Veteran brings plenty to Storm
By Dave Pollard When the Guelph Storm traded captain Matt Kennedy to the Barrie Colts, a truckload of character, maturity and leadership headed out of the Sleeman Centre as well.
In defenceman Ryan Gottschalk, the player acquired along with three draft picks in the Dec. 17 deal that saw two over-agers swap teams, the Storm went a long way towards replacing the intangible qualities lost when Kennedy moved north.
Sure, Gottschalk and Kennedy are different players in different positions. But they share many of the same traits you’d hope for in a last-year junior.
“When we were looking at the deal with Barrie, they asked if we’d have interest in an overager,” Storm head coach and general manager Jason Brooks said, adding that Colts head coach Marty Williamson spoke very highly of Gottschalk. “Marty talked a lot about the leadership qualities, character, this guy brings. To bring in a guy like that was important. When I spoke to (Gottschalk) the day of the trade, he couldn’t have said anything more perfect. He said he wanted to come in and help. To hear him say something like that was nice.”
Now, keep in mind that Gottschalk was leaving a team with serious Memorial Cup aspirations for a team that has largely underachieved in the first half of the 2009-10 season and isn’t expected to challenge for the OHL title. It would have been easy for Gottschalk, a 20-year-old from Markham looking to attract some interest from pro scouts as his OHL career winds down, to pout about the trade.
That never happened despite the suddenness of the trade and Gottschalk, who didn’t even have time to give notice that he’d be leaving the part-time volunteer job he had in Barrie, seemed genuinely excited about trying to help the Storm turn its season around.
“I was in Barrie for four years so it was tough to say goodbye to the boys,” said Gottschalk, who celebrated his 20th birthday the day before the trade was announced.
“My billets were a mess. I didn’t get to say goodbye to my friends. It was tough at the start for me. You don’t really (react negatively), that’s the worst way to look at it. Hopefully I can bring a winning attitude to Guelph, pass it on. It’s easy to come in to Guelph. It’s still only an hour away from home and you come here to play hockey anyway. It’s not that much of a change from the way Barrie plays. That’s what Marty and Brooksy were telling me before I came here. And it’s a great group of guys.”
In announcing the trade to the Barrie media, Williamson paid tribute to Gottschalk’s intangible skill-set.
“”Well we’re very happy to make this trade, but at the same time we are losing a great kid in Ryan, a real character guy who was very valuable to the community of Barrie,” Williamson said in a press release that also pointed out the “countless hours” Gottschalk spent bettering the Barrie community.
Volunteer work away from the rink and his schoolwork are two important aspects of Gottschalk’s life. A student studying accounting online with Athabasca University, Gottschalk has shown advanced maturity by realizing there is life away from hockey.
“That’s a big possibility for me next year, going to school,” he said. “I’ve always done well in school growing up. My family has always stressed it so it’s definitely a big thing. I did a lot of volunteer work in Barrie, two or three school visits a week. I really enjoy doing it, especially around Christmas time. I guess it really does make a difference.”
Just the fact that Gottschalk is playing in the OHL should show another measure of his character. An undrafted free agent, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound blueliner made the Colts as a walk-on in 2006, suiting up for 43 games as a rookie.
Last season, Gottschalk’s third in the OHL, he had a career-best 29 points (10 goals and 19 assists) to add some offensive contributions to his defensive role. But with the Storm he’ll be asked to take care of his own zone first, especially when he’s paired with offensively-minded Adam Comrie.
“We believed we were getting a defenceman who was simple, solid,” Brooks said. “He’s solidified the back end. Because of the way he plays, he’s going to get a lot of minutes. He’s so good defensively, penalty-killing, five-on-five. He moves the puck to the right spot. He does his job, separates guys from the puck. He understands the game, knows that if he (plays his game) good things will happen. What we got is a solid, all-around defenceman. He allows other guys to maybe be more of themselves. It allows (Comrie) to be more himself because he’s got a rock with him.”
That said, Gottschalk wouldn’t mind chipping in a few points before the end of the season. He’s still looking for his first goal of 2009-10 and has just seven assists.
“Last year I put up some good numbers,” he said. “This year in Barrie they told me they wanted me to be a shutdown guy. I was doing a good job of that before I was traded.”
And don’t for a minute think Gottschalk is simply going to play out the string with the Storm before moving on to the next chapter of his life. The Storm might be fighting for a playoff berth, not sitting atop the conference like the Colts were when he was dealt, but that doesn’t mean he’s giving up on the season. In fact, he likes what he sees in his new club.
“I’ve heard a couple of negative things,” Gottschalk admitted. “But we have just as much skill as Barrie does. If we can be more consistent, we can compete with any team in this league.”
Dave Pollard is Senior Sports Editor with www.canoe.ca
Throughout the 2008/09 season, articles written by Dave Pollard will be published exclusively on GuelphStorm.com.
