Diminutive Chilliwack rookie Potter reminds of Ronning

By Steve Ewen, The Province

September 27, 2007

Jadon Potter's first WHL goal was the game winner vs Portland in the Bruins home opener - Bob Frid photo

He plays for a WHL team named the Bruins, he is only slightly bigger than a breadbox and he's shiftier than a mosquito.

Diminutive rookie centre Jadon Potter of the Chilliwack Bruins has a little Cliff Ronning in him. Chilliwack general manager Darrell May agrees with that, and he played with Ronning in the minors between Ronning starring for the New Westminster Bruins and becoming a regular NHLer.

"In a lot of ways they're very similar," said May, a former St. Louis Blues farmhand goaltender. "Jadon, too, is very quick. He moves pretty well laterally. He's good in traffic. For a little guy.

"Jadon's an offensive player. Cliff loved to score goals. They're similar. They are both small guys who are able to play in a big-man's game."

Ronning was usually listed at 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds, and those totals could have been tallied when he was wearing two-inch-high, 10-pound shoes. He still managed to score 197 points his final season with New Westminster in 1984-85 and he put up 869 points in 1,137 career NHL regular-season games.

Potter undoubtedly would take a hockey career with a fraction of all that right now. In his brief stay with Chilliwack, the 18-year-old from Hoey, Sask., has shown an offensive flash and a flair, and looks like he could provide that much-needed secondary scoring behind Bruins standouts Oscar Moller and Mark Santorelli.

Potter, who is generously listed at 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds, has looked particularly adept manning the point on Chilliwack's first-unit power play.

There's a chemistry already between Potter, fellow point man Nick Holden, Moller and Santorelli as they weave in and out and exchange positions while keeping the puck moving. The fifth member of the unit, usually Cody Smuk or Colby Kulhanek, screens the goalie and Potter always seems to know when there's enough traffic in front to fire off a shot.

For what it's worth, Ronning also got some point time during his various incarnations.

"I feel that we're good enough that we should score on every power play," Potter said of a Chilliwack unit that was better than the 4-for-16 stats it put up in the first three games of the regular season. "It seems like we're finding each other."

As much as the offence will help the Bruins, Potter's championship background may be his biggest plus. He played the last two years with the Prince Albert Mintos, capturing the midget national title both seasons.

"I know how to win and I play to win every time I step on that ice," said Potter, who has one goal in three games with Chilliwack. "It's certainly nice to have those [two championships] under your belt."