Portland rookie Iverson pays tribute to Jablonski, fights to adjust to WHL level

When 16-year-old Keegan Iverson steps onto the ice for his first regular-season WHL game later this month, the Portland Winterhawks forward will become the first player in the 37-year history of the franchise to wear jersey No. 13.

Iverson wore 19 in limited action last season with the Winterhawks, but is making the switch this season to honor his longtime friend Jack Jablonski, who was paralyzed during a Minnesota high school hockey game last December. Jablonski wore 13 as a junior varsity player at Benilde-St. Margaret's school in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis.

Iverson and Jablonski have known each other since they were 3 years old, and Iverson said last week he hopes to have Jablonski travel to see a Winterhawks game this season.

"He hasn't changed at all (since his injury)," Iverson said. "He's been my best friend and he always will be."

At 6-feet and 215 pounds, Iverson is listed as the heaviest player on the Portland roster. Self-described as a bit of a "troublemaker" at the Breck School near Minneapolis, he smiled and spoke softly as he discussed his connection with Jablonski.

"The last time I played hockey with Jack was pond hockey," he said. "Pond hockey is such a big thing growing up in Minnesota, and to have that be my last time playing with him is a good memory of us together."

Iverson is one of three 16-year-olds expected to crack the Portland roster this season -- all of whom are American. Of the 31 players still in camp with the Winterhawks, 12 are American. The team has certainly made an effort to identify and recruit American players, often without having to use bantam draft picks to acquire them.

Along with fellow rookies Paul Bittner (a 6-foot-4 16-year-old forward from Crookston, Minn.) and Alex Schoenborn (a 17-year-old forward from Minot, N.D.), Iverson is a listed player who was not picked in the bantam draft. The team's other 16-year-old rookie, Dominic Turgeon (Pierre's son), was taken in the third round of the 2011 bantam draft.

Iverson played the last two seasons for Breck, the school he had attended since the age of 4. And while he already has the size to succeed in the WHL, he says adjusting to the style of play been difficult so far.

"It's such a big jump from high school," Iverson said of the elevation to major junior. "In high school, I did the same practice every day for two years. The same drills, same everything every day.

With new drills, transitions, different plays, it's a lot to handle but I'm getting used to it."

Iverson admitted that he's "struggling a little" during practice, and searching for confidence against some of his accomplished teammates.

"I'm not used to all these guys, first-rounders like (teammate) Derrick Pouliot," he said. "It's tough to do what you want against them. The speed and physicality is hard, but this will build me up and sooner or later I'll be that guy I want to be."

Iverson put up 18 goals and 45 points in 29 games as a freshman at Breck last season (he also played varsity hockey as an eighth-grader). His team finished third in the state, and while he enjoyed the school and his teammates, he felt a change was needed to maximize his abilities.

"I want to throw my body around, and some changes in the rules in high school hockey prevented me from doing that," he said.

He's tried to throw that weight around during the preseason, leading the Winterhawks with 17 penalty minutes in four games. In the preseason finale against Seattle, he picked up two assists before getting a game misconduct for a fight against Evan Wardley in the second period of a 6-3 win.

And while adjusting to WHL hockey has been difficult for Iverson, fitting in at a new school might be his biggest challenge. Leaving the comfort of small, private Breck -- the only school he'd ever known -- he now has to contend with being a part-time student at a large public high school near Portland.

Day one wasn't a rousing success, but he hopes things get better over time.

"I don't know anyone so it's a little awkward," he said, adding that none of the students knew yet that he's a hockey player.

"Eventually they'll find out more about who I am. It's not a big deal right now. This is a fresh start here for me, and that can be a good thing."