BUFFALO, N.Y. — Whatever doubts Brooks Rogowski had in choosing hockey over baseball quickly evaporated following the first pick in the second round of the NHL Draft on Saturday.
The 18-year-old from Livonia, Mich., had taken his seat with his family on the draft floor, when NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly announced Rogowski had been selected at No. 33 by the Vancouver Canucks.
“You sit down for five minutes and you’re standing back up. So that was nice not having to sit a while,” Rogowski said. “But the relief was immediate. You hear your name called and all the stresses just kind of fall off you. It’s great, it’s been awesome.”
And the selection validates the choice the six-foot-seven, 235-pound Rogowski made two years ago. In picking hockey, after being drafted by the OHL Oshawa Generals, he put baseball behind him — and to the regret of his father and uncle, who both enjoyed minor-league baseball careers.
His father, Casey, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and his uncle, Ryan, drafted by the Dodgers.
“Obviously they’re still sad about baseball, but I think this was the right decision,” Rogowski said. “You know, get to wear a nice jersey, so I think that they’re more than happy with that.”
Rogowski has made a commitment to play at Michigan State in two years, and appreciates he still has plenty of room to develop after focusing more on baseball than hockey growing up.
“I have a lot more to improve,” he said. “You have a lot of these guys who have been doing this for a long time. I’m still relatively new to it, and I think there’s a lot more to me that needs to come out.”
His trajectory is pointing up. As a rookie, Rogowski had 11 goals and 23 points in 66 games with Oshawa, and built on that with 42 points (15 goals) in 46 games last season.
Not bad for the former first baseman.
“Exactly. It’s very different,” Rogowski said comparing the two sports. “I have always been a decent hockey player, but I think the rapid growth, I can attribute to athletic ability.”
