Cole Braunshausen: Finding his way in the WHL

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“I definitely did not have the best time learning to skate, but it’s a part that everybody’s got to go through. Just glad it’s over with.”

The journey from that three-year-old who wanted nothing to do with skating to a WHL rookie began, in part, with a television screen.

Braunshausen was born in Ohio before his family moved to Minnesota after his father accepted a new job. One day, an NHL game came on television.

“I was just sitting in front of the TV, and a San Jose Sharks game came on, and kind of from there I was glued to the screen,” he said. “All I could do was watch hockey, and I wanted to learn and talk about hockey. So I guess ever since then, that’s when the spark really ignited.”

Growing up in Minnesota only made that passion stronger.

For Braunshausen, hockey wasn’t simply something organized at a rink. It was something that happened outside, with friends, on ponds and in neighbourhoods.

“In the winter, it seemed like everyone became a hockey player and we’d all go out to the pond and play shinny or boot hockey,” he said. “Get a group of kids out there, and I think that’s where a lot of the game is sparked in Minnesota: just playing outside with your buddies with no real rules.”

There was no pressure to turn it into a career.

“You’re out there having fun,” he said. “It made it really easy to get into the game and have fun at practice and make it more of a sport than a job at a young age, which is what you need to come back every year.”

Braunshausen also played another sport.

“I love baseball,” he said. “Whenever I wasn’t playing hockey, I was playing baseball in the summer, and it was always a good way to get out of the rink and reset, hang out with a different group of guys.”

That balance became especially important when he reached high school.

“The decision of whether I could play both was definitely tough,” he said. “But the coaching staff at St. Thomas, where I went to high school, was more than understanding about my aspirations as a hockey player, which made it super easy to just kind of come in, get away from hockey for two or three months, play some baseball, and then jump right back into the hockey realm.”

There is no shortage of athletic ability in the Braunshausen family.

His mother (Sarah) was a basketball player in Iowa who walked on at Iowa State and played all four years.

“It’s kind of cool to have somebody in your family that’s been through the path that you’re striving to go for,” Braunshausen said. “Just someone to bounce ideas off of, having another kind of athlete that’s done it at a high level.”

His mother understands what playing at an elite level is like.

“She understands what the long practices are like and what the long bus rides and getting back at 3 a.m. and having to go practice or play the next day because she lived it,” he said. “It’s really cool to have somebody that has been there, and that I’m so close with her, that I can always reach out to and talk to her.”

There is, however, one important detail.

Braunshausen isn’t afraid to challenge his mother on the basketball court.

“I school her once in a while,” he said, laughing. “Obviously, I mean, she’s my own mother, but I’m not taking it easy on her.”

Then comes the admission.

“I would never tell her this, but I try to steal a few things [tips] from her once in a while.”

That competitive streak is now part of what Braunshausen brings to Kelowna.

He isn’t arriving in the WHL with a list of personal statistics he believes he has to achieve. He wants to score, find the scoresheet and make an impact, but he also understands that a rookie’s contribution isn’t always measured in goals.

“Obviously you want to score as many goals as possible,” he said. “You want to end up on the scoresheet every night and impact the game as much as you can.”

Then comes the more mature part.

“Some nights you don’t have your A game, so it’s just having a B game and being able to grind one out in the D zone or block a shot when the team needs it. Just really trying to incorporate any way to help the guys get the win.”

Braunshausen likes to keep a smile on his face. He describes himself as calm and collected and says he tries to project positivity because of the impact people can have on one another.

“I try to be happy, always have a smile on my face, kind of project positivity, because that kind of goes a long way and the impact you leave on people is important,” he said. “I mean, obviously sometimes you wake up on the wrong side of the bed.”

He has now crossed a border, moved away from home and entered a new league.

Canada feels different, even to someone from Minnesota.

“The way people talk is a little different, the way people kind of operate is a little different,” he said.

“But that’s what it’s like wherever you go. So definitely a change from home, but nothing too crazy.”