Login

Hazack · 02-04-2021, 01:13 AM

Well the season has ended, the drafts have happened, and the next season is upon us!

So as we transition to this next season we wanted to see how our rookies felt they did this season and what they are looking forward to for next season! So we went and asked each rookie the following question:
-How did you feel you did this season? Or anything you're proud of?
-What were some of your favorite on the ice moments? Off the ice? (if any)
-What are you most looking forward to this next season?
-What areas do you see you need to work to improve on this next season?

This past week we hunted down as many rookies as we could find to ask these questions and the first player we came across was Roboute Guilliman. He felt that while this was not a terrible season for him he felt he could have done a lot better. He is proud that he was able to keep up in his faceoffs and help the team through his assists. However he is itching to be a better playmaker and when needed take the scoring into his own hands. Getting his first goal was one of the biggest moments for him because he knows what it feels like to score a goal and to him its intoxicating. Off the ice his favorite moments have been bantering with his teammates in the locker room. The community that has been cultivated at Kelowna has had a huge impact on Guilliman. And it is one of the things he is most excited for when looking ahead to next season. While it's sad to see players get called up and leave the team he is stoked to grow with his fellow rookies and lead the team to be better then they were this past season. Overall Guilliman wants to work on his defensive abilities this next season and be a reliable center for the team. And he is beyond excited to have been drafted by the Baltimore Platoon and looks forward to joining them once his time at Kelowna is finished.

The next rookie we came across was Christopher Ford. The biggest thing he was proud of was his ability to change positions this year and do well with it. He moved over to Right Defense and still put up a nice 18 points. His favorite moments have been much like everyone else's with the community in the locker room. Kelowna is loaded with a lot of talent but also a very good group of guys that will support you through anything. We're a family and that's what matters if you want to be successful. Looking forward to next season Ford really wants to make a name for himself. This season was a season for growing and learning, but now the training wheels are coming off and Ford wants to be ready to go from day 1. And with that he wants to be putting pucks on the net. Ultimately he wants to make it back to playing Forward but in order to do that he has to show the coaches that he has what it takes. So he plans to work a lot on his puck control and his skills in shooting.

We thought we would expect to see #A-Rye Izzy running around but instead we came across his father Mike Izzy. It seems Izzy is off playing overseas for team DACH in the WJC tournament. According to Mike while Izzy was a bit inexperienced and undersized.. he competed hard out there, played a ton of minutes, was reliable defensively and contributed to a team that defied the pundits in the regular season! Mike was also pretty proud that Izzy never got charged for kidnapping the Kraken mascot which is a +1. So overall he would define that as a successful season. At 16 years old he proved he can compete at the highest level of the Junior Circuit and we suspect he’s going to improve a little more as a 17 year old in season 2. #A-Rye had quite the experiences off the ice. He was able to get his driver's license and make some major contributions to his charity “#A-Ryce Cake for almost everyone” According to Mike, the experience of playing in playoffs was invaluable to Izzy. It is only in that situation where you experience that stress and excitement. Now Izzy is itching to get back to the playoffs. Izzy is looking forward to this next season and continues to grow with his fellow teammates and is striving to bring home a cup. Mikes suggestions on areas of improvement for #A-Rye is that he just needs to keep playing, keep learning and improving at his own pace. The game will slow down further and he’ll begin to impose his will on his opponents. We are excited to see this kid grow with us on Kelowna and were also excited to see that SHL teams took notice. Though it was no surprise to us with Izzy being so skilled that he would be following in his fathers footsteps as he was picked up by the Calgary Dragons.

After chatting with Mr. Izzy we ran into Danny C who feels that he had a pretty great run this season. While he is not the most excited for only having scored three goals his presence on the ice was big and his +/- by the end of the split was up on the positive side. His favorite moment on the ice was the thrill of the playoffs. It is such a roller coaster of feelings with Kelowna going up in the series against the Scarecrows and the struggle of seeing the series end up going their way. He also really enjoyed seeing his teammate Teddy Park try to fight anything that had breath. Nearly every game Teddy was trying to win a fight and almost every time the refs stopped him early. Danny has made quite the bold move and has been claiming that this next season is our year at Kelowna. The community amongst the rookies has been encouraging to see as everyone pushes each other to get better and to grow. Danny believes we will come out of this tunnel red hot and keep our foot on the throttle this whole season all the way through to the end. This next season Danny wants to work on his offensive capabilities. He has been doing great defensively but now he wants to contribute in scoring those much needed goals. Danny is stoked to be elevated from Knight to Monarch as Minnesota picked him up. It will be a bit before he heads off there but he is excited for what the future holds.

The next rookie we ran into was Richard LaFleur. Overall he felt like this season was great. The team played well together and everyone was contributing. From his view he was extremely lucky and was just in the right spot at the right time to capitalize. The very first game of the season is one Richard will not forget. Through all the excitement and nerves Richard actually ended up dropping the gloves to protect a teammate. Unfortunately he was a bit out of his league in the fight but it's something he wont forget. According to Richard we are gearing up for a very strong cup push next season. We've got lots of talent through all of our players and everyone has the work ethic , so it's just going to be a matter of performing on the ice. Richard has been working on his physical conditioning and some offensive adjustments for next season. While he's not the biggest guy, he wants to use his legs and speed to bring something to the table. And even SHL teams saw this drive that Richard has. He landed in Calgary with #A-Rye and couldn't be happier. Now he just needs to focus on the body of work that lays ahead of him in the J and keep up his consistency while he's down in this league.

While it seems Gerry Atrick left the facility before we could get a hold of him we were able to stop and talk with Travis Koncny before we had to leave. Overall he felt the team had a solid season and while it didn't end the way they wanted it he is proud of the team and knows we will bounce back stronger this next season. His favorite memory was his first goal and while it took a long time to get it when it happened Travis said it was one of the best feelings to finally make it happen. Travis is looking forward to this next season because he wants to push himself and grow into a player that is not holding the team back. He knows this is going to take consistent effort and he's up to the task. Overall he wants to become the player he knows he can be and help bring this team to a cup. This kind of attitude is what wins cups and SHL teams took notice. Travis wants to make sure that the teams that skipped him will wish they hadn't and he wants to make sure he keeps increasing his skills so that once his time in the J is done he can be at his best for the Monarchs.

We are so excited to have these now X-Rookies on the team. And we can't wait to see them continue to grow. But we are also excited to bring on a few new faces for this next season as well. Tune in next time as we start our second season of Rookiewatch with the new batch of rookies that we have here at Kel!

This has been the Knightly News! See you next time!

Kierkan · 02-04-2021, 01:17 AM

Nice work! Knights

**leafs1997** · 02-04-2021, 01:18 AM

#Killowna

Let's get it!

DeletedAtUserRequest · 02-04-2021, 01:28 AM

#

|

|

|

|

*Katth* · 02-04-2021, 04:02 AM

S50 Challenge Cup Finals Game 7
[Image: gNFVjT6.png]

Navigation

Extra Menu

About us