Jonny loves the game , he ’ s always the guy staying out on the ice extra time doing extra things . He just loves to handle the puck . It ’ s hard to get him off the ice sometimes . He really uses his time out there to get better
RHA NATIONALS
Jonny loves the game , he ’ s always the guy staying out on the ice extra time doing extra things . He just loves to handle the puck . It ’ s hard to get him off the ice sometimes . He really uses his time out there to get better
Hooker credits the RHA program and his teammates for him getting off to such a quick start in 2016-17 . “ I see a big difference in my game this year . I ’ m more confident this year and our coaches have given me a lot of opportunities ,” he said . “ I think mentally [ his game ] has improved and skill-wise too . We work on all the things on the ice that we need to get better at : a quicker shot , deflections , skating . We see clips of our games . We film all our games . We talk a lot about what we can do better next time and what not to do . It ’ s like a pro program .” The biggest difference between AAA and the CSSHL is the speed of the game , according to Hooker . “ The games are faster [ in the CSSHL ]. The tempo is way higher ,” he said . Hooker ’ s success on the ice this season hasn ’ t come as much of a surprise to Rob Smith , head coach of the Nationals midget team . Smith described Hooker as a real student of the game and one of the squad ’ s hardest working players , both on and off the ice . “ Jonny loves the game ,” the Nationals coach said . “ He ’ s always the guy staying out on the ice extra time doing extra things . He just loves to handle the puck . It ’ s hard to get him off the ice sometimes . He really uses his time out there to get better . “ The thing about him is he has a relentless work ethic . At the end of the day or end of the game you never have to question if Jonny ’ s been working hard . That ’ s one of the things he brings to the table every time . There ’ s obviously times when things aren ’ t going well for him and there ’ s times when things are going well for him , but he ’ s always working .” Hooker worked extremely hard to be ready for this season . By his own admission , he suffered through a subpar 2015-16 campaign with the Monarchs after separating his shoulder early in the year . The injury forced him to miss nearly a dozen games and he never quite felt 100 per cent even after he was cleared to play again , which explains why he wasn ’ t selected until the eighth round of the WHL Bantam Draft . Although he ’ s keeping all his options open when it comes to his
60 GAME ON 2016 - 17 ROSTER DEADLINE EDITION hockey future , Hooker said he ’ s intrigued by the possibility of one day playing for the defending WHL champions . “ It ’ s a great program ,” said Hooker , who grew up in Brandon before moving to Winnipeg a couple of years ago . “ I ’ m excited about ( the possibility of ) playing with Brandon ( Wheat Kings ) someday . I haven ’ t made any decision yet . I ’ ll worry about that in the offseason . Right now I ’ m just worrying about the second half of our season .” If things continue to unfold for the Nationals the way did during the first half of the season , the team shouldn ’ t have too many worries . With points in nine of their first 12 games , RHA ’ s midget prep squad hasn ’ t experienced many of the growing pains associated with a first-year program . Although The Rink has been around for some time now , this season is the first time it ’ s iced teams in a competitive league – one midget and one bantam . Smith said the introduction of the teams was the next logical step for the academy . “ It made perfect sense for the academy to come in and compete in a league and access all of these resources that are in our building ,” he said . “ We ’ re very pleased with how things have gone so far . There ’ s always a few things to iron out in a first-year program but I think it ’ s gone quite smoothly . Both teams have had some early success in their leagues and in tournament play … and the kids are enjoying it . As far as we ’ re concerned they ’ re getting better every day and that ’ s kind of the point of the program .” n