Young goaltender Carson Bjarnason is proud of his 2021 accomplishments. The 16-year-old is currently the backup goalie for the Brandon Wheat Kings after beating out two other goaltenders for the final spot on the roster. Bjarnason says after last year's hockey hiatus, he came into this season wanting to take advantage of every chance he got.

"I showed up to rookie camp, and I don't even remember what I expected, but I wanted to make the most out of the ice sessions, in case I had to go back to any of the other teams I was going to play for," Bjarnason explains. "When the preseason games came along, I made the most of what I had. I was very lucky to be put in the situation that I was in and to be picked up by the Wheat Kings' organization. It was just about making the most of every little moment I had because I didn't know if it would end soon or not."

Bjarnason describes the mindset he had when heading into his first preseason contest.

"My first preseason game was against Moose Jaw, and I played in the second half. I remember just thinking that I had nothing to lose, and I had everything to gain," says Bjarnason. "I was the third guy in line, and I wasn't supposed to be the second guy. So I knew if anything went wrong it was expected, but if everything went right, then I can outplay someone else."

The goalie went on to win his first three starts with the Wheat Kings, which he says gave him a lot of confidence and showed him that he belonged in the WHL. He notes winning games early gave him a lot of trust in his teammates. Despite the strong start, Bjarnason dropped his next five outings before picking up a win again in his last start before the holidays. The Carberry, Manitoba product outlines what it took to bounce back.

"It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth when you do lose, but I just had to look at it from a different perspective and realize we didn't have our full roster, and we were also just figuring things out," Bjarnason continues. "I've been learning from (Ethan) Kruger, he's a phenomenal goalie. So, I've been checking out the things he does in practice and off the ice. It's really encouraging now, even though we lost a few games, we can battle through it as a team."

Bjarnason talks about some of the specific things he's picked up on from Brandon's veteran goaltender Ethan Kruger.

"The biggest thing is just having fun. I look at what he does in net when he plays games, and he comes back to the bench smiling three-quarters of the time," Bjarnason explains. "We may even be losing, and he'll come back to the bench and crack a joke with me. It's really enlightening, and it definitely inspires me to want to have fun with what you're doing and to be happy that I am where I am."

Bjarnason has a save percentage of 0.866 this season and a goals-against-average of 4.69, however, he feels like he has started to play better in recent weeks. The 16-year-old talks about his goals for 2022.

"Obviously, I want to get a few more starts. I feel like I've been doing well in practice, my attitude has been good, and I feel like I'm doing all the little things right," says Bjarnason. "I also want our team to win, whether I play or don't. I want our team to go all the way this year because I feel like we can. We have all the guys, we have the mentality, and we have the coach. We have everything we need, we just need to execute."

Bjarnason and the Wheat Kings are set to return to action on January 12 in Medicine Hat as they have a meeting with the Tigers.