Jan Frey, Blayke Moen, Lorne Frey and Carter Moen. Photo credit: Contributed.

By Regan Bartel

Carter Moen has Rockets' connection

Lorne Frey can identify a good WHL prospect, especially when its his grandson

Jun 5, 2024 | 7:00 AM

Lorne Frey knows a few things about young hockey prospects. 

Spending over 40 years, either coaching at the WHL level or scouting them as the former director of player personnel for the Kelowna Rockets, you tend to have a keen eye for those who will flourish in junior hockey. 

Frey has never played favourites with players he has drafted, believing all will excel if patience is used and ice time is granted. This time around though, you will have to give him a free pass, a mulligan if you will, for being biased when it comes to one prospect who was recently chosen by the Swift Current Broncos in the first round of May’s WHL Prospects Draft.  

“We were pretty excited,” he told RocketFAN after 15-year-old Carter Moen, Frey’s grandson, was chosen 17th overall. “I know Swift Current notified the family that if Carter was available, they were going to take him.” 

Moen’s father is Travis Moen, who played three seasons with the Kelowna Rockets from 1999 until 2002.  

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“Travis was a little leery, or apprehensive about Carter playing in his hometown, but I can relate to him,” Frey added. “I said, when we won the Memorial Cup [Frey was an assistant coach with the Swift Current Broncos] in 1989, we had six local players on that team. I am always a proponent of local players if they are good enough to play, and it’s probably as good there as anywhere else.” 

Over the years, Frey has jokingly downplayed those he has drafted, knowing full well they were going to be elite. Luke Schenn, Tyler Myers, and even astutely listing undrafted Jamie Benn, are just three examples of where the 74-year-old’s hockey mind is on a different level. 

Listen below as Frey compares Carter Moen to his father, Travis:

“He is a good prospect,” Frey said, not shying away from what he likes about his grandson’s evolution as a player. “He is around six feet tall, is a tremendous skater and has good hands. He thinks the game. He is probably as complete of a 200-foot player that is out there, and he has a little physicality to him as well, so that probably comes from his dad.” 

Travis Moen was no stranger to physical play, getting into 28 fights over his three seasons in Kelowna before going on to play pro hockey. 

“He [Carter] is light years ahead of his dad at the same age, but I don’t want to tell his dad that,” Frey said with a chuckle.  

With Travis Moen playing 747 games at the NHL level, you knew if his son was to choose the game of hockey, the Stanley Cup champion with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 would be influential. 

“Travis basically coached him [Carter] through the minor hockey level,” Frey continued. “Two years ago, their bantam team won the provincial champion and last year they were second in the league and lost out in the south final. I think Travis coached six players from that team that got drafted into the WHL. He has done a good job as a coach. He has done very well developing these young kids.” 

While it is often the norm for BC-born hockey players to seek out hockey academies to accelerate their game to the next level, it appears more Saskatchewan-born products are sticking with a formula of playing in their minor hockey system. 

“I know the academies do very, very well, but if you have a good hockey program in Swift Current, you have a good minor hockey program, there is no reason for players to move,” Frey added. “Carter developed just as good as he would have in an academy. I’ve always said, it isn’t where you play, it is how much you play and the competition you play against. In an academy, he may have been a third line player. While he is in Swift Current, he is a first or second-line player, so he plays in all situations and plays 25 minutes a night.”  

The Portland Winterhawks have also taken notice. The WHL team drafted Swift Current born Hudson Darby in the 5th round in 2021 and most recently chose younger brother Griffin in the first round in 2023. 

“Since Travis has moved back to Swift Current, he and Regan Darby have set up a hockey company and they are doing a great job of skill development. It is great to see ex-pro’s coming back to their communities and giving back and being successful at it.” 

Carter Moen won’t be able to play fulltime with the Broncos until the 2025-2026 season but will use this winter as a building block by playing midget hockey with the Swift Current Legionnaires.  

“He loves the game. He loves to play. He loves to compete,” Frey added. “He lives, eats and breaths the game. I tell him all the time. You have to love the game. You need to have passion for it because it is not easy the higher you go up. 

“I love him dearly. We have been very, very close. I spent a lot of time with him, and he is my favourite.” 

RocketFAN couldn’t ask for better words spoken from a junior hockey scout legend when referring to his hockey playing grandson.