Lack of Pressure Tactic's Pays Off

Have I ever mentioned on this blog about how much I love the Moose Jaw Warriors organization?
The Warriors traded picks with the Portland Winter Hawks this morning, obtaining the #1 overall pick in the Western Hockey League bantam draft and selected Quinton Howden from Oak Bank, Manitoba.
With the Warriors trading up it paved the way for the Rockets to take Phoenix resident Luke Moffatt with the second pick overall.

Moffatt was suggested to be the best player available for the draft.
With Portland trading picks with Moose Jaw it is now clear that Moffatt was not interested in playing for the Hawks organization, which was suggested by Jon Keen on his blog a week ago.
Nice work Keener!!
For the record I didn't see this coming but was informed by Head Scout Lorne Frey that if he could pick one player - it would be Moffatt. Now he's got him!
My gut feeling is Moffatt would never play in Moose Jaw, so the Warriors went with the safe pick by going with Howden, who is his own right is projected to be a spectacular player.

But to say today is a good day for the Kelowna Rockets would be an understatement. Today isn't a good day...today is a great day for the organization.
While this team missed the playoffs this season they didn't miss this morning by making Moffatt their first pick in the 2007 draft.


Here is the transcript of the conversation I had with Luke Moffatt's father earlier today:

"It's exciting for him, he's pretty excited", Ken Moffatt said by phone before we had a chance to get into our conversation.

"It's a big step for a 14 year-old who doesn't turn 15 until June to make a commitment for the next 5 years of his hockey career and Portland wanted a whole contract signed, and we want to take it year-by-year. Kelowna made the statement that they will prove to Luke that Kelowna is the right place for him to play", Ken Moffatt added.

So you were hesitant in having your son playing in a larger centre?

"In a smaller centre it's a nice controlled environment. The attention is on the team in a smaller town while in Portland or a place like Seattle you don't have to compete with basketball or any other sport during the winter months...that's huge."

You spoke about not signing a WHL player contract right now. Why so?

"When they (Rockets) feel that Luke can be an impact player on the team, that's when we have to consider signing a player contract. We want to take it one step at a time and let him get to know the organization. We hope he's going to be good next year, and he's going to work hard to get there".

What makes you feel good about your son wearing a Rockets uniform?:

"To play in a Canadian city is really big. The fact that he could be playing in Kelowna which is right in the heart of hockey country is awesome. I have to say we have heard negative comments about other WHL organizations over the course of many phone calls and I have not heard a negative word about the Kelowna Rockets and especially about the teams leader Bruce Hamilton. The games are sold out, they have great fans and Kelowna's not a bad city with the lake there".

Will we see the white of his eyes at training camp?

"We don't know the dates yet, but he'll be there".

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Here is the conversation I had with Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton about Moffatt:

"We are really, really excited. We felt all along that this guy would be the first pick in the draft and for things to unfold where Moose Jaw made a trade with Portland to get the first pick we just kinda fell into it. We felt the first two boys picked would be really good hockey players, but we knew Luke Moffatt was a pretty special player because he has an offensive upside to him and picking this early in the draft we've never had an opportunity like this to grab a player with this type of ability."

Bruce, Luke's dad pointed to Kelowna being a smaller community, and that was a factor in why he may have not been enthusiastic about his son playing in a place like Portland. What do you make of that comment?

"When the Rockets play it's often the only game in town. When you are in those bigger centers the pro teams usually have the limelight and I think this is what they think is a good experience for their son to go through with the building being full every night and it being just an exciting place to be. But they also know the area and I think they are interested in setting up shop here in Kelowna for part of the year anyway to watch this guy play".

Bruce you didn't pressure him or his father to commit to the program right away. How much of a key was that for you?

"We talked to him in Kamloops at the Kamloops International Tournament but after that we never contacted them until two days ago, just because we didn't know what Portland was going to do with him. I didn't feel it was fair to be meddling with a player they were looking at taking with the first pick overall. You have to remember Regan that these guys are 14 and 15 year's old and they don't need to be worrying about signing contracts right now. We just want to get Luke comfortable with the organization that it will be a place he can make his home in the next couple of years."

Moffatt and his mother Colby are expected to visit Kelowna this summer before he attends training camp in the fall.