Brandon Petan Jr. Biography

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Brandon Petan Jr. - Biography

 

Brandon Petan Jr. was born in Winnipeg, MB, and has known hockey since birth. Born to parents Brandon Tanev and Nic Petan of the National Hockey League (a league of a tier below the VHL leagues, comparable to the KHL or Liiga), Brandon was on skates as a toddler and was extremely passionate about the sport as early as he can remember. On a less fortunate note, something all of them regret was how long Brandon Jr spent away from his parents. They were always on the road and it made matters worse when Tanev and Petan moved to different teams (Petan to Toronto, and Tanev to Pittsburgh). After two more years, Petan was again moved to Vancouver while Tanev came to Seattle and this is what Brandon Jr would come to consider home. Seattle's close proximity to Vancouver made it easy for both parents and hockey really started to take up a lot more of Brandon's life as he entered his early teens.

 

Vancouver seemed like the most magical place he had ever lived. Far from the wintry chill of Winnipeg and the depressed fans of Toronto teams like the Maple Leafs, Argonauts, Legion, Raptors, and Toronto FC, Vancouver was a vibrant city with snowy mountains to one side and a beautiful ocean to the other. It was a good place for everything; amazing food, amazing skiing, amazing parks, and even beaches dot the city and these things made it some of the happiest times of Petan Jr's life so far. Outside of hockey, he learned he enjoyed drawing and often would try to make art when he didn't have practice, even if it didn't look good. He's kept that hobby up and also has a talent for learning languages, essentially being fluent in French after his schooling. If only there was a team in Quebec where this would come in handy! Anyway, the point is that Petan Jr had a very good life in Vancouver and was able to establish a good life outside of hockey.

 

At age 12, he met River Harrington, one of his closest friends since, when they played together on the same junior team. It was clear they both were incredibly talented very early on, but Brandon struggled especially in terms of physicality and speed, and he found it hard to be first one to the puck. Luckily River was physical enough for the two of them (and honestly everyone on the team) and helped set an example for Brandon to follow. As the dream of playing professionally became more and more realistic, Brandon wondered if they could reach even higher than his parents had and make it all the way to the prestigious VHL. Scouts from places like Houston and Las Vegas were in attendance as they got older and eventually it became clear that Petan Jr had a real shot at playing for the same teams he had idolized growing up, watching stars like Landon Wolanin and The Board Game Clue on Skates.

 

As a member of the WHL's (Western Hockey League) Vancouver Giants, he stood out tremendously, as did Harrington. The team was a well oiled machine, but unfortunately missed out on the playoffs two seasons ago and last year suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 Game 7 loss in the semifinals despite 49 saves from their goalie. Plagued by inconsistent two-way play and seemingly an inability to close out the games that really mattered, Vancouver's window was closing fast. However, S94 seems like a different story. Vancouver stands 1st in the league by a thin one-point margin and sitting on a nine game win streak, they seem to be determined to hold on to it. Petan Jr was well above a point per game in WHL S93, good for 8th leaguewide as a younger player, but these numbers pale in comparison to today, where he leads the WHL S94 season by 11 points and also has the most goals. However, come season's end, he won't be holding that title.

 

Last night, Petan Jr was informed of a contract offer from the Ottawa Lynx for a whopping sum of $1,500,000 to play for them in the VHLM for the remainder of S94. He was beside himself when he learned that his teammate River had received an offer as well and accepted immediately. He was beside himself and could not sleep at all last night. It will be a massive blow for Vancouver, losing their two stars at a time when they most need them but it's impossible to refuse an opportunity like this. Petan Jr imagines himself lifting the vaunted Continental Cup and seeing the same ice as legends like Catia Goncalves and Grimgor Ironhide. It might not be all that far away. First, a plane to Ottawa, home of the VHLM's storied Lynx, where the world would see what they were truly made of.

 

Spoiler

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future HOFer brandon petan jr., the goat