Curtis Hamilton helps shape Rockets for Memorial Cup run

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Born in Tacoma in 1991, Hamilton was still a young child when the Rockets relocated to Kelowna. While many children grow up watching junior hockey, Curtis Hamilton practically lived inside it.

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Now, more than two decades after watching the Rockets win the 2004 Memorial Cup as a 12-year-old, Hamilton has helped build the team that is trying to bring another national title back to Kelowna.

“Very excited. Long time coming now,” Hamilton told RocketFAN. “Winning the bid and then going through the past year and a half to get to this point… it feels like it’s been a long time, but it’s kind of flown by too.”

The pressure surrounding the tournament is enormous. The Rockets have spent months building toward this moment, reshaping the roster through trades, recruiting and player development.

Hamilton remembers exactly when the challenge first became real.

He joined Bruce Hamilton and Governor Gavin Hamilton at Kelowna City Hall to discuss the possibility of hosting the Memorial Cup. While conversations focused on logistics and planning, Curtis Hamilton’s attention immediately shifted toward hockey operations.

“I remember just walking behind them and thinking in my head, how are we going to put this team together to make a Memorial Cup champion team in two years with the players we had currently?” he said.

That responsibility quickly became part of his job.

Hamilton now plays a major role in recruiting, trades, drafting and roster construction. Bruce Hamilton has trusted his son with increasing responsibility inside the organization.

“Bruce gives me quite a bit of freedom,” Curtis said. “As far as recruiting and trades and free agency and drafting.”

Together, the organization built a team designed specifically for playoff hockey – bigger, more physical and more experienced.

“Bruce just wanted a team that plays physical, has good size, and competes,” Hamilton explained. “I think we’ve done that.”

The process was not easy.

The Rockets added several new faces over the last year and a half while trying to maintain chemistry inside the dressing room. Hamilton believes the organization balanced aggression with patience.

“We built it over the past year and a half,” he said. “I think looking back on it right now, we did a pretty good job.”

For Hamilton, the Memorial Cup also reconnects him with memories from 2004, when Kelowna last hosted the national championship tournament.

At the time, he was just a kid soaking in the atmosphere inside Prospera Place.

“I remember going to most of the games and enjoying it,” he said. “Looking back at some of the stats, Kelly Guard was unbelievable.”

After the Rockets won the championship, Hamilton and his sister took to the ice during the celebration.

“We’re in a couple of the photos, too, in the back,” he said. “It was pretty cool being around a bunch of guys that went through a war to get there.”

One image from that night still stands out most clearly – his father’s reaction.

Asked whether he had ever seen Bruce Hamilton happier than winning the Memorial Cup, Curtis answered immediately.

“No. Never once.”

Now, father and son are chasing another championship together.

Working alongside family brings unique challenges, but Hamilton says the experience has been rewarding.

“It’s fun working with him,” he said. “Obviously, there are good days and bad days because whenever you’re working with family, it makes it a little more complex at times.”

Still, there is obvious pride in what they have accomplished together.

Outside the organization, there are still critics who question whether a host team can truly compete with league champions battle-tested through long playoff runs.

Hamilton welcomes the doubt.

“I let other teams worry about that and hopefully think that way,” he said.

Instead, he points toward the commitment shown by his players during the long break leading into the tournament. The Rockets have not played a meaningful game in more than a month, but Hamilton says the team continued working through intense practices and conditioning sessions.

“It’s not easy coming to the rink every day,” he said. “But there wasn’t a lot of complaining. They’re a solid group of young men.”

Hamilton believes the chemistry inside the dressing room may become one of the team’s biggest strengths.

“They really are a good group,” he said. “They hang out together, they like to do things together, and they care about each other.”

Soon, the talking will stop.

The roster is built. The preparation is nearly complete. The Memorial Cup is finally arriving in Kelowna.

And for Curtis Hamilton, the little boy who once celebrated a championship from the ice at Prospera Place now gets the opportunity to help build another one.