Top Prospects Arrive on Eve of Top Prospects Game
The Top Prospects from across the Canadian Hockey League have arrived in Kelowna and have skated for the first time at Prospera Place as the 2012 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is ready to go over the next two days in Kelowna.
Players arrived in Kelowna this morning, trickling in from all across the Canadian Hockey League. They met with representatives of NHL Central Scouting, who took height and weigth measurements, before meeting the media and finally hitting the ice Monday. Each team had a quick 50 minute practice.
Kelowna Rockets players Colton Sissons and Damon Severson are both taking part in the event, although the teammates will be on opposite sides of the rink with Sissons as the captain of Team Orr and Severson as a member of Team Cherry.
Sissons, the Rockets leading scorer with 26 goals, says it’s been a fun day.
“It’s pretty cool being able to see all the prospects from the Quebec league and the Ontario league, there is definitely some great talent here,” he said. “It’s also good to see some familiar faces from around the WHL who I have been playing against.”
For Severson, who returned from injury and played the last two games for the Rockets, he says being around hockey greats like honorary coach Mark Recchi is unbelievable.
“I just met Mark Recchi and he won a Stanley Cup last year,,” said Severson. “It doesn’t get any more real than that. It’s a tremendous honour to be playing in this game and I’m really excited.”
It’s expected that almost every player hitting the ice in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game will be drafted in the NHL Entry Draft this summer, many of them in the first couple of rounds.
Sissons says taking part in the game is fun but also comes with pressure.
“It’s a stressful situation for sure,” he said. “But you play your best when you are confident and relaxed and Wednesday night I’m just going to play my usual game: Work hard and do my thing out there and hopefully impress some people.”
There are still tickets available for both the skills competition on Tuesday and the game on Wednesday.
Both Severson and Sissons said it’s great to be playing in their hometown and they are hoping for lots of crowd support.
“It’s nice to have it in your backyard,” said Sissons. “We’re in our own dressing room and we have our trainers around. Our fans are going to be great. I know they are going to be loud and backing Severson and I.”
“Playing in front of the hometown fans in Kelowna is going to be great,” added Severson.
