Photo credit: Steve Dunsmoor

By Regan Bartel

Owen Folstrom shines in game one loss

Veterans away; rookies will play

Sep 23, 2024 | 7:00 AM

When he defeated Goliath, David used a slingshot to fire a stone at the Philistine warrior. 

Down went the giant, who stood 9 feet, 9 inches tall. 

In modern times, sixteen-year-old Kelowna Rockets forward Owen Folstrom uses a composite hockey stick, made from a combination of fiberglass, carbon, and aramid to propel a puck with great velocity at an opposing goaltender. 

The rookie showed off his lethal shot in the first period Saturday night when he was set up wonderfully at the left face-off circle by teammate Jaxon Kehrig. Unfortunately, he fired the disc into the midsection of Portland Winterhawks goalie Ondrej Stebetak, who came across quickly to make the save on the one-timer. 

“I thought we had some quality looks on the front door,” Rockets assistant coach Derrick Martin told RocketFAN after a 5-3 home-ice, where Folstrom had three of 16 shots the home team registered in the opening 20 minutes. “If you get one of those to fall through, it is possibly a different outcome in that period.” 

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Undeterred despite his team trailing 3-0, Folstrom would get the puck again, in almost that exact same location, but this time at the other end of the ice, firing home his first Western Hockey League goal in just his fourth career game. 

“He is a character player,” Martin continued about Folstrom. “He is a guy you are going to get a consistent effort from.” 

A fourth-round WHL Prospects pick in 2023, the Calgary product ended the night with five shots on goal, one shy of team leader Michael Cicek. 

“It is nice to see him get rewarded because he does compete and work hard,” Martin continued. “He helps us get pucks back. That is kind of the mantra when he is on the ice is he is going to be a dog on the puck.”  

Heading into the team’s first regular season game of 2024-2025, the nice skating forward took full advantage with seven regulars, including Andrew Cristall (Washington Capitals), Tij Iginla (Utah Hockey Club),Hiroki Gojsic (Nashville Predaotrs), and Ethan Neutens (LA Kings) out of the lineup. 

“He wasn’t necessarily the guy we thought would score the first goal of the season for us,” Martin said honestly. “We are happy for him. It was a great shot at an opportune time.” 

Listen to Regan Bartel speak with Rockets AC Derrick Martin after the game:

While the Winterhawks came into Kelowna and skated away with the victory, the two teams, specifically the Rockets, will look extremely different when they meet again on October 11th in the rematch. 

“They [rookies] had a chance to skate with those players that are at NHL training camps, and see how they prepare and see what skill level and effort goes into that,” Martin added. “Your career is going to be a microcosm of where opportunity meets performance. That is the message to our younger players. You have an opportunity and you have to grab a hold and preform.”

Veteran 19 year-old d-men Caden Price and Carter Kowalyk also didn’t play in the two goal setback. 

“That just isn’t our young players,” Martin pointing out the need to take advantage of increased ice time with so many teammates at NHL training camps. “Our veteran players. Our 18-year-olds, our 19-year-olds and our 20s that are fighting for spots on this team and fighting for spots in this league. We have guys that are playing on the power play that haven’t likely spent a lot of time in their WHL career on the power play, and kudos to them, I thought they did a good job and took advantage of that.” 

The Rockets ended the night going an impressive two for four on the power play, yet surrendered a shorthanded goal on its first chance of the game. 

“We haven’t spent a lot of time on our specialty teams,” Martin confessed. “We are obviously missing some bodies that we think will be instrumental pieces to that this year. We struggled with it [power play] during the exhibition season, so giving up a goal is never a good thing, but we did a good job on the 5 on 3, as it was a big moment in the game. 

“We need to focus on the power play moving forward, and staying out the penalty box as well.”