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Dylan Cozens
Cozens skates in first WHL games with Hurricanes
On Friday night, Dylan Cozens pulled on a Lethbridge Hurricanes jersey to skate in the first Western Hockey League (WHL) game of his career.
On Friday night, Dylan Cozens pulled on a Lethbridge Hurricanes jersey to skate in the first Western Hockey League (WHL) game of his career.
The 15-year-old from Whitehorse skated in the home game against the Medicine Hat Tigers alongside nine other rookies.
鈥淭he fans are way louder at these games than what I鈥檓 used to,鈥� said Cozens from B.C. this morning, where he鈥檇 just finished his first day of school at the Yale Hockey鈥圓cademy. 鈥淭he hockey is way faster than what I鈥檓 used to.鈥�
In front of a sold-out crowd at their home arena, the Hurricanes struggled to get on the board.
The Tigers put up two early in the first and added to their lead with three more in the second.
The Hurricanes tried to answer, getting on the scoreboard with four in the second, the penultimate of those coming off an assist from Cozens.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 anything special,鈥� he said.
He went down with the Tigers鈥� defensive pressure, 鈥減oking (the puck)鈥� to a teammate, who passed it to Nolan Jones for the goal.
The third period brought two more goals, one for each Alberta team. The final score was 7-5.
Saturday, the Hurricanes got their rematch when they travelled to Medicine Hat.
Again, Cozens played alongside seven other rookies.
The right-handed shooter didn鈥檛 get on the board, but the Hurricanes won the rematch 4-3.
Cozens is now in B.C. at the Yale Hockey Academy, where he鈥檒l play with the U18 team this season.
The 6鈥�2, 184 lb. centre participated in the Hurricanes pre-season camps before the Labour Day weekend games.
鈥淗ad a great time in Lethbridge at the @WHLHurricanes camp, can鈥檛 wait until next year,鈥� he tweeted on Saturday.
At 15, Cozens isn鈥檛 eligible to be on the Hurricanes鈥� regular roster this season, but he is eligible to play all pre-season games and can be called up to play a maximum of five regular season games, WHL spokesman Corey St. Laurent told the Star earlier this year.
鈥淕rowing up I always wanted to play (in the) WHL,鈥� said Cozens. He鈥檚 honoured to represent the Hurricanes in his debut in the league.
In May, he was the first Yukoner to ever be selected in the first round of the WHL draft.
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Comments (1)
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Jim Light on Sep 7, 2016 at 6:12 pm
Congratulations - you have gone deeper than thousands of kids from here that have had the dream. Keep doing whatever your doing.