Photo credit: Medicine Hat Tigers Hockey Club

By Regan Bartel

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Personable off the ice. A pain in the derriere on it.

Brett Calhoon, who turns 19 years old a week from today, might just be what the doctor ordered for the Kelowna Rockets heading into the final three months of the season.

A forward who plays with heart, determination, and fearlessness was obtained in a Western Hockey League trade with the Medicine Hat Tigers Sunday for 18-year-old Marcus Pacheco, a third and fifth-round bantam selection.

“I am excited to be here,” Calhoon said following his first practice with his new team before several media outlets wanted to speak with him afterward. “I grew up around these parts, and am familiar with the town [Kelowna], so I am very excited to get going.”

While spending a portion of his childhood in nearby Oliver in the South Okanagan, the personable pest was born in Kamloops.

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“We had season tickets to the Blazers,” he said with a chuckle. “I am not sure if this is a hostile environment for me considering I am from there [noting the rivalry between the two cities], but I am on the other side of it now, and thrilled I am.”

A ninth-round WHL prospect pick of the Tigers from 2020, Calhoon was chosen 13 players after the Rockets plucked forward Ethan Neutens off the board.

“I don’t remember much about draft day,” Calhoon said honestly. “I was playing video games with one of my buddies and I heard my mom from the kitchen, and she was pretty excited, and then the Tigers called me. I didn’t even know where Medicine Hat was at the time.”

With the addition of Calhoon, the team now has ten forwards acquired through trade, with only Andrew Cristall, Gabriel Szturc, Will Munro, Kayden Longley, and Ethan Neutens chosen through either the WHL or CHL Import draft. Dylan Wightman is the lone forward who was listed.

“I am pretty comfortable now with the level of the play in the WHL,” Calhoon said with 29 games in major junior hockey under his belt. “Every day is about getting better. You aren’t going to go anywhere if you don’t get better.”

Calhoon should be familiar with his new surroundings, suiting up for the Tigers when they beat the Rockets 9-2 back in a game in mid-October.

“I am a big energy guy,” he added. “I like to get in on the forecheck, use my body and I love big hits.”

In the game against the Rockets, Calhoon even got into a first-period scrap with now-teammate Ismail Abougouche.

“Emotions play a part in hockey. Now and then I will get frustrated and take it out on an opponent,” he said with a grin.

Wearing sweater number #9 with his new team, a change from the #18 he wore wearing Tiger colours will be an adjustment, but Calhoon has the right mindset where players often make too much out of the number they have on the back of their jersey.

“I don’t care about the number,” Calhoon said deadpan. “It is the logo on the front that I worry about more.”

The last player to wear number #9 in Kelowna with a lunch bucket attitude was Ryan Cuthbert, who arguably was one of the biggest motivational leaders in franchise history. Cuthbert, while not highly skilled and undersized, would do whatever it took, including fighting to push his team over the top.

“I am going to give it my all every night and I want my teammates to rely on me,” Calhoon said with confidence knowing that he will make his debut on Friday night against the Edmonton Oil Kings.

“Being the player I know I am, and not changing my game is what I want to do, and I will do all I can to get this team into the playoffs.”