ABbotsford, British Columbia – It's a Friday night and six young men are looking for… a restaurant. Nothing but a good meal and conversation. Saturday is a working day. The call is off, the discussion is underway, and Kraken rookie Ty Nelson, 21, in his second season with the American Hockey League affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds, appears to have little control.
No less authoritative than head coach Derek Laxdal declared: “Nellie has earned the right to have a voice in the locker room,” referring to the fact that the 2022 third-round draft pick was so effective in his AHL rookie season that he was elevated to the top four in terms of ice time and penalties and power plays midseason.
The dinner group included Nelson's top mate, 22-year-old Charlie Wright, who splits the 2024-25 season between ECHL affiliate Kansas City and Coachella Valley, along with four members of the 2023 draft class: Eduard Sale, Caden Price and Oscar Fisker Molgaard, all 20 and older. years old, and Andrei Leshko, who just turned 21 in October. The choice for dinner was The Keg, a chain store located in a small town in British Columbia.
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On Saturday morning, one hoped it wasn't a bad sign. Power went out at the team hotel at 5:30 a.m. and was not restored until around 9 a.m. That meant assistant coach Brennan Sonne was walking down the second-floor hallway before 7 a.m. with her cell phone flashlight. He was meeting with the coaching staff, who planned to take an Uber to Rogers Forum, home of the Canucks in Abbotsford (which has a backup generator) at 8 a.m. Most coaches know that Larksdale's time is to arrive early and on time.
The XL car set off at 7:45 and was packed with five leaders: head coach Derek Laxdal, assistant coaches Brennan Sonne, Stu Bickel and Vince Stalletti, and skills consultant Matt Larke. They are expected to review video clips on their laptops to show players in the morning and pregame meetings before the weekend's two-game series. The players Larksdale listed on the whiteboard represent the youngest team in the AHL, with an average age of 22.3 years.
“This is definitely the youngest defenseman I've ever seen on an AHL team,” said Kraken general manager Jason Botterill, who has worked in NHL front offices in Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Seattle. “The fact that the young defensemen have developed and performed so well and are still finding ways to win hockey games is a testament to the strength of the young players and coaching staff.”
Botterill shared his perspective ahead of Sunday's game, which, spoiler alert, is the second of two dramatic wins for the Firebirds. He was quick to praise “strong leaders” such as NHL-tested veterans John Hayden, Mitchell Stephens and Ben Meyers.
“It’s painful not having the feeling now. [defenseman Gustav or “Goose”] From that standpoint, Olofsson is helping out on the field, but I have to say, we're relying on the leadership of second- and third-year AHL defensemen Ty Nelson and Ver Otavainen, and they're delivering on that promise. “
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As the lights come back on and the player bus ride ends, the first official morning skate is the 10:20 power play hosted by the aforementioned Sonne. With the exception of one young forward, everyone gathered in a cozy (okay, small) guest coaching room. Undrafted forward Logan (“Mo”) Morrison, who leads CVF with 10 goals this weekend, volunteered to wake up his lost teammates. Soon Sonnet was exhorting his players with high-energy octaves.
“Welcome to the Lower Mainland,” said Thorne, who grew up in Maple Ridge, about 30 minutes from Abbotsford, which explains why after Saturday's game he was lugging a heavy bag (probably 30 pounds, he guessed) filled with moose, cattle, deer and dried fish provided by relatives who attended the game. Coachella Valley won in a shootout as Meyers tied the game in the final seconds, guided by Sonne's six-on-five empty-net effort.
The 38-year-old Soni served as head coach of the WHL's Saskatoon team before moving to the AHL, winning 130 regular-season games in three years and making two deep playoff appearances in three seasons. At the start of the meeting, he said “great job” to 2022 second-rounder Jagger Firkus for keeping the puck in the zone in the Firebirds' final home game before a four-game road trip through two towns. This simple detail plays out in the video, showing off the power-play scoring opportunities that resulted. Players snapped their fingers in appreciation.
Sonne then quickly coached forwards David Goyette and Carson Rekopf on how to receive Nelson's pass. Meanwhile, he also told offseason rookie J.R. Avon how to optimize power-play scoring opportunities by “bringing the puck as deep as possible” if the opponent is in some kind of penalty shootout situation. The meeting ended quickly – coaches know young minds are unstable – and that's the beauty of hockey. Where is the camera when you need it?
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After skating in the morning, the first bus back to the hotel had left, and Ben Meyers was the only Firebird in the makeshift stretch. It's basically a hallway with some stretching equipment at arm's length (rollers are prominent, and goaltender Niklas Koko keeps a camouflage-covered device in his locker). Meyers greets people on the floor and the discussion turns to hot yoga as he does a typical post-class cross-body stretch, lifting his bent left knee to the right and then to the left. He said his hip muscles felt tight. He held these poses for several minutes at a time and became interested when he learned that legendary Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson had Michael Jordan and company perform yoga moves in practice, although it wasn't necessarily called that at the time.
NHL-tested forward John Hayden appears ready to get in some extra stretches with his teammates. Late Saturday, Hayden was often in front of the net covering the goaltender. Hayden, who like Meyers is a pro's pro, sat in a crowded coaching room with first-year goaltending coach Vince Stalletti on Sunday, getting scouting reports on what it takes to beat the Abbotsford goalie in the second game of a weekend series.
