Concordia Hockey Player Adam Wheeldon
by ACAC Sports Writer Curtis J. Phillips
Four years before he was born, Adam Wheeldon's father Simon Wheeldon was playing professional hockey for the Winnipeg Jets in the National Hockey League (NHL).
By the time Adam was born August 11, 1994, the bright lights of the NHL were gone for his father, replaced by a 12- year professional hockey career split between Germany and Austria.
It is there,that Adam, now a third-year student/athlete for the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder men's hockey team, grew up.
"I lived in either Austria or Germany until I was around 13 years- old," recalls Wheeldon, a 5-foot-11 forward for the Thunder. "I can still speak German fluently and obviously English.
"At school we would learn in German and every night when I came home, I would speak English with my parents."
Wheeldon continued: "it is a little harder to speak German now as I am not talking German every day. I speak it sometimes with my dad and when I talk to old friends. But if I went back for a couple of weeks, I would pick it up no problem."
Picking up the sport of hockey was also no problem also for Wheeldon, who would spend his youth with summers in Nelson, British Columbia, his family coming over from Europe.
"There was not as many people playing hockey in Germany as there was in Canada," recalls Wheeldon of his introduction to the sport at a young age. "Our age group would be for three years and we would have to travel to play other teams."
He would also participate in badminton and soccer, before returning to Canada where in high school at L. V. Rogers Secondary School in Nelson and J. Lloyd Crowe Secondary School in Trail, British Columbia he would play baseball and soccer with the main focus on hockey.
Suiting up for the Kootenay Ice Midget AAA in 2009-2010, he would go on to play for the Kootenay International Hockey League's Nelson Leafs in 2010-2011, followed by a three-year stint with the British Junior Hockey League Trail Smoke Eaters where he played in 140 games while scoring 17 goals and 22 assists.
While with the Smoke Eaters, he was voted Trail Smoke Eaters Most Inspirational Player and Fan Favourite Award in 2012-2013 when he was assistant captain. He would wear the "C" on his jersey the following year.
The Alberta Junior Hockey League was his next stop, where in 2014-2015 he was traded for future considerations to the Camrose Kodiaks.
At that time, Wheeldon said in an interview with the The Nelson Daily: "I talked to coach (Nick Deschenes) of Trail and we kind of decided it would be a good move for me to go somewhere else, so I'm very excited to go to Camrose and it's a good opportunity and hopefully it works out. I'm really excited to go to a team like Camrose. I'm excited to have a chance to make the playoffs. I just want to have a good year and hopefully it all works out."
In his lone AJHL season, Wheeldon accumulated 10 goals and 14 assists in 24 games and the Kodiaks did make it into the AJHL post-season, bowing out to the Brooks Bandits in the Viterra AJHL South Championships.
In his 2015-2016 recruiting profile for Concordia Thunder, it stated that Wheeldon is, ""a player that competes hard in both the defensive and offensive zones and will be relied on to provide the same level of play at the college level with the Thunder."
Of his selecting the Edmonton school, Wheeldon said: "I had a couple of (NCAA) Division III (hockey) scholarships from the States but it felt that the coach here (Dan Glegloff) wanted me and it was a good fit and it has worked out well."
Enrolled in Bachelor of Management, Wheeldon had 8 goals and 12 assists along with 46 penalty minutes in 30 games; the Thunder failing to qualify for 2015-2016 post-season action by finishing 8th in the nine-team league with a record of 8 wins 19 losses 3 overtime losses and 2 ties in the 32-game schedule.
Last season the Thunder qualified for post-season action, losing to the SAIT Trojans 5-2 and 4-3 overtime in quarter-final playoffs.
The 5-foot-10 Wheeldon had 4 goals and 12 assists in 24 appearances.
For the 2017-2018 ACAC season, the Thunder are currently at 6 wins, 14 losses, 2 overtime losses with 68 goals for and 90 against as they vie for the final playoff spot with six regular season games remaining.
"We are in a playoff spot," said Wheeldon. "We have to keep making strides forward and that is all we can do."
Wheeldon has stepped up his game, leading the Thunder in scoring with 11 goals and 19 assists in 22 contests.
He is second overall in ACAC scoring, trailing NAIT Ooks' Jake Mykitiuk who has 12 goals and 23 assist for 35 points.
Wheeldon's younger sister Emma is in her first year of post-secondary sport, wearing the women's hockey jersey of the ACAC SAIT Trojans.
What advise does he give her?
" Make sure you have got time management skills. Balancing hockey and school can be a lot.
"Hockey is an escape. Instead of thinking of school every day, you get to go out on the ice with your friends for a few hours and sweat and have fun."