Most kids who lace up skates and grab a stick
indulge in a little NHL dreamin’ — but for this Kelowna Rocket, making it to the show is the one goal he’s determined to score

By Bruce Kemp

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A tense game played out in the family room of the Gagnon home in Kelowna, but 10-year-old Jacob finally realized one of the biggest dreams of his short life. He beat an older guy playing Xbox NHL. The icing on Jacob’s victory cake is the fact that the guy he beat, Kelowna Rocket Shane McColgan (billeted with his family), is a bona fide high scorer in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and only about a year short of becoming a real NHL player.

For 17-year-old Shane, life is all about dreams and, because he’s set his sights so high, hard work. “My goal is to make the NHL at 18,” he says. “That’s always been my goal as far back as I can remember.”

This isn’t simple teenaged braggadocio. This kid has the chops to go where he wants. Rockets management has confidence in him; NHL players are already mentoring him; and reports that he is being scouted are more than just rumours.

“I can’t really tell you who’s scouting, but I can say I am getting scouted. But,” he adds, “I’m sure all the top guys in the league are getting scouted.”

Meeting Shane for the first time was a situation fraught with expectations on both sides. I’ve interviewed enough pros and would-be pros to be cautious about the massive egos needed to succeed. I’m sure he viewed me as a potentially untrustworthy media vampire.

I confess that I expected a replay of the scene from the movie Bull Durham where up-and-comer Nuke LaLoosh (played by Tim Robbins) finally meets the press and mouths all the clichés he’s been forced to learn.

What I found after the first few nervous minutes was a pleasant young guy with an extremely mature professional determination. (Don’t know what he thought of me.) And aside from a few sport-speak adjectives, Shane didn’t rely on the clichés. He was articulate and sincere.

Go North Young Man
The rink at Prospera Place is a long way from Manhattan Beach, just outside of L.A., but this California kid isn’t much different from any young guy hailing from Terrace or Brandon or Montreal’s East End.

Shane picked up his first hockey stick when he was somewhere around three-and-a-half and played Nerf ball hockey at the roller rink. Three years later, an ice rink opened in nearby El Segundo and he was hooked.

Both of Shane’s parents support their son’s dreams even though they aren’t the standard California dreaming. But then again, Canadians might be surprised at how quickly hockey has been adopted in the land of baggies and bushy, bushy blonde hair.

Coming to the Rockets was not a spur of the moment decision. Shane has considered things pretty thoroughly. Getting to know him you come to understand that he’s a thinker. Not a rocket (bad pun) scientist in the way we normally look at brainiacs, but a solid thinker. When it comes to his fledgling career, Shane applies the kind of logic Aristotle (and his star pupil Alexander) would admire.

The first inkling that he might actually be able to realize his dream came when he was playing for the L.A. Junior Kings in the Midwest Elite Hockey League and was drafted in 2008 to the Rockets.
As a first round pick coming out of that team, he could have gone anywhere in the United States or Canada, but when he studied the Western Hockey League he decided he had a better chance of a pro-career by heading off to the Great White Western North.

“We had a WHL camp in Anaheim, California, and I went to that. It was a big part in my decision to come up here. I met with Ryan Huska (the Rockets’ head coach) and assistant general manager Lorne Frey down there and they talked to me. I really do think I made the right decision coming up here.”

Shane’s agent encouraged the move too. And yes, players at this tender age do already have big-name representation. Shane’s been signed for two years and is rep’d by Creative Artists Agency (CAA) of Los Angeles.

Not only does Shane know how to play the game extremely well, he is also very much aware of the business that is going on around him.

“You look at guys like Michael Backlund, Jamie Benn, Tyler Myers all these topnotch guys who’ve signed and are making an impact in the league right now. Backlund’s in the A, but I’m sure he’ll be in the NHL next year … just so many guys come out of this organization and I’m hoping to be one of those guys.”

Dream Team
Shane finds life in the WHL exhilarating and challenging. For away games, the Rockets do battle as far east as Brandon, Manitoba. Shane enjoys the road trips, looking at the long distance bus rides as a chance to bond with his buddies on the team.

At the start of December, when we first talked, Shane was excited about an upcoming two-week jaunt to the Prairies. He was looking forward to breaking free of the bonds of school and just doing the thing he loves, although school isn’t really a hardship for him. Academically, the hockey whiz is doing alright studying psychology, math, English and social studies. Still, he’s more focused on what promises to be his dream career.

Managing his time requires that he honour his obligations to both team and school and team management is strong on performance in school.

At Kelowna Secondary School he enjoys some of the work and the school’s understanding environment. “I think the type of school and the type of people that work there are fine with me missing some classes,” he says. “I just have to make sure I get caught up on all the work.”
Shane is realistic enough to have a Plan B just in case the NHL doesn’t come calling, or worse, injuries take him out of the game. Plan B involves studying at the college level and possibly following his dad into the entertainment business. At home in Manhattan Beach, his dad owns two sports bars.

But for now he’s focused on the primary goal — and his road trip. It’s not easy riding a bus with a bunch of guys in their late teens. There are iPods to listen to and stories to tell. “I think Spencer Main is the only guy that reads on the bus,” says Shane.

But that doesn’t mean he and his teammates don’t read. Right now the hot book is the Twilight series about an alternate world of young vampires.

“Everyone’s talking about it. It’s kind of weird,” he says, “a bunch of hockey players talking about it, but we just went and saw the movie. It’s pretty cool and it’s a good four book series.”

Movies rank high on the team’s favourite entertainments list and they regularly head off together to see the latest flicks. Team bonding is one reason, but unlike the sailors of old with a girl in every port, this isn’t a sport that’s conducive to great relationships — at least not at this level. Shane did have a girl back home in California, but that has evaporated, so teammates fill the social void.

Road Trip
On the road the guys ride the bus together, eat together and room together. Everything is about the game. They roll into town a few days early, if the coaching staff can arrange it, and shake the “bus legs” out. They acclimatize themselves to their new surroundings and get some practice in.
Game day curfew is 10 o’clock. Shane says it’s pretty easy to make this deadline and it helps that his roommate is team captain Lucas Bloodoff who has a vested interest in keeping things under control.

Meals on the road are prepared by the hosting hotel and are a careful balance of carbs and protein without too much grease or fried food.

Junk food slips in once in awhile, but Shane is disciplined and realistic about it. “You need to be a kid once in awhile. But at the same time watch your diet and all that stuff.”

Probably the biggest stress on road trips is mental because it’s a tiring routine. But Shane says the travel effect is decreasing as he gets used to it. Still, before each game he maintains the personal ritual that gets him psyched up — putting his equipment on in the same order every time.

Home Town Crowd
Home games are his favourite because the stress is offset by the hometown fans.
“The crowd is unbelievable here,” Shane says. “We sell out every game …. They get behind you when you’re down in the league. Sometimes you’re not really into the game and the pace slows down. Then the crowd really pumps you up and that’s important. And sometimes they go wild when you’re doing well.”

At home it’s easier to deal with archrival Vancouver Giants. This rivalry goes back to when the Coast team beat the Rockets in the Memorial Cup, then the Rockets took revenge in the WHL finals here last year.

Typically, Shane takes a studied approach to the situation. “They lost a lot of guys like we did. But I think in return they got some older guys,” he says. “We’re a younger team and I think that’s shown a little bit because we’ve had to fight through some adversity … I think we’re fighting through it pretty well right now.”

Family Life
Home games also mean he can hang out with his billet family: Daniel, Patsi Gagnon and their two sons Samuel (12) and Jacob (10).

This is Shane’s second billet. When he first arrived in December 2008, he was placed with a couple that has no children. Coming from a family of five he realized he preferred the noise and fun of having other kids around, so he asked to be billeted with a family.

Enter the Gagnons who are more than happy to have him around — especially the boys.
Life in the Gagnon household seems to revolve around Shane’s presence. There are ball hockey games in the drive and Xbox competitions. You can tell the boys are completely taken with their surrogate big brother from the way Samuel crowds him as they sit on the couch and Jacob focuses his attention on every word Shane says (not to mention the crowing when he finally beats his nemesis at a video game hockey).

Patsi notices the difference Shane has made. “He’s changed our focus as a family,” she says. “He’s got us out skating and planning our lives around when he’s home and game days. Just having him here is totally awesome.”

But being accepted by a new family doesn’t mean that Shane has abandoned his own. Since joining the Rockets, his dad has journeyed to Kelowna twice and his mom has made the trip with his younger brother Luke. Shane’s three sisters Sidney, Parker and Charley are waiting for their soccer and school schedules to allow them time to come and see their big brother, too.

Shane is grateful for their backing, especially his parents. “They’ve both supported me in everything I want to do …. Came up here, visited, met the coaching staff and whole organization. They just loved it. They feel comfortable with my plans.”

And that’s a good thing, because this young Rocket is shooting for his dream.

Photo: Bruce Kemp