Photo credit: RocketFAN

By Regan Bartel

6'7 d-man overcomes setbacks

From injury to opportunity: Owen Hayden eyes roster spot

Sep 3, 2025 | 6:00 AM

Sixteen-year-old defenseman Owen Hayden knew earning a roster spot with the Kelowna Rockets would not be easy. This year, it is even tougher.

With the 2026 Memorial Cup coming to Kelowna next May, the Rockets are shaping up to be older, deeper, and more experienced than ever. Last season, the club carried four 16-year-olds in Kalder Varga, Jake Henderson, Kanjyu Gojsic, and Owen Folstrom. This season, at best, they may ice just one.

For Hayden, the climb has been made steeper by two untimely setbacks. His spring season ended when he pulled ligaments in his thumb. Then, in late July at Canada’s Under-17 development camp in Oakville, Ontario, came something far more frightening.

“I got hit by a skate,” Hayden explained. “The skate hit the back of my leg and cut me. I had to have surgery. It is well on its way to coming back, and I should be back in a month or so as long as all goes well.”

The cut tore through the back of his hamstring, slicing muscle and fascia. It required 20 stitches—six on the inside and 14 on the outside. Surgery was performed that night in Oakville. Doctors told Hayden it could have been much worse had the blade gone deeper.

The lost art of true sports storytelling

Why athlete stories should never fade

Jul 22, 2025

One call, one commitment

Luke Schenn's call, Mazden Leslie's answer

Jul 19, 2025

Is the NCAA grass really greener?

WHL's grit and grind is unmatched

Jul 10, 2025

Still, his outlook remains remarkably positive.

“The thing about injuries is I have always seen them as an opportunity,” the first-round WHL Prospects pick told RocketFAN. “After the thumb injury, I spent a couple of months just working on leg strength and skating, and I came back to play better hockey is what I decided to do.”

As the Rockets open their preseason schedule tonight against the expansion Penticton Vees at Prospera Place with a 7:00 p.m. start—and no broadcast on 104.7 The Lizard—Hayden knows he would have been in the lineup if healthy. Instead, he watches from the stands, determined to make up for lost time.

“I think my job as a player is to keep getting better and improve and eventually contribute and help the Rockets any way I can,” he said.

If you want to listen to the entire interview, press the play button below:

Away from the rink, Hayden feels at home in Kelowna.

“I keep coming back to the fact that Kelowna is so nice. It is a beautiful city and I am excited to be here,” he said. With his parents owning a home in the city and his older brother Nicholas beginning another year of studies at UBCO, homesickness is not a factor.

“It is definitely nice to go home and see your family and your brother,” Hayden added. “My brother has lived away from home the last two years, when they were based in Calgary, so it will be nice to live with my brother again. We are close.”

If Hayden does crack the roster despite the injury, he will be the youngest player on a veteran-heavy team and start at the bottom of the pecking order. But he is not daunted by that role.

“The one thing I would say is great about this team is it is a big family. All the players are super inclusive. It is great to have such a close-knit team, and it is nice to be a part of that.”

The odds may be against him this fall. But when Hayden finally laces up his skates again, Rockets fans will not just be watching a rookie defenseman. They will be watching a young player already shaped by resilience, sharpened by adversity, and motivated to prove that his story is only beginning.

“The fans are the best part,” Hayden said. “They are the best part of hockey. I cannot wait to see the Kelowna Rockets fans, and everybody come out to the games as it creates such a great atmosphere.”