While suiting up for the Yorkton Harvest in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League, Levi Cable was a star, racking up a combined 42 goals and 86 points in 84 games in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
"I grew a lot as a player in Yorkton," said Cable. "In my first year, I thought I did pretty well. But I started to really take strides in my game in my second year. I got a lot of opportunity and made the most out it."
Surprisingly enough, one of the reasons Cable chose to play with the Harvest was because the Tisdale Trojans didn't think he was up to par with their program.
"They told me I wasn't going to make the team," said Cable, 18. "The Harvest thought I was good enough so that's how I ended up in Yorkton."
Following his strong second season with the Harvest, Cable moved on to the major junior ranks.
As expected, his jump from midget hockey to the Western Hockey League was a work in progress. The 5-foot-11, 171-pound winger went from a first-line forward with the Yorkton Harvest to a fourth-liner for the Kootenay Ice. His minutes, responsibility and of course, opportunity went down.
"It was a tough transition at first," said Cable, who scored three goals and 10 points in 56 games in his rookie season. "I was on the fourth line and wasn't able to do as much as I was use to with the Harvest. I had to get use to my role and just make the most out of it."
But with a year in the Dub under his belt, Cable took a leap up the Ice's depth chart in his sophomore season. He earned a spot on the second line and his point production tripled and then some, notching 14 goals and 34 points in 67 games.
"Getting more ice time gave me the opportunity to be a more offensive player this year," said Cable. "On the second line I've got some power-play time and opportunity on even-strength play to score."
Cable's play seemed to have had a major impact on the Ice's success or lack thereof. In Kootenay's poor 3-10-0-0 start to the season, he only mustered one goal and one assist. And in their strong 13-7-0-0 finish to the season, the Hudson Bay native netted nine goals and 14 points.
"At the start of the year, our team didn't have a whole lot of confidence," said Cable. "Before Christmas, we didn't really think we could make the playoffs. But after Christmas, we started to gain some confidence and start believing that we have what it takes to make the playoffs."
The Ice finished the season in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, snagging the final playoff spot.
In their first-round matchup against the Edmonton Oil Kings, the Ice put up a fight, but were knocked off by the defending champions in five games.
