Former Rocket, Reid Gardiner, named to ECHL All-Rookie Team
Former Kelowna Rockets forward Reid Gardiner — the older brother of current Rockets forward Erik Gardiner — has been named to the 2018 ECHL All-Rookie Team.
Gardiner is having a fantastic year in his first full pro season. In 56 games with the Wheeling Nailers, the ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Gardiner scored 28 goals and added 26 assists for 54 points. His 28 goals were second most among rookies in the ECHL.
The Humboldt, Sask., product was fourth in points among rookies and his eight game-winning goals were tied for the rookie lead and second overall in the ECHL. Gardiner is also fifth among rookies in power-play points with 16 (7G, 9A).
The 5-foot-11 sniper made the All-Rookie Team as determined by a voting panel of ECHL coaches, broadcasters, media relations directors and media, who selected a goalie, two defencemen and three forwards.
Two other players with Western Canadian ties were also named to the All-Rookie Team in defenceman Aaron Irving, formerly of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings and Everett Silvertips (2013-17), and goaltender Mitch Gillam, who spent two seasons with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs (2011-13) before a four-year NCAA stint with Cornell University (2013-17).
Though his time in Kelowna was short — a trade-deadline ringer acquired last January — Gardiner made a big impact with the Rockets. He played in 28 regular-season games during the 2016-17 campaign, returning from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after Kelowna landed his WHL rights from the Prince Albert Raiders.
Gardiner racked up 18 goals and 19 assists for 37 points over those 28 games, then took his game to another level during the Rockets’ playoff run by producing a franchise-record 15 goals, along with 13 assists for 28 points in just 17 post-season games to finish third in league scoring despite Kelowna being eliminated in the third round — falling to the eventual champion Seattle Thunderbirds in the Western Conference final.