Forward Brady Harroun uses his body to shield the puck away from blue-liner David MacDonald during one of the drills at the Timmins Rock training camp at the McIntyre Arena. After the weeklong camp, the Rock will travel to Cochrane for an exhibition game against the Crunch at the Tim Horton Event Centre on Sunday, at 2 p.m., before heading out for the Cottage Cup exhibition tournament in Collingwood. THOMAS PERRY/THE DAILY PRESS
The Timmins Rock took their first strides this week toward what they hope will be an NOJHL championship and a berth into the 2023 Centennial Cup tournament in Portage la Prairie, Man.
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
It’s a path new Rock forwards Brady Harroun and Ethan Pool, as well as blue-liner Kenyon Nyman know well, having been part of the Red Lake Miners 2022 Superior International Junior Hockey League championship squad.
The trio is, of course, hoping to take their quest one step further while wearing Rock uniforms in 2022-23 after their Miners — like the NOJHL champion Soo Thunderbirds — compiled a record of 0-4-0 during the 2022 tournament in Estevan, Sask.
“At the start of the year that (winning an SIJHL championship) was our goal and when we finally accomplished that goal it meant everything to us,” Harroun said.
“Not everyone gets to go to the Centennial Cup, so it’s a privilege.
“You have got to put in a lot of work to win a championship in any league.
“With us winning last year, I think it helps us moving forward, to be better leaders in the room and show everyone what it takes to really be a championship team.”
Harroun has a pretty good idea of what it is going to take for the Rock to duplicate what the Miners did last season.
“One of the biggest things for us last year is we were a tight group right from the start,” he said.
“Everyone got along, hung out with each other and put in the work, pushed each other.
“I think that’s the biggest thing. You can’t have any quit.
“At the end of the day, when you get there, it is all worth it.”
Heading into the playoffs, the Miners were the second ranked team in the SIJHL but not in the minds of Harroun and his teammates.
“We had not doubts that we were the best team and we went out there and proved it,” he said.
The St. Albert, AB, product feels coming to a new team and a new league will be a lot smoother given he is making the transition with a pair of his Miners teammates.
“Moving here with Ethan and Kenyon makes it a lot easier because they are both my best buddies and two phenomenal hockey players, as well,” Harroun said.
“I am looking forward to this year already.”
Harroun’s friendship with Pool goes back much farther than their time together with the Miners, of course.
“Ethan and I have basically known each other since we were kids, just starting out hockey in a small, tight-knit community,” Harroun said.
“We have been teammates quite a few times and it has meant a lot, especially being able to play Junior with him all three years.”
Harroun and Pool were linemates for parts of the 2021-22 campaign with the Miners.
“We were for the Centennial Cup, but it was on and off during the season,” he said.
“We would lose a game and the coach would switch up the lines. We were all used to playing with everyone, so it was a pretty easy transition.”
Being from a community just outside of Edmonton, it is only natural Harroun was an Oilers fan when he was growing up.
“I have been an Oilers fan since I was born and I have gone to games for a long time, now,” he said.
“My favourite player is Leon Draisaitl and I try to mimic my game around the things he does, try some of the stuff he does.”
While Harroun and Pool have been lifelong friends, they are polar opposites when it comes to the NHL teams they cheer for and their favourite players.
Pool said, “I might get some hate for this, but I am a (Toronto Maple) Leafs fan and I like (William) Nylander. He is one of my favourite players.”
The only greater sin for somebody living just outside Edmonton would be to cheer for the Calgary Flames, so how have the duo remained friends for so many years?
“We have had some pretty good chirps back and forth, but it is all fun and games,” Pool said.
Being a Maple Leafs fan, Pool is looking forward to playing in a mini version of the old Gardens, now that he has learned some of the history of the McIntyre Arena.
“It’s a really nice rink and it is cool that it has got some history to it, too,” he said.
That difference in NHL allegiance aside, Pool has enjoyed being teammates with Harroun at so many stops along their minor hockey paths.
“Brady is like a brother to me,” he said.
“Being together every day, playing hockey and doing things we like to do is pretty special.”
Like Harroun, Pool is looking to build off the experience he gained during the Miners’ Centennial Cup run in 2022.
“Winning that championship in Red Lake, we know what it takes (to win),” he said.
“The playoffs can be a grind, especially seven-game series. You are in the trenches, day-in and day-out and you just have to battle.
“We are hoping to bring some of that experience here to Timmins.”
Pool describes himself as a playmaker, a fact backed up by his numbers with the Miners in 2021-22 (32, 10-16-26, 45).
“I am fast, so I like to skate with the puck, make plays and shoot the puck on net when I can,” he said.
Only a few practices into training camp, Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry has yet to set his forward lines or defence combinations, but it doesn’t matter to Pool if he is teamed with Harroun or not.
“Wherever coach Perry wants to play us and whatever role he wants us to fill is cool with us,” he said.
Nyman will be one of five newcomers to the Rock blue-line in 2022-23 and he is looking forward to contributing at both ends of the ice.
“I really cherish my two-way game,” he said.
“Last year, I got to run the power play for the Red Lake Miners and we had the best power play in the league.
“I am hoping I can contribute as effectively as I did last season.”
On the defensive side of the puck, Nyman has plenty of size (6-3, 195 pounds) but has shown a knack for avoiding the penalty box.
“I have always been a stay-at-home defenceman, before last year when I started to incorporate some offence into my game,” he said.
“Defensively, I focus on my positioning a lot, staying disciplined and not being caught out of position.”
Like Harroun and Pool, Nyman feels moving to a new team with two teammates will make for a smooth transition into the new league.
“The Centennial Cup was a blast last year and having two guys with me who have gone through that experience and know how to win makes it a whole lot easier coming to this team,” he said.
Being from Maple Ridge, BC, fans might expect Nyman to be a Vancouver Canucks fan, but that isn’t the case.
“Growing up, I was able to catch (former Detroit Red Wings blue-liner) Nicklas Lidström and (current Pittsburg Penguins D-man) Kris Letang, so I am probably going to say the Penguins are my favourite team,” he said.
Nyman feels the secret for the Rock to match what the Miners accomplished last season will be unity.
“Camaraderie was big for our team last year,” he said.
“Our team was close knit and everybody trusted one another on and off the ice.
“You have to hate to lose more than you love to win.”
After a full week of practice, the Rock will travel to Cochrane for a game against the Crunch at the Tim Horton Event Centre on Sunday, at 2 p.m.
They will then head out to Collingwood for the Cottage Cup exhibition tournament.
That event will see the Rock face off against Trenton on Aug. 31, at 8:20 p.m., North York on Sept. 1, at 12:20 p.m., Milton on Sept. 1, at 3:20 p.m., Collingwood on Sept. 2, at 10:40 a.m., and Navan on Sept. 2, at 2 p.m.
