Toren Fron didn’t have words for his five-goal explosion on Oct.11 against the Columbia Valley Rockies. Making it memorable was that it happened during the Quesnel River Rush’s family weekend. His parents travelled from Spruce Grove.
“That was pretty cool for them to be there,” says Fron. “I was just in the right place at the right time for a couple of them. I wanted to take it to the net and it worked out. It was wild.”
Heading into the season, River Rush head coach-general manager Jeremy LeBlanc said Fron was a returnee candidate to have a big season offensively. After producing 26 points in 38 games last season as a rookie, the feisty 5-6, 150-pound forward has nine goals and 16 points in 12 games.
“When you work so hard, offence is going to come naturally,” says LeBlanc. “He does everything right — he works hard in the D-zone, he grinds it down in the corners, and he’s not afraid to be net-front. If you do all those things right, usually the offence comes with it.”
“I’m trying to contribute in any way possible. It doesn’t really have to be just points,” says Fron. “It’s leading by example. Trying to be a leader and win more games as a team than last year.”
He’s adjusted his playing style to spend less time in the penalty box – he sat in there for 196 minutes last season. He’s motivated to change his reputation with officials and has conversations with them.
“I’ve been happy with my play so far,” he says. “I just want to keep it going and try to be consistent every game.”
In practice, it’s about being confident with the puck and working on one-on-ones.
“You can always be creative and do different things in a one-on-one situation,” he adds. “Battle drills, I’ve always been really good at because I’d say I’m a pretty tenacious player. I like to get in the corners and those drills always help me build my confidence if I don’t have a good weekend. Being confident with the puck is one of the big things I focus on this year.”
LeBlanc is seeing Fron excel in drills which they drive wide and says Fron has really been taking that to heart.
“A couple of the goals from his five-goal night, was doing that — driving the net hard,” he says. “That’s really working for him and again, getting to the net-front has been a concept that we’ve been trying to instill here. He’s doing that right now.”
LeBlanc has also seen his commitment to gym work and says Fron put on good weight during the off-season.
“He’s always working hard, and then his vision for the play and using his linemates, driving the net at the right times — I mean, he’s doing a lot of the right things.”
The River Rush want Fron in the middle of the ice, being a bumper player and the best net-front presence he can be.
“He’s developed his shot really well,” adds LeBlanc. “If he keeps grinding it out, he’s going to keep being better and better every day.”
One thing Fron talked about when it came to how the River Rush coaching staff work with players development-wise is their openness. He says the group is “super easy to talk to.”
“If you have an issue with something or if you don’t like something you can go and talk to them and it really helps,” he said. “It goes a long way with confidence and your coach trusting you and wanting to put you out there more and more because he knows your potential.”
Chiefs pull trigger for local product Gillmore
After trading for West Kelowna native Clayton Gillmore, Kelowna Chiefs head coach-general manager Rylan Ferster received a text from marketing director Alex Draper. The text contained a photo of Ferster with a young hockey player on the best and asked, “Guess who?”
Ferster didn’t have a clue.
It’s Gillmore. Pretty wild.
“It is you know,” says Ferster. “It’s one of those feel-good moments. We have such a great game, right? I always say hockey’s such a small, small world, right? Certainly the picture doesn’t make me feel young, I’ll tell you that (he laughs).
Ferster made the deal with the Melville Millionaires of the SJHL because along with being a local player, Gillmore is familiar with the KIJHL – playing last year for the Sicamous Eagles as a 17-year-old. He checks other boxes too. He has added experience of playing 14 games with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans and brings size at 6-3, 216-pounds.
“Looking at his numbers (25 points in 35 games), he had success in the league – checked a lot of boxes,” says Ferster. “He scored 11 goals as a pretty young guy, right? He’s only an 18-year-old.”
Gillmore had his first practice with the Chiefs on Wednesday.
Hat-Tricks and Four-Goal Games
Last season in the KIJHL, there were eight hat-tricks scored by eight players. This season, 16 hat-tricks have been scored by 15 players up to the same time frame. Among those is a five-goal performance by Toren Fron of the Quesnel River Rush, and two four-goal efforts by his teammate Lynden Gorman. Justice Loewen of the Princeton Posse also scored four in a game. Gorman’s and Loewen’s came last weekend.
