You never know where life will take you. So it’s best to be open to all possibilities.
Goaltender Michael Herringer of Comox began the Western Hockey League preseason with the home-Island Victoria Royals, was traded to the Saskatoon Blades, and now concludes the season in the 2015 Memorial Cup with the WHL-champion Kelowna Rockets.
“It’s weird how it all happened, but I’m extremely happy,” said Herringer, by phone from Quebec City.
The Rockets open the Memorial Cup today against the host Quebec Remparts before playing QMJHL-champion Rimouski Oceanic on Monday and the OHL-champion Oshawa Generals on Tuesday.
The six-foot-one Islander was 1-0 with a 2.39 goals-against average in two pre-season appearances for the Royals — one of those games was against the Rockets — before being shipped to Saskatoon for a conditional bantam draft pick. It’s pretty safe to say that condition has been met, even though Herringer has played mostly a backup role to Rockets starter Jackson Whistle after landing in the Okanagan from Saskatoon.
Herringer got in 14 regular-season games, including going 4-1 against Victoria during a stretch in which Whistle was injured. Overall, he went 11-2 with a 2.33 goals-against average and has appeared in four playoff games in which he is 3-0 with a 1.96 GAA.
“I prepare the same, whether I’m starting or not,” said the 19-year-old.
Herringer was the first Islander ever selected in the WHL bantam draft by the Royals, after the franchise relocated from Chilliwack, and was taken in the ninth round in 2011. Herringer appeared in only two career games for the Royals while also suiting up for the 2012-13 Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League-champion Victoria Cougars and later the VIJHL Kerry Park Islanders.
“I would be one of the happiest guys if Michael Herringer wins a Memorial Cup,” said Royals GM Cam Hope.
“He was the guy who always had to wait his turn [with the Royals]. It was a really tough decision [to trade him]. Michael is an example of how perseverance really pays off. He is a guy who found his way through a lot of hard work.”
The Rockets, despite their depth of talent, did not remain static this season and added not only Herringer but also high-end talent such as likely future NHLers Leon Draisaitl, and Canadian world junior gold-medallist Josh Morrissey.
“There was a really good core group in Kelowna before us, who welcomed us all in,” said Herringer, of how well the newcomers have assimilated into a Rockets team that dispatched the Royals 4-1 in the second round of the playoffs.
“It turned into the right mix of personalities. This team is the closest of all the teams I have been on.”
Adopted at 14 months from Haiti, with brother Moice, and brought to the Island, Herringer was first put into gymnastics by his parents, something he still credits for his agility in the crease.
Herringer said that while his Comox Valley Chiefs youth teams “weren’t always the greatest squads, it was a core group that had a lot of fun from atom to bantam.”
Now, he is with what could be a truly great Rockets team. And he’s still having fun.
