Kenny Appleby makes a stop during Blackhawks Orientation Camp. PHOTO COURTESY MIKE PREPELICA.
The past month has been a bit of a roller coaster for Oshawa Generals goaltender Ken Appleby.
The devastation of being passed up in the NHL Draft for the second consecutive year hit him hard, he says. But fortunately, he didn’t have too long to let that feeling sink in.
If you don’t believe in the idea that bad times mean good times are coming, then consider the events that have unfolded for Appleby in the weeks since the draft.
Just minutes after the last name of the 2014 Entry Draft was called, Appleby received a call from his agent. The news: the Arizona Coyotes had officially invited him to their prospects development camp.
“It was only orientation camp, but you’re still at their rink and putting on their gear, so it’s an amazing experience,” Appleby said.
“It was very intense,” he continued. “Everyone’s out there trying their best to impress the guys that are in the stands; everyone’s giving their all.”
Appleby joined 26 skaters, including former first-round picks Brendan Perlini, Max Domi and Henrik Samuelsson, and two other goalies in Phoenix for the three-day camp.
Then, instead of returning home to continue his off-season training, the North Bay native boarded a one-way flight to Chicago for the Blackhawks’ rookie camp.
“I thought I was going to be a little bit tired for Chicago after the first camp, but I felt really good and felt I did well there too,” Appleby explained. “They said I did a good job and there were a lot of things they liked about me.”
According to the teams, the emphasis was on simply familiarizing the players with an NHL camp atmosphere. But regardless of the intent of the camps, Appleby took full advantage of the exposure.
Just one day after returning home, Blackhawks’ scout Jim McKellar phoned Appleby’s agent to invite him back to suit up for the team at the 2014 Rookie Tournament from September 13-16 in London, Ont., to play against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators rookie squads.
Many point to his lack of exposure as a starting goaltender in the OHL as a key determinant in being looked over in the draft.
In a recent article on the top 10 undrafted players at NHL development camps, Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News wrote, “Appleby has excellent size… but as a backup to Carolina prospect Daniel Altshuller, he didn’t see enough time to intrigue an NHL team. His .920 save percentage actually edged Altshuller’s .917 mark.”
At just 19 years of age, Appleby still has plenty of major junior ice time ahead of him to prove he’s capable of playing on the world’s biggest stage.
This is supposed to be his off-season, but since the Generals’ season ended at the hands of the North Bay Battalion in the Eastern Conference semi finals in April, it’s been anything but down time for the 6’ 5” goaltender.
The experience, he says, has taught him the virtue of always extracting the positives out of seemingly dark situations. Take, for instance, the fact that his free agent status now allows him the opportunity to attend any and every NHL camp he gets invited to.
But regardless, Appleby is hoping the impression he made at both camps will have an impact on the way teams look at him moving forward. Before, all NHL teams had only his junior performances to judge him by. Now, after scouts have seen his play against other top-notch prospects in person, Appleby is happy with the way his future looks.
As he explains, the exposure to the pro level, albeit on a modest level for now, has made him all the more ravenous and hungry.
“It makes you realize how much closer that level is, but also how far away you still are; how much work you still have to do,” said Appleby. “It’s a humbling feeling to even be going to these camps, but to make it past that level is something you can only hope for right now.”
Today, Appleby is all about seizing the moment and squeezing every last ounce of experience out of the opportunities that come his way. And it’s that mindset that will come in handy when he suits up as the Generals' starting goaltender for the first time.
“It’s all about what you do with that opportunity,” Appleby explained. “Just going to these orientation camps doesn’t mean that you’ve made it, so you’ve always got to step your game up in some way.”
Now, it’s normalcy after positive chaos for Appleby. He will be spending another week in Oakville, Ont., where he is training on-ice everyday, before he travels to Oshawa next week to work with Generals goalie coach Zac Bierk. After that, it’s back to North Bay until the Generals kick off their training camp at the end of August.
And when that time comes, one thing is certain: the most important part of Appleby’s young hockey career will just be beginning.
