Courier: Callahan stepping up
r By Larry Fisher – Kelowna Daily Courier
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r Mitchell Callahan was a pleasant surprise for the Kelowna Rockets last season. This season, the 18-year-old forward from Whittier, Calif., has again been a pleasant surprise.
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r After cracking Kelowna‘s roster as a walk-on from rookie camp last season, Callahan developed into a key player for the eventual WHL champions, tallying 14 goals, 27 points and 188 penalty minutes in 70 regular-season contests.
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r He added one goal, four points and 43 penalty minutes in 22 playoff games, and was subsequently drafted in the sixth round (180th overall) by the Detroit Red Wings last June.
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r Returning to the Rockets for his sophomore campaign, Callahan was expected to pick up where he left off as an aggressive agitator that finishes checks, battles in the corners and gets under the skin of opposing players. He wasn‘t, however, expected to be a point-per-game player.
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r Through 10 games this season, Callahan has three goals and seven assists and a team-leading plus-six rating heading into tonight‘s tilt with the Everett Silvertips. Game time at Prospera Place is 7 p.m.
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r “Most of it is just coming from hard work,” Callahan said of his sudden offensive prowess. “I‘ve always been told if you work hard, rewards come.
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r “I‘m just trying to work hard this season, and I guess I‘m getting lucky with the points.”
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r Lucky or not, Callahan is chipping in offensively and helping fill the void of last season‘s leading scorers – Jamie Benn, Mikael Backlund and Cody Almond, among others, who have graduated to the pro ranks.
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r But in doing so, Callahan hasn‘t strayed from his tough, grinding roots, skating on the Rockets‘ third line with newly acquired Tyler Matheson and either Spencer Main or rookie Brett Bulmer.
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r “We‘re the energy line, but we also have a little bit of offensive potential,” Callahan said. “We lost our top two lines from last year, so they‘re kind of relying on me to put some pucks in the net.
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r “But I don‘t think I‘m shying away from the energy and grinder role. That‘s just my style, the way I‘ve played my whole life and it‘s been working for me.”
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r While the Rockets welcome any and all offensive contributions from Callahan – especially with leading scorer Brandon McMillan sidelined with a fractured toe – they want him to continue to play within his means.
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r In other words, do what he does best, not try to be something he‘s not – a goal scorer.
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r “We expect a lot out of Mitchell,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “But his challenge is to make sure he‘s competing and working very hard every night, and not forgetting about the type of player that he is. He gets rewarded as the result of his hard work and the nastiness that he does play with. The offence is kind of a by-product of all the other things he brings to the game.”
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r Huska cautioned not to read too much into Callahan‘s current statistics, and wasn‘t about to hold him to that point-per-game standard.
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r “If you‘re a point-per-game guy in this league, you have some very good skills,” Huska said. “When Mitchell is 19, I don‘t think that‘s out of the realm of possibility, but it‘s a difficult thing to do.
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r “The more experience he does get and the more he grows in his role, eventually we‘ll probably see that out of him, but I don‘t think we need to put that type of pressure on him right now.”
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r Detroit likely isn‘t expecting that either, though the franchise has a reputation for landing late bloomers and digging up diamonds in the rough. Still, the Red Wings didn‘t draft Callahan to be goal scorer, and he knows that.
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r “My style from last season is what got me drafted, so I‘m not going to try to change anything up,” Callahan said through a smile that was missing two front teeth. “That‘s what Detroit likes about me; the fact that I‘m willing to battle for my team and compete as hard as I can. If I can work to get a little more offensive touch to my game, that‘d be great, but I‘m not going to change my style at all.”
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