From the Stands
By Paul Osborne, Guelph Tribune
After many, many fitness camps it takes a lot to impress Guelph Storm Vice-President and General Manager Mike Kelly. He has seen the strong and the weak, the fast and slow, the prepared and those scared to death. But a few weekends ago Kelly was surprised by some of the results produced by second round draft pick Kyle Locke. To be fair they ask each player to bench press their own weight to showcase where they are on the strength scale. Locke, who is already a solid 190 pounds, approached the bench and proceeded to press his weight an impressive 20 times. Not bad for a young man who hadn’t turned 16 yet.
“His strength testing was probably as good as anything I’ve seen from a first- year drafted player” said Kelly. “Overall his testing was good but the strength portions were especially good.”
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. Locke’s father won a gold medal in the bench press at the World Police/Firefighter games a few years back.
“My dad and I both work out with personal trainer Stellios Doukas” said Locke just turned 16 two weeks ago. “I’m not that heavy a kid but the added strength makes corner battles easier and skating less of a hassle. I’ve also been working with (first round draft pick Robby) Fabbri with Storm skating coach Barb Underhill.”
Kelly thinks his club has drafted a big part of the future in Locke.
“I see him as a top 2 defenceman because he has that type of skating ability and strength” said Kelly. “I eventually see him being part of the powerplay unit and he should be capable of being a 50-point guy as an 18 or 19 year old. Matt Finn may have more pure offensive ability but I think Locke is a better skater than Finn was at the same age. We’ll want him to play more on the defensive side of the puck as a 16 and 17-year-old. He’ll have to earn his playing time by playing good defence.”
Locke found out the hard way two weekends ago that nothing in life is guaranteed when he was cut from the Ontario Under-17 team.
“It was a huge wake-up call for me” admitted Locke. “I wasn’t focused enough and thought my name would carry me through. (It tells me) I have to work on my mental toughness and not take things for granted. I hope I get another chance (to make that team).”
You have to admire his honesty and willingness to be accountable for his own actions. Other players might have blamed everyone but themselves but Locke took a long look in the mirror, realized his mistake and now hopes to learn from it.
“I’m so excited to be coming to Guelph” said the Aurora native. “They never talked to me all year so I didn’t think they would take me (on draft day) but when they did my whole family went crazy. Just knowing that I have a coach (in Scott Walker) who is really good with the players and really develops players is exciting.”
Locke is realistic about goals for his rookie campaign, realizing he’ll be challenged more next season than at any time during his career.
“It will be about effort going into the season and the adversity I’m sure to face being a young guy in the league” he said. “I’m going to have to work through it for the first few months, find my place on the team and go from there. Knowing I’m coming to a younger team that I can grow up with is pretty exciting.”
If the kid can bench press 190lbs like he is pushing up two bags of potatoes as a 15-year-old it is hard to imagine what he might be able to accomplish as a veteran OHL’er. But one thing is for sure….Guelph Storm fans are excited to find out.
