In the stands at United Center in Chicago, Rory Kerins’ parents were beaming with pride, clearly in pinch-me mode after watching their son notch an assist on the first shift of his NHL career.
At the rink in Sault Ste. Marie, Kerins’ former junior coach and athletic therapist were streaming the action. Both jumped out of their chairs when he picked up that point.
Kerins’ longtime trainer, meanwhile, had hustled home after an evening activity with his daughter. He missed the start of the game, meaning he had to settle for a replay of that initial apple. Not a problem, because the Calgary Flames’ forward call-up would soon add another.
“I’m glad it’s over, because there was a lot going on,” Kerins insisted after his dazzling debut — two assists, a couple of scoring opportunities of his own and a plus-3 rating — in Monday’s 5-2 blowout victory over the Blackhawks in Chicago. “But it’s one I won’t forget, for sure.”
Indeed, these memories will last a lifetime, not just for the 22-year-old Kerins but for his loved ones and for those who helped him hone his skills along the way.
While hundreds of thousands of kids daydream of NHL stardom, we all know the long odds of logging even a single shift at the top level.
Kerins didn’t just make it, he made history as one of just five Flames players — and the first since way back in 1989 — with multiple assists in his introductory appearance.
“I was telling my team (Monday) that when you’re looking for joy in hockey, it’s not all about goals and assists. It’s about relationships,” said John Dean, bench boss for the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. “I told them, ‘Today is a very exciting day for me, because I get to watch someone I care about play their first NHL game.’ It’s really, really cool.”
Added Jason Izraelski, who has been training Kerins since he was 16: “I’m so pumped for him. I have been with him through some very high highs and some low lows and to see him finally getting a shot at achieving something he’s dreamed of for a very long time, it means a lot.”
Kerins is one of those long-shot stories that every hockey fan loves to rally behind.
He was a sixth-round draft pick. He typically had to do some serious scrolling to find his name on any top-prospect list, if he was mentioned at all.
When his phone buzzed last week and Brad Pascall’s name popped up on the display, he hoped that the Wranglers general manager was about to deliver good news. As Kerins told Postmedia: “He’s given me a call a couple of times to send me to ‘The Coast.’ So it’s pretty cool that it was him giving me the call to come up to the NHL.”
Those ECHL stints now in his rearview mirror, Kerins rocketed onto the radar this season as the AHL’s leading marksman, with 21 goals in 34 outings prior to his promotion.
The third-year pro showed in Chicago that he can do the dishing too, twice a table-setter on goals by Jakob Pelletier, his not-long-ago linemate in the minors.
As Kerins immediately turned his attention to Tuesday’s battle with the Blues in St. Louis, staff at the AHL offices must have been wondering if they’d need a roster replacement for the upcoming all-star game.
“You obviously need to have a certain talent level to get yourself an opportunity to play with the big boys,” said Dean, who coached Kerins for three seasons in The Soo, including a 118-point pop-off in his final junior campaign. “His intelligence is incredible. His hockey smarts, both with and without the puck, are very, very high. Where he excels is that everyone talks about compete and work ethic, and I think that’s the floor. You need to have compete and work ethic to succeed and thrive in this business, period. But he is so deliberate and intentional with his approach day-to-day, and he’s reaped rewards long-term. That’s how I feel about Rory.
“He started off in the East Coast League and that easily could have been a woe-is-me moment. And I think for Rory, it was, ‘OK, what’s the message being sent here? What’s the deliberate approach I can take to getting back there to get an opportunity? And I’m going to do that.’ And I know this because he did it with me. He started as a 16-year-old, was a healthy scratch, challenged me on more than one occasion as to what is it that he needs to do better and why, and proceeded to get a regular shift by end of season. And then he proceeded to lead my team for the next three years.
“The hockey intelligence, the playmaking ability, his care factor away from the puck, I think those things speak for themselves,” Dean continued. “But his day-to-day deliberate and intentional approach, I don’t think a lot of guys have that anymore. I really don’t.
“He really lives in the fine details and makes himself better.”
That goes for his work in the gym, too.
Kerins isn’t one of those kids who looked like he was chiseled out of granite before he even graduated to adult-sized skates.
When he checked in for Flames’ camp this fall, he posted the best fitness-testing results of his career.
Izraelski, who works as a sports chiropractor but also trains a group of 15-20 high-level athletes each summer, credits that to the accumulation of years and years of sweat and stick-with-it, saying “I knew from the time I first met him that he was going to be a late bloomer physically” and “Rory was bought into the process from Day 1.”
“It’s such a cliche to hear from coaches and strength coaches and everyone involved in the game about process, process, process … ” Izraelski said. “But it’s something that he has really internalized, understanding that his job is to show up every day and put in the work he needs to do to try to get just a little bit better every single day and to let those small little wins stack over time.”
The victories seem to be stacking up lately.
After he was rewarded last week with his first call-up, Kerins first dialled his parents in Caledon, Ont., and then messaged several people who he described as mentors — Dean and Izraelski, among them — to share the news and to stress his appreciation.
“He put in the message that, ‘You’re an important person to this process,’ ” Dean said. “To find out that he thinks you’re important enough to text … It’s beyond words. It’s very, very cool. It also came at an opportune time. My team is currently struggling and it was right after a loss. I took my phone and I showed it to my GM and I said, ‘You know what? It’s not all that bad. We’re doing some good stuff here, so let’s just keep on keeping on.’
“So it was a really cool moment, and it was well-timed for us.”
This up-and-comer apparently has a knack for good timing.
Like an assist on your first NHL shift. (Sam Bennett, in case you’re wondering, was the last to achieve that feat in the Flaming C.)
Or two points in your first period.
“One game is not enough to prove you belong in the league,” Kerins said after Monday’s memory-maker in Chicago. “Just gotta keep learning and continue from here.”