(Twitter/@blazerhockey).

By Aaron Schulze

Star-koven

‘It takes a village’: Stankoven grateful for loved ones, teammates, and coaches who also sacrificed for his goals

Jul 24, 2021 | 3:18 PM

KAMLOOPS — Nearly 13 years of playing, practicing, and training came to fruition for Logan Stankoven on Saturday (July 24) during the National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft.

Hours removed from draft day, the 18-year-old forward from Kamloops, who plays for his hometown Blazers and is now a prospect of the Dallas Stars, is playing catch up to thank all the loved ones, teammates, and coaches during those 13 years who have congratulated him.

“It’s been a lot of hard work over the years training and on the ice, not only myself but many others have sacrificed for me to help me reach my goals,” Stankoven said. “It takes a village. For me to have success and to be drafted today… I just want to make them proud, and I can’t thank everyone enough for what they’ve done for me.”

The Stankoven family felt angst, excitement, and ultimately disappointment during round one of the draft on Friday (July 23), where Logan went unselected. While he said the dream of every kid is to get drafted into the NHL, he admitted the first round caps off the celebration.

“At the end of the day, it’s what counts after the draft that matters the most,” Stankoven said. “For me to land in Dallas with such a great organization and city, I’m really looking forward to it. This morning I had a pretty good feeling that I had a good opportunity being drafted in the second round. I think there are a few teams that really liked me and told me they were interested in having a shot at drafting me, and that wasn’t the case. It gives me the opportunity to go and prove everyone wrong and prove to the other teams that I can play with some of these top players, and I deserve to be there.”

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Stankoven is pleased to be in Texas after a golden experience with Team Canada at the U-18 World Hockey Championship, but he’s specifically happy to be in Dallas. Tom Gaglardi, the Stars’ owner, is also co-owner and governor of the Kamloops Blazers.

Stankoven said he’s barely had time to celebrate with family following his welcome to the NHL, but he expects his celebration to be brief.

On Wednesday (July 28), Stankoven leaves for Calgary to attend Team Canada’s World Junior Hockey Championship summer camp for a week. After that, he’ll return to Kamloops and enjoy the summer and get back to his routine training and on-ice sessions.

COVID-19 pandemic permitting, Stankoven said the plan is to fly to Dallas on Sept. 10 for the Stars training camp, before spending another season with his hometown Blazers.