Photo credit: RocketFAN

By Regan Bartel

30+ years of finding young talent

Scott Barber: A legacy of loyalty scouting with the Kelowna Rockets

Mar 11, 2025 | 10:00 AM

Scott Barber has been a dedicated and loyal servant of the Kelowna Rockets for years. 

Now, more than three decades later, the former RCMP officer, who is based in Red Deer, continues his role as a scout with the team. 

RocketFAN had the opportunity to catch up with him last week as the team made its way through the Central Division, and Barber reflected on how he first joined the organization back in the 1993-1994 season when the team was still the Tacoma Rockets. 

“I’ve been with this team since Bruce Hamilton didn’t have any gray hair,” Barber said, chuckling. “And that was a long time ago.” 

He continued, “My first assignment with the RCMP was in Red Deer. Around that time, an expansion BCHL team called the Wings came to Kelowna. Mark Pezzin was the coach, and Joe Arling was the general manager. Joe is a close friend of mine, and we played ball together along with former WHL Commissioner Ron Robison. Joe asked if I would be interested in scouting, and I worked with the Wings for two seasons.” 

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“We didn’t win a lot of games, but we had a lot of fun and I learned a great deal. Eventually, I was transferred to Toronto for six years. When I returned to Western Canada, I called Joe and told him I wanted to get back into scouting. He contacted Lorne Frey, and I’ve been with the team ever since.” 

In terms of tenure, Barber ranks just behind Terry McFaul, the current Rockets director of player personnel, for the longest-serving scout in the organization. 

“You couldn’t ask for a better mentor than Lorne Frey,” Barber added. “He’s a legend with an incredible eye for talent. Terry [McFaul] learned from him, and I learned from both Terry and Lorne. Terry looks for many of the same qualities in players that Lorne did. Because of my RCMP background, I tend to focus more on character than just skill. Bruce [Hamilton] wants good people—good kids. That’s why I’ve stuck with this team for so long. It matters to me the quality of players we bring in, and even more so, what we put out there on the ice.” 

Barber credits Frey as one of the best evaluators of young hockey talent he has ever encountered. Now retired, Barber remembers traveling extensively with Frey to scout the next rising stars. 

“We traveled everywhere,” Barber recalled. “Carberry, Manitoba, Swan River, Esterhazy, Saskatchewan—places where the hockey wasn’t always great,” he said, smiling. “Lorne was always the first to arrive at the rink and the last to leave. He’d say, ‘You just never know.’ His work ethic, and Terry’s, is unmatched.”

Listen to Barber talk about his relationship with long-time Kelowna Rockets athletic therapist Scott Hoyer:

As the game has progressed, so too has the role of a WHL scout. Today, almost no stone is left unturned, unlike when players like Shea Weber were unknowns in Sicamous, BC, playing junior B, or Jamie Benn was off the radar until Frey added him to the Rockets’ 50-man protected list while he was still playing in Victoria with his brother Jordie. 

“When we moved from Tacoma to the old rink in Kelowna, we were focused on getting big guys because of the rink size and the league’s needs at the time. Players like Ryan Andreas, Justin Jack, and Todd Fedoruk—what did they all have in common? Nobody wanted to play against them.” 

“I remember Peter Anholt (Rockets head coach 1996-98) saying, ‘I love big guys and physical hockey as much as anyone, but you also need to draft players who can do drills,’” he laughed. “The game has evolved. We still want to be big and tough, but we need players who can skate.” 

One such player who could combine size and skating ability was Nolan Yonkman. Now 44, the second-round NHL draft pick of the Washington Capitals is a player Barber will always remember scouting. 

“He came from a tiny town, a farm,” Barber reminisced. “His mom was a teacher, and his dad was a farmer. I went out to meet the family. I’ll never forget when he signed his first NHL contract—he used his signing bonus to buy his dad a combine.

“Nolan always greets me like we’re old friends. That’s why I do this—because of the relationships.”