It's official.
Tysen Dowzak will not return for his overage season with the Kelowna Rockets. Dowzak has earned a contact with the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack. The Fergus Falls Minnesota resident played three seasons with the Rockets from 2005 to 2007. In total Dowzak played 166 WHL games, collecting four goals and 20 assists for 24 points. The Rockets now have just one 20 year-old on their roster in goaltender Kris Lazaruk.
Tysen Dowzak will not return for his overage season with the Kelowna Rockets. Dowzak has earned a contact with the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack. The Fergus Falls Minnesota resident played three seasons with the Rockets from 2005 to 2007. In total Dowzak played 166 WHL games, collecting four goals and 20 assists for 24 points. The Rockets now have just one 20 year-old on their roster in goaltender Kris Lazaruk.
5 comments:
Good for him, I am happy for Tysen. It is a shock though that he is good enough for that league when he was never more than the 4th or 5th d-man on the Rockets. He was an easy target for fans his first 2 yrs here and did pick up his defensive play last year. He struggled when put unfairly on the PP last year when guys were away but defensively he was finally able to be a shutdown guy.
Its a loss for Kelowna but he is pretty replaceable. If Schenn comes back Schenn, Myers, Barrie and Bowman all were going to be ahead of him anyway. Hopefully we can get a solid OA now who can play the safe game in his own end and is tougher than Tysen was.
I think Dowzak was underated. He had his ups and downs but when he was on his game he was good.
So who's available in the league for 20 year olds?
Vancouver, Kootenay, Swift Current and Brandon all have three 20 year-old defenseman on their roster. Whether they are available, or at what price is anyones guess. Only Tri City, Seattle, Swift Current, Brandon and Calgary have too many, with four overagers. Calgary has five with the deadline to get down to three 20 year-olds just a few days away.
Dowzak was underrated by everyone except his teammates and coaches. This is a kid who was highly ranked at the beginning of his draft season and didn't have the best season, fell in the draft rankings and ultimately wasn't drafted. He used this as motivation and worked hard at improving his game. There was a long stretch last season where Tyson was the rockets best most consistent defenseman.
Don't underestimate Dowzaks' value to the rockets. Tyson will be missed.
Agree original6. I will share my thoughts in a posting after midnight, but you took the words out of my mouth.
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