(As part of a running feature before the start of the year, we will have some features on players going into their rookie WHL seasons).
A lot of the hopes of the new “ice age” in Cranbrook, B.C. rest on the shoulders of the Kootenay ICE’s top draft picks. Like with a lot of WHL franchises, the journey back from missing the playoffs is helped a lot by the team’s top prospects.
In 2016, the ICE drafted center Peyton Krebs out of Okotoks, Alberta with the first overall pick. Then after Greg Fettes and Matt Cockell bought the team from the Chynoweth family, the ICE drafted shifty forward Connor McClennon out of Wainwright, Alberta with the second overall pick in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.
McClennnon made his debut as a 15-year-old with the ICE last year and is looking to make the team full time as a 16-year-old.
If the play-making forward wants to have a successful year in Cranbrook, he would do well to follow the steps that Krebs did a season ago. Krebs scored 17 goals and added 37 assists for 54 points in his rookie year.
McClennon used the offseason to tap the resource that was the leading 16-year-old scorer in 2017-18.
“Peyton is a great player. I take a lot from him. He’s a great guy to learn from. I like talking to him for sure. He tells me a lot about the game and what to expect coming into the league. I got to go to a camp with him with our adviser and he taught me a lot about what to expect and what to do; how to train this summer and how to prepare. It will be tough to do what he did but he will be there to help me out,” McClennon said.
The excitement around the ICE is growing and young players like Krebs and McClennon are a big reason why. It’s looking more and more likely the team’s three-year playoff drought could be ending.
“The ICE have made some great picks. Matt Cockell has done a great job coming in over the last two years and I think it’s looking up there in Cranbrook.”
McClennon knows that even though he is a high draft pick, his spot on the 2018-19 version of the ICE is not set in stone and has to be earned.
“I just have to go to camp and try to make a good impression and hopefully make the team. Then hopefully I can stick there the rest of the year and see where it plays out from there.”
McClennon has some experience playing on a talented team as he notched 26 goals and added 41 assists for 67 points in 31 games with the Northern Alberta X-treme in the CSSHL last year. Playing alongside Saskatoon Blades first-round pick Kyle Crnkovic, McClennon led the X-treme to a league title. The year previous, they won the CSSBHL with the Pursuit of Excellence Bantam Prep team.
Crnkovic was at Hockey Canada’s U17 camp this summer and the dynamic duo got to face off against each other as they tried to earn a spot on one of three of Canada’s U17 teams.
“We caught up and asked each other how our summers were going. Being that close with him, you have to catch up and see how he is doing.
Crank is obviously a great player. We had a lot of success the last two years and it will be great to play against his finally and see what we can do against each other.”
McClennon and Crnkovic also played with each other at last year’s WHL Cup, where Team Alberta won a sliver medal. McClennon had 10 points in five games. He used some lessons he learned at the WHL Cup to ease into U17 camp.
“I just try to buckle down in big scenarios. I try to rise to the occasion. When you are playing against better players I think it challenges you to get the best out of yourself.”
McClennon played for Team Gold at the U17 camp and had two goals in three games. While his team struggled to an 0-3 record, he made a good argument to make one of the U17 teams at the U17 World Hockey Challenge this November in Saint John and Quispamis, N.B.
The camp was but one stage of his effort to represent his country. He will also be monitored with his club team up until the tournament as well. A strong start to training camp next week, the preseason and the WHL regular season will serve him well in this quest. It will also help to turn around the fortunes of a WHL team that has struggled in recent history.
(The interview for this piece was conducted by DubNetwork contributor Tyler Lowey).
