Lucas Johansen well on his way to joining his brother in the NHL
by Josh Duncan

Johansen adds that on the ice you get more confident with every passing game and growing into the player he’s become over the last three seasons has been an exciting process. It’s been well documented that adversity can help a person grow and the Rockets have seen plenty of adversity this season compared to Johansen’s first two years in the WHL.

“It’s been a pretty rocky ride. There’s been lots of wins, lots of losses, lots of different types of adversity,” claims the Capitals prospect. “Down the stretch we’re going to have to find ways to be more consistent.”

It’s looking more and more like the Rockets will face off against their biggest rival, the Kamloops Blazers, in the first round of the WHL playoffs. After a seven game series between the two clubs last post-season, and another 10 regular season games this year, there’s no doubt it would be another hard fought series, and Johansen knows the Rockets would be in for a battle if that was the case.

“They’re tough to beat, especially in their rink we’ve had troubles beating them there, so we’d have to figure out a way to steal some wins,” he said. “There’s a lot of familiar faces over there so it’d be a fun series for sure.”

Whatever does happen with the team’s playoff run, the 19-year-old will have a different focus in a few months when he takes his shot at turning professional with the Washington Capitals organization. He’ll be trying to follow the footsteps of another big name Rockets’ blueliner in Madison Bowey.

Bowey was wearing the C for Kelowna when Johansen entered the WHL in the fall of 2014 and if certain things fall into place, they could be sharing the ice again next year. Bowey was taken by Washington in the second round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and currently plays for the Capitals’ farm team, the Hershey Bears. While Johansen admits the two don’t talk a lot, he says they’ve spent time together at various Capitals’ development camps and rookie tournaments, and Bowey is source of advice for Johansen as he makes his transition into the big leagues.

Great night to share with friends and family! So pumped to be apart of @capitals !!! Thanks to everyone who helped and supported me along the way!

A post shared by Lucas Johansen (@ljohansen97) on Jun 24, 2016 at 10:08pm PDT

“It’s definitely nice to have a guy who I played with and partnered with in the same organization.”

Bowey is certainly a valuable resource, but obviously his influence pales in comparison to how important a different NHL player has been for Johansen. That player is, of course, Nashville Predators’ forward and Lucas’ older brother, Ryan Johansen. The eldest Johansen brother is in the seventh year of a successful NHL career after being drafted fourth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010. For young Lucas, the dream of playing professional hockey became that much more realistic once he saw Ryan step onto an NHL ice surface for the first time.

“When he made it I just remember, he actually played Nashville in his first game and I looked out and thought, ‘oh my God this is unbelievable’,” Lucas explained. “I always joke that I used to beat him at mini sticks and road hockey sometimes, so if he can play in the NHL, why can’t I?”

Lucas added that Ryan inspired him so much in that sense and is always motivating him to do his best. How Ryan lives his life and trains as a professional has always had an influence on Lucas and when the younger brother was picked 28th overall by the Capitals, Ryan was the second person he hugged after his mother, Rosalind.

With guidance from his older brother, as well as a number of other factors, Johansen has shown tremendous growth in his young career. The defenseman went from being a sixth round pick in the 2012 WHL bantam draft, to that aforementioned first round selection in the 2016 NHL entry draft. Lucas Johansen will likely go on to have a successful professional career, but it’s unlikely he’ll forget about Kelowna anytime soon.

“Like most players that play here, I come back in the summers and I think that’ll be no different down the road,” said Johansen. “It’s obviously a beautiful place and there are a lot of great people throughout the city.”

Proudest moment of my life!!! Congrats @ljohansen97

A post shared by Ryan Johansen (@ryanjohansen92) on Jun 24, 2016 at 7:42pm PDT

It looks like Johansen will be making more memories in Kelowna in the years to come, but for now he has at least three years of fond memories with the Rockets to look back on. With nearly 1,000 days as a Rocket to chose from, there wasn’t much hesitation when asked about his favourite memory with the team.

“Gotta be winning the championship,” he said, referring to the 2015 WHL title. “There’s nothing like raising the trophy up, putting in all that hard work all year and having success with your teammates.”

Here’s hoping for another Rockets championship run in 2017 for Johansen to look back on.