16 Prep team, U-17 Prep team and U-18 Prep team. His best seasons came in back-to-back years from 2021-23 when he had 35 points in 34 regular season games with the U-17 team before earning 36 points in 33 games the following year with the U-18 team.
Pratte also produced four points across six playoff games during those two seasons.
That’s when the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) came calling and specifically, the Winkler Flyers. He played 15 games with the Flyers last season, registering a goal and one assist, before he was acquired by the Dauphin Kings. Pratte was City of Sunshine bound and quickly felt right at home.
“The transition for me was awesome, I knew coming to Dauphin was a great opportunity to meet new people and just continue my junior hockey experience,” said Pratte. “I was welcomed with open arms and I knew I was joining a great organization with a rich history.”
Joining the team during the second half of the campaign, Pratte notched four assists in 19 regular season games along with 10 penalty minutes. As Dauphin battled the Blizzard in one of the longest playoff series in league history during the first round of the Turnbull Cup playoffs, Pratte was front and centre as he was a key cog on the team’s back end, playing all seven playoff games and posting three assists.
The team’s season came to an end on April 3 when Riley See scored in triple-overtime to send the Kings home and immediately, Pratte turned his focus to coming back to Dauphin for year number two.
“I trained a ton at PHA, they had professional training going on so I was on the ice and in the gym a lot,” offered Pratte. “I had a great chance to get better and stay sharp; I knew how important that was coming into this year.”
Pratte’s hard work throughout the summer months did not go unnoticed. He came into camp in incredible shape and was playing with more confidence. That has resulted in the soon-to-be 19-year-old playing top minutes with the Kings this year including plenty of power play time.
He’s already posted a career-high at the junior level with seven assists and the season is only a third of the way complete.
The Kings are back on the ice this weekend as they play the Winnipeg Freeze on Friday before heading to Selkirk to play the Steelers on Saturday evening. It would appear that Dauphin has hit their stride heading into the road trip with wins in three straight. They have won in 10 of 14 games and are just a single point behind the Northern Manitoba Blizzard for first place in the MGEU West Division, with a game in hand.
Dauphin has allowed the third-fewest goals against in the league (30) and has scored the fourth-most (51). Dauphin’s power play is fourth-best in the league (26.3%) and their penalty kill (85.7%) is the third-best, only behind Waywayseecappo and Portage.
“I am pretty happy with the start that I’m having so far. I just want to keep moving on an upward trend and continue to get better,” commented Pratte. “The team is doing great, we’re rolling right now. Everyone is here with a common goal, we work together. We have a great group and I’m honoured to be a part of it.”
As Dauphin has won three straight, two of the victories have come against the defending league champion Winkler Flyers. The same team that Pratte began last year with but as the club was going on a title run, Pratte wasn’t getting the ice time that he deserved.
Now he’s in Dauphin and it was quite the feeling beating the team that traded him.
“It was awesome, my parents called me right after the game and there was a ton of excitement,” offered Pratte. “My billets in Winkler sent me a text and said that must feel pretty good to beat Winkler twice. The boys pushed hard and it was two huge wins for us, fun to be a part of.”
When speaking about his parents, Ty says they remain extremely close, although they don’t live in the same province.
“They have been my biggest supporters on and off the ice,” commented Pratte. “They work full-time and are very busy but they always make sure to take time to shoot me a text or phone me. They have sacrificed and spent a lot of money on me and my brothers over the years. Family means everything to me, so I’m extremely grateful.”
Ty is also not the only one in the family playing elite hockey. His brothers have followed in his footsteps and are currently at Prairie Hockey Academy. Kale Pratte (U18 Prep) is a 17-year-old forward who has three goals and four assists in five games this year while Luke Pratte (U17 Prep) has four goals and five assists in 12 games.
The tremendous trio from Moose Jaw share a very special bond and Ty loves watching his little brothers have success.
“They’re awesome and things are going very well for them,” commented Pratte. “It’s nice when I can watch their games on the TV. I watch them as often as possible and always stay in touch; we have a very good relationship.”
The next time you can catch Ty and the Kings at Credit Union Place is Friday, November 8 when the Steinbach Pistons come to town.
Get to know Pratte:
What other sports do you enjoy? I love baseball; it was my second sport growing up. I got to the stage where I had to choose one or the other and chose hockey because of my passion. I love golfing in the summer and a new activity I picked up is pickleball, I love playing it.
Are you a traveller? I love to travel whenever I get the chance. Growing up with my family, we went somewhere warm in the winter. We have some amazing memories while travelling and spent a lot of time at Banff and Jasper National Parks during the summer.
What’s your go-to meal? Steak and mashed potatoes. Twice baked once in a while and garlic mashed, my favourite.
If you could meet any NHL player, who would it be and why? I would say Jonathan Toews is someone I looked up to because he was a leader in Chicago. I would love to pick his brain and hear his story, which would be special.
You can hear Ty’s full interview with Darnell Duff during the Dauphin Kings Power Play Show which airs after the 4:00 p.m. News Now Afternoon Update on Friday on 730CKDM.