The Callahan Legend Grows

[WorkingOvertime 536]

It‘s hard to keep a tough guy down.

In Mitchell Callahan‘s case, it‘s nearly impossible.

At Prospera Place on Wednesday night, Callahan came back from taking seven stitches in his hand to score the winning goal as the Kelowna Rockets defeated the Tri-City Americans 3-1, moving eight points ahead of Vancouver in the race for first place in the WHL‘s B.C. division in the process.

Callahan suffered multiple cuts to his hand in a first-period fight, got stitched up in the dressing room and returned to the ice in time to snap a 1-1 tie in the third period.

"It was sore and stiff, but they did a good job of stitching it up and taping it up," said Callahan. "At the start of the third period it started to cramp up, but I don‘t like to miss any games so it was something I battled through."

Callahan‘s goal came as the pace of play picked up with both teams creating chances with the game knotted at 1-1. Shane McColgan jumped on a loose puck at the Rockets‘ blue-line, sped through neutral ice and into Ams territory, then fired a quick pass to Callahan who one-timed the shot past Tri-City goalie Drew Owsley. It was just his third goal in the past 11 games.

"It was kind of frustrating, but at the same time the team is winning so I didn‘t want to change up anything," he said. "It was nice to get this and hopefully more will come. It was a relief to get the monkey off my back."

That first-period fight, although it resulted in stitches when the linesman stepped on his hand, had Callahan involved physically in the game - something his coach thought was key.

"I thought Mitchell was great tonight," said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. "I think he finished with the Gordie Howe hat trick. I think when he gets involved physically, he usually plays a good game and he scored a key goal for us."

Geordie Wudrick also scored for the Rockets - his team-leading 39th of the season - while Evan Bloodoff added an empty-netter to seal the victory.

Carter Ashton was the only Americans shooter to beat Kelowna goalie Adam Brown, who won his 33rd game of the season and was named the contest‘s first star.

Brown was especially good in the third when he made back-to-back stops on two Tri-City chances midway through the final frame. The Yorba Linda, Calif., native flashed out his glove to get a piece of an in-close wrister from Matt MacKenzie. Seconds later, he fired out the left pad to kick a Justin Feser shot to the corner, keeping the score 1-1 and setting the stage for Callahan‘s winner.

The Rockets improved to 39-26-0-1 with the win, and thanks to Chilliwack‘s 2-0 win in Vancouver, moved eight points ahead of the Giants in the B.C. Division pennant race.

It also brought the Rockets within five points of Tri-City in Western Conference standings.

"You always want to finish as high as you can, but we have to keep ourselves focused on winning our games," said Huska. "You can‘t control what other teams are going to do."

ICE CHIPS: Scratches for Kelowna were Mitchell Chapman, Jason Siebert, Brett Bulmer and Max Adolph. Scratches for Tri-City were Dylan Fluter, Adam Hughesman, Mason Wilgosh and Neal Prokop. . . . The Rockets are back in action this weekend playing a home-and-home series with the Kamloops Blazers. The two teams meet Friday in Kamloops and Saturday back in Kelowna, 7 p.m. at Prospera Place. . . . At Vancouver on Wednesday, Lucas Gore stopped 36 shots as the Bruins blanked the injury-riddled Giants 2-0 in a contest that featured more fighting than scoring with a combined 132 penalty minutes

link- http://www.kelownarockets.com/article/the-callahan-legend-grows

[cjm502 165]

Callahan is the definition of a dedicated player and hard worker. Even if he never ends up being a good NHLer (which its hard to imagine he wont) he will bring all the intangibles a player can have.

[newfy 695]

I posted this in the prospects section earlier today. Seems like they have nothign but great things to say about him. Possible third/fourth line enforcer who can score double digit goals in the future. I'm drooling right now haha

[wingslogo19 281]

This kid sounds like a beauty

[WorkingOvertime 536]

I posted this in the prospects section earlier today. Seems like they have nothign but great things to say about him. Possible third/fourth line enforcer who can score double digit goals in the future. I'm drooling right now haha

I didn't see your post in the prospects section- sorry. I know a lot of people don't frequent that section, the the general discussion has been a bit gloomy over the past week. Hopefully we can all agree (and be happy) that Callahan is so awesome.

[HankthaTank 1,100]

Digging this. Just all the names that are out there for the future, we just may see a great "passing of the torch" type scenario that everyone has been hoping for. This kid fills that one particular role I won't name Excite

Edited March 10, 2011 by HankthaTank

[cjm502 165]

Callahan is like a Maltby-McCarty hybrid. He isnt the biggest guy but that has not held him back the slightest bit.

[newfy 695]

I didn't see your post in the prospects section- sorry. I know a lot of people don't frequent that section, the the general discussion has been a bit gloomy over the past week. Hopefully we can all agree (and be happy) that Callahan is so awesome.

Yeah no apologies needed haha I couldn't care less realy I was just sayin'

Seriously though the thing that makes Callahan so awesome is that he isn't some 5'11 guy taking on middleweights and other guys his size in fights. He fights all of the legit heavyweights in the dub and has lost about 4 fights out of 50 in his career.

He is gonna be the wings version of Rypien except maybe even tougher but also possibly play on the 3rd line chipping in offensively. Maybe even take a net front role and play up on a line to protect some of the stars by playing on their wing.

I can't wait for this kid to be up full time

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

I can't wait for this kid to make his way here. Sounds like another McCarty All I hear about this kid is good news, never anything bad. He's been on such a tear, and he's not showing any signs of slowing down.

[robb himself 143]

I was at the game...im tellin' you guys...hes the next great checker for The Red Wings...just like McCarty but with better hands

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

Another year or two and we'll see him in Detroit?

[Nev 1,085]

resulted in stitches when the linesman stepped on his hand

Ouch.............and very lucky it wasn't a whole lot worse.

[uk_redwing 495]

Ouch.............and very lucky it wasn't a whole lot worse.

Gotta love officials.

[toby91_ca 620]

I was at the game...im tellin' you guys...hes the next great checker for The Red Wings...just like McCarty but with better hands

Forgive my ignorance, I haven't really seen the guy play. Why do you say he has better hands then McCarty? McCarty's junior stats dwarf Callahan's. As I said, I haven't seen him play, so stats are all I have to go on.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

Callahan is like a Maltby-McCarty hybrid. He isnt the biggest guy but that has not held him back the slightest bit.

he reminds me alot of steve downie minus the early career problems. gritty little guy that has no fear. hopefully he goes to GR next year and has a strong season.

[newfy 695]

he reminds me alot of steve downie minus the early career problems. gritty little guy that has no fear. hopefully he goes to GR next year and has a strong season.

Downie is a decent comparison I guess but Callahan is a better fighter while Downie is the better player overall. Both have offense to their game and will probably be getting 150-200 pims a year for a while.

He does really compare to Matt Cooke quite a bit too. Agitators that will score 10-15 a year. Callahan isnt as big of a ******, and is definitely the tougher of the 2 but in time we'll see who the better player is

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Mitch already has the heart and dedication to make the NHL. All he needs to do is keep improving his game and we'll have a great 3rd/4th line guy up here. From what he showed in the prospects camp he's got pretty good hands too. No question he's going to be in Grand Rapids next season. I can't wait to see what he can do in a pro league.

[fivetenandagame 11]

Mitch already has the heart and dedication to make the NHL. All he needs to do is keep improving his game and we'll have a great 3rd/4th line guy up here. From what he showed in the prospects camp he's got pretty good hands too. No question he's going to be in Grand Rapids next season. I can't wait to see what he can do in a pro league.

As a fight fan its always nice to think about a young guy who can handle himself maybe joining the big club one day. Be nice if he wasn't so small by modern hockey standards. But he can really throw 'em and at this point beggars can't be choosers.

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

So how many years does this guy have before we should realistically expect to see him in a Wings uniform?

[newfy 695]

As a fight fan its always nice to think about a young guy who can handle himself maybe joining the big club one day. Be nice if he wasn't so small by modern hockey standards. But he can really throw 'em and at this point beggars can't be choosers.

Rypien and Cam Jansen both take on all the biggest tough guys in the league excluding guys like Boogard and both of them are around Callahans size, Domi as well. He is such a dominant fighter for his size its ridiculous, he will be a fan favourite for sure. His size isnt a concern because hes a stalky little bastard already closing in on 200 pounds.

So how many years does this guy have before we should realistically expect to see him in a Wings uniform?

With the way he has been developing a scoring touch its really hard to say. If the wings think he is never gonna be more then a 3rd or 4th liner and he shows he can still play physical in the AHL then he might be on the fast track. If the wings think he could potentially become a decent scorer maybe they leave him down for the three. Usually fighters can break in quicker because their role isn't something you need to develop a whole lot for.

[HankthaTank 1,100]

With the way he has been developing a scoring touch its really hard to say. If the wings think he is never gonna be more then a 3rd or 4th liner and he shows he can still play physical in the AHL then he might be on the fast track. If the wings think he could potentially become a decent scorer maybe they leave him down for the three. Usually fighters can break in quicker because their role isn't something you need to develop a whole lot for.

Some videos I have seen him in shows him wearing the #24. What better guy to carry on the legend of that # than Mitch? The next few years are just going to be an exciting time around here.