3 years ago
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Amid 56 colored sweaters and elite hockey biographies, Jack O’Brien stood retired astatine Avalanche grooming camp.
The right-winger was the youngest subordinate connected the roster — the lone 1 calved successful 2003 — and the lone Denver native.
O’Brien, 18, was calved into burgundy and blue. Highlands Ranch is home. He wore No. 19 increasing up for the Littleton Hawks and Krivo School of Hockey successful grant of Joe Sakic. He wears No. 92 for major-junior’s Portland Winterhawks successful grant of Gabe Landeskog.
His imagination was to play for the Avalanche, and helium got that accidental successful past week’s rookie showcase successful Arizona, wherever the young Avs played against peers from the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks. He besides participated successful each 5 on-ice days of grooming before.
“Obviously, it’s truthful chill playing for my hometown team. I grew up going to Avalanche games,” O’Brien said successful a telephone interrogation Sunday, a time earlier campy ended and helium was released to hole for his play successful Portland. “It’s unreal to beryllium retired determination successful an Avs uniform.”
O’Brien was 7 years aged erstwhile Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson, the club’s longest-tenured player, was traded to Colorado aboriginal successful 2011. O’Brien spent 5 days of on-ice campy competing against Johnson, 33, and different notable veterans helium grew up idolizing.
So you tin ideate what his father, Paul O’Brien, was feeling portion watching his lad skate astatine Family Sports Center.
“Surreal,” Paul said. “It’s unreal, really.”
The begetter made those comments earlier his lad picked up pucks and was the past subordinate disconnected the crystal aft Saturday’s 2nd campy session. His lad can’t get capable of this camp.
“I effort to enactment connected the crystal arsenic agelong arsenic possible,” O’Brien said. “I can’t get capable being connected the ice. I emotion it truthful much.”
O’Brien began playing hockey astatine property 5 with the Littleton Hawks, past stepped up to the Krivo School of Hockey successful Littleton, tally by Russian autochthonal Andrei Krivokrasov, astatine property 11. O’Brien and his household past moved to confederate California wherever Jack played for the Western Selects Brick program. At property 15, Jack moved to Michigan to play for triple-A Little Ceasars successful 2018-19. He past chose the major-junior way implicit assemblage hockey and signed with the Winterhawks, with whom helium was a 16-year-old successful the 20-under Western Hockey League.
The WHL had a delayed commencement to past play owed to COVID-19 and O’Brien signed with the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League (junior-A), playing 23 games earlier returning to Portland, wherever helium finished the play connected a six-game stint. The deficiency of games astir apt led to him not getting selected successful the July NHL draft.
The Avalanche brought him to rookie/main campy arsenic a quasi-free cause connected an amateur tryout contract, with exclusive dialog rights earlier the WHL play begins. Since helium was released Monday, he’ll study to the Winterhawks for Friday’s opener and beryllium eligible to each NHL teams for the 2022 NHL draft.
Avalanche manager Jared Bednar said O’Brien, 6-foot-1, 170 pounds, has gotten “better and amended arsenic the campy goes on.”
“It looks similar he’s getting much comfortable. He’s beauteous slight. I’d similar to spot him get bigger and stronger but he’s a bully skater and a crafty puck-handler,” the manager said Saturday. “He makes plays. He’s ever looking to marque a play. There are immoderate turnovers successful our campy due to the fact that things are happening rapidly for him but for specified a young feline you tin archer he’s got the endowment and the potential.”
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