- Jordon Cooke returned to Kelowna on Monday after spending the weekend in London, Ontario where he was named the Canadian Hockey League Goaltender of the Year. The 20 year-old captured the honour Saturday by beating out representatives from the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. "I believe it is a pretty prestigious award. I hope that this opens a couple of doors. If it doesn't, I can look back on it and be very proud and what happened and go from there". It is hard to imagine that Cooke came within a hair of being cut by the Kelowna Rockets just a few years back. The Leduc, Alberta product admits he didn't exactly impress when he made the team in the fall of 2010."I was pretty lucky that I had pretty good camps prior to that and they (Rockets scouts) knew what type of skill set I had. Now it is completely night and day. I owe it all to (goaltending coach) Kim Dillabaugh. He is one of the best in the business and I can vouch for that."Cooke still isn't sure where he will be playing next season. He may get drafted in June. Maybe a pro team will offer him a contract or he could play CIS university hockey.
- What an awesome showing by the Edmonton Oil Kings in winning the 2014 Memorial Cup. This was a gutsy effort which mirrored their showing in a game seven WHL championship series with the Portland Winterhawks. Sure, the Oil Kings lost the first game in London against the Ontario Hockey League champion Guelph Storm, but they won the game that really mattered when it came to a rematch between the two teams. What was so impressive about Sunday's win was the ability to find the will, the want and the desire after playing two previous games that went into overtime, including a triple overtime thriller in the semi finals. The team that won the 2014 Memorial Cup showed massive character and are truly worthy of being declared champions.
- Congrats to Oil Kings scout Bob McGill. McGill, who lives in Edmonton, was at one time a scout with the Kelowna Rockets before jumping to the Oil Kings organization. McGill is the father of Kootenay Ice head coach Ryan McGill.
- It looks like the Vancouver Canucks are seriously looking at bringing Willie Desjardins on board as the teams new head coach. Desjardins is a former coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers and really turned that franchise around after a stint in the late 90's where they couldn't make the playoffs. They missed five straight years between 1997 and 2001 before Desjardins came on board and found the winning formula that has paved the way to future success. If Desjardins is named the Canucks coach, he won't be a hit with the media. Willie is a good guy, but very quiet and reserved in his approach when it comes to media query's.
- The HNIC Play-On 4 on 4 celebrity hockey game took place Saturday afternoon in front of Prospera Place. Gord McGarva and I had the pleasure of MCing the contest, which featured the likes of former Rockets Brandon McMillan, Cody Almond and Evan Bloodoff along with current Rockets Myles Bell, Jackson Whistle, Tyson Baillie, Mitch Wheaton and Carter Rigby. Oh ya, politicians like local MLA's Norm Letnick, Steve Thomson and Mike de Jong were also on hand for the game while Premier Christy Clark participated in the opening face-off.
- Thomson had to leave the game in the first half after stumbling during the play and crashing to the concrete. And he thought question period in the legislature was tough.
- Ronnie Coleman is coming to Kelowna. The 8 time Mr. Olympian is making a quick stop at Fuel Supplements on K.L.O Road Tuesday from 4 until 7. You need to buy 100 bucks of his supplements in order to meet and get your picture taken with Coleman, who is now 50 years old. In his prime, Coleman was freakishly massive
Premier Christy Clark drops ball at celebrity 4 on 4 game
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