By Matthew Gourlie /

Morgan Rielly has shown he can flawlessly adapt to change.

The 15-year-old defenceman made the move from Vancouver to Wilcox, Sask. (pop. 300) to play with the Notre Dame Hounds two seasons ago.

After a standout Bantam AA season, he was selected by the Moose Jaw Warriors second overall in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft.

This past season, Rielly seamlessly made the jump to the Midget AAA ranks.

“It was a huge change for sure, but I’ve grown to enjoy it a lot out here and hopefully I’ll enjoy it out on the Prairies for a few more years,” Rielly said.

Leaving home at 14 is never an easy decision, but Rielly and his family came to tour the school and he felt it was the right fit.

“It was a hard choice,” Rielly said. “The team out here is great. It’s a Catholic school, which is good, and it has a good academic program.”

If nothing else, living in residence at Notre Dame makes it easy to focus on nothing but hockey and school.

“I’ve been training really hard and I want to get stronger and quicker on the puck,” Rielly said.
He’s 5-10.5 and has bulked up to a sturdy 188 pounds.

“Being here with the gym across the street and having all of that extra ice time helped me grow as a hockey player. It’s been great out here.”

Rielly himself has been great at Notre Dame. He said the adjustment to Midget AAA took a few games, but he’s looked at ease on the Hounds blueline as he played in all situations.

“The biggest difference was the speed change,” Rielly said. “Everything is quicker up here. You just have to be quick with the puck.”

Rielly was clearly a quick study. He was named the Saskatchewan Midget AAA league’s top defenceman. It’s an impressive feat for a 15-year-old, but even more impressive when you consider he beat out Derrick Pouliot — the player Portland chose first overall ahead of him — and teammate Slater Koekkoek, 16, who is expected to be a high pick in the upcoming Ontario Hockey League draft.

Rielly tried to focus on his game and not worry about any expectations that came with his high draft selection.

“I didn’t really feel like I had all that much pressure,” Rielly said.

“I’m happy with how I played, but I’m mostly happy with how our team played this year and how we progressed as a team. It’s been a good year.”

Rielly put up 18 goals and 37 assists in 43 games. Not only was his 55 points second best on the team, but he also led all defencemen in the SMAAAHL.

He also broke a scoring record for defencemen set by former Hound Brandon Gormley. Gormley is having a strong season with Moncton and is a potential lottery pick in the upcoming NHL draft.

Rielly didn’t slow down in the post-season either. He had seven goals in the Hounds first 11 playoff games as they advanced to the league final against the Saskatoon Contacts.