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While about half of them aren’t expected to be in the lineup in September, the Okanagan Rockets announced they’ve made commitments to 12 players after a four-day spring camp on the weekend.
Of the chosen dozen, eight of them — goaltender Cole Demers, defencemen Cody Schiavon and Seth Barton and forwards Coleton Bilodeau, Eli Zummack, Lucas Cullen, Chase Stevenson and Alec Zawatsky — played with the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League team last season, while the other four come to the Rockets having Kelowna and West Kelowna minor hockey roots.
In making the commitments, the Rockets are guaranteeing that if the listed players don’t make the jump to junior hockey, they are committed to playing major midget in Kelowna.
“The camp only confirmed what we knew all along — that there’s a lot of talent in the Okanagan,” said Eric Blais, the Rockets’ new head coach, who, along with general-manager, Braeden Pistawka, oversaw the 10 scrimmages involving 108 players (15 to 17 years old) on five teams. “We truly believe that we could ice two evenly divided teams that would be competitive in our league.”
The Kelowna-based Rockets will invite 40 players to their main camp in August, including newcomers with commitments — defencemen Wyatt Head and Jameson Murray and forwards Keltie Jeri-Leon and Jordan Robinson.
Both Head and Murray are 17-year-olds who played with the KMHA’s midget tier 1 Rockets last season and helped lead the team to a silver medal at the BC Hockey provincial championship tournament.
Blais, head coach of the KMHA the past two years, had plenty of opportunity to see Head and Murray perform with the minor hockey Rockets and is confident the two are well-groomed for the next step.
“Actually, I believe both of them could have played in our league last season, so they’re more than ready to make an impact with us this year,” said Blais, who describes both as having “good offensive instincts.”
“Wyatt is a very smart offensive defenceman, who skates extremely well and has a great first pass,” noted Blais. “And Jameson (6-foot-3) is at par with the best in the province in his age group when it comes to skating.”
Robinson and Jeri-Leon come to the Rockets via the Okanagan Hockey Academy (Whites), while Robinson played minor hockey in West Kelowna prior to leaving for the OHA in Penticton. Jeri-Leon played minor hockey in Kelowna before his stint in the OHA.
“A big, strong forward, an exceptional skater and a 200-foot player”, Robinson joined Cullen and Stevenson on Team BC at the 2015 Canada Winter Games. He was picked by Saskatoon in the 10th round of the Western Hockey League draft in 2014, but is expected to attend the main camp of either the West Kelowna Warriors or the Vernon Vipers of the B.C. Hockey League.
Jeri-Leon, a 16-year-old 5-foot-11, 190-pound power forward, was a 2015 bantam draft of the Tri-City Americans in the fifth round and is being given a good chance of making the jump to the WHL this season.
Meanwhile the remainder of the committed 12 will also be heading to junior camps this year.
Lucas Cullen, a fifth-round pick of the Calgary Hitmen in 2014, was a late release of the WHL team in 2015, but will return to their camp this fall.
Also heading to a WHL camp is Zummack, another KMHA product, who was picked in the second round by the Red Deer Rebels in 2015, but was traded to the Spokane Chiefs during the past season.
Defenceman Schiavon has been invited to the WHL Portland Winterhawks’ main camp, but also has the option of trying out with the West Kelowna Warriors.
Barton is slated to attend the BCHL Trail Smoke Eaters’ main camp while Stevenson, along with Bilodeau and Demers, is looking to try out with the Vernon Vipers. Zawatsky is planning to attend the Salmon Arm Silverbacks’ main camp.
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