Liam Pue first put on skates and hit the ice at age two at home in Langley, B.C., in the arms of his father, Jason.
Liam was a quick learner, so much so that his mom, Kristin, joked to her husband, "Geez, he almost skates better than he walks."
Because of that early ability, and with Liam wanting to follow his brother Landon —three years older — into hockey, his parents looked for programs to help their youngest son improve his skills. There was one problem, though.
"We went through a season where he's skating pretty well for his age, but there's no programs," Jason recalled this week. "I started signing him up for programs, but I lied about his age."
That led to a truly awkward moment for Kristin at the rink.
"I remember one day my wife had taken him to a skate and there was kind of a new coach on the ice working with Liam," Jason said.
"After the skate, this coach came up to the parent-viewing area, and he opened the door, and he said, 'Whose kid is wearing the Datsyuk jersey?' My wife just buried her head cause she was like, 'Oh my goodness, he knows we lied about his age.' Finally, she kind of waved, and he just came up, and he said, 'Your kid is awesome.'"
That first meeting with coach Curtis Fraser, a former pro player and cousin of ex-NHLer Colin Fraser, turned out to be the start of a long, productive partnership. For years, Liam Pue played under Fraser up an age group or two with a familiar group of teammates. Pue continued working with Fraser at the Langley Hockey Academy as a teenager.
That development path, with much of it outside the Hockey Canada umbrella, turned out to be a perfect fit for Pue.
The 16-year-old winger is in the midst of a fantastic first full season in the WHL with the Regina Pats and is considered a top candidate for the 2028 NHL Draft, alongside fellow fast riser and Pats teammate Maddox Schultz. Both are making cases to earn a spot as rare 16-year-olds on Canada's world junior team in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., next month.
"It's not always easy being a younger player playing with other top players," Jason Pue said. "The younger player sometimes gets a lot of attention and sometimes takes away attention from other players in their birth year. I was really trying to navigate that because I wanted him to fit in with this group and stay with this group because they were like-minded and good players, and I just thought it was the right place for Liam.
"I talked to the coach, and I made a rule. I just wanted everybody as happy about Liam being (there) as we (were) about him being (there). I just said no player-of-the-game awards, no captain or assistant captain and no extra ice. Just let him kind of co-exist."
The idea, Jason said, was always to put "in a position where he had to work for it."
Despite raising some eyebrows when he remained out of Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs to spend one final minor-hockey (under-18) season with his brother in his WHL Draft year, Liam did more than enough to impress WHL scouts. He was picked third overall in the draft by the Pats, who used the first-overall selection on Schultz.
The two players split time between the Pats (34 games) and the under-18 Regina Pat Canadians team last season as part of the new Western Canadian Development Model Program for elite players.
In the summer, Schultz (top point-getter) and Pue (top goal-scorer) led Canada to gold as underagers at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup under-18 tournament.
This season, both are off to strong starts in the WHL, with the hard-shooting Pue fifth in points per game (1.64) with 11 goals and seven assists in 11 games. Things are good on and off the ice in Regina, where Pue has developed a strong connection with billets Justin and Brittany Brotzel — "I just feel like they're going to be a part of our life and Liam's life forever," Jason said.
"I definitely felt like it was a little easier to jump right in this year and not have to have your first few games this year," Pue said this week at the U17 World Challenge in Oakville, Ont., where Pue (Team Canada Red captain) has been split up from Schultz (Team Canada White captain).
"I think that 34 (games) definitely helped a ton for me and Maddox to just be able to jump right into it."
While Pue (two assists in two games) has been quieter than Schultz (two goals and six assists) so far at the U17 event, no one would be surprised if Pue makes a bigger impact starting in Thursday's quarterfinal against Sweden (3:30 p.m. ET).
Pue's powerful shot makes him a candidate to break out in a hurry.
"It's unbelievable, it really is," Team Canada Red and Saskatoon Blades head coach Dan DaSilva said of Pue's shot. "I've seen it firsthand in Saskatoon coaching against him; he's scored a few nice ones against us. The first day we hit the ice here, just skating behind him, watching the release, it's something special."
The trademark blast, Jason Pue said, was developed through constant repetition. And it's not like Liam's dad had to push him to work on it.
Landon, now playing in the BCHL with the Powell River Kings, was an excellent teacher.
"We never had to ask Liam to go shoot pucks. The only thing we did is tell him he had to come in," Jason said. "There's a major difference in a kid going to shoot pucks on their own for hours a day and the destruction he caused to our house and neighbouring houses and cars was unbelievable. He was almost like the kid when he would watch hockey; he couldn't just sit there and watch. He had to go get a stick and stickhandle or had to go outside and shoot. Watching hockey made him want to put it into action right away. He literally would shoot until he had blisters on his hands."
Liam says the credit for his shot "could go right back to (Landon).
"We shot pucks all the time together. Just repetition, repetition, shooting a million pucks. Playing games with it, just out there every day shooting pucks. I think that kind of led to how it is today. Just keep shooting."
Pue, because of his dad's rule, hadn't worn a letter on his jersey until this week. Jason got to present him with the Canada captain's jersey, a special moment for father and son.
Pue has taken the 'C' to heart. While he hasn't found the scoresheet as often as usual this week, his work ethic remains strong. In the dying seconds of a two-goal win over Team USA earlier this week, Pue took a hard fall into the boards after racing down the ice to beat out an icing.
DaSilva calls Pue "an electric player."
"I didn't know him at all until we got here," DaSilva said. "The day after our team was announced, he texted me to get all the numbers of the players on our team so he could start a group chat. I thought that was pretty cool. He took it upon himself to get to know his teammates and try to get them as tight as they could before we got here ... I thought that was really neat. It shows the type of person he is."
Games to watch
Saginaw Spirit (6-7-2-1) at London Knights (10-3-1-1), Friday, 7 p.m. ET
This could mark Spirit star Nikita Klepov's OHL season debut after the reigning league scoring champ was returned by the Anaheim Ducks.
Boston Terriers (6-2) at Michigan State Spartans (5-1), Friday, 7 p.m. ET and Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET
An interesting two-game series for Vancouver Canucks fans. Boston freshman Caleb Malhotra was picked third overall in this year's draft, while Michigan State's Anthony Romani, a sixth-round pick in 2024, leads a loaded Spartans team in scoring.
Victoriaville Tigres (12-3-1) at Val-d'Or Foreurs (14-1-1), Saturday, 4 p.m. ET
QMJHL scoring leader Philippe Veilleux and the league-leading Foreurs put their 10-game win streak on the line against No. 2 scorer Egor Shilov (Colorado Avalanche) and the second-best team in the Q.
U17 World Challenge final, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., (at Oakville, Ont.)
The U.S. and Czechia have byes to Friday's semifinals. A Canadian team has won the event for the past three years.
Spokane Chiefs (11-1-1) at Vancouver Giants (9-4-3), Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PCT
The top two teams in the WHL's Western Conference square off. Vancouver's Mathis Preston (Anaheim) and Spokane's Chase Harrington (Calgary Flames) are both top-10 scorers.
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