Zach Rakochy of Canora is one a several former Yorkton Midget AAA hockey players who is slowly making his move up the hockey ranks.
He's been long signed by the Melville Millionaires Jr. A club and his workload is about to increase a bit.
He is also a draft selection pick of the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels.
Despite having several options available to take advantage of, he said that none of it has been easy.
"It's kind of been a weird year," he said with a laugh. Adding that he had been in the Rebels' came for part of the season and that he is hoping to get the call back up. He mentioned that at this point he doesn't think it is going to happen anytime soon.
That leaves him in what he suggested will be a battle to become the Mills' number-one netminder. However as long as the team can get some wins, Rakochy doesn't worry too much about if it's him in between the pipes.
He said he thought he did well enough with Red Deer that they would keep him around awhile longer but he's not spending any time worrying about it, preferring to take things in stride.
There could also be some options for him in the US-college hockey ranks, though he didn't specify which schools showed interest, there is a possibly he could leave the country at some point.
Following the departure of former Melville goalie Kyle Jahraus, who left the team recently after requesting a trade, Rakochy said, the situation according to Mills coach Jamie Fiesel, leaves Rakochy in the number-one slot.
"We had more of an expectation for him," Fiesel said of Jahraus, adding that "when a 17-year-old (Zach Rakochy) takes his job, it leaves (Jahraus) in a bad position so we decided it was time for him to leave," Fiesel said of why Jahraus took it upon himself to leave Melville.
Rakochy said he is going to take it upon himself to "just keep working hard."
In regards to Rakochy's US-college possibilities, he told Yorkton This Week that one scout sat down with him for two hours in the summer getting to know him; Rakochy feels that the Western Collegiate Hockey Association might be a good fit for him; the division of tier I schools includes the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (the team that helped produce Jonathan Toews).
"It's opened up my eyes," says Rakochy, who is as bright as he is skilled. "I haven't visited anyone yet," he commented.
In regard to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League trade deadline early next year, even though his Millionaires are not in the standings where they would like to be, he doesn't see team management making any moves; Rakochy also has an interesting take on the whole idea of trade talk in Junior hockey.
"From a player's perspective, it sucks, but it's also cool. It's just awful when one guy leaves."
Rakachy will revisit his old stomping grounds when the Millionaires return to Yorkton Dec. 30. He says he's looking forward to it.
