Recent Giant signee Alec Baer with co-owner Pat Quinn. (Vancouver Giants.)
Alec Baer, the Vancouver Giants’ recent signee out of Minnesota, was hoping to play for his new WHL club on Sunday against the Seattle Thunderbirds, but the Giants have yet to get the necessary paperwork with USA Hockey completed.
Baer, 15, a forward who was ranked the top freshman in the state by the Western College Hockey Blog, was cut from his Benilde-St. Margaret’s high school team after coming to visit Vancouver and check out a game a few weeks back. He didn’t miss a game with his prep team, but he did skip a practice.
Minnesota, of course, is hardcore NCAA country.
Normally a 15-year-old player can play only five games with a WHL team until their regular team finishes its playoffs. Then, they can be full time with the WHL club. Sixteen is the first age when they can play an entire season.
Baer was passed over in the bantam draft and added to Vancouver’s protected list soon after. Americans did routinely get drafted late or not at all, so it makes that situation hard to gauge. Baer was dominant at Vancouver’s rookie camp earlier this season, and the Giants brass claim that hadn’t had a player do as well there since Gilbert Brule.
