American born but Canadian made

No one on the Kelowna Rockets roster knows the lyrics to the American national anthem better than defenceman Jackson DeSouza.

A U.S citizen at birth, the 19-year-old grew up in Erie, Colorado.

“It fires me up”, DeSouza told RocketFAN, when referring to the American national anthem when it is sung before games. “The history and everything behind it. I think the Star Spangled Banner is pretty unbelievable”.

While born on the other side of the border, DeSouza has made his home here in Kelowna for the last five years living in an apartment with his older brother and a dog.

“Both of my parents are Canadian, so growing up, I always thought I was more Canadian than American”, DeSouza continued. “My dad works at the University of Colorado, Boulder and my mom worked in public service, so it was the job situation for them and I was born down there.”

DeSouza’s father, Chris, is a professor of distinction in integrative physiology at CU.

When asked about American politics, DeSouza wisely stays clear of the subject.

“I’m in Canada right now”, looking somewhat relieved. “I am happy about that. I am just glad I am here”.

While hockey is known as a Canadian game, players in the NHL come from all over the world. The United States boasts around 28 per cent of the total NHL roster. The gap between American and Canadian players has slowly decreased over the years, with American-born NHLers on the rise.

DeSouza was a pleasant surprise during physical testing under the watchful eye of athletic therapist Scott Hoyer. DeSouza had a team high 19 pull ups, one better than teammate John Babcock.

“It was pretty funny that he (Babcock) popped out 18 and then right after I hit 19 and we just laughed about it”, making sure that Babcock was within ear shot when making the comment. “When I was doing my pullups, I wasn’t thinking. I just did it. The more you hang on that bar, you lose strength. Just pop them out.”

DeSouza is the defender of the ‘holy grail’. In hockey that is protecting anyone from scoring a goal against him while out on the ice.

“I love it”, when asked if he objects to being called a shutdown defenceman. “That is what I look forward to every game is being that guy on the penalty kill and playing in tight situations when we are down a goal or up by one.”

DeSouza was awarded the Rockets Humanitarian award last season for his efforts off the ice and in the community. He became involved with the Hockey Gives Blood campaign. At Hockey Gives Blood, their vision is to inspire and engage the hockey community about the importance of blood and stem cell donation to help save lives.

With only one goal over his WHL career, DeSouza realizes he won’t be counted upon to put the puck in the net.

“As a defenceman, when it comes to a bad goal, fans look at us or the goalie. They often don’t see the plays before it that caused it. Everyone is concentrating on the puck in the net. As a d-man you want to not be noticed. As a forward, you want to be noticed.”