The Vancouver Giants spoiled an impressive debut for Conner McDonald with the Kelowna Rockets.
The 20-year-old South Delta blueliner assisted on all three Kelowna goals in a 4-3 loss to the Giants on Wednesday night in the Okanagan city. McDonald was traded to the Rockets a few days earlier after requesting a trade to a team closer to home in his final year of junior eligibility. He is now with a team that will be hosting the 2020 Memorial Cup in May.
“It was a true pleasure to be out there and I look forward to many more home games,” said McDonald who had been out of the Edmonton Oil Kings line-up while waiting for a trade. “There is nothing quite like game action. I was happy with my conditioning in that I managed to hold up for 60 minutes. Unfortunately we didn’t come through on the winning side of it but all in all it’s a night I won’t forget.”
McDonald came through South Delta Minor Hockey before taking his career to the Delta Hockey Academy. He was the 24th overall pick in the 2014 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft by Kamloops and went on to play the better part of two seasons before being traded to the Oil Kings midway through the 2016/17 campaign.
He had a career best 19 goals and 50 points in 68 games last season. He had played 14 games for Edmonton before requesting a trade to a B.C. team.
