Koch finds familiar faces in Vancouver
Trade deadline pickup is excited to join team focused on enjoying a long run in the playoffs
Davis Koch’s first trip into the Vancouver Giants’ dressing room provided various reunions.
Koch, who came to the Giants in a WHL trade deadline day swap with the Edmonton Oil Kings, played Semiahmoo minor hockey alongside Vancouver defenceman Matt Barberis, then lined up again with Barberis with the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. Major Midget League in 2013-14.
Koch received a free agent invite to the Edmonton Oilers’ training camp this fall and got to know Giants winger Tyler Benson while he was there.
And when Koch was first starting hockey some 15 years ago, he was on the same team as Vancouver’s Ty Ronning. Cliff Ronning, the former Vancouver Canucks fan favourite, coached his son and the group.
“Coming here and having some familiar faces is really helpful,” Koch said. “I texted a bunch of the guys here after the trade and they all said that they were excited about me coming. It was a good feeling.”
There’s another common connection for Koch, 19, who joined the Giants in exchange for right-winger Brendan Semchuk, 18, goalie Todd Scott, 17, and a 2018 third-round WHL bantam draft pick.
Vancouver bench boss Jason McKee’s coaching mentor is Steve Hamilton, who guides the Oil Kings. McKee worked under Hamilton in the Alberta Junior A league with the Spruce Grove Saints and the two have remained close.
“A lot of the systems are similar,” explained Koch, who is listed at six-feet, 165 pounds.
“There are a couple of little changes, but a lot of the stuff crosses over. It makes it easier knowing stuff coming in.”
Edmonton selected Koch in the second round of the 2013 WHL bantam draft, 42nd overall. He went three picks after Vancouver chose goaltender Ryan Kubic and one ahead of the Kelowna Rockets’ selection of defenceman Cal Foote.
Koch has shown he can produce offence in the WHL, tallying 158 points in 224 regular-season games with the Oil Kings, including 39 points, highlighted by 18 goals, in 40 games this season. That leaves him eighth all-time in franchise scoring.
He admits he asked Edmonton to trade him to a contender, although he says he did not specify a team. Edmonton is last in the 22-team league, sitting at 12-26-4-2.
“I was hoping that something would happen. When I heard it was Vancouver, I was pretty ecstatic,” Koch said.
“My last couple of years, I wanted to be on a team that’s pushing to go deep (in the playoffs) hopefully.”
Playoffs often bring out more NHL scouts and Koch’s goal is to get a crack at pro hockey. Since he’s been passed over in the NHL Draft and hasn’t signed a free-agent deal, he’s expected to be back next year with Vancouver as a 20-year-old.
That was part of the appeal for the Giants, in part because there seems to be a shortage of 1998born players slated to come back to the league next year.
Teams are permitted three 20-year-old players every season. Vancouver has four 1998born players on their roster, with Koch, Barberis, Benson and forward Jared Dmytriw.
Benson, a 2016 second-round pick of the Oilers, has already signed his entry-level deal with the club and is expected to play somewhere in Edmonton’s farm system next season, rather than returning to the Giants.