(above) Joe Colborne was MVP of the AJHL PlayoffsFrom: Calgary Herald
by Kristen Odland
Good luck trying to find anyone in the town of Camrose who thinks DU Recruit Joe Colborne is just plain average.
Two years in a row, the 18-year-old Camrose Kodiaks centre had his Alberta Junior Hockey League post-season experience end with all the marbles.
But this time, he capped off his second AJHL title with a 2008 playoff most valuable player award on his shelf.
"We call him the 'Average Joe' or the 'Big Jumbo Joe,'" chuckled Camrose head coach Boris Rybalka Wednesday afternoon, a day after the Kodiaks finished off the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in a best-of-seven AJHL final series. "He just stays calm and doesn't let things rattle him. He's very humble and knows that whatever he gets, he's going to have to work for.
"The day he makes pro, he knows he's going to have to work even harder to keep getting what he deserves."
Colborne, one of eight Calgary-area players in Camrose, notched the Kodiaks' first marker Tuesday night -- to snap his own five-game scoring drought -- on the power play. The goal came in the Kodiaks' 2-0 Game 7 victory that earned them a fifth AJHL title.
"The biggest thing for us is, yeah, we just had a big win," pointed out Colborne, who has played on a line for most of the season with Calgarians Mike Connolly and Jesse Todd. "To win the league is huge, but our goal is not complete yet.
"It was a lot of fun what we've had so far, but we can't be ready to celebrate just yet because we have a long ways to go."
The next step is the Doyle Cup series for the Alberta/British Columbia title starting Friday in Camrose against the Penticton Vees.
Winning that would secure them a spot in the junior 'A' championship, the Royal Bank Cup, in Cornwall, Ont., starting May 3.
Colborne and a handful of this year's group nearly went the distance in 2007 when Prince George, B.C., hosted nationals, but were ousted in a marathon fifth-overtime period by the hosts in semifinals.
Now, with an added 20 pounds of muscle on his six-foot-four frame, he's already prepped for the long haul.
"I feel like a completely different player this year than last year," said Colborne, bound for the NCAA's University of Denver this autumn. "With the slightly larger role I have on the team this year . . . you just feel a lot more comfortable."
Not only did he wrap up the playoffs with eight goals and eight assists in 18 games, Colborne finished No. 2 in AJHL scoring during the regular season with 90 points (33 goals and 57 assists) in 55 games.
But another dangling carrot at the end of the season is the 2008 National Hockey League draft.
Colborne's name has shown up all over web rankings having been pegged at No. 30 in the NHL's Central Scouting mid-season rankings since January and currently holds the No. 23 stake on the International Scouting Service list.
Likely, he'll be scooped up some time in the first round.
"And he deserves it," added Rybalka. "Yet, he has to stay focused.
"Just because people say things out there and are projecting him (to draft highly), he has go and prove it.
"Everyday he has to wake up and show why he deserves it and why he is one of the best players in Canada."
Two years in a row, the 18-year-old Camrose Kodiaks centre had his Alberta Junior Hockey League post-season experience end with all the marbles.
But this time, he capped off his second AJHL title with a 2008 playoff most valuable player award on his shelf.
"We call him the 'Average Joe' or the 'Big Jumbo Joe,'" chuckled Camrose head coach Boris Rybalka Wednesday afternoon, a day after the Kodiaks finished off the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in a best-of-seven AJHL final series. "He just stays calm and doesn't let things rattle him. He's very humble and knows that whatever he gets, he's going to have to work for.
"The day he makes pro, he knows he's going to have to work even harder to keep getting what he deserves."
Colborne, one of eight Calgary-area players in Camrose, notched the Kodiaks' first marker Tuesday night -- to snap his own five-game scoring drought -- on the power play. The goal came in the Kodiaks' 2-0 Game 7 victory that earned them a fifth AJHL title.
"The biggest thing for us is, yeah, we just had a big win," pointed out Colborne, who has played on a line for most of the season with Calgarians Mike Connolly and Jesse Todd. "To win the league is huge, but our goal is not complete yet.
"It was a lot of fun what we've had so far, but we can't be ready to celebrate just yet because we have a long ways to go."
The next step is the Doyle Cup series for the Alberta/British Columbia title starting Friday in Camrose against the Penticton Vees.
Winning that would secure them a spot in the junior 'A' championship, the Royal Bank Cup, in Cornwall, Ont., starting May 3.
Colborne and a handful of this year's group nearly went the distance in 2007 when Prince George, B.C., hosted nationals, but were ousted in a marathon fifth-overtime period by the hosts in semifinals.
Now, with an added 20 pounds of muscle on his six-foot-four frame, he's already prepped for the long haul.
"I feel like a completely different player this year than last year," said Colborne, bound for the NCAA's University of Denver this autumn. "With the slightly larger role I have on the team this year . . . you just feel a lot more comfortable."
Not only did he wrap up the playoffs with eight goals and eight assists in 18 games, Colborne finished No. 2 in AJHL scoring during the regular season with 90 points (33 goals and 57 assists) in 55 games.
But another dangling carrot at the end of the season is the 2008 National Hockey League draft.
Colborne's name has shown up all over web rankings having been pegged at No. 30 in the NHL's Central Scouting mid-season rankings since January and currently holds the No. 23 stake on the International Scouting Service list.
Likely, he'll be scooped up some time in the first round.
"And he deserves it," added Rybalka. "Yet, he has to stay focused.
"Just because people say things out there and are projecting him (to draft highly), he has go and prove it.
"Everyday he has to wake up and show why he deserves it and why he is one of the best players in Canada."
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