(Image Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

By Regan Bartel

Dawson Gerwing growing edge

Playing heavy without trips to the penalty box

Feb 3, 2026 | 11:29 AM

In this league, size is supposed to be an advantage.

For Dawson Gerwing, the third-heaviest player at 231 pounds, it often puts him under a microscope.

“He’s an anomaly in the league,” says Kelowna Rockets head coach Derrick Martin ahead of a home game tonight against the visiting Portland Winterhawks.

Big. Hard on pucks. Comfortable in traffic. And, just as important, completely comfortable in his own skin.

“He doesn’t have any type of identity crisis as to who he is or what he brings to the team,” Martin said.

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That part matters.

Because when you are one of the biggest players on the ice, perception follows you everywhere. A collision that looks routine for most players can suddenly feel questionable when it comes from someone built like Gerwing. Even when a hit is clean, even when the timing is right, even when the puck is there, the larger body often becomes the easier target for blame.

Around the league, it is an unspoken reality. Big players are judged differently.

Gerwing understands that. The coaching staff understands it, too. The challenge is learning how to play heavy hockey without crossing the line, and without letting frustration creep into a game that already asks him to do the hardest jobs on the ice.

Martin believes Gerwing has grown into that balance.

“He’s big, and he skates well, and he’s hard on pucks,” Martin said. “He’s extremely tough to move when he’s parked at the net.”

That is where Gerwing is at his best. At the top of the crease. On second and third chances. In battles that never make highlight reels but quietly decide games. It is also where whistles are closest and where judgment is fastest.

This season, the growth has been noticeable.

“I really thought everything changed for Dawson on our eastern swing,” Martin explained. “He had a really good game against his old team [Swift Current], then had to sit for a couple of games on a suspension, and when he came back, he didn’t miss a beat.”

That moment could have gone the other way. Instead, it became a reset.

Since then, Martin says Gerwing has been one of the most consistent players in the lineup, not only in how he plays, but in how he carries himself.

“He’s so well-liked by his teammates,” Martin said. “He’s the first guy to stick up for people. He’s the first guy to be inclusive and make sure everyone’s looked after.”

That presence matters when you play the way Gerwing plays.

The Rockets want to be a heavy team. They want to finish checks. They want to make life uncomfortable for opponents. But they also know the reality that comes with size as the biggest team in the WHL. Martin has been clear with his group that discipline must match physicality.

When a team is bigger, the margin for error becomes thinner.

“We’ve talked an awful lot about it,” Martin said. “It’s something our players have bought into.”

For Gerwing in particular, it is about detail. Stick position. Angles. Timing. Winning space without giving officials a reason to reach for a whistle.

That is not always easy for a player whose game is built on contact.

What stands out most to Martin, though, is not the size or the physical edge. It is the maturity behind it.

“To see him earning those opportunities is great,” Martin said. “Now he’s just got to get one [puck] of those to go in, because he’s earned that.”

Not one, but two of those went in Saturday night when Gerwing scored twice and added two assists for a career-high four-point night against the Giants.

Gerwing lives in the hard areas. He creates space for linemates. He absorbs cross-checks, hooks and shoves that never show up on a stat sheet. And when the puck sits at the edge of the crease, he is usually standing exactly where opponents do not want him.

There is also a quiet appreciation that comes with players like him.

“We’re a lot more appreciative to have him on our side,” Martin said, “than to have to play against a player like that.”