Like most good goal-scorers, Jonny Hooker isn’ t averse to making the occasional calculated gamble when the situation requires on the ice. It’ s the 5-foot-11, 177-pound winger’ s penchant for scoring timely goals that made him a prized prospect in the AAA bantam ranks last season. Despite missing part of the season due to a dislocated shoulder, he was selected in the eighth round( 176th overall) of the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft by the Brandon Wheat Kings. Hooker, 15, made another calculated gamble off the ice last summer. He opted to quit AAA to join The Rink Hockey Academy’ s RHA Nationals program. The first-year program competes in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League( CSSHL) with other prep schools like Delta, Edge, OHA, Pacific Coast and Yale( Abbotsford, B. C.). While acknowledging his decision to choose RHA may have been viewed by some as a gamble, Hooker said the rewards far outweighed any potential risks.
“ The skill development was the biggest thing,” he said before a recent afternoon practice.“ We work on a lot of skill development here at The Rink. At least two or three times a week we work on individual skills.“ That was a big thing for me. In AAA you don’ t get a lot of individual skill development. You get a lot of team development but there’ s not a lot of time for personal skills development,” he added.“ Here they make a lot more time for that. Also, we do in-season training here so it keeps you strong and healthy all year.“ It did feel like a little bit of a risk [ choosing RHA ] but we knew the coaches were great and the coaches have been awesome all year. There were also some really good players here already and that helped a lot with the decision.” That decision is looking pretty good for both Hooker and the Nationals now. Hooker was the Nationals’ top scorer after 12 league games with a team-leading 12 goals and 19 points. His play has helped RHA get off to a strong 7-3-0-2 start in the CSSHL’ s midget prep division.
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