There must be something in the water in Gull Lake.
In three of the last four years, goaltenders from Gull Lake have been picked in the WHL Prospects Draft.
2025 was no exception as the Calgary Hitmen nabbed Josh Benjamin in the 10th round.
But does he know why all these goalies are coming from a town of under 1000 people?
"I don't know," Benjamin said. "We just have a lot of dedication. All of us goalies have skated with each other and kind of know each other pretty well. It helps that we all know each other."
It started when the Swift Current Broncos picked Berney Weston in the 4th round in 2022. Moose Jaw then picked Cade Mitchell in the 7th round in 2024.
Mitchell and Benjamin were a tandem together for the Swift Current U15 AA Pure Chem Broncos in 2023-24 and will be reunited next season with the U18 AAA Home Hardware Legionnaires.
"It's awesome we get to play with each other again," Benjamin noted.
Unlike some players who spent draft day watching their phone, Benjamin was busy taking driving lessons when his name got called.
"I couldn't be distracted or else it'd kind of be a fail," he joked. "I actually learned how to do a parallel park today, so it's pretty exciting."
The bigger excitement came when he finished his class and saw his phone had blown up.
"It was pretty exciting," Benjamin said. "I couldn't really process that. It was kind of just like I blacked out."
The 5'10, 130lbs netminder first put on the pads because he enjoyed all the different styles of goalie equipment. It stuck from there on.
"I also liked how they moved and how they made saves," Benjamin added. "They're just mesmerizing."
He had to learn some mental toughness over the last two seasons. His rookie U15 season was a very successful one for Swift Current. Benjamin went 8-0-1 with a 1.93 goals against average and 0.913 save percentage.
The U15 Broncos had a very rough start to the 2024-25 season before rebounding with a strong second half. Benjamin finished 8-8 with 3.36 goals against average and 0.909 save percentage on a very different team.
"Learn just to stay positive and not take negativity to your heart," he said of the lessons from the season. "Just keep battling through adversity."
Benjamin plans to spend the summer season playing baseball, but he is also going to hit the ice at Sask First.