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Coaches recall star pupil |
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Written by Ted Clarke
Citizen staff
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Sunday, 28 June 2009 |
From the time he first started carving Prince George rinks as a three-year-old, long before the Calgary Flames called his name in Saturday’s NHL entry draft, Ryan Howse has provided many a thrill for the minor hockey teams he’s played for in this city.
His coaches along the way have taken great pleasure in watching Howse respond to their suggestions and use his hockey talents to elevate his own level of play enough to bring him to the doorstep of a pro hockey career.
“He had just explosive speed and he could go from zero to 60 in two strides,” said Jason Garneau, who coached Howse in his second-year peewee and second-year bantam seasons.
“It didn’t seem like it took anything to get him up to full stride. His skating was just so much above everyone else around him. His desire and scoring ability at that level, he was and still is a pretty special player.”
Garneau has vivid memories of the final of a peewee tournament in Kamloops, in which Prince George beat the host team 7-5. Howse scored five goals in that game.
“When he wheeled down low in his own zone and grabbed the puck it brought everyone in the arena out of their seats,” said Garneau, who scouts for the Cougars. “You knew he would go go down and blow by the d-man wide or beat somebody one-on-one and score, usually top shelf.
“I was happy to see his name called -- I kind of expected it a bit earlier but anytime you’re drafted it doesn’t matter where, it’s just getting your foot in the door.”
Howse played one season of major midget hockey for the Cariboo Cougars and ended that 2006-07 season in the Royal Bank Cup with the Prince George Spruce Kings, where he was voted the Kings’ most valuable player in the championship final. He’s now preparing for his third season in the WHL with the Chilliwack Bruins.
Now five-foot-11, 195 pounds, Howse has added noticeable bulk to his frame, working out regularly with X-Conditioning power lifters Gibby Chasse and Mike Webber.
Renzo Berra, who coached Howse at the atom and peewee levels, said Howse’s enthusiasm for the game was always apparent, and it showed in his play on the ice.
“When you talked to him in the dressing room his eyes were always on you and he never questioned anything that you asked,” said Berra. “If you gave him a centreman who could get him the puck at the right time he had just explosive speed, and he could beat kids wide and had a great shot.
“He was just a fun kid to work with. He’s a coach’s dream.”
Berra is impressed with how mature Howse
has become since he left for Chilliwack two years ago.
“We were just talking about what a quality kid he’s turned into, the way he talks in the media and the things he says in the paper, he’s just so well-spoken and well-grounded,” said Berra. “Jason and Roxanne (Howse’s parents) have done such an incredible job raising such a humble, yet dedicated player.
“He always was a shy, wait-in-the-shadows type of kid and he’s just started to emerge, not only as a hockey player. Now that he realizes the type of leader he can be as well. He’s earned it and he deserves it.”
Grant Williams, the former Cariboo Cougars head coach, said Howse always had the respect of his teammates, no doubt a reflection of the work habits he brings to the ice.
“My sense is he’s wanted to be a hockey player since he could walk, so you genuinely have to feel good for a guy who realizes his dream,” Williams said.
“He remembers where he came from, and I only had him one year, but I know he was a popular teammate with everybody, which says an awful lot.”
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 28 June 2009 )
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