You can count on one hand the number of NHL scouts who routinely show their faces at Prospera Place.
Glen Sanders of the Nashville Predators drives in from his residence in Trail.
Glen Cochrane is with the Anaheim Ducks and makes Kelowna his year-round home.
Dennis Holland is from nearby Vernon and scouts for the Dallas Stars.
Jeff Finlay is an amateur scout with the Winnipeg Jets and was a former Kelowna Rockets assistant coach to Ryan Huska in 2009.
Coldstream’s Marty Stein is often seen taking in games too, now in his second full season with the Buffalo Sabres.
“It is wonderful,” Stein told RocketFAN after spending 25 years with the Detroit Red Wings. “The Sabres are a wonderful organization. They have treated me very well. Not that Detroit didn’t. I am in the NHL…it’s great, it’s great.”
Stein’s contract wasn’t renewed with the Wings when GM Ken Holland left the organization and landed in Edmonton.
No hard feelings for Stein, who has so many memories to look back on.
“Four Stanley Cups”, Stein says with a grin on his face. “I was very fortunate when I came on board and Kenny Holland hired me. In my first two years we won Stanley Cups, and I thought to myself, gee this is pretty nice.
“I have had the highs and I have had the lows. We have gone though some rebuilds, but the Wings are in good hands with [GM] Steve Yzerman, and he has them trending upwards.”
Stein watches close to 150 games a season, either in person or on his computer, all involving junior prospects across Western Canada.
“There are 32 teams and one Stanley Cup, so we are all trying to do the same thing and win it. At the draft, we are looking for the best player, and if the guy that we want isn’t there anymore and someone else takes him, we go to the next guy.”
Stein has seen Kelowna Rockets draft eligible forward Andrew Cristall countless times, and likes what he sees.
“He has impressed me”, Stein said without hesitation. “He has all the skill in the world. He sees the ice well. He has great hands. He has a hell of a shot.
“Once he gets strong, he will be able to get in more battles and fend off the d-men more, but what he has already is something you can’t teach.”
How about his defensive game? Does it need improvement?
“Playing in your own zone or coming back and using your stick differently, those can all be taught, and I am sure the coaches will push that. If he doesn’t want to do it, he isn’t going to play.”
Stein likes what he has seen from Rockets d-man Caden Price, who had an eye-popping performance at the U-18’s.
“He is a good skater. He has a good shot, but he has to get it on net a little more. He has good size. He is going to get bigger. I like his frame. He has good IQ.
“Kris [Mallette] plays him on the power play and on the penalty kill, so there is something there.”
Why isn’t 19 year-old Gabriel Sztruc drafted? RocketFAN had to ask.
“I don’t know”, Stein said with a chuckle. “He is a good player. Who says he might not get drafted this year? There are a lot of players that go through the first year of being draft eligible who don’t get picked.
“Mark Howe said it best. Sometimes it is good not to be drafted, because if you get drafted by one team, you are stuck in there talent tree. The older you get, the more mature you get, the stronger you get, now you have 32 teams looking at ya.
“If you are a good player, you will be found.”
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