Photo credit: Brian Liesse

By Regan Bartel

Ex-captain ready to face Rockets

‘I have a lot of good friends on that team’ – T-Birds Colton Dach

Mar 24, 2023 | 6:00 AM

It won’t be just another game when Colton Dach and the Seattle Thunderbirds face the Kelowna Rockets in game one of the Western Hockey League playoffs a week from tonight at ShoWare Center.

“I have a lot of really good friends on that team”, Dach told RocketFAN after starting the season as the captain of the opponent he will attempt to eliminate in a best-of-seven series.

Dach was traded to the T-Birds back on January 7th for several draft picks, as well as d-man Ethan Mittelsteadt and forward Ty Hurley.

“Even though I had a suspicion something [a trade] was going to happen at the time, it was pretty weird,” Dach admitted. “I am super thankful that Bruce [GM Bruce Hamilton] traded me to a contending team. I was pretty excited to come to a team like this. They are star-studded, so it’s a pretty good thing for me.”

The deal likely wouldn’t have been made with the T-Birds had Dach been healthy after he suffered a tournament-ending shoulder injury against Sweden while playing for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships.

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“There are definitely some possibilities that I would have stayed [in Kelowna] had I not been injured, and if my time would have been shorter to recover,” Dach said. “I didn’t have much control over it, but I am happy where I am right now, but I definitely miss them.”

Dach played 75 regular season games with the Rockets over two seasons after being involved in a one-for-one deal with the Saskatoon Blades for forward Trevor Wong in the summer of 2021.

“The biggest part for me in Kelowna is the guys making an impression on me, not me on them”, Dach showing the class that made him a dressing room favourite. “While I was only there for a year and a bit, some of the guys on that team will be my best friends for a long time.

“They welcomed me with open arms, and I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys the last year. When I was driving away from Kelowna, the day I was coming down to Seattle, it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. It was pretty hard leaving some of those guys.”

On that list is Kelowna Rockets’ leading scorer Andrew Cristall, who had great chemistry with the Chicago Blackhawks second-round draft pick.

“I think it would be pretty odd if I didn’t hear any chirps from him”, Dach said with a chuckle, anticipating some awkward moments next Friday in the series opener. “He is a funny kid and a really, really good player, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few words coming from him.”

The key in the deal for the Rockets, outside of strengthening its current roster with younger players, was the inclusion of a first-round prospect pick in 2024, making it too good to pass up.

The Rockets didn’t have a first-round selection in 2021 (dealt to Edmonton in the Connor MacDonald deal), 2022 (traded to Seattle in the Dillon Hamaliuk/Jake Lee trade), and will sit idly by again in 2023 (traded to Seattle in the Matthew Wedman transaction).

“Coming here to Seattle, there were a bunch of guys from the world junior team that I knew, so that is a comfortable situation to walk into,” Dach said. “There are also a lot of Edmonton area guys, so that was easy as well to come in here and get reunited with a bunch of them.”

Dach has been rooming with Dylan Guenther, who started the season with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes before being sent back to the WHL in February.

“In these playoffs, I definitely want to rewrite what happened last year with my individual performance”, Dach said honestly. “This year I am going to prove to everyone that I can play in those big games”.

Dach, after leading the Rockets in scoring with 79 points a season ago, was held off the scoresheet in a five playoff games in an opening series loss to the T-Birds.

“Returning to Kelowna in game three will be different”, Dach added. “I wouldn’t be disappointed if it is a playoff atmosphere in there [Prospera Place], and they want their team to win.

“I am excited to come back, play there, and see everyone.”

You can listen to the entire interview with Dach during the second intermission of tonight’s road broadcast in Langley (104.7 – The LIZARD @ 7:10 pm) as the Rockets play their final regular season road game against the Vancouver Giants.