Undrafted players found their roles on Chiefs’ roster

They all came from different parts of Canada and were hand-picked by different scouts in the winter of 2005.

Their names weren’t called by the Spokane Chiefs in the higher rounds of the Western Hockey League bantam draft. They weren’t called in the lower rounds. They are a talented trio of players that was added to Spokane’s 50-player protected list and given an opportunity.

The rest – as it is for every hockey player that comes to camp in late August – was up to Dustin Tokarski, Judd Blackwater and Levko Koper. They made the most of their chances, and now they’re off to compete for Major Junior Hockey’s most coveted trophy – the Memorial Cup.

“All (the draft) does is give you an opportunity, but that’s what the list does, too,” said Chiefs coach Bill Peters. “These list guys seem to be late-developing guys, but they all seem to have a passion for the game and overcome the fact that they’re list players.”

Dustin Tokarski

Tokarski’s passion for the game was in his blood.

A third generation goalie from Watson, Saskatchewan, the 18-year-old Tokarski tried out for seven Midget hockey teams before the AAA Prince Albert Mintos gave him a chance.

The following summer, he went to WHL camp with the Swift Current Broncos and was released. After another season with the Mintos, he went to camp for the Calgary Hitmen and was released again.

It was in December 2005 – after Tokarski backstopped the Mintos to a bronze medal at the Mac’s Tournament and was named to the tournament’s second all-star team – that he got a call from Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Moulton, who told Tokarski he had been added to Spokane’s list.

“It was kind of a bummer that I went to two WHL camps the two previous years and didn’t get listed or make either of them,” said Tokarski, who put together a league-best 1.38 goals-against average in the 21 playoff games it took Spokane to win the WHL title. “Ever since I didn’t get drafted in the bantam draft it’s been my goal, so it was pretty surreal. It was a good day.”

He went on to win a Canadian midget national championship with the Mintos in 2006 before joining the Chiefs as a rookie last season.

Tokarski played backup to Kevin Armstrong until Armstrong got sick in the playoffs and Tokarski had to step in.

“Since then, he’s really just taken right off,” said Peters. “We were fortunate to get him as a list guy.”

Levko Koper

Koper, 17, also joined the Chiefs as a rookie last season, but his road to the WHL was a little different.

He was playing for the South Side Athletic Club in a 15-year-old AA midget league called the REM-15 in his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, when he was contacted by Chiefs director of player development Ray Dudra and added to Spokane’s list in November 2005.

“Every team I was on before that I was a third- or fourth-line guy just trying to get ice time,” said Koper. “I didn’t make midget AAA that year, so I played (in the REM-15) and I was the best player on my team there, so that really helped develop me into a player, I think. It gave me a lot of confidence.”

He came to Spokane’s camp last season for tryouts as a 16-year-old thinking he would take a couple of years to crack Spokane’s lineup. But instead, Koper’s showing at camp earned him a spot on the roster and he played in 50 games, recording three goals and two assists.

He’s now an essential component of the Chiefs’ third line with Justin McCrae and Tyler Johnson – a gritty two-way line that often is responsible for taking shifts against their opponents’ top lines.

“(Koper) is a great skater,” Peters said. “He’s just a real solid two-way hockey player. It’s funny – and I’ll throw the name out there – he reminded me of Peter Forsberg. He was a very responsible player.”

Judd Blackwater

Blackwater, unlike Koper and Tokarski, did go through the bantam draft.

Picked up in the third round by his hometown Lethbridge Hurricanes in 2002, Blackwater said he never meshed with the Hurricanes organization, so he wasn’t disappointed when he was taken off their list.

“I took it as a good thing and went on with my business,” Blackwater said.

He played Junior A for the Brooks Bandits and in October 2005, when he was 18, Moulton added him to Spokane’s list. Blackwater joined the team in November, and played in 45 games that season as a rookie.

This season, as one of the three allotted 20-year-olds on the team, Blackwater has been an offensive asset. He finished fourth in scoring through the regular season and has elevated his game to yet another level in the playoffs.

“He’s a very skilled individual,” Peters said. “Once he got serious about being a hockey player, he’s developed into an impact guy – it just happened at a later stage then other guys.

“When does the light go off for these guys? You never know for sure when they fully understand it, but when they do it’s great to see.”