There are a few things that are worth waiting for.
If you are a hockey player, hearing your name called at the NHL Entry draft is most certainly on that list.
On Saturday in Dallas, Texas, both Alec Regula and Jordan Kooy of the London Knights had it happen to them.
The Detroit Red Wings nabbed Regula in the third round and Kooy is now property of the Vegas Golden Knights after being drafted in the seventh round.
In a way, Regula is headed back to a place that he knows very well. The big defenceman from West Bloomfield, Michigan has had the Wings in his life for a long time. His father, Chet, spent time as the team dentist for Detroit. Chet Regula also filled the same role with the Detroit Tigers and the Detroit Lions. Chet is still with the Lions. Alec got to see what like in the NHL was like on a very regular basis as he hung around Joe Louis Arena as an eight- and nine-year-old.
The Red Wings used the 67th pick in the draft to take Regula, knowing that they are getting a big-bodied, puck-moving defenceman who made huge strides in his first season in the Ontario Hockey League. Regula is 6’4″ and has already cracked 200-pounds. He moves well and has a great understanding of what it takes to be successful both on and off the ice.
Twenty-three of the 31 teams in the NHL chose a goalie on Saturday. The Stanley Cup runner-up Golden Knights were able to land Kooy with the 208th pick.
Kooy has been allowed to develop as a major junior player, a luxury some goalies don’t always get. As a 16-year old, the netminder from Bradford saw time with the Knights, the London Jr. Knights Major Midgets and the St. Mary’s Lincolns of the GOJHL. Kooy saved his best work that season for his time in the OHL where he posted a .927 save percentage. Kooy earned a place in Knights history by playing a massive role in one of the most improbable comebacks the team has ever been a part of.
In a game against an Owen Sound Attack team on a 15-game winning streak and with the Knights battling the flu, Kooy entered a game just before the midway mark of the second period with London down 5-1. He allowed just one goal the rest of the way as the Knights worked their way back to tie it. Kooy stopped every shot he faced in overtime and then clamped the door shut in the shootout, making three saves as London won 7-6.
Kooy has spent all of 2017-18 with the Knights, appearing in 24 games as a backup to veteran Joseph Raaymakers. He posted a goals-against average of 3.11 and a save percentage of .904 and continued to show off his ability to make key saves at critical times. Kooy does not like to be scored on and battles to make every save.
Both Regula and Kooy will attend NHL development camps this summer and will be expected back with the Knights in 2018-19, set to play large roles for a team on the rise.