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‘Dream come true’: Warriors’ Jordan reflects on NHL Draft

Warriors defenceman selected in fifth round, 141st overall by Calgary Flames
Cole Jordan draft
Warriors defenceman Cole Jordan was selected in the fifth round, 141st overall by the Calgary Flames in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Just based on where he was ranked heading into the National Hockey League Entry Draft on Saturday afternoon , Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman Cole Jordan had an inkling he would be selected by someone, somewhere.

When you’re the 88th-ranked North American prospect, that usually means a pick somewhere in the fifth round or so, based on past NHL Drafts.

And sure enough, that’s exactly where things stood when Jordan’s name appeared on the NHL Draft tracker -- fifth round, 141st overall to the Calgary Flames.

“I was just sitting with my family here in the living room watching and saw my name pop up there, and received a call from the Flames GM Brad Treliving about five minutes after that,” Jordan said of how things went down from his home in Brandon. “it’s was really cool to talk to him and know that it all had happened.

“Going through the third, fourth round there I admit was pretty nervous that it wasn’t going to happen, but once my name was called I couldn’t have been happier and I’m just really excited right now.”

Treliving congratulated Jordan and welcomed him to the franchise, and shortly after the 6-foot-2, 205-pound left-handed shot talked to the Flames director of player personnel about rookie camp and the next steps with the organization.

Just having those conversations was surreal enough, and the whole experience was just settling in when Jordan talked to MooseJawToday.com on Tuesday afternoon.

“I think it’s just kind of starting to, the last couple of days it seemed surreal and especially Saturday, it didn’t seem real, it felt like a dream,” Jordan said. “Now it’s just a dream come true.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be right if Cole didn’t have a chance to thank a few people who helped him get to where he is today.

“Definitely my parents, my mom and dad, Marty and Jennifer and sister Kelsey, they’ve been by my side this entire journey and my entire life, so they’ve been the biggest part for sure,” Jordan said. “Then you see all the coaches and teammates through my years of minor hockey and into Midget and now in Moose Jaw with Mark O’Leary and my coaches and teammates, I’ve been lucky enough to have them as well.”

As much fun as draft day was, now the real work begins. First off will be rookie camp with the Flames this September. After that, it’ll be time to throw down on what he and the Warriors are hoping will be a stellar season.

“It just gives me a bit more motivation for sure,” Jordan said. “I want to make a good impression on Calgary and then just ramp up my game and improve my game so that I can help out the team in Moose Jaw.

“I think I’m going to be a need to be a guy who leads by example on the ice and then try and be the hardest worker. So I’ll do that and do my best to help the team to a winning season and go as far as we can and hopefully win a championship.”

The good thing is he won’t be alone when it comes to having an NHL-calibre pedigree. Captain Daemon Hunt is a highly touted pick of the Minnesota Wild, while Ryder Korczak, Max Wanner and Import Draft pick Martin Rysavy were also selected in the 2021 Draft.

“It’s really exciting to share the moment with Ryder and Max and I’m really happy for those guys,” Jordan said. “They’re obviously really good players as well and it goes to show that Moose Jaw is a great place for developing players. We have awesome coaches there, it’s a great organization. And Martin Rysavy, it was great seeing him picked too and hopefully he can come over and play with us next year, that would be really great to see.”

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