‘I want to finish every single check’

Cole Koepke had an important life decision to make, so he sought a little help from his friends before signing on the dotted line.

Fortunately for Koepke, after the Winnipeg Jets came calling in free agency, he had two mainstays on the roster in Dylan Samberg and Neal Pionk that he could lean on for information and guidance.

“Quite a bit. I actually didn’t even know what to expect going into free agency,” Koepke said before suiting up in his 11th game of the season against the Chicago Blackhawks. “I hadn’t really heard much about Winnipeg. But I knew those guys, so when it started to get brought up, they were the first call and I just kind of asked how things were — and if they thought it would be a good fit. They gave me their advice and I’m glad I took it.”

The end result was a one-year contract with the Jets worth US$1 million and it allowed Koepke to join an NHL club with two fellow University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs he was quite familiar with.

“It’s crazy. It’s such a small world. If you think of the odds, when we were going to high school, there were 6,000 people in the whole city,” said Koepke. “Now three of us are on this team together. I’ve been playing on a team with Dylan (Samberg) for 12 years. Neal’s younger brother Nate is my age and was in my wedding party. My older brother was the same grade as Neal. Neal’s dad coached me a ton growing up, so now when their family comes up to Winnipeg, it’s cool to see them. It’s really special.”

Those friendships were forged in Hermantown, Minn., whether it was playing on the outdoor rinks or attending games to cheer on the local heroes.

“Everything in the town was about going to the high school games and going to UMD on the weekend and stuff like that,” said Koepke. “Trying to collect broken sticks from players. It was always super cool to look up to them. As I got older and got the opportunity to go through those steps, that was always awesome.

“When I was younger, the goal was to make the high school team, then to make a USHL team and then college and then from there, you try to take it once step at a time and the NHL was always the goal. I’m just super fortunate with how it’s turned out.”

While Koepke left home to join the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL after three seasons at Hermantown High, the chance to join the Bulldogs for college was an opportunity he was not going to pass up.

Chosen by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL draft, Koepke spent three seasons with the Bulldogs before turning pro in the spring of 2021.

Koepke spent the bulk of the next three seasons in the American Hockey League with the Syracuse Crunch, but earned multiple recalls to the Lightning that resulted in 26 NHL games over two seasons.

“In my first year there, (the Lightning) were coming off back-to-back (Stanley) Cups,” said Koepke, who scored his first NHL goal on Charlie Lindgren of the Washington Capitals on Nov. 13 of 2022. “I don’t even know how many Hall of Famers were on that team. I learned a lot my first couple of years. Just by watching them, seeing how the process goes and going into that locker room that has such a winning culture.”

Although he’s only been around this group for a couple of months here, Koepke has noticed some parallels to those past Lightning teams he suited up for.

“It’s actually very similar to here, where you go in and just see that the guys expect to win every single game,” said Koepke. “If you don’t have your A-game, it’s not, ‘Oh shoot, we didn’t have our A-game. It’s how are we going to win with our B-game? What are we going to do?’ No matter what, the expectation is to win and be in contention for the Cup. That mindset gives a whole different confidence or swagger to the team at times and that’s a huge thing.”

Koepke has been used primarily in a fourth line role so far and is an important part of the penalty killing unit that’s been extremely strong in the early part of the season.

“That speed is a huge element,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “You see it on the penalty kill. You see it on the forecheck, or if they get the puck to him, using his quickness down that line. He’s got some detail to his game, plays hard, gives us real good minutes and that’s what you want.”

Although he only had one assist in his first 10 games with the Jets, Koepke showed last season with the Boston Bruins that he can supply some valuable secondary scoring, as he produced career-highs in goals (10), assists (seven) and points (17).

“Going back to junior and college and even in the American Hockey League, I’ve always scored at a pretty good number,” said Koepke, who posted a pair of 20-goal seasons with the Crunch. “It’s never been something where I thought I would go to the NHL and not score. I know I have more of a defensive role in that bottom six and on the penalty kill. It’s not expected (as much), but for me it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and expect myself to do.”

Finishing his checks with great frequency has also helped Koepke become an NHL regular, as he racked up 177 hits last season and already had 29 through 10 games.

“I’ve always been pretty physical, but I ramped it up in the last couple of years,” said Koepke. “Just knowing that this league is really hard to make it to and then it’s really, really hard to stay there too. So, especially in my up and down years during my time in Tampa, that was something I really tried to implement in my first few years. I’ve always been physical, but I want to finish every single check.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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