Rockets Defencemen Signing up a Storm
By Larry Fisher – Kelowna Daily Courier
Tyler Myers and Luke Schenn are now two rich young men.
The former Kelowna Rockets‘ defencemen signed lucrative, long-term extensions with their respective NHL teams this past week – Myers inking a seven-year, US$38.5-million pact with the Buffalo Sabres, and Schenn agreeing to a five-year, $18-million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The two were all the rage out east on Friday, when Rockets president and GM Bruce Hamilton landed in Toronto en route to Detroit for the funeral of Brad McCrimmon, a well-respected NHL defenceman in his own day and coach of the KHL‘s Lokomotiv team that was tragically wiped out when their plane crashed in Russia on Sept. 7.
After a sad summer for hockey – three enforcers also died of not natural causes – the recent signing frenzy shed a positive light on some of the sport‘s future stars, reminding everybody the game is in good hands going forward.
It also shed a positive light on the Rockets‘ organization as Myers and Schenn joined Shea Weber, Josh Gorges and Duncan Keith as alums cashing in with new multi-million-dollar contracts over the last couple years.
Weber, in a contract dispute with Nash-ville, was awarded an arbitration-record $7.5 million for this season in August, and Gorges re-upped with Montreal for one year at $2.5 million in July. In December 2009, Keith put his name on the richest contract in Chicago Blackhawks history, worth $72 million over 13 seasons.
“I‘m just so proud that they both got extended contracts, and it speaks volumes in regards to our coaches, how good a job they‘ve done, and Lorne (Frey‘s) done in finding players,” Hamilton said of Myers and Schenn‘s financial windfalls, adding that he texted back-and-forth with both 21-year-olds in extending congratulations on Friday.
