Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League’s top goalie from last season is returning to the Campbell River Storm.
Aaron de Kok is back with the Junior B squad, the team announced last Thursday.
De Kok led all goaltending categories last season. He finished with a 1.89 GAA and a 0.936 save percentage.
Storm coach Lee Stone said de Kok adds a level of confidence to the team.
“He’s a great goaltender,” Stone said. “He’s a leader for us on and off the ice, so he’s a great guy to get back in the line-up.”
De Kok, who turned 19 on Oct. 7, was signed by the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Weyburn Redwings in August.
Known as ‘Cookie,’ or ‘Cookie Monster’, de Kok played seven games with the Red Wings at the start of this season.
On Oct. 17, the Red Wings announced that de Kok and one other player had been traded to the Dryden Ice Dogs of the Superior International Junior Hockey League in Ontario for a player development fee. The Storm got him back from waiver.
He played his first game with the Storm this season on Saturday against the Oceanside Generals. He faced 38 shots as the Storm left Oceanside Place with a 2-0 loss. De Kok was named the Away Star of the game.
“Fans and volunteers and staff are thrilled to have him,” said Stone. “He’s a great kid. He exudes what we want our Storm hockey players to be like both on the ice and in the community.”
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