Kelowna, BC -

It's no secret that the Knights have struggled this year. In fact, the team finds itself last overall in the entire NWJHL. The team's defense has played strong but the offense has been anemic, scoring only 20 goals in their first 18 games. That is 17 less goals than the next lowest team.



However, despite this, Cyan Winters has sparkled. His record is grisly, at 5-12-1, but digging just a little deeper reveals a different story. Winters is holding onto a .917 save percentage, and is allowing only 2.37 GAA. On any other team, this would likely grace him with a winning record. On top of that, he holds a shutout and has had many near shutouts, including a last-minute goal last minute goal given up in a game last week.

Winters true measure of success however comes from his stars of the game. Despite losing 12 of his 18 starts and being on a last place team, Winters has racked more than twice as many first stars (5) as any other goalie in the league. In fact, his 5 stars are tied for the most anyone in the entire league has. His three second stars ties him for 2nd in the league, only one behind the league leader for goalies.


Look at the size of that star!


We caught up with Winters for a brief conversation today before heading into practice.

Cyan, what are your thoughts on the season so far?

Cyan: Well, obviously it's not going well. There's not many positives to take from being in last place.

Your numbers however are very solid, especially considering the circumstances.

Cyan: Yeah, that's great, but I'd rather have 15 wins than a bunch of stars of the game, ya'know? At the end of the year, we're not going to hoist a trophy because I had good individual numbers.

There's been rumors of some possible trades. Possibly some people who have asked to be moved? Is your name on the list?

Cyan: No. I haven't asked. I have no intention of going anywhere. As long as the team stays intact, I want to stay here. If we lose that core I'm part of, maybe that would change. But I want to be here. I asked to be here.

About that. It's well known that you could have ended up in Detroit this year. In fact, you turned down their request to draft you before the Knights. Any regrets now?

Cyan: It's hard not to look at the standings and wonder what could have been. Detroit is running away with the league. They are an unstoppable team. Although, we were one of few teams to take a game off them early. But no, I made my decision and I stand by it. You have to consider, if I was in Detroit, I probably wouldn't be starting. Thompson is doing really well for them, so I would be riding the bench.

Good point. Any last words before practice?

Cyan: We just need to keep going out there every night and throwing pucks at the net. It's not going to be easy to dig ourselves out, but I think if we can pick up one or two more forwards we'll be able to stay right with everyone come the postseason.

There you have it folks. It remains to be seen whether wins and losses will have any impact on his draft ranking for the SHL, but if those GMs can look past the win column, we here think he's got a good shot at being an elite goalie.

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