First Nations player returns from injury to help offence of Kitchener’s OHL squad

Evan Headrick could not have written a better script.

Well, maybe except for the fact the Garden River First Nation member was hoping his first regular season game at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium had happened a few months earlier.

Headrick, a 16-year-old rookie forward with the Kitchener Rangers, made his Ontario Hockey League (OHL) home debut on Jan. 3.

He scored the winning goal, added an assist and was selected as the first star of the game as the Rangers downed the visiting Erie Otters 3-1.

“It was awesome,” Headrick said of his home debut in the famed rink affectionately known as The Aud. “I kind of blanked out that whole last little bit. It was just so surreal.”

Headrick had been selected by the Rangers in the first round of the OHL Priority Selections draft this past April.

But his rookie season with the Kitchener squad was delayed a few months as he broke his left arm during the team’s training camp in September.

While recovering from his setback, Headrick was still very much a part of the Rangers.

“I went to every single game,” he said. “I was just trying to pick up as much as I could because I was up in the stands. I just wanted to play so bad. It’s nice to be finally able to play.”

Headrick made his OHL debut on the road on Dec. 31. He scored a goal and helped the Rangers down the host North Bay Battalion 5-2.

Though he is back playing now, Headrick said he is still working on getting his arm back to its original strength.

“It’s getting really close now (to 100 per cent),” he said. “I’m just trying to rehab it and get it back as strong as possible.”

Headrick is also hoping to have a growth spurt soon. He entered the season being listed at 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds.

Not playing the first three months of the hockey season allowed him to put on an additional 10 pounds during his rehab.

“So, that was good,” he said.

Headrick added he’s been welcomed into the Rangers’ family.

“They’ve helped me so much,” he said of his teammates. “I can’t thank them enough, from the young guys to the older guys. Everybody has been helping me so much. They’ve been the biggest role models for me.”

Now that he’s an OHLer himself, Headrick has been forced to switch allegiances. Growing up he was an Erie fan as his oldest brother Owen had toiled for the Otters.

Thus, it was ironic his first game in Kitchener in the OHL was against the Otters.

“It’s kind of weird because I grew up being an Erie fan,” he said. “But once I got drafted to Kitchener it shifted a lot. Now that I know they’re rivals, (I’m) not so much of a fan of them.”

Rangers’ head coach Jussi Ahokas has quickly become a Headrick fan.

“What I like about him is his personality,” said Ahokas, a native of Finland who is in his second season of coaching the Rangers. “He’s a positive kid and he works hard. He’s just a great kid. I think he’s a special player. And even though he got hurt and it was a big injury, he worked during that time and now he’s getting results. He sees the ice well and he’s a great player.”

Ahokas added he’s not concerned about Headrick’s diminutive stature.

“He skates well and he goes to the hard areas,” he said. “At that point the size doesn’t matter. And we know he’s 16 and he’s still growing a lot. This is his first year and we hope to have him for four (years). We wish to have him for four but he might go even faster to the big leagues.”

Ahokas added the Rangers will not be placing any lofty expectations on Headrick for the remainder of this season.

“We have to be patient with him,” he said. “There will be ups and downs. But we know his talent. I think in a year or two he’ll be a dominant player in this league.”

Ahokas has been coaching for slightly more than 20 years now.

“I would say I’ve coached a lot of players and he is special,” he said of Headrick.

Though he’s had some early success since joining the Rangers’ lineup, Headrick said he’s trying to keep things simple.

“I’m just trying to be the best teammate and work as hard as I can,” he said. “I can’t expect anything. So, I’ve just got to work and earn everything that I can.”