Gorda return big plus for Oil Kings
Bill Shankly, the legendary former manager of Liverpool FC, was once asked if he felt soccer was a matter of life or death?
“Listen, it’s more important than that,” he famously responded. It’s not. Neither is hockey. Unfortunately, Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman Brayden Gorda was reminded of that this summer with the death of a close friend.
Gorda, 18, took the loss hard and walked away from hockey despite having a bright future in the game.
“In August, I had a pretty rough month, one of my best friends passed away and, obviously, it was something that I didn’t like to see happen,” Gorda said. “At the time, I was pretty drained, shocked and I didn’t know what to do with myself. But about three months ago, I started working out again, everything got back together and I started feeling like the person I was before.”
After going through his grieving process, Gorda began to regain the desire to play again. It started with finding the energy to work out, then getting back on the ice and, eventually, returning to the Oil Kings.
Gorda rejoined the Oil Kings earlier this week and is expected back in the lineup by next week.
“Now that I’m here and reconnected with the boys, it feels pretty good to see everyone and see a lot of smiles,” Gorda said. “I started thinking about coming back about a month ago, maybe a little over a month ago. I was doing a lot working out and stuff and getting dedicated and I just wanted to get back into it.”
An Edmonton product, Gorda was selected by the Oil Kings in the third round (64th overall) of the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft. He made the team as a 16-year-old and the following year was projected to be a late-round pick in the NHL draft, but was passed over.
“I think it says a lot about him to come back,” Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton said. “It would have been easy for him to say, 'Forget it,' and walk away. He and I kept a line of contact and kept it all open and I just think we’re a family. We tell the kids we’re a family and we have to support him through thick and thin sometimes, and I like that when he was ready to come back, hockey was a priority again.
“With all the stuff he dealt with in the fall, hockey just wasn’t a priority and you have to respect that.”
Gorda was welcomed back with open arms and has started practising with the Oil Kings, who were on the road Friday to take on the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Oil Kings host the Moose Jaw Warriors (7 p.m.) at Rogers Place on Saturday, but Gorda is more likely to get in the lineup when the team heads out on a fivegame road trip starting against the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday.
“I have slowly been keeping up to what the team was doing,” Gorda said. “I hadn’t been following every game or every practice or anything like that. I’d go on the website and look at the score and see how the players were doing, see who was leading the point race, see who was leading in goals and stuff like that.”
It wasn’t easy for Gorda to walk away from the Oil Kings and it was almost as difficult for him to return to a locker-room where there was still questions in regards to his absence.
“A big part of it is, you walk through the doors, it’s a little bit uncomfortable,” Hamilton said. “Not everybody knew all the details behind his decision, but he finds a way to get back into that room, has a moment of being uncomfortable and then he realized the guys love him, they’re happy he’s back.”
The Oil Kings have struggled this season, but have been much better since returning from the Christmas break. Heading into their game against the Tigers, Edmonton had three wins and points in all five games after the break.
Gorda will be a big boost to a young blue line that is going through some injury woes of late.
“He’ll help us a ton,” Hamilton said. “He’s a big, strong guy that can skate, kill penalties and move the puck. We have to temper expectations too, he’s been off for a while, but ultimately, we just got a whole lot better without having to pay a price in a trade. He also brings lots to our room, lots of energy, so it’s all really good.”