Royals alternate captain Reschny bringing 200-foot game to CHL USA Prospects Challenge presented by Kubota Canada

Calgary, Alta.- Cole Reschny knows the importance of seizing an opportunity when it presents itself.

Who knows if the 17-year-old would have emerged as a star player for the Victoria Royals if it hadn’t been for an unfortunate injury?

The team lost its top centre and alternate captain Robin Sapousek to injury at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, leaving a hole on the top line.

In his first year as head coach, James Patrick had no choice but to try the 5-foot-10 centreman on his top unit- and the youngster more than delivered.

“I don’t think there was a 16-year-old in the league who played bigger minutes or a bigger role on his team,” Patrick explained. “There were other guys who were allowed to play on the third line, make mistakes, play against third-line match ups and blossom that way. We didn’t, because of the makeup of our team and where we were at. He didn’t have that luxury. He had to play bigger minutes and tougher matchups and he held his own, he made plays and he, you know, had some success at it.”

Some success is one way to put it.

Reschny closed out his rookie season with 21 goals and 38 assists for 59 points in 61 games.

He picked up WHL Rookie of the Month honours in November after going on a 14-game point streak and earned weekly rookie awards twice in the new year as the Royals clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2018-19.

While they would be quickly dispatched by the eventual Western Conference Champion Portland Winterhawks, Reschny still impressed with a pair of postseason points and took home the Royals’ Rookie of the Year Award.

“I had a pretty good season as a 16-year-old, but, you know, I always want more,” Reschny, now an alternate captain, said of following up the stellar campaign. “I’m a high achiever, so numbers for myself and team goals. Coming as a younger guy, still as a leader though now, I wanted to lead this team and help do a further (playoff) run.”

The Macklin, Sask. product got another boost from earning gold at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup with Team Canada in Edmonton.

He tied for the team lead in points with three goals and four assists in five games and started garnering plenty of attention from NHL scouts to officially kick off his draft season.

“It’s the best on best, so it’s going to be tough. No one there shouldn’t be there, everyone there’s a good player,” Reschny added. “You got to bring your best effort every night. You can’t take a shift off or even a second off. Even at tryouts, you just see the scouts in the stands watching and then the tournament really ramps up. You just try to push that to the side and worry about how the team’s doing, how you’re doing. Gold was our goal there, and ultimately we got that.”

Reschny will get another chance to show NHL teams what he’s made of at the upcoming CHL USA Prospects Challenge presented by Kubota Canada.

He enters the showcase as a ‘A’ prospect, or potential first-round pick, according to NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary player list.

Patrick sees many similarities between Reschny and a second-round pick from the 2009 NHL Draft who went on to make quite a name for himself.

“I was coaching in the NHL when Ryan O’Reilly came in for Colorado,” Patrick recalled.”He played in the NHL at 19 and you could see right off the bat, he was a guy who did all the little things right. He’s been a Stanley Cup champion, he’s been an all-star. I know that’s lofty praise and that’s a high expectation, but I think that would be something that you’d want Cole to be shooting for. He’s a guy who is a really solid two-way player who is really important on the power play for us, real important on the penalty kill.

He’s one of those guys, I would say, who is naturally strong for his size. That is real important in the pro game, the fact that he can play both ends.”

Reschny says he prides himself on being a trustworthy player for the Royals, who currently sit second in the competitive B.C. Division.

He has eight goals and 18 assists for 26 points in 20 games- tied for first on his team.

He’ll work to help the Royals finish a Central Division road trip on a high note before boarding a plane for Ontario for next week’s new-look prospects challenge.

Reschny is one of 10 WHL players who will represent the CHL in London and Oshawa on November 26 an 27.