From: Vancouver Province
by Steve Ewen
As a hockey player, Nanaimo Clippers forward Kyle Ostrow (left) is as fancy and flashy as they come.
His day job? He was a pure grinder.
Ostrow spent the summer working in a lumber yard just outside Calgary. He admitted that it was back breaking and tedious, but that was exactly the point, as he was looking to bulk up for this season. He put 12 pounds on his 5-foot-10 frame, and is now listed at 175 pounds.
For nearly three months, he'd worked 7 a.m-5 p.m. five days a week at the lumber yard and then train at night at Crash Conditioning, a Calgary-based hockey academy that attracted the likes of Vancouver Giants defenceman Cody Franson and goaltender Tyson Sexsmith.
"It was like a double workout every day," said Ostrow, 19. "It wasn't much of a life, but it helped me out a lot. And I have so much respect for those guys at the lumber yard. They're there every day, working like that. They understood what I was doing too. They were great about it. They were always asking questions."
The biggest question about Ostrow had always revolved around his size and strength. He's long had skill. He won the Trevor Linden Award as the top forward in the Alberta Triple A Midget League two seasons ago and last year he committed to the juggernaut University of Denver for 2007-08 en route to bagging 20 goals and 40 assists in 58 regular-season games with Nanaimo.
This season, with the work he did in the summer coupled with the way smaller players are excelling under new rules interpretations, he has a shot at being selected in the NHL entry draft. He has 21 goals and 36 assists in 33 games with Nanaimo this season, and is a major reason why they're leading the Coastal Conference.
"I think he's stronger," said Burnaby Express star centre Kyle Turris. "He's skilled but he can play gritty too. He's definitely improved quite a bit from even last year."
Ostrow isn't sure just yet if he'll go back to the lumber yard. He does plan to enroll again with Crash, a program that attracted Washington Capitals defenceman Mike Green and a host of WHLers and college players.
Ostrow has enjoyed his time so much in Nanaimo that it will be hard to leave the Clippers at the end of the season. He admits the earlier, the worse it will be. Nanaimo was upset in the first round of the playoffs last year.
"I was thinking about coming back after Christmas this year that it was the last time I'd be coming back," said Ostrow. "It will be weird in the summer, knowing that I'm going to a different spot next year. I just don't want that to come until May, after the Royal Bank Cup [national championship]. I don't want it to come after the first round again."
No comments:
Post a Comment