Global would like to congratulate past alumni and Global coach Jakob Reichert and Troy Mick on their Keystone Cup title. Troy will be attending both Global Las Vegas and Global Burnaby Hockey Showcases and Clinic.
By Gary Ahuja - Langley Times
Published: May 04, 2010 3:00 PM
Updated: May 04, 2010 3:43 PM
Troy Mick likened it to a man playing among boys.
That was his description of power forward Jakob Reichert’s game in the second half of the season as the 16-year-old adjusted to his first season of junior B hockey.
“He is a power forward to the fullest,” said Mick, the head coach of the Revelstoke Grizzlies.
The team just capped off a magical season, winning the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League title, the Cyclone Taylor Cup (provincial champions), and most recently, the Keystone Cup (western Canadian champions).
Reichert has played himself onto the radar of a handful of junior A teams, who have expressed keen interest in signing the 6-foot-2, 232-pound forward.
“Right now, he is letting his play do the talking,” Mick said.
Mick hit the jackpot with Reichert in Las Vegas, where the player was attending a Global Hockey Showcase event over the summer.
“I loved everything I saw with him,” the coach said.
“When I first saw him in Langley, he was running guys over, he was so much bigger.
“And he has such good hands for a big boy.”
Allowed to carry two 1993-born hockey players, Mick extended one of those invitations to Reichert, who played AAA midget hockey for the Langley Minor Hockey Association.
And while Reichert did have options to play closer to home, he jumped at the chance to play for Mick.
“The coach is very well known for how he develops players,” he explained about the decision.
When the season began, success did not come instantaneously to Reichert.
“I started the year as a grinder kind of guy, getting pucks deep and playing hard at both ends,” he said of his initial role.
As the season progressed, so did his job, and as Reichert worked his way up, and even found himself with power play time on the second unit.
Reichert wound up with modest numbers, scoring seven times and setting up seven others in 47 regular season games. But he ratcheted up his play in the post-season, nearly matching his regular season output with six goals and six assists in 22 games.
“He has been under the radar, but as we went into the playoffs, more and more teams were taking notice of him,” Mick said.
“The second half of the year, he was really a man amongst boys on the wall,” he added.
“And his play down low was just so good; he is going to be a really good player and I think the best is yet to come.”
Reichert combines a big body, which is difficult for opposing defencemen to bump off the puck, and soft hands, which give him a goal scorer’s touch around the net.
Reichert never imagined he would return home this spring with a slew of championships to show for his efforts.
“It has been a pretty unbelievable year,” he marveled. “It was such a good year and a great way to end, but it was still sad to see it end.
“It was just so fun, I didn’t really want to leave.”
Mick fully expects Reichert, who turns 17 in September, to graduate to the next level, either with one of several junior A clubs which have expressed interest in signing him, or in the Western Hockey League with the Chilliwack Bruins, the team he attended training camp with last summer. He is currently on the Bruins’ protected player list.
The key will be to work out through the spring and summer and improve his skating and foot speed.
“At this stage, he just has to let his play do the talking,” Mick said.
“He has come a long way from the beginning of the year and that is what you want to see, the hard work and the development.
“He has been an absolute pleasure to teach and I would love 20 of him as a player.”
