[mile]

Gilbertson with a really good article on Kerins' success this season.
https://calgaryherald.com/sports/hoc...ct-rory-kerins

https://twitter.com/user/status/1870142653490204972

“I do believe, in my heart, that his training this summer took a different level,” said Ray Edwards, the Flames director of player development. “Whether that’s changing different things or him having a more focused mindset or just him understanding that this is a big year for him, he did the work and you can see it.

“You can see it in his analytics, too. He’s hanging onto pucks longer. He can stay out there longer. He can be in battles longer. He can win more battles because he’s stronger, he’s faster. And his ability to play harder in the last 20 seconds of a shift, that is allowing him to create offence in that 20- to 50-second range, where last year I would argue that he was good for 15 or 20 seconds and after that, it was tough.

“You know, that would be one of my do-overs,” Conroy said with a sigh. “He has a confidence in him and he was in that third group and he was like, ‘I’m gonna show you guys.’ And I give him credit, he’s done it. That’s what you want guys to do, so I’m happy for him.”

“He may have got the short end of the stick in training camp, but he stuck it to us after,” Edwards praised. “He said, ‘Oh, you guys don’t think I’m ready for that? Well, here you go.’ And good for him for doing that.”

“When you watch him, he is so smart,” Conroy said of Kerins. “He knows how to draw guys to him and dish pucks. He has great touch on his passes. He has a real good shot, can get it off in traffic, and he goes to the right areas.

“He just sees the game really well and with his hockey sense, it’s fun to watch.”

A pro scout for another NHL organization told Postmedia that he also has noticed this season an uptick in Kerins’ competitiveness on pucks and in his one-on-one battles.

“The skill was always there,” the scout said. “But he is much more engaged.”

“With Rory, his main concern was back then was just building strength and speed and a little bit of technique,” Fujita explained. “Over the years, we’ve kind of evolved the structure of the lessons with him. We started with the basics and added on as we went along. And then this past summer, we really started adding in tactical skating skills, so taking the technique, the movement pattern and the added strength and power and implementing that all together into game-like scenarios, but skating-based.

“Rory is a guy that really epitomizes the building the foundation and then adding on to it as we went. I knew this was going to be a journey with Rory and it did take time.”