The spiritual pre-game routine of newly acquired Luke Schelter

In today’s politically correct climate, announcing publicly your beliefs could be frowned upon, yet the well-spoken Colorado resident, who now calls Denver home, isn’t ashamed to express his faith.

“During warmup, I will pray on the ice,” Schelter added. “I will take a knee at centre ice and pray to the Lord that he impacts people around me towards him.”

Schelter has even been a camp counselor for three summers at Fellowship of Christian Athletes Hockey, which was originally formed in 1954.

“You can’t be embarrassed about your faith,” he said. “You have to own it. You can’t be politically correct when you need to be open about your faith. The only way to spread the word is to spread the word.”

Schelter follows in the footsteps of J.J Hunter, Josh Lepp, and David Schulz, who openly expressed their Christian beliefs.

RocketFAN even spoke to current defenseman Ismail Abougouche about his Muslim faith and the belief system that he, like Schelter, won’t cower from.

Faith based blueliner

On the ice, Schelter is excited to play with his new team, getting a new lease on his hockey life that he can be more impactful than what he showed with the Winterhawks.

“It will be a clean slate for me to work up into a bigger role,” Schelter said, evaluating the situation with a positive mindset. “It will be great to develop in a new program with a new coach and get a new perspective on my game, see what they think of me and how I can change my game in a better way.”

Originally a 6^th-round prospect pick of the Winterhawks in 2019, Schelter wore number 77 for three seasons, yet will have to get used to wearing a much smaller digit, 10, when he makes his debut with the Rockets Tuesday night against the Moose Jaw Warriors.

“I actually left my jersey one time and had to wear number 10 at a tournament and that was probably the best tournament of my career,” he said with a chuckle. I was 14 at the time, and that was probably the reason I got drafted.”

Schelter played mainly on the Winterhawks fourth line this season, yet still managed 14 points in 25 games, which equals his point total in 52 games a season ago.

“When I was given the chance, when a few injured guys couldn’t play, I would say I was productive offensively,” he said. “Once those players came back, it typically didn’t go as well as I was playing lower down the lineup.”

Rockets Head Coach Kris Mallette is happy to have a bigger-bodied winger in his lineup and will give Schelter every chance to show he deserves front-line minutes.

“We are looking for someone to jump into that top six and really take a stranglehold to provide some secondary scoring,” he said. “We have found a player with some size, a player that comes from a program that is a little bit more open offensively, but his +10 tells me he is a responsible player looking for an opportunity, and we feel we can give him that.

“He [Schelter] played no special teams for Portland. There is a good chance he will see some time on our second unit.”

The veteran of 145 WHL games says the trade came as a surprise, but if it had to happen, getting dealt while the Rockets were on the road is ideal.

“I think it is nice to be [traded] on this road trip, so I can be with the whole team. Connecting with the guys, and feeling closer to them is probably more positive for me than let’s say playing my first game on home ice,” he commented.

Kris Mallette agrees.

“We are going to allow him to try out and dictate where and how much ice time he is going to get.”

The tryout begins against the second-best team in the Eastern Division tomorrow night.

by Regan Bartel

The spiritual pre-game routine of newly acquired Luke Schelter

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