Malc
06-29-2011, 04:49 PM
By Kevin Parnell
Remember former Kelowna Rockets import Lauris Darzins?
Now introducing Zemgus Girgensons.
The Rockets selected Girgensons with their first pick (45th overall) in the annual CHL import draft.
Girgensons is from Riga, Latvia, the same home town as Darzins, the scrappy and talented Latvian who skated with the Rockets for two seasons: 2004-05 and 2005-06.
And the Rockets are hoping the experience that Darzins had playing in Kelowna will help them bring Girgensons into the Rockets fold.
Last season Girgensons played for Dubuque in the USHL (Junior A) and by all accounts is hoping to go the college route, (he's committed to Univ. of Vermont for 2012-13 season).
But Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton will present the major junior opportunity to Girgensons, after picking the hard-working 6-foot-1 European with his first selection.
"There are no guarantees. We're going to go after him and recruit him," said Hamilton shortly after making the pick. "We're hoping we can convince him to come and see us and understand the last Latvian player that played here had a pretty good career here."
That was Darzins, who scored 19 goals as a rookie and had 33 points in his second season before moving on to pro hockey. Darzins spent the past three seasons with Riga, Dynamo in the KHL.
As for Girgensons, at just 17 he wasn't eligible for the NHL Entry Draft this year but some pundits are already talking about him being a potential first round pick next year. In 51 games this year he had 21 goals and 28 assists for 49 points and followed that up with eight points in 11 playoff games for Dubuque while building a reputation as an extremely hard worker.
The Rockets went into Wednesday's draft with just one pick but early in the day made a trade with Portland, acquiring the Winterhawks first round pick in the import draft in exchange for Kelowna's first pick in the 2012 import draft.
That landed Kelowna the 58th selection with which they chose Slovakian forward Filip Vasko another 17-year-old who had 15 goals and 22 assists in 41 games on his Slovakian Under-20 club team.
"From what the NHL scouts are telling me Vasko is a lot like Zach Franko," said Hamilton. "He's a little bigger but he has great speed and really good hands so it made sense to take a chance on him."
The Rockets are hoping both Girgensons and Vasko will be in the Rockets lineup this season. They will replace Andreas Stene (Norway) and Gal Koren (Slovenia), both of whom were released following last season.
http://www.kelownarockets.com/article/rockets-select-latvian-star-with-team-s-first-pick-in-import-draft
Remember former Kelowna Rockets import Lauris Darzins?
Now introducing Zemgus Girgensons.
The Rockets selected Girgensons with their first pick (45th overall) in the annual CHL import draft.
Girgensons is from Riga, Latvia, the same home town as Darzins, the scrappy and talented Latvian who skated with the Rockets for two seasons: 2004-05 and 2005-06.
And the Rockets are hoping the experience that Darzins had playing in Kelowna will help them bring Girgensons into the Rockets fold.
Last season Girgensons played for Dubuque in the USHL (Junior A) and by all accounts is hoping to go the college route, (he's committed to Univ. of Vermont for 2012-13 season).
But Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton will present the major junior opportunity to Girgensons, after picking the hard-working 6-foot-1 European with his first selection.
"There are no guarantees. We're going to go after him and recruit him," said Hamilton shortly after making the pick. "We're hoping we can convince him to come and see us and understand the last Latvian player that played here had a pretty good career here."
That was Darzins, who scored 19 goals as a rookie and had 33 points in his second season before moving on to pro hockey. Darzins spent the past three seasons with Riga, Dynamo in the KHL.
As for Girgensons, at just 17 he wasn't eligible for the NHL Entry Draft this year but some pundits are already talking about him being a potential first round pick next year. In 51 games this year he had 21 goals and 28 assists for 49 points and followed that up with eight points in 11 playoff games for Dubuque while building a reputation as an extremely hard worker.
The Rockets went into Wednesday's draft with just one pick but early in the day made a trade with Portland, acquiring the Winterhawks first round pick in the import draft in exchange for Kelowna's first pick in the 2012 import draft.
That landed Kelowna the 58th selection with which they chose Slovakian forward Filip Vasko another 17-year-old who had 15 goals and 22 assists in 41 games on his Slovakian Under-20 club team.
"From what the NHL scouts are telling me Vasko is a lot like Zach Franko," said Hamilton. "He's a little bigger but he has great speed and really good hands so it made sense to take a chance on him."
The Rockets are hoping both Girgensons and Vasko will be in the Rockets lineup this season. They will replace Andreas Stene (Norway) and Gal Koren (Slovenia), both of whom were released following last season.
http://www.kelownarockets.com/article/rockets-select-latvian-star-with-team-s-first-pick-in-import-draft