Ryan Graham, Observer Reporter
The Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League made a pit stop in Quesnel Feb. 23 as they practiced at Oak Gardens before making their way to Prince George to play the Cougars. The practice had some local flavour as two members of the team hail from Quesnel. They are forward Jesse Roach and assistant coach Ryan Marsh.
Roach, a winger stands 6’5 and weighs 208 pounds and is a physical presence on the ice. He was a second round pick of the Vancouver Giants in the 2012 WHL draft and is one of the leaders on a young Oil Kings roster. He says it’s always nice to come home and get the chance to play outside.
“I use to come here all the time when I was younger and it’s where I learned to skate,” Roach said.
Marsh the other member of the Oil Kings, who calls Quesnel home is well known in these parts as the Marsh name is associated with hockey royalty.
“We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to stop, but it worked out with the day off and were able to get a skate in,” Marsh said.
He adds getting to skate outdoors as a team is great.
“It’s always fun to get outside,” Marsh said.
“In Edmonton there is quite a few outdoor rinks for these guys, but as a far as getting out as a team very rarely do we get the opportunity.”
Marsh thought stopping at Oak Gardens would be great for the club.
“Teams in the past have stopped here, so I put it out to the Oil Kings staff and they were for it,” Marsh said.
“It’s also a good team building activity for us,” Marsh said.
Head coach Steve Hamilton added it’s good for the team to do stuff like this because it brings back memories of why we all started playing.
“It’s a chance for the guys to do what they love in a completely unstructured environment,” Hamilton said.
Although the season has not gone the way they hoped, Marsh sees a lot of positives in the team moving forward.
“We were in a playoff position going into January at the trade deadline, but we decided to make a choice as an organization to go with a little bit of a youth movement so wins have been a little far and few between,” Marsh said.
“Certainly you can see the future is bright. We have a really good group of young players and a good core group of veterans to show the way.”
Hamilton echoed that same sentiment.
“We made some substantial trades at the deadline which changed the face of our team, but the intent is to get back to be a team that can push for a championship which ultimately I think every organization wants to work towards,” Hamilton said.
“We have taken our lumps lately, but with that being said we really like the fabric of our team.”
Marsh has quite a resume as he has coached with the University of Alberta Golden Bears as an assistant coach and won the University Cup in 2013-14. He also had the opportunity to coach as an assistant at the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge with Hockey Canada.
Marsh and Roach are two locals that are carrying on the great hockey tradition that Quesnel is known for and show that no matter where you are from, if you are committed to your goals you can achieve anything.
