Trips across the Canadian prairie in winter are nothing new to

But this month, for the first time, the 16-year-old rookie defenceman from Saskatchewan is seeing his home province through the windows of a Western Hockey League bus.

Korczak and the are in the midst of a six-game tour of Eastern Division cities, the club鈥檚 final action prior to the Christmas break.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been super cool,鈥� said Korczak, who was born and raised in Yorkton, Sask. 鈥淚鈥檝e had a lot of family and friends come out and see me. Knowing people are there to support you is a good feeling.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been fun, nice to be back.鈥�

Korczak, the Rockets鈥� first round pick, 11th overall, played all of his minor hockey in Yorkton, including the 2016-17 season with the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League鈥檚 Maulers.

Despite playing in arenas all across Saskatchewan during his minor hockey days, Korczak is seeing the inside of several WHL buildings for the first time, another perk of his first full season in major junior.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 play in a lot of these rinks growing up, so it鈥檚 cool to be kind of living a dream and playing in them now,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檇 never played in the Brandt Centre (Regina) until this trip, so that was nice.鈥�

Korczak got his feet wet as a 15-year-old last season, playing in four regular season games with the Rockets and five more in the playoffs.

This season, the young blueliner, who logs between 13 and 18 minutes of ice time per night, and has eight assists in 25 games.

With captain Cal Foote鈥檚 absence from the 91大黄鸭 lineup, Korczak will be helping carry even more of the load over the last four games of the trip.

Foote and Rockets鈥� teammates Dillon Dube and Kole Lind are in St. Catharines this week for Hockey Canada鈥檚 national junior selection camp.

Korczak and the Rockets will be in Moose Jaw tonight to take on the Warriors, the will visit Swift Current Wednesday in the fourth game of their prairie trip.

91大黄鸭 closes out its prairie trip with a stop Friday in Prince Albert and Saturday in Saskatoon to play the Blades.

The Rockets鈥� next home action is Wednesday, Dec. 27 against the Kamloops Blazers.

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whenderson@kelownacapnews.com
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