Photo credit: Steve Dunsmoor

By Regan Bartel

Fourth liner brings upbeat attitude

Will Munro: Making the most of limited ice time

Oct 31, 2023 | 8:00 AM

Will Munro was born and raised in a province where the signature phrase on its license plates reads – Friendly Manitoba.

That seems only fitting that the Swan River, Manitoba product for the Kelowna Rockets isn’t complaining about his limited role with the hockey team as a fourth-line player.

“He is a great person,” Head Coach Kris Mallette said without hesitation when describing Munro’s demeanour around his teammates. “He has never complained once [about ice time] and is a great teammate.”

Munro has dressed in only half, seven of 14 games this season, spending as much time as a health scratch as opposed to helping his team win games.

“Guys love him in the room,” Mallette added about the second-year forward. “The staff love him. He works hard, but he has to get into the game, and he wants to be a power forward, so he skates well, and he is strong. He has a great base to him, but he needs to compete.

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“He has to put pucks in areas where he can go get them. He has to put those pucks in areas where he can finish his checks. He also has to be extremely detailed on the defensive side of things and make confident puck plays when he gets it.”

Munro knows his minutes will be limited again this season, so he has to make the most of opportunity to show what he can do.

“It is hard to be consistent at this level (https://omny.fm/shows/rocketfan/will-munro),” Munro told RocketFAN. “The pace, with so many things happening, it’s hard to be consistent, but I need to play simple and use my body. I am a bigger guy, so I am trying to make some space for myself and hopefully that can keep me in the lineup.”

An 11th-round WHL prospect selection in 2020, Munro says going from being a top-six forward while in midget hockey to making the jump to major junior has been an eye-opener.

“When your name gets called on the bench, you have to get up and go,” Munro said optimistically. “You can’t get down on yourself if you are playing those little minutes. Everyone has a role on the team, and if you are playing those six to 10 minutes, you go out and do a job whether that is hitting a body or playing simple or shutting down the other team from scoring.”

In the past, fourth-line players were a group of three who grinded, often fought, and allowed elite teammates a chance to recover so they could be impactful when the game was on the line.

“It is harder to get shots on goal at this level,” he continued. “It is so much faster than in midget. Creating chances and getting used to the speed is something I had to get used to last year. I need to slow down the game so I can create things rather than watching.”

Fourth-liners must exhibit buy-in, be a tremendous teammate, and earn the trust of the coach. Being physically ready for increased minutes when a higher-leverage situation presents itself is a must.

“We can definitely score goals,” Munro often impressed on how teammates Andrew Cristall and Tij Iginla can take control of the game on the offensive zone. “We just need to get our defensive side together and we can be a pretty good team. We have the goaltending. We need to realize we have to work hard. In some of the games where we don’t, it goes against us. If we can learn that, I think we can be a hard team to play.”

Is Munro destined for more ice time in the near future?

“He has to compete,” Mallette said without hesitation.

“He practices hard and has a great attitude.”