| 25 May 2011
The London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League held their annual Awards Banquet Saturday in London and the Boston Bruins' top prospect Jared Knight was recognized with three awards.
Knight was selected with the 32nd pick, acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Phil Kessel deal, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and after a stellar season in which he put up career high in points while continuing to improve all aspects of his game, has shot up our list to become the Bruins top prospect.
Knight finished his year in Providence for the AHL Bruins, after Owen Sound eliminated the Knights.
After leading the Knights with 70 points (25 goals and 45 assists) Knight picked up the award as leading scorer for the 2010-2011 season. But Knight became a leader in so many ways beyond just point production this season. Some of it was forced, but much of it came naturally.
After the trade deadline, when the Knights traded away most of their veterans for draft picks, Knight automatically became one of the vets on the squad. And no one stepped up to the plate quite like he did. Knight took charge on the ice and led his squad into the playoffs where they took the eventual OHL Champion Owen Sound Attack to six games.
Knight can play in any situation, be it a checking role, the go to guy, power play, penalty kill and always with no questions about what the coaching staff is asking him to do. He does it to the best of his ability and leads by example in doing so.
Knight often gets compared to a young Mark Recchi in many circles. When aske about that comparison, he responded, “I don’t know about that; Mark Recchi is an unbelievable player but I don’t think anyone can play like him. But I do watch him very closely when he plays and try to add some of the little things he does. You can learn a lot by just watching him on the ice. He’s not the biggest guy, but he battles out there and that’s what makes him one of the best.”
Knight’s second award of the evening was the Intensity Award. You’ll often hear and read “no one drives to the net or works harder in the OHL than Jared Knight.” And there are just as many observers outside the Knights organization and fan base as there are in it that couldn’t agree with that statement more.
What you get with Knight is 110% effort from shift to shift, game to game. And although Knight has a high hockey IQ, it is that intensity with which he plays the game that makes him the well rounded hockey player that he has become, and will continue to become; as well as a respected team mate, and a fan favourite.
The third and final award Knight earned is the hardest working player award. And it’s hard to argue that the two awards don't go hand in hand. But the fact remains - you can play with all the intensity in the world and still not be the hardest working player on and off the ice.
On the ice, Knight works hard to be the best that he can be, always trying to improve his game. He’ll always be the first on the forecheck as well as first on the backcheck. He takes pride in it. He’ll battle hard against bigger, stronger opponents, never shying away. He’ll take himself to areas where he knows he’s going to be hit or take a beating and he does it with success - as Bruins fans saw in Development Camp and Training Camp last summer, when Knight was consistently battling around the net.
Off the ice he takes care of himself. He works out, often getting up at 5:00 am to get his workout routine in. And his dedication to doing so was never more evident than a year ago when NHL Central Scouting left him off the combine list. He went out, did his own testing and sent copies of the video to NHL teams. That in itself says it all.
"The award that meant the most to me was the hardest working award," Knight said after the banquet. "The two other awards were great but being hard working is something that I’ve always prided myself on and something that I will always do. You can have all the skill in the world but if you’re not willing to work at it you’ll never get anywhere and that’s something I’ve kept in mind when playing hockey. This was the third year in a row that I’ve won it so that was pretty cool too!”
We asked him how spending camp in Boston helped him as well. "Spending a couple weeks in Boston during Training Camp was great," Knight said. "Being around all the pros and seeing how they prepared for games, how they prepared for practices, really surprised me. Everyone there wants to get better, so everyone’s very serious about working out, nutrition, recovery, etc. So going back to junior I wanted to be more serious about those types of things. Trying to get more rest, eating better, and working out during the week, those are the things that the players in Boston do to get the edge so it’s something I wanted to start doing to get better. It was definitely a good eye opener last year in Boston, so hopefully I can go there this year better prepared.”
On a personal note, I get to about 80 OHL games a season with over half being Knights games. And while there may be flashier players out there, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that none play with the intensity or work as hard as Jared Knight. Bruins fans are in for a treat, and I for one will miss watching him grow into the player he can and will become should he make the Bruins out of training camp in September. The selfish, London Knights side of me wants Knight to return to the OHL for next season so that I can truly enjoy one more year of watching this talented hockey player. But the selfish, Boston Bruins side of me wants him in Boston to fill a need for the Bruins – everything that Jared Knight brings.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
