Ethan Williment is exactly where he wants to be.
He has family in Dauphin and his family that doesn’t live in Dauphin travels across the province to watch him play and for Williment, he wouldn’t change a thing. Dauphin drafted the now 18-year-old in the first round, fifth-overall in 2019 and he is now in his second season with the club. Ethan suited up in 21 games last year as the team won the Turnbull Cup and advanced to the national semi-final in Estevan.
Back this year and with a significantly elevated role, Williment has played in 50 of the team’s 54 games and he only missed a few games because of an injury. As Dauphin now embarks on crunch time, Williment enjoys every second of being with one of the most storied franchises in Junior A hockey.
“It’s a huge honour to be with this organiztion, it’s a priviledge,” offered Williment. “I’m proud that I get to be a part of it each and every day, I never take a day for granted.”
Possessing some fantastic speed, Willment has five goals and 13 assists this season. His most recent goal was a dandy last Sunday in the team’s big victory against the Niverville Nighthawks.
“I’m happy with what I have done this year,” said Williment. “I’ve worked really hard and a big job of mine is getting my teammates the puck.”
It’s very rare that you will see Ethan without a smile on his face as the young man from Winnipeg is certainly a ray of sunshine and he, without a doubt, has a long junior journey ahead of him and plenty of success will follow.
Sitting in fourth place in the MGEU West Division as of this posting, Dauphin finds themselves in a heated playoff race as they look to lock down a top-four spot. Their next game is on Friday evening as they open up a weekend home-and-home with the Portage Terriers with Friday’s game coming at Stride Place and the puck is set to drop at 7:30.
Dauphin is coming off one of their best performances of the season on Tuesday and Williment looked excellent playing on the first line alongside Mathew Gough and Jamie Valentino. Williment and Valentino won a championship back in the day playing alongside each other and Ethan is happy that he gets the chance to play once again with the 21-year-old from Thompson.
While at this point last year Dauphin had already long locked up first in the West, Williment is enjoying being in a heated playoff race.
“We have something to look forward to every day and every guy on this team is pushing themselves to the limits,” ended Williment. “We all want to play in the playoffs and that’s what we’re pushing for, one common goal.”
Get to know Williment:
Who is your favourite hockey player? I would say Kyle Connor of the Jets, he plays with a lot of speed and he has a great shot, he’s a guy I try and model my game around
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? I would say the Bahamas, I love hot weather
What is your favourite vacation? I went to Jamaica a few years ago for Christmas, that was a really cool experience
What is your favourite part about Dauphin? Just the people and the town. Everyone loves walking around town, people are so friendly
You can hear Ethan’s full conversation with Darnell Duff on the team’s power play show after the 4:00 p.m. news, weather, business, and sports on Friday afternoon.