(Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

By Aaron Schulze

Cox Playing for the Hawks

Hawks bring in former WHL player, make cuts in series of roster moves

Sep 20, 2019 | 2:49 PM

A brief, familiar face to the Nipawin Hawks will once again don the gold and black.

Zach Cox, a 20-year-old forward, committed to play for the Hawks following two seasons with the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Cox previously scored six points (two goals and one assist) in five games for the Hawks in the 2017-18 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season before he committed to play in the WHL. The 6-4 forward scored 21 points (13 goals and eight assists) in 124 games over two seasons with the Hurricanes from 2017 to 2019.

Because the WHL only allows three 20-year-olds per team, Cox found himself on the raw end of a numbers game and was released by the Hurricanes in the summer and wasn’t able to crack the Swift Current Broncos’ roster.

After some time passed with his WHL career potentially over, Cox sent Hawks Head Coach Doug Johnson a text message saying he wanted to return to Nipawin and win a Canalta Cup.

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“We’re disappointed for him because I know he wants to be there and we don’t want to hold players back,” Johnson said. “We want to make sure they play at the level they want to. [Cox] is obviously good enough to play [in the WHL]. He’s played there the last two years, but with that being said he wasn’t able to find a home as a 20-year-old.

“Selfishly, it feels pretty nice to have a player of his quality come to the Nipawin Hawks and make us that much stronger. He’s a very nice individual, quality young man, who will be good in the room and will do what we want night in night out.”

If Cox puts the work in, Johnson expects him to be one of the top players in the SJHL.

“[Cox] skates well, has a nose for the net, a very good release, good hands in tight, but the thing I remember most about him is he did everything right. He competed well, was solid defensively, and killed penalties for us,” Johnson said.

The addition of Cox gives the Hawks 15 available forwards. With 10 returning from last season’s team and four rookies (Davis Chorney, Andrew Schaab, Sawyer Senior, and Burke Simpson) Johnson knows he’ll have a challenge to balance playing time in order to win games and develop players.

“It’s always tough to keep everybody happy, but the nice thing is all of these guys are quality individuals and I think they understand what we’re trying to do not only for this year, but for the future,” he said. “There’s always enough ice time. We like to roll our lines and have high tempo practices. I’d much rather have those options than not having enough players.”

Cox is expected to suit up for the Hawks at home on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at Centennial Arena.

Roster Cuts

While the announcement of Cox’s return to Nipawin on Sept. 19 was exciting for the Hawks, they also had to make some difficult decisions.

Johnson said the Hawks cut two defencemen – 17-year-old Kyler Opp and 18-year-old Carson Cox – and 18-year-old goaltender Scott Bird.

The moves leave the Hawks with a 25-man roster: 15 forwards, eight defencemen, and two goaltenders. For now, 20-year-old Ethan Slobodzian and 18-year-old rookie Ross Hawryluk are the Hawks’ two goaltenders.

The Hawks begin a home-and-home series against the La Ronge Ice Wolves on the road on Friday, Sept. 20.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow