By Adrian Nieoczym /
Once it became clear that Colin Long was sticking with San Antonio of the American Hockey League, the Kelowna Rockets went ahead and installed a new captain at their helm. And in Lucas Bloodoff, they have a leader who embodies what this team has to be in order to succeed.
“We’re definitely not as skilled as we were last year, there’s no secret about that,” said Bloodoff about his band of defending WHL champs.
Where last year, the Rockets featured a host of gifted players who found a way to play up to their potential, this year’s edition will have to be a case of the whole outperforming the sum of its parts.
“If we have everybody playing as one and being really structurally sound and competing hard and outworking the other team every night, I think we give ourselves a really good chance to win every single night,” said the 20-year-old left-winger who is in his fourth season with Kelowna.
Head coach Ryan Huska said Bloodoff matured as a leader last year, when he was an assistant captain on a squad that went all the way to the Memorial Cup final.
“He’s a guy who’s committed to working hard and doing whatever it takes to win,” he said before paying his captain the ultimate warrior compliment. “He’ll play through anything.”
Bloodoff’s value can’t be read entirely from the scoresheet, though he certainly chips in with some timely goals. Last year, he had 20 goals and 18 assists in 69 regular season games to go with 96 penalty minutes. He added another five goals, five assists and 31 penalty minutes in 22 playoff games.
Defenceman Tyson Barrie is in his third full-time season with the Rockets. At 18, he is one of the team’s storied veterans and was selected to wear an ‘A’ this year.
“I’ve been a guy who’s been around for everything this team’s gone through for the last few years,” he said.
Comparing the team’s new captain with the recently departed Long, Barrie said, “I think you’ve got two polar opposites there.”
Long is a surfer from Santa Ana, Calfornia. Bloodoff lists Bocci as his best sport besides hockey and hails from Castlegar, B.C., a small mill town, miles from the nearest ocean. And where Long was more of a finesse player with a soft touch around the net, Bloodoff is more of a crash the net kind of guy.
Those playing styles are reflected in the two men’s leadership styles.
“Longer was a guy, he wasn’t too vocal in the room always,” said Barrie. “Whereas, Lucas is a very outspoken guy...he’s a real vocal guy in the room and if you’re not working hard, you’re going to hear about it.”
Bloodoff readily concedes that, “I’m not as gifted” as Long and can’t just go out and engineer a pretty play to rev up his teammates. He has to find other ways to get them to take it up a notch.
“It’s my responsibility to make sure the team’s going every night,” he said. “I try to be the hardest working player, whether it’s a game or a practice.” |