After wearing the blue and green and the Broncos logo for the last time a week ago, then starting his pro hockey career with the Utah Grizzlies earlier this week, Tanner Nagel has a lot of fond memories looking back playing just 177 kilometres from his hometown.

The 21-year-old Mossbank native played 87 of his 232 WHL games with the Broncos where he would win a WHL Championship and in this past season, he served as team captain.

Nagel said that playing in the same town he played minor hockey in and playing so close to home was something that was a dream come true.

"You kind of always dream of it as a kid," he said, "It definitely came up on my mind to play so close to home and the fact that it did happen made it even better. It was really awesome getting to come back to a place that I'm very familiar with, so it was kind of just a surreal experience."

Nagel said that one of the positives of playing so close to home was the fact that he had a support network readily available to help him through the ups and downs that come with hockey.

"To get to see my family, almost after every game and I had a lot of friends that would come to the games and watch too, so it just makes it a lot more fun knowing that you got some familiar faces in the crowd and cheering you on and it just definitely makes it a lot more fun and just knowing you have those people to lean on," he said. "Especially this year it's kind of a tough year, and I definitely leaned on my family a lot more just help me get through some tough times during those hard games. It's definitely something I was very grateful for, and I'm glad I got to do that this year and the end of last year."

This past season the Broncos were in a rebuild and Nagel's role was playing the physical game, blocking shots and generally making life difficult for the opposition. It also included a new role where he had to be a leader off and on the ice and help the future Broncos players grow and to try his best to help them succeed as they continue their careers.

'It's a different kind of thing just trying to help the young guys out the best you can. You kind of want to be their buddy but you gotta kind of hold them to a standard as well and just kind of show them the ropes," he said." There was a learning curve for me for a while there too and just how guys work and how you need to talk to them and help them. That was definitely part of my game and actually part of myself as a person that was a really positive experience that I got to learn more how to be a leader and a captain, so it was good."

One thing that Nagel took away from his time with the Broncos was the number of people that watched him play when he was younger.

"It's definitely cool to talk to people who said that I watched you in bantam, I watch you in peewee and even younger," he said. "Just like talking to people and all the nice things they had to say about me and how much I have improved over the years which is really nice and is definitely a good feeling."

Nagel grew up going to Moose Jaw to watch Warrior games, and then later played minor hockey in Swift Current before getting signed by the Portland Winterhawks. He said that playing his last game in Moose Jaw as a Swift Current Broncos was the perfect ending to a career, he is grateful for.

"I think that was perfect. I had a lot of friends and family at the game there. My very last game so I kind of had my own little cheering section in the corner, and I do most nights when we play in Moose Jaw but to have my last game there was pretty awesome," he said. "I got to see a lot of people after and just talk to them, and I don't think you could have wrote a better ending."

Nagel's favourite memory for his time in WHL was when he got to hoist the Ed Chynoweth Cup — but not just winning the championship but the experience that followed with taking the cup back home and also taking part in events around the city.

"That was an experience like nothing I've been a part of and just the feeling when the buzzer went and all the boys jumped on the ice it was just a feeling that I probably can never recreate in my head ever again. It's just something you have to live to know what it feels like."

Nagel said another one of those memories that he will be fond of is scoring his first WHL goal which he did as a Portland Winterhawks against the Prince George Cougars back in December of 2015.

"I can almost picture the play in my head exactly what happened to this day still, and that was a very cool experience for me too," he said. "That was another dream come true for me when I was just 17 years old in Portland; that's probably another memory that is quite up there."

Currently, Nagel is set to play out the rest of the ECHL season with the Utah Grizzlies and isn't looking past that as he wants to enjoy every moment he can. He said knowing that he is going to have the support of not only his friends and family, but fans from his playing days in Swift Current and around the WHL makes whatever decision he makes that much easier because he knows he's going to be supported.

"It kind of takes some of the pressure off on making a decision, and I know at the end of the day whatever decision gets made it's going to be where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing," he said. "Definitely having those people around me kind of takes a little bit of the pressure off and I can just enjoy what I'm doing every day."

Nagel said reflecting back he doesn't know how to really describe how thankful he is for everything that Swift Current did for him.

"I can't say thank you enough everyone back in Swift and to the fans, and all the support we got over the championship run and even this year the crowd was unbelievable," he said. "From start to finish this year. We struggled a bit and people still showed up every night to cheer us on and just watch the young guys grow and learn every day, and I know the scoresheet might not have shown it, but we get did better as a team, and the fans were right there watching us. I honestly can't say thank you enough to everyone, and I really enjoyed my time in Swift more than most people might realize, but I loved it there and it was an amazing time, and the city is amazing. Honestly, it's almost hard to put into words how grateful I am for all the people back in Swift and just the support. It's truly humbling, and I am very grateful."

Nagel added that he is thankful to his family, friends, fans, his billets, the Broncos, and the City of Swift Current for making his time in the city something he is very grateful for.