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Mark Segal, the rugby-playing son of unathletic doctor parents from South Africa, described hockey as "a bizarre course for me to take."

Riding the bus to Prince George on Thursday, where the Vancouver Giants face the Cougars tonight and Saturday (7 p.m., AM 650), Segal might as well have been talking about his path with the WHL club.

Segal, 18, is on his third true go-around in Giants' colours, having been one of the last cuts from the last two training camps. He was also at camp as a 16-year-old.

The Giants reassigned backup goalie Brendan Jensen, 16, to the Wenatchee Wild of the North American Hockey League on Nov. 19, and added Segal, who was with the BCHL's Nanaimo Clippers.

"I wasn't really expecting another chance," admitted Segal, who started his first WHL game on Saturday — stopping 27 shots in a 7-3 thrashing of the Portland Winterhawks at the Pacific Coliseum.

"When the opportunity [to return to Vancouver] came up, I was really excited and it's been great so far," he added. "I think I'm better now than I was in camp."

Segal's departure from Nanaimo wasn't exactly met with enthusiasm. Clippers head coach and GM Bill Bestwick told the Nanaimo Daily News: "It's extremely disappointing when you make a commitment to a player and their family and then they choose not to live up to the agreement." He then marvelled that Segal would return to a team that cut him three times, to play in a backup role.

Segal said he had a positive experience in Nanaimo and has a lot of respect for Bestwick, but he was disappointed to hear his comments. "I got the chance to move up and I took it," said Segal, who was 4-2-0-0 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .922 save percentage with the Clippers.

But now, the former inside centre for Lord Byng's rugby team is more concerned with the challenge of 18-year-old netminder Jamie Tucker.

Giants' brass hopes Segal can push Tucker more than Jensen could at this stage. Segal is likely to start one of the back-to-back games. "Hopefully," Segal said, "we're both better from the competition."

mweber@theprovince.com

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