Nikolas Koberstein, an 18-year-old Barrhead resident, has taken the first step to achieving his dream of playing in the National Hockey League (NHL).
The Montreal Canadiens drafted Nikolas in the fifth round, 125th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft on Saturday, June 28, 2014. Nikolas described what it was like when he found out he had been drafted.
“I never knew I had been drafted at that point and an agent called and said ‘congratulations.’ I said congratulations ‘on what?’ He said ‘on being drafted,’” said Nikolas.
Monica Koberstein recalled the moment she heard her son had been drafted to the NHL.
“We were not watching the draft when Nik and I got two separate phone calls. I got off my phone call and I went running to the basement and he was running upstairs and we met there,” she said.
Brian Koberstein was hard at work when he heard of the news.
“I was in the fields on the tractor listening to the draft and the Oilers were talking about the other Canadian teams draft picks. There was a chance of him getting drafted but I didn’t think he would go where he went, all respect to Nikolas,” said Brian. “My cousin called and said congratulations. I asked what was going on. I was in the same kind of shock.”
“All three of us found out from three separate phone calls from random people. It was bizarre but it was nice,” added Monica.
Moments after hearing he was drafted by the Canadiens, Nikolas received another special phone call.
“I got a call from the Canadiens organization five minutes later. I don’t remember much of that conversation besides them saying welcome to the Montreal Canadiens organization. I may have even blacked out a little bit. It was Trevor Timmins and Shane Churla who called me. Trevor is the director of amateur scouting and Churla is their western Canadian/North Western scout,” said Nikolas. “They said someone would be in touch with me for details on the development camp.”
Nikolas discussed how long he has waited to hear those words that were said to him on Saturday.
“I have wanted this dream for a long time, since I have been a tiny bugger playing mini sticks downstairs in the basement,” Nikolas said. “I have basically wanted this forever.”
Brian discussed the importance of achieving the first step towards his son’s ultimate goal.
“It is important to recognize that this is the first step in a long journey because it is a long way to putting on a Montreal Canadiens jersey. The best thing to see is that it’s possible. Even if he never got drafted, hockey has done a lot for Nikolas as a person,” Brian said. “As strange as that might seem under the circumstances, it has helped him develop his commitment and focus as a person. A lot of his character is really a big chunk of what the Montreal Canadiens saw in him.”
Nikolas played minor hockey in Barrhead, then played two years in Spruce Grove, one year in St. Albert and then spent last year in Olds, Alberta playing for the Grizzlys of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). Nikolas explained the importance of playing for the Grizzlys.
“They gave me a great opportunity and I can’t thank them enough for that. They really work to develop their players so that was really nice,” Nikolas said.
The next step for Nikolas was to attend the Habs Development Camp, which took place July 6-11 in Montreal.
“The camp was at the Bell Sports Complex and it is their practice facility. I worked extremely hard throughout the week. They put us through a lot of physical activity. There were some team building exercises, we would work out, there were on-ice sessions, we had seminars for mental strength and nutrition. We also had a scrimmage every day and we had sessions on dealing with the media,” Nikolas said.
Nikolas explained that he also met current and former NHLer’s.
“Martin Lapointe is the director of player development and he ran the camp. It was pretty neat to see former NHLer’s on the ice and to see Habs coach Michel Therrien walking around the building.
I saw Josh Gorges working out but didn’t see any other players and they introduced us to everybody else in the organization,” added Nikolas. “It was a crazy experience. I enjoyed it a ton. I can’t even explain how cool it was just to be there and to be wearing a Habs practice jersey. It was an awesome experience and something I will never forget.”
Monica and Brian admitted they had no desire to attend the development camp with Nikolas.
“We wanted him to go by himself because it is part of growing up,” said Monica.
“It is not our style. Our job with Nikolas is more or less finished. We were interested and watching on the Internet trying to keep up with the camp. Nikolas is a pretty independent kid and he does a pretty good job of looking after himself. I don’t think the Montreal Canadiens or Nikolas wanted us there. It was his experience. We were just observers and supporters,” said Brian. “I would have liked to go the final scrimmage when the rink was full and that was probably the only time I thought about going. Other than that, we never even considered going.”
Now that Nikolas is back from the development camp, he is more focused on achieving his dream of, one day, playing in the NHL.
“It is nice to come back home but it isn’t really a break because the work is just starting. They said to us, at the camp, that this is the first step of the actual dream. No kid actually dreams of just getting drafted that’s not where we want the dream to end. We want our dream to end when we make it to the NHL. The work is just starting now,” Nikolas said. “I am not worried about thinking long-term. I just want to keep my goals short-term, which is work to develop what I need to do and whatever happens, happens. I will only focus on what I can do because I can’t control the rest of it.”
As of press time, Nikolas will continue his journey by playing for the Olds Grizzlys of the AJHL this year and then, in the fall of 2015, play NCAA Division One hockey for the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks.
Brian shared his final thoughts on Nikolas’ achievement of getting drafted to the NHL and the Montreal Canadiens organization.
“There is a tremendous sense of pride but there was also a degree of shock because we were very surprised. We already believed in him and what he was capable of but there were many things that needed to line up for the Montreal Canadiens to take Nikolas third out of their seven picks. The reality is we have watched him grow and the key is that he keeps developing and keeps growing. I am just looking forward to watching this unfold,” Brian said. He has shown the ability to capitalize on the opportunities he has been given. This is a pretty big opportunity so we will give him the support he needs as parents and we will watch to see what he does with this incredible opportunity. He will need to keep this in context. There have been many kids drafted but they never play a game so I just want to see where he takes this opportunity and how far he can run with it.”
