Kooy ready to help Huskies

After he finished in the OHL, Kooy looked to go pro, getting a professional tryout (PTO) with the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League. When that didn’t work out for him, he went back home to Bradford, Ont. and went through his options, reaching out to Babcock to see if the offer still stood.

It did and Kooy joined the Huskies on Boxing Day.

“It just came down to timing. I thought this would be a good spot for me. Mike called me in the summer and asked me if I wanted to come. I told him that I wanted to explore pro, but nothing every really came out of pro,” said Kooy. “So, I decided that I should go get an education out of it, since I had my scholarship from the OHL. It came together quickly.”

In the time that Kooy wrapped up in Bakersfield to when he joined the Huskies, he spent a lot of time working out, skating with his goalie coach in Ontario and cardio to try and stay in game shape.

“I was back home for a couple of months, but it’s been nice to get away though,” he said. “It was a bit of an adjustment getting to everyday practices again and being on the ice, but it’s been fun. Lots of hard practices and some team building.”

Kooy wasn’t in school, but he said it was an easy transition to get set up with classes at the University of Saskatchewan and enrolled in sociology, introduction to business and French. His new teammates have been helping him get used to his new home – on and off the ice.

“I’ve just been hanging out with the boys – it’s been fun,” he said. “They have taken me in and that’s all I could ask out of them … just make me feel at home.”

Kooy got his debut for the Huskies – almost two years in between game action for the 21-year-old tender – the first weekend after the break against the University of Regina Cougars.

“It was just a big adjustment. I haven’t played in a while, and I think I was just a bit in my head,” he said. “We didn’t play our best as a team, and I didn’t play the best I could. But I think we pulled it together the next night and had a good game. From what I’ve seen, I think we have a good team.

Unfortunately, the team lost 7-4 and he injured his groin as well. Kooy has since rejoined his teammates, picking up his first victory on the weekend against the Grant MacEwan University Griffins.

“It was fun to get back into a game,” he said.

Despite the lack of playing time so far, Kooy hopes his experiences at the Vegas NHL camp and the PTO with the Condors can help him and his teammates down the stretch.

“I think it helped me a lot to mature as an adult going through different organizations. I think they instilled hard work and how much you have to work hard to make it. I think I took that the most out of both camps,” he said. “It was a good experience from Vegas and Bakersfield – I enjoy my times there. I think if anyone can go to any pro camp, they will learn a lot just from watching and observing all the older pro guys to see how they do things.”

Kooy joins a crowded crease for the Huskies and the battle for the top spot continues into the final weekend of the season. Kooy will battle with first-year Roddy Ross, who has gotten the majority of starts this season. Third-year veteran Travis Child has played in six games. Josh Dias has sat as back up a few games this season but hasn’t seen any game action. Declan Hobbs is on the roster but is out with an injury this season.

The Huskies rebounded from two losses to the University of Alberta Golden Bears with two wins over the Grant MacEwan University last weekend. They will look to continue the streak with their final two games of the regular season on Friday and Saturday against the University of Manitoba Bisons with playoff seeding on the line.

by Katie Brickman-Young

Kooy ready to help Huskies

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