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Grapehead · 08-04-2024, 04:42 PM

With another SMJHL draft in the books, and a ton of big name rookies, the league is buzzing with hype for the coming season. Among the players selected at the draft is grandson of former SHL goalie Jeff Kirkstone, and he’s got a familiar first name too. Jeff “Trey” Kirkstone the Third is a future star of the SHL, if his grandfather’s assessment is to be believed, and he won’t have to lean on his family name to get there apparently. However, if you talk to him yourself, he’d be the first to tell you he has a long long way to go before he’s ready for that level.

Early Days and Learning Hockey

There was in fact a Jeff Kirkstone Jr. and he grew up in San Francisco, but unlike his father he had no interest in playing hockey. He made a successful career for himself working in software development, and started a family down by the bay. Jeff Jr. passed on the family name to his first son, Jeff Kirkstone the Third. Around the house Jeff III was known as “Trey”, but he always insisted that his friends refrain from using that nickname. It would appear as though the hockey bug skipped a generation in the Kirkstone family, and Jeff Jr. quickly had a little goalie on his hands. Almost as soon as Jeff III could walk he began to beg for ice skates, and wanted to play hockey like his grandpa. So naturally he wanted goalie gear as well, because he knew all about his grandpa’s career in the SHL. The kid wasn’t a natural, but you couldn’t drag him off the ice until he was completely out of energy, and even when he was off the ice he was trying to get better. It just took a while longer. There was nothing anyone could do to turn him off of hockey, so the family gave in and purchased a set of goalie equipment for little Jeff III.

Minor Hockey Heartbreak

Jeff III played almost exclusively in the house league growing up, and didn’t go to his first higher level tryout until he was 15. He always played pretty well prior to that tryout, getting praise from his coaches every season, and was well liked by all his teammates. Confidence was overflowing as he hit the ice for his first big tryout, blood was pumping, but he felt a calmness in his spirit. That’s where the memory goes blank for Jeff, and then he awoke in the hospital. His family told him that during the tryout a teammate collided with him; he lost consciousness and had to be taken to the hospital. The impact of hitting the ice left him with a concussion, and after that he wasn’t cleared to resume playing hockey for about three months, leaving him behind other kids in his age group. Once he did return to the ice, it was back to house league, so his chances at moving up to a higher level of hockey were put on hold until his junior year of high school. Playing hockey at all was a relief though, and he didn't mourn the missed opportunity of higher level competition.

High School to Highlander

Luckily for Jeff III, he didn’t have any lingering symptoms from the concussion, and had no additional collisions the following year. He was going to take another shot at moving to the next level, and team tryouts were just two weeks before the start of his junior year. It was his time, and he knew that, so he hit the ice and worked his way onto the team as the backup goalie. Getting on the team was enough for him, and he didn’t care if he only started one game all season, because he now had the opportunity to train and learn from much better players. Starts were few and far between during his junior year, but patience paid off in his senior year when he took over as the starting goalie. He made a name for himself when one of his saves went viral on reddit, and suddenly teams were calling to scout him for the SMJHL draft. Demand is never alarmingly high for goalies in the SMJHL, and there were a number of excellent ones to choose from in the S78 draft, so the expectation was that he would maybe go in the 2nd round. The Ottawa Highlanders, who held the 15th and 28th overall picks, and Kirkstone had made their mutual interest known to each other, but you never know what will happen on draft day. It didn’t seem like any team would want to use their 1st selection to take a backup goalie, but Kirkstone also got the sense that he might be off the board by 28, so all signs pointed to him landing with a different team. However, during the draft the Highlanders pulled the trigger on a trade with the Carolina Kraken for the 9th overall pick, which allowed them to draft a player they didn’t think would be available at 9, Hotdog Lunch. This opened up their 15th overall pick to secure JK3, who had this to say about the moment: “Once I saw that trade for Lunch at 9th overall, I felt like the odds of me going to Ottawa at 15 were much better. My heart was racing waiting for that 15th pick to be announced, just hoping to hear my name.” JK3 is ready to take another step up, and settle into a backup role for the Highlanders now, giving Ottawa a lot of security at the goalie position. S78 will begin soon, but not soon enough for Jeff Kirkstone III.

***Frenchie*** · 08-04-2024, 07:51 PM

DOORS, WILL, BE, OPENED Highlanders

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