Courtesy of Steinbachonline.com – Written by David Anthony
The Steinbach Pistons have named their leadership core for the 2016-17 season and announced that 20 year old forward Jordan Bochinski will be the captain.
A fan favourite for his play on the ice and infectious personality off the ice, Bochinski was blown away when head coach Paul Dyck told him he would wear the ‘C’. “It’s a pretty special feeling and one that I can’t really put into words. It’s really an honour being named captain of such an amazing organization. It’s where I started my junior career and it’s just an awesome feeling.”
Bochinski freely admits that there are some big shoes to fill when it comes to wearing the big letter. Justin Augert, Colin Baudry and Tyler Penner have all been captains during Bochinski’s time in Steinbach and he couldn’t contain his excitement when the thought of his name being added to that list was brought up. “All those guys were great captains and all in different ways. I started my career with Augert and then Baudry and Penner, just three really great captains I’ve looked up to. For me, I want to be myself, play my game, play hard and do what has got me to this point.”
Along with the captain, the Pistons announced that they will have three assistant captains. 20 year old defenseman Ryan Carlson, 19 year old forward Julien Koga and 19 year old defenseman Tyler Anderson will wear the letter ‘A’.
For Carlson, it’s the culmination of a lot of hard work. “It’s an extreme honour to be wearing a letter for your team. I just want to lead as hard as I can on the ice and off. I want to be a good citizen throughout Steinbach.” Carlson also talked about what it means that the coaching staff believes in him. “It’s a real honour, knowing they think I’m a leader on this team. It shows that I have good character and that’s something really strive for.”
A captain relies heavily on his assistants and Bochinski knows he’s got a great group around him. “I can’t stress enough about how supportive they’ve been and how great of leaders they are. I feel like we have a great leadership group, a talented and hard working group. Off the ice, a group of guys that everyone loves and get’s a long with. Those three guys are instrumental to our success both on and off the ice.”
It’s been a long road for Bochinski and he knows he couldn’t have done it alone. When he was named captain, the first phone call was a no brainier. “My dad.” He said with the trademark Bochinski smile. “He’s been instrumental to me, taught me the importance of work ethic so just to get to call him and my mom to tell them, it was something I won’t forget.”