Photo credit: RocketFAN

By Regan Bartel

Coach quietly goes about his business

Eli Wilson: The Kelowna Rockets goalie guru

Jan 24, 2024 | 8:00 AM

The Kelowna Rockets have an advantage over many WHL teams. It comes in the form of Eli Wilson, a long-time goaltending coach to both NHL and junior players.

The 46-year-old is in his third season with the team, after being hired mid-way through the 2021 campaign.

Wilson’s sole focus is making veteran Jari Kykkanen and rookie Jake Pilon better.

“Jari is a tremendously skilled goaltender,” Wilson told RocketFAN. “His hands and feet and vision for the game and athletic ability are very strong. His rebound control is also very good.

“Jake [Pilon] came in here as a 17-year-old. He has tremendous size, and he used that to his advantage. We have been working on strong positioning, being patient, and taking things out of his game. We need him to play with some separation instead of being a blocking goaltender, which happens to a lot of goalies here [In Canada] when they see a big guy and they want him to block the net off. I don’t believe that, or work that way.”

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Wilson, who has previous experience applying his knowledge in the NHL with both the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks, has made small tweaks in Kykkanen’s game since he arrived in Kelowna as a raw rookie in January of 2022.

“Jari [Kykkanen] has been a student for several years, and even before he came to our team, he added. “I have worked with him over a long period. He understands what my expectations are, what I look for, and how I want him to play the position. We work on that every day, we push for that every day. We adjust on technic, on position, and fine-tune that as much as we can.”

Kykkanen, a 6^th round selection in the WHL Prospects Draft in 2019, made his Rockets debut on January 26, 2022, in a 4-3 road win in Victoria. Pilon, acquired in a trade with the Edmonton Oil Kings back in September, earned his first victory with his new team on October 7^th in a 6-3 home-ice win against Spokane.

“With a younger goalie like Jake [Pilon], who I haven’t worked with as much in the past, we try to simplify his game and go back to the basics of fundamentals daily to build that structure. I am a strong believer in removing parts and components rather than adding them. I like it because it is more of a consistent approach, so when things aren’t going as well as they should, it is easier to adjust if you have a simpler system.”

The Rockets have arguably the biggest goaltending tandem in franchise history. Both are over 6 foot 4, with Kykkanen and Pilon pushing the weigh scales to nearly 200 pounds apiece.

“The numbers don’t lie, the goalies are bigger than they have ever been,” Wilson added. “There are still some goalies in the best league in the world, the one that comes to mind is Juuse Saros (5 foot 11) of the Nashville Predators, who is one of the smaller goalies, and in my opinion, he is one of the best goalies in the world.

“The bigger guys get more chances [to play] and there are just bigger goalies around, but never discourage a guy because of his size because there have been some tremendous goalies at all levels at what people would call undersized.”

It would be wise for both Kykkanen and Pilon to take Wilson at his word. He had the privilege of working with and seeing Carey Price grow into one of the best goaltenders the NHL has ever seen.

“I started working with Carey when he attended one-on-one instruction with me as a 17-year-old,” he added. “He joined my camps (https://www.eliwilsongoaltending.com) as an 18-year-old, and I worked with him through most of his junior career and the majority of his NHL career.

“He was a student of the game. We were really on the same page on several things. He was extremely coachable, and it was just a good fit. Carey would reach out during the season if he needed some advice. I did a lot of video work with him, so I would call it a tremendous player-coach relationship that has turned into a life-long friendship.”

Wilson’s role goes far beyond just instructing and correcting goalies. Like working out in the gym, Wilson wants to make his students’ mindsets stronger by implementing meditation and breath work for a positional player whose mistakes are magnified.

“A huge part of this position is mental,” he said. “It is also emotional. Without the proper mindset that you need, a goaltender can have all the skill in the world, but without the mental makeup it makes for a tough position to play.”

Considered one of the premier goaltending coaches in the world, Wilson’s track record speaks for itself in getting the most out of those who are willing to heed his advice to take their game to the next level.

“I believe I have the best job in the world”, he said.

“I come to the rink every day and watch these kids move forward and grow as athletes. Plus, they grow as people, so it is a really rewarding job.”