Coleman Vollrath is like most over-agers competing in the Western Hockey League, focused on the task at hand and consumed with assisting younger teammates — like goaltending partner Griffen Outhouse — as they find their way through the major junior circuit.
The Calgary native also has an eye on continuing his career at the minor pro level and has already received interest from a number of CIS schools.
An excellent student, the competitive Vollrath wants to test the pro waters once his junior eligibility ends with the Victoria Royals, who will attempt to stretch their 10-game win streak on a difficult road trip this weekend.
Victoria — ranked No. 6 in the country — heads to Everett tonight before moving on to Seattle on Sunday and Portland on Monday, before wrapping it up with a Wednesday game in Vancouver.
Vollrath returned to the nets in Tuesday night’s 8-2 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings and has posted seven of those 10 victories in this run. He was replaced in a 5-4 shootout victory as the Royals bounced back from a 4-3 deficit against Tri-City. He had allowed just one goal against in four straight starts, including three against quality WHL clubs (Lethbridge, Kelowna and Calgary) prior to surrendering the four goals in Kennewick.
As for his future, Vollrath made it clear which option he prefers once this season is over.
“I’ve definitely had some conversations with some CIS schools already, but the ultimate goal would be to play minor pro hockey and I think it’s just a matter of getting an opportunity and taking advantage of it,” he said of his future. “To do it, I have to put forth my best effort every night and, hopefully, get noticed — have a good rest of the regular season, and hopefully we’ll have a good playoff run as a group.
“If we do, it should allow me to have success and hopefully get a pro opportunity next year.”
Last season, Vollrath was called up by the ECHL’s Ontario Reign. It came a day after the Royals lost out to Kelowna in the second round of playoffs. He flew to Denver to join the California-based Reign, playing against the Colorado Eagles.
Vollrath was there for 10 games as a backup and played just a minute in a game when a late line brawl occurred.
“It was a really good experience for me and I learned what I need to do to get to that next level,” said the recently turned 21-year-old. “I learned a lot from my roommate, David Rutherford, who played in Spokane and Vancouver and won a Memorial Cup. He showed me what it takes to be a pro at that level and how you need to treat your body and prepare on the ice every day.”
Off the ice, Vollrath has a sharp mind. He began school early and wrapped up his high school education at 16.
“When I came to Victoria at 17 I was already done high school and that enabled me to focus on hockey,” he said.
But education has always played a vital role.
“Mom is a teacher, so she always made sure I was doing well,” he said of Nancy Parker.”
Last year, Coleman also enrolled in university on-line courses.
“I took an English composition course at this time last year and finished it while I was down in Ontario [with the Reign]. I wrote the exam when I returned home to Calgary in June and I ended up getting an A-minus in the class, which I was pretty happy about considering it was my first university class.”
He admits not being drafted by an NHL club did put a damper on some of his plans.
“That was a hard time for me. I know I wasn’t going to get drafted out of my 17-year-old year, but I played more games at 18 and had a good year statistically. I was hoping someone would take a chance. But I haven’t let that get me down.”
In fact, he’s among the league-leaders in goals-against average, sitting second at 2.41 and has a solid record of 24-12-0-2.
