It wasn’t long ago that Max Graham was attending Kelowna Rockets games as a kid, cheering on the likes of Damon Severson, Madison Bowey, Rourke Chartier and Leon Draisaitl.
He’s already lived the dream of playing for his hometown team and getting drafted into the NHL, but today he’ll add another accomplishment to his resume.
The Kelowna product has been named the 29th captain in Rockets franchise history.
“Truthfully, I'd never even imagined that I could even play for this team one day, let alone be named captain," the 20-year-old explained.
"To be able to be honoured as a captain for your hometown team and a team that you've been with for so long is definitely a great feeling."
Making up Kelowna’s leadership group alongside Graham this year will be Andrew Cristall, Caden Price and Tij Iginla, who will all serve as alternate captains.
"That's obviously a pretty good core, both for our team and in this league," said Cristall.
"We've got to be the guys pushing the load every night and kind of showing the younger players how to play and then what to do on the ice and hopefully that leads to more wins.”
Although many speculated that Cristall could have been the choice for captain this year, the 19-year-old is ecstatic for his friend and teammate.
"Yeah, it's awesome. He's a guy you like to go to war with because he'll do anything for his teammates," Cristall noted.
"Whether it's getting physical, protecting his teammates, putting up points ... he can kind of do it all. He's a really good leader and we're happy to have him."
There’s a good chance that this season will be the last hurrah in Kelowna for all four players who will be wearing letters for the club.
Graham will age out of junior at the end of the year, while Cristall, Price and Iginla are all expected to make the jump to the professional ranks in 2025-26.
Despite the rough 1-5 start, expectations are high for the Rockets as they return to full strength with Cristall being returned from Washington Capitals training camp on Monday.
Your first chance to see Graham wearing the C and Cristall in action this season will be on Friday when the Portland Winterhawks come to town.
Kelowna also made a minor trade today, shipping Max Psenicka’s WHL playing rights to the Winterhawks for a conditional fifth-round pick in 2025 and a conditional third-round pick in 2026.
Psenicka, 17, was the Rockets’ 32nd overall pick in the 2024 CHL import draft.
