He shoots, He scores

Kevin He’s explosive speed can be traced, at least partially, to his time as a child in his native China.

The rookie winger for the Niagara IceDogs lived in China until the age of six and can distinctly remember roller blading with his father. 

“I was really young,” He said. “My dad always wanted me to play hockey. I did a little bit of ice skating in China as well.

“Still have some memories of China for sure.”

His father studied in Canada and quickly fell in love with the game, a passion he passed on to his son.

“My father always wanted me to have an active, healthy lifestyle and his favourite sport is hockey,” He said. “Pavel Bure was his favourite player and he watched a lot of hockey.”

He and his family moved to Montreal when he was six and then to Toronto when he was 12 where he continued to hone his skating.

“I worked on it a lot, a lot of power skating and skating in general,” he said. “I think when I moved from Montreal to Toronto, that’s when I wanted to pursue playing at a higher level.”

He played his minor midget season with the North York Rangers AAA program where he scored 13 goals and 25 points and caught the eyes of the IceDogs who selected him in the second round (25th overall) of the 2022 Ontario Hockey League draft. 

He has lived up to expectations so far with five goals and seven points in his first 15 OHL games, including goals in two of his first three games. 

“I’m really happy,” he said. “I think it all started in the off season. I put a lot of effort in and that got me ready physically for sure.” 

He admitted it did take him some time to get comfortable at the junior level.

“I think every player when they first come into the league has those doubts. I had a few but once I started to play a few games they went away.”

Niagara head coach Daniel Fitzgerald has high praise for He.

“Obviously, a guy comes in like that, they’re a skilled hockey player. They can play the game. What we’re really looking for is he coachable and Kevin is that in spades. He’s a real student of the game and is learning how to be successful at this level,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s working really hard on his details. He’s trying to round out his game entirely and he’s done a really good job of that so far.”

Fitzgerald marvels at He’s skill level.

“He’s a shot of lightning,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s pretty impressive how he can change pace on guys and tie them up in their own skates. He’s got a great shot and is offensively dynamic. He finds goals in the tough areas, he’s not a perimeter player. The thing I’m really impressed with is his ability to strip pucks off guys. He gets us a lot of pucks back in the neutral zone.” 

He has seen a good deal of ice time in key situations so far.

“It’s a tough balancing act with any player, but especially a 16-year-old. Kevin has handled it really well. He understands everything is going to be earned for him and he’s done that. He’s earned it. The opportunities he’s getting are based on his play,” Fitzgerald said. “I don’t want to put him in positions where he’s going to be unsuccessful but we also want to learn from our failures and he’s very receptive to that.” 

Fitzgerald also loves He’s confidence.

“He’s not trying to just hold on. You are here for a reason, because you’re good. Play your game and we can refine it as you go. If you depart from who you are as a player, it’s very difficult to teach. He’s done a good job of adding to his game while not subtracting at the same time.”

Ice cubes: The IceDogs have added former National Hockey League goaltender Rick Wamsley as a consultant . . . Next up for are games in Kingston Friday and Ottawa Saturday.

If you liked this story or one of the 4,600 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business ow“er, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.